In my mind, motorcycle manufacturers are more at risk than Porsche, for several reasons... An old issue crops up again, not involving motorcycles, but involving (again) high speed Porsches. Several years back, Missouri Senator John Danforth initiated hearings that were aimed at Japenese Superbikes. (I’m taking a little license here). The idea was that “they’re killing our kids” by making inexpensive motorcycles available that were more than even expert riders could handle safely. Coupled with dealers who gave minimal or no instruction, in fact, there were quite a few deaths. Danforth’s statistics have been heartily criticized, but yet there were many cases of factory test riders as well as teenagers who died on highly powered motorcycles with incredible speed capabilities. Granted, many motorycles today are faster than than motorcycles studied by Danforth, but it is also true that modern motorycles handle and stop better as well. There were rumored to be a number of settlements by manufacturers in suits where a new young rider was sold a superbike, only to crash and die shortly thereafter. The forerunner of all of this was an attorney in San Diego named Craig McClellan, an ex-racer who sued Porsche over the their 911 Turbo, claiming it was too dangerous in the hands of an average driver. This suit was carried by the press, and the concept was circulated in the automotive community. Now McClellan is suing Porsche over an incident that occurred at a Ferrari Club track day, in which a Porshce Carrera GT was involved in a fatal crash, killing two occupants. Again, the claim is that the car is simply too dangerous for an average driver to operate at high speed. In my mind, motorcycle manufacturers are more at risk than Porsche, for several reasons: - Motorcycles are faster than cars, at least in a straight line
- Motorcyclists have less protection than automobile drivers
- Motorcycles are less expensive, more plentiful, and are more likely to end up in the hands of inexperienced riders
- Motorcycles are far more complicated to operate and take far more training to ride safely, and
- Many motorcycle dealers do not take responsibility for fully advising new riders and seeing that they get proper training, much less responsibility for seeing that they purchase appropriate motorcycles for their experience level.
Recently, the top speed contest has heated up with the new Kawasaki, the soon to be updated Hyabusa, and Honda’s new high speed Blackbird. Obviously, a certain number of these vehicles will be sold to riders without the experience to handle them safely. How many of them will be seeking a San Francisco Motorcycle Lawyer? We’ll find out at www.Michaelpadway.com. |
