Scooter rider hit by left-turning vehicle

Last week in Urbana, a 40-year man was injured while riding his motor scooter when he was struck by an oncoming driver who decided to make a left hand turn in front of him.  He was taken to the hospital by ambulance and was diagnosed a suffering a broken leg.  The left-turning driver claimed that she was unable to see the scooter due to the setting sun.  She was ticketed for failure to yield the right-of-way.

Many accidents involving motorcycles and motor scooters are the result of the driver of a car failing to see the motorcycle.  The most common result of this is the car driver pulling away from a stop sign or driveway or making a left-hand turn in front of an oncoming motorcyclist, all of which can result in serious injuries or fatalities.

According to the landmark study of motorcycle crashes known as the Hurt Report, the number one cause of motorcycle crashes in multi-vehicle accidents is the failure of a passenger vehicle to yield the right of way to a motorcycle by turning left in front of the motorcycle or emerging from a stop sign or driveway in front of the motorcycle.  The Hurt Report was published in 1981, but its author confirms that its basic findings are true even today.