Auburn Motorcyclist Hit By Teen Driver, Critically Injured

As a Kent motorcycle accident lawyer working at a Bellevue personal injury law firm I know how dangerous the summer can be for motorcycle riders. I know that a lot of drivers are biased towards motorcyclists and are quick to assume that any auto accident that involved a motorcycle is the fault of the rider.

In the past week or so there have been at least 4 motorcycle riders killed because a car turned in front of them. Saturday night a 75-year-old man was rushed to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries after he hit a Jeep that was trying to turn left in front of the motorcycle. The 19-year-old man from Auburn was sitting in the left-turn lane when he thought that he had time to make the turn because he didn’t see the oncoming motorcycle. The driver of the Jeep was not injured, but the motorcycle rider sustained critical injuries to his head and torso; as of now there is no word on his current condition. According to Auburn Police, neither driver was impaired and speed was not a factor; the only thing that could have prevented this accident is the driver paying attention to his surroundings.

In the recent past there have been quite a few motorcycle accidents that were caused because the rider was going excessively fast or doing dangerous stunts to show off for friends. But that doesn’t mean that every motorcycle accident is the fault of the rider, many drivers don’t notice motorcycles or fail to give them enough room and end up hitting riders causing severe personal injuries.