Background
When a commercial delivery truck made a left turn into a business driveway in front of a motorcycle, the motorcycle rider responded with a brake application that caused the rider to be ejected from the motorcycle, onto the roadway. The rider then slid into the right side of the truck resulting in their death. Rimkus was retained to analyze the accident, discuss the motorcycle rider standard of care, and perform demonstrative testing to help provide insight into what happened and how the crash could have been avoided.
Services Provided
From the roadway evidence, Rimkus Transportation experts determined that the rider responded to the truck’s turn with an inappropriate and incorrect rear brake only application resulting in locking the rear tire of the motorcycle. After this, the rider released the rear brake while still in motion, which resulted in a loss of control that ended with the rider being ejected forward from the motorcycle saddle. The rider slid into the right side of the commercial truck, behind the axle, and died a few hours later.
Expert analysis determined that the motorcyclist was traveling approximately 10 mph over the posted 25-mph speed limit. Our consultants also determined that even speeding above the posted speed limit, had the rider applied the motorcycle’s brakes correctly, the collision would not have occurred.
To address additional concerns that a jury would not believe that the motorcycle could stop in the distances calculated by our expert, we completed the following steps:
- Our team flew to the location and rented a motorcycle similar to the subject motorcycle.
- We disabled the anti-lock braking system (ABS) on the rented motorcycle (to simulate the same brake system as the subject motorcycle).
- With the roadway completely closed and a traffic control plan in place, we then completed eight runs at the crash site.
- We performed demonstrative test runs beginning at 25 mph, increasing to 35 mph, and eventually reaching approximately 45 mph on the last run to demonstrate that, if ridden correctly, the crash would not happen even at speeds higher than the posted speed limit.
- On one run, our expert intentionally locked up the rear wheel and rode the motorcycle to a stop with the rear wheel locked to demonstrate that a rider can remain in control of a motorcycle with a locked and skidding rear tire.
Results
The work performed by the Transportation team was supported by our Visual Media and Technology experts, who transformed the video results of the testing into clear, compelling, and scientifically sound visual exhibits. This demonstrative evidence, produced by the comprehensive Rimkus team, was ultimately helpful in settling this large liability case before it reached trial.
Check out an overview of the case study below.