Maryland Motorcycle Rider Dies After Accident With Pickup Truck

Police are investigating an accident in Felton, Delaware, involving a pickup truck and a motorcycle that left Maryland resident and motorcycle rider, John Bishop, 55, in critical condition on Tuesday. Police say that Bishop was riding behind the pickup truck, driven by Charles Muldrow, 57, when, at the intersection of Routes 12 and 13, the pickup slowed down because of traffic. Bishop, however, continued riding his motorcycle at the same speed and hit the back of the truck. He was transferred to Shock Trauma.

Although Bishop had been wearing a helmet at the time of the accident, he sustained a fractured skull and other injuries. He died on Wednesday. Muldrow was not hurt during the collision.

The Insurance Information Institute offers the following 2005 statistics on motorcycle accidents:

• In 2005, 4,553 people died in motorcycle crashes, up 13.0 percent from 4,028 in 2004. The 13 percent increase was the largest since 1977. 

• Motorcycle crash fatalities have increased for eight years in a row. 

• There were 5.8 million motorcycles on U.S. roads in 2004, according to latest data available, compared with 133.3 million passenger cars. Motorcycles accounted for 2.4 percent of all registered motor vehicles and 0.3 percent of vehicle miles traveled in 2004. 

• Some 88,000 motorcycles were involved in crashes in 2004.

• Motorcyclists were 34 times more likely than passenger car occupants to die in a crash in 2005, per vehicle mile traveled, and 8 times more likely to be injured. 


• The fatality rate for motorcyclists was 4.8 times the fatality rate for passenger car occupants per registered vehicle in 2004.

Injuries sustained as a result of a motorcycle accident can be life threatening—even fatal:

• Head injuries
• Spinal cord injuries
• Helmet injuries
• Neck injuries
• Burns
• Road rash
• Severed limbs
• Paralysis
• Coma
• Severed or amputated limbs
• Permanent disabilities

If you have been injured in a motorcycle accident because a car driver or someone driving another type of motor vehicle was negligent, please call the personal injury law firm of Lebowitz and Mzhen. We represent injured parties in personal injury cases in Maryland and the Washington D.C. area. If we become your legal representation, we will protect your rights and do our best to obtain for you the maximum recovery possible for your injury.

Contact Lebowitz and Mzhen today.

Felton Motorcycle Crash Turns Fatal, WBOC.com, March 28, 2007
Motorcycle Crashes, Insurance Information Institute

Related Web Resources:

Maryland Motorcycle Accidents, DMV.org
Motorcycle Safety, NHTSA

Contact Information