Perhaps the most important reasons why you need to get motorcycle insurance is that it’s a legal requirement if you want to register your motorcycle. This is a mandatory condition for virtually every state in the US. The exceptions are Washington and Florida, yet even in those states motorcycle riders are well-advised to get some insurance anyway. The possibility of financial devastation should any accident occur is just too harrowing to contemplate.
Of course, some motorcycle riders don’t even think about that sort of possibility. But you have to. The truth is that accidents involving motorcycles are simply too possible, and here are some facts that can’t be denied.
- You don’t have a steel cage and a crumple zone to protect you. That makes you inherently vulnerable to injuries even from seemingly minor accidents. With minor car accidents and fender benders, you can walk away from it unscratched. That’s not true when you ride a motorcycle, as injuries occur in 96% of the accidents involving just your vehicle. When the accident involves another vehicle, the chances of getting injured jumps to 98%. In 45% of these accidents, the injuries were considered “serious” as well.
- You also don’t wear seatbelts that keep in place. So you can hurl from your motorcycle unlike car drivers. It’s a problem when you hit a wall, another car, a pedestrian, or even an animal. The consequences of this sort of accident are much more serious for motorcycle riders.
- Cars have 4 wheels, so they’re very stable. That’s not the same with motorcycles and their 2 wheel, so apparently minor problems for car drivers become major concerns for motorcycle drivers. With a car, you can run over a major pothole or a sizable rock on the road and the most you risk is some damage to the car. With a motorcycle, you’re more likely to fall and get hurt because of the same issues.
- If you’re driving a car and suddenly you get a flat tire, it’s possible that you may lose some control over your vehicle. But usually you can retain enough control so you can safely pull over to the side of the road. With a motorcycle, suddenly having your front tire get a puncture can result in you going topsy-turvy all over.
- Another major advantage of driving a 4-wheeled vehicle is that you’re much more visible to other drivers and pedestrians. With a motorcycle, not so much. In fact, the leading cause of motorcycle accidents is that the drive of a 4-wheeled vehicle didn’t see the motorcycle they hit before it was too late.
- Just because the weather is fine doesn’t automatically make it a lot safer for your 2-wheeled vehicle. Actually, bad weather factors in only in 2% of all motorcycle accidents. In the rest of the accidents the weather was just fine.
- Many insurance experts agree that the more miles you log on your vehicle, the more likely you’ll get into an accident. That’s why these insurers prefer to ensure people who don’t drive that often. But surprisingly, most motorcycle accidents happen not on long journeys but on short trips for errands or when riding for fun.
- Even fatigue isn’t a major cause of motorcycle accidents. In a lot of the time, the accident actually happens at start of the ride instead of later on when the motorcycle driver gets tired.
- Just because you don’t speed up on your motorcycle doesn’t automatically make it safer for you either. Actually, motorcycle speeds during accidents are less than 30 mph.
This is actually a top 10 list, except that the first good reason to get motorcycle insurance is that the law requires it. But even if it doesn’t—common sense requires it too. So be sensible, and protect yourself as much as you can with proper insurance coverage.