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2011 HD XL883N Iron 883

Matthew Dolman, Motorcycle Lawyer Clearwater, Florida

Dolman Law Group is a Clearwater based Florida motorcycle personal injury law firm. We limit our practice to claims relating to a motorcycle accident, automobile accident, catastrophic injury, wrongful death, traumatic brain injury, drunk driving related injuries, texting and driving and insurance carrier bad faith

The different models of the Harley Davidson come in full dressed models, choppers and are powerful. They are powerful enough motorcycles that police departments use them for their motorcycle officers and in the past they were used in World War I. This motorcycle has different models that have different types of engines; the first is a flathead engine, which has flat features, like the vented cylinder heads.

There is the knucklehead engine, which has valve covers that have an appearance like knuckles and then there is the panhead engine, which has cylinder heads and valves that look like pans.

Harley Knucklehead Engine

The shovelhead engine features cylinder heads that have a shovel like appearance.

Harley Davidson Shovel Head Engine

The style and the quality of the Harley is evident, which makes them the choice of riders that are not new to riding motorcycles and is often the choice of the older rider. The quality in the manufacturing of the Hog includes the latest technology and they continue improving their engines.

A motorcycle lacks the crashworthiness and features of an automobile such as airbags and seatbelts. A motorcycle itself provides absolutely no head injury protection. When a motorcycle comes to a sudden stop, ejection is the general injury causing result as its rider forcibly strikes objects in its path as well as the ground. The kinetic forces caused by the rider’s head halting instantaneously when striking another object travels directly to the brain, where the shock wave wreaks havoc on the soft matter within. Research by The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration shows the simple act of wearing a motorcycle helmet can reduce the occurrence of a traumatic brain injury by 68%. Helmets may reduce the risk of death in an accident by up to 29 percent and may reduce the severity of other injuries such as injuries to eyes, ears and face. Helmets certified by the Federal Department of Transportation reduce injuries in two stages: first, spreading the force of an impact over and across its exterior, which is constructed of a rigid thermoplastic or composite fiberglass shell. Second, a polystyrene foam liner absorbs any remaining kinetic energy, preventing it from reaching the motorcyclists’ brain, where it can cause damage.

Orthopedic surgeons, the medical specialists often relied on to treat motorcycle injuries; believe a significant reduction in fatalities and head injuries could be effectuated through the implementation of laws mandating the use of helmets by all motorcyclists. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) endorses laws mandating the use of helmets by motorcycle drivers and passengers, as well as bicyclists. The AAOS believe that issues of personal freedom should be seen in the perspective that the public incurs a major portion of the cost for injuries to motorcycle riders. Studies have examined the impact of safety helmets or helmet laws and found that helmet use reduced the fatality rate, the probability and severity of head injuries, the cost of medical treatment, the length of hospital stay, the necessity for special medical treatments and rehabilitation, and the probability of long-term disability. The government through Medicaid pays a majority of medical costs for individuals who lack health insurance.

The elimination of helmet laws in many states was based on issues involving a large number of motorcyclists’ claiming that the government infringes on their right to personal freedom. While it can be argued that the states’ laws requiring that motorcyclists be licensed to operate the vehicle are a similar invasion, the more important issue is the cost borne by the public when a motorcyclist is injured in an accident. Society must evaluate the claim of infringement on freedom versus the funding of these costs. The AAOS believes that the current diversity of state helmet laws provides too little protection for motorcycle riders and for society at large.

Even with the best prevention efforts, motorcycle crashes will occur. During a crash, the most important factor in reducing injury is personal protection for the motorcyclist. Leather jackets, gloves, trousers, proper footwear, eye protection, and helmets provide additional protection. Helmets are by far the motorcycle rider’s most important and simplest safety equipment because they protect against injuries to the head and brain. As Tampa Bay motorcycle injury attorneys, driver safety is a message we preach to our clients every day. Safe and cautious driving would prevent many easily avoidable accidents.

The brake issue increases the risk of motorcyclists being involved in an accident and the heat that could be generated by the dragging brake could cause a fire. Honda stated that the Goldwings affected were manufactured between 2001 and 2012 and are the GL1800 model. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Honda, consumers will be notified in January. Owners of the affected Goldwings will be instructed to take the bikes to Honda dealers, where mechanics will inspect and replace the secondary master cylinder free. Consumers contacting Honda for more information about the recall can use the S03, as the identifier by Honda.

