Motorcycles have been a popular sort of transportation for at least a hundred years. The first motorcycle of any kind was devised in the United States in 1867 by a man named Sylvester Howard Roper, although it ran on by steam, not petroleum. As with early automobiles, it took German engineers to come up with a two-wheeled vehicle that would run on petroleum.

In 1885, Gottleib Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach designed what was in effect a motorized bicycle, but that was enough! By 1894, motorcycles were built for purchase by the public and the love affair began. In countries all over the world, people found motorcycles to be an efficient, cost-effective, and definitely enjoyable means of transportation.

With the soaring cost of fuel, motorcycles are becoming even more in demand, as they generally get significantly better gas mileage than four-wheeled vehicles. However, the frequent occurrence of accidents is is a sobering result. Motorcycles have always been involved in an uneven number of crashes in comparison to the number of car accidents, and the injuries sustained tend to be more often life-threatening. There are four times as many fatal motorcycle accidents as there are car accidents.

Therefore, it pays to wear a helmet, keep your tires well-maintained, to completely avoid drinking alcohol before riding, and to educate yourself on motorcycle safety. If, despite all your best efforts, you have a wreck, you need to know what to do. Collecting the proper information from the other driver involved is critical, as is getting checked out by a doctor, even if you cannot tell that anything is wrong. Reporting any accident to your insurance company is advisable, but as far as the hassle of trying to collect your settlement is concerned, it is often wise to seek the help of a motorcycle lawyer.

Motorcycle lawyers know all the ins and outs of dealing with insurance companies and courts, and they can usually get a greater settlement for you. Best of all, when you hand over everything to a lawyer, you do not have to suffer the annoyances and red tape that go along with any accident settlement. With a lawyer who only charges a fee after the settlement of a case, it really makes good sense to let someone else fight for you.