In the United States you legally need to have motorcycle insurance
to operate a motorcycle. However, some people continue to ride
motorcycles illegally without insurance while others use the cheapest
insurance they can find. Everyone knows that motorcycles are dangerous,
and yet many feel that insurance is just a way to comply with the
law, or make your mother happy. Having good motorcycle insurance
is actually for your own benefit. If you are going to pay for a
motorcycle, you might as well pay a little bit more to protect
it and yourself. While riding a motorcycle is a balance of risks
and rewards, failing to get proper insurance is just an increase
in risk without any real rewards to be attained.
Many riders assume that if they crash while on a motorcycle, they
will die. So why do they need insurance? This is totally untrue.
While the chance of a fatal crash is higher on a motorcycle than
in a car, most motorcycle accidents result in injury and damage
to the motorcycle. If you are in a minor crash while riding your
motorcycle, there is a good chance that the bike will not be operable
until repaired, and that you will sustain broken bones or road
rash. If you like riding your motorcycle, then you will surely
want it repaired as soon as possible. Without insurance you will
probably not have the funds needed to quickly repair the bike and
continue riding. Also, injuries sustained in even a minor accident
can cause you to miss work. Without insurance, do you really feel
prepared to pay medical bills and take days, weeks, or months off
of work? You can even lose your job completely. A high quality
insurance plan might cost more, but it will help you deal with
the expenses related to the crash, as well as the loss of income
you encounter.
Many riders say that every rider will fall down eventually. While
it is possible for a rider to get lucky and never have an accident
on his bike, in reality most riders at least have a minor fall.
A minor fall may not require extensive hospital bills, but having
good insurance can help you deal with the cost of repairing the
motorcycle. The HURT study found that in single-vehicle accidents
motorcyclists were injured 96% of the time. This means that even
if you go down without another vehicle hitting you, the chance
you will be hurt is close to 100%. And