Extremities, such as hands, feet, legs, and arms, are most often injured in accidents. Commonly, motorcycle drivers will of course experience lacerations and contusions. However, fractures are very common, and amputations even happen. Obviously, these injuries can have a serious effect on the life of the victim as arms and hands are necessary for many of our activities of daily living, and legs and feet are involved in success in walking and moving around.

Unfortunately, despite helmets being required equipment for anyone who mounts a motorcycle in California, many head and brain injuries still occur. In fact, serious brain trauma doesn’t even require the skull to be hit as the brain can be injured from hitting the hard interior of the skull. When trauma happens to the brain, damage is lengthy if possible to repair at all because of the way that the nervous system tries to recover. The heaviness of the head and the helmet also contribute to neck and spine injuries as the neck is relatively unprotected even with a helmet and upper body gear.

Of course, eye injuries occur when a helmet with goggles isn’t employed. Eye injuries can be temporary, or even permanent such as the loss of an eye.

After the victim is stabilized immediately following an accident, the work of healing is just begun. Victims of motorcycle accidents with even medium severity injuries, particularly musculoskeletal or brain injuries can require weeks, months, or even years of rehabilitation, maintenance, or therapy. Sometimes even psychological issues arise from the trauma of the accident itself, or brain injuries. If you or your loved one is the victim of a motorcycle accident, always take the injuries seriously. If medical testing and treatment costs seem daunting and your injuries were caused by another, hiring a personal injury attorney who specializes in motorcycle accidents can help facilitate the care you need when you need it.

This should make the fatal motorcycle accident an easy legal decision, but there are other circumstances that Sciple’s attorney believes contributed to the head-on collision that could have led to the events. Scott Sciple is a Marine known as Captain Scott Sciple, who served in both, Afghanistan and Iraq, earned three Purple Hearts and the Bronze Star for heroism. He is also a Marine that dug a mass grave for Iraqi civilians, came close to death from blood loss and suffered severe head trauma.

According to Sciple’s attorney John Fitzgibbons the traumatic head trauma and post traumatic stress disorder, caused the Marine to blackout in a dissociative episode the evening the fatal crash occurred. Sciple has pleaded not guilty in the fatal accident that happened after only arriving in Tampa two days prior to the head-on crash that occurred at approximately 4:00 a.m.

Attorney Fitzgibbons stated they believe that in the dissociative episode Sciple believed he was deployed and to further prove this, they show that a Marine Corps investigation that examined the case wrote an 860 page report with recommendations. In the report it states that the Marine Corps need to be comprehensive in evaluating and treating Marines with post traumatic stress disorder, especially those that have suffered brain injuries.

U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Col. John P. Crook, wrote in a letter dated September 26, 2010, investigators found there were vulnerabilities that are disturbing in the support that is given to combat veterans that suffer from PTSD. Col Crook went on to state that it is a grave error for the Marine’s to depend on self-diagnosis and self-reporting by Marine’s with a wounded mind.

The widow of Pedro Rivera, Carmen Rodriguez has stated to the Associated Press, she is broken-hearted that her husband has died, when she believes the Marines are partially at fault for not properly treating Sciple for PTSD or his brain injury. She does not understand why he was not properly treated and her husband had to die, leaving his wife and three stepchildren.

Attorney Fitzgibbons says it is the mental scars of combat that are to blame for the head-on collision and the detailed Marine investigation bears this out beginning with his decision after the September 11th attacks to remain in the Marines.

April of 2003 Capt. Sciple witnessed a bus full of bloody casualties and buried some of the Iraqi civilians, only to dig some of them up when their families came to claim them. The Marine was wounded in separate attacks in October 2006 and November 2007, in Iraq, while on patrol. Then in June 2009 Sciple was injured in an Iraqi rocket attack that caused him to bleed profusely and to lose consciousness, leaving rescuers to believe he was dead.

Approximately two weeks after the attack, Capt. Sciple’s command in Iraq became concerned that he could be suffering from PTSD after finding him removing sutures from his arm with a Swiss Army knife. When Scriple was assessed, the assessment showed that he had mild defects in both verbal learning and difficulty with attention. Two weeks later the Marine captain was given a neuropsychological assessment and declared cognitively fit for duty. This resulted in Sciple being sent to a California based wounded warrior battalion.

