Driver negligence can come in many forms, and any one of them can lead to a serious motorcycle accident. When you’re on your bike, you strike a much lower profile on the road than do motorists in passenger cars, and this leaves you far more vulnerable to serious injuries. Further, your motorcycle doesn’t have the protective shell that cars do to help buffer you from any impact that ensues. None of this, however, mitigates a motorist’s responsibility to drive safely, to adhere to the rules of the road, and to safely accommodate for motorcyclists like you who share the road. Driver negligence can include: Distraction – Distracted driving is becoming a scourge on our roadways. The meteoric rise of smartphone usage has been of particular concern. Many motorists can’t seem to—or simply won’t—put their phones away when they’re behind the wheel, and these drivers make our highways more dangerous for everyone who travels on them. When a driver is connecting with his or her phone, his or her thoughts, vision, and hands are all engaged in that effort, and this leaves the driver extremely distracted. Distracted drivers pose a real threat to motorcyclists. Impairment – No one should operate a motorcycle or get behind the wheel when under the influence of alcohol, but some motorists continue to make this dangerous choice. Impaired drivers are dangerous drivers that should not be on the road in the first place. Exhaustion – The negative effects of having too little sleep can be significant. You know how difficult it is to successfully accomplish a task when you’re feeling drowsy, and this effect also applies to driving. Drowsy drivers shouldn’t take to the road until they’ve obtained the rest they require. This is the very reason that professional drivers, such as truck drivers and bus drivers, are held to very tight hours-of-service restrictions. Aggression – You know an aggressive driver when you see one—that driver who is swerving in and out of traffic, speeding excessively, and tailgating all at the same time. In fact, aggressive driving is usually categorized as driving that incorporates a variety of dangerous practices in one excursion. Excessive speed, however, is the hallmark of aggressive driving. And unfortunately, excessive speed closely correlates with fatal traffic accidents. Again, negligent drivers come in all different forms, but they’re all dangerous.