Sciple was suffering from dizzy spells, flashbacks and headaches by November 2009, which are PTSD symptoms and was drinking heavily. Family and friends say he told them to keep this quite as it could harm his Marine career and his chance to command a rifle company.

The Marines found Sciple ready for full duty and worldwide deployment in February of 2010 and within weeks was ordered to the U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base.

According to Col. Crook this disappointed Sciple, causing feelings of abandonment as he had never been to Tampa and wanted to return to his battalion in Afghanistan and this intensified the symptoms of PTSD. Scriple arrived for duty in Tampa April 23 and before reporting to his new duty station, two days later was involved in the fatal head-on collision.

Prosecutors refuse to comment on the case.

According to reports in calls to his father after the crash Sciple said he wished he had died in combat and does not understand why he did not die any of the times he was wounded. He wishes he had been, stating that it would have been honorable and an innocent man would not have been killed. Marine Captain Scott Sciple, who was born in Mobile Alabama and wanted to be a fighter pilot, but learned during officer candidate school he could not, due to a blood pressure problem, is awaiting trial where he has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in Tampa jail’s psychiatric ward. There is at least one Marine Corps. Motorcycle accident lawyer who chooses to err on the side of the Marine.

Attorney Michael Ehline, of Ehline Law Firm PC of 4445 Eastgate Mall, #200 San Diego, CA 92121 USA +619.312.6050, says that we should always err on the side of the wounded warrior who keeps us free.

The most common motorcycle fatality: The most common cause of motorcycle fatalities in accidents is head injury. Despite the fact that helmets decrease head injuries drastically, many still occur.

Motorcycle accident fatalities compared to automobile accident fatalities: Compared to fatalities in car crashes, the motorcycle accident statistics show that motorcyclists are 37 times more likely to die in an accident each year. This is shocking considering that motorcycles only comprise 2% of all registered vehicles.

Motorcycle accident fatalities are on the rise: According to national statistics, fatalities in motorcycle accidents per year have been steadily increasing since the late 1900’s. In fact, there has not been a decrease in fatalities from 1997 through 2008 for even one year. In 2004, there were over 5.7 million registered motorcycles. For that number, there were 4,008 fatalities. In other words, for every 100,000 registered motorcycles, there were 69.33 fatalities that year. While motorcycles were only 2% of all registered vehicles, they were involved in over 5% of highway fatalities alone, and 14% of all traffic accidents.

The increasing number of fatalities is not due to the increase in motorcyclists: While motorcycle registrations are increasing, the increasing fatalities were not due to the increase in numbers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) analyzes accidents in many ways, one of which includes noting the number of fatalities per 100 million miles traveled. This allows the actual rate of fatalities to be compared separate of the increasing number of bikes. The rate of fatalities per 100 million miles traveled has increased drastically from the late 1900’s into the 2000’s. The increase between 1997 and 2004 was 89%.

Alcohol use does play a part in motorcycle accident fatalities: While the majority of motorcycle accidents were due to automobile driver unawareness, 30% of motorcycle accident fatalities in 2003 involved blood alcohol content of over 0.08 g/dL according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the U.S.. While these numbers have decreased since the 1980’s, the numbers are still too high considering alcohol usage is a choice. Do not drink and drive.

Awareness can save your life: Both on and off the road, being aware of the causes of fatalities in motorcycle accidents can save your life. On the road, you may be more likely to remember that automobiles cannot necessarily see you, and keeping greater awareness can increase the likelihood that you can avoid an accident before one happens. Off the road, knowing the risks can help you prepare yourself, or your family, for possible accidents. Knowing How Many People Die in Motorcycle Accidents Each Year is important before you go riding.

If you are the family of the victim of a fatal motorcycle accident due to the negligence of another driver or entity, including highway and traffic control maintenance, Michael Ehline of Ehline Law Firm is an experienced attorney who also is a motorcyclist. In a family’s time of need, he can help you with any legal questions of cases. For your convenience, Ehline Law Firm PC has meeting locations throughout California, including Bakersfield, Palm Springs, up to Yuba City, as well as the major cities and smaller cities as well. Please call 1-888-400-9721 for his assistance or arrange a meeting at 50 Francisco Street, Suite 460 San Francisco, CA 94133 USA +1.415.684.7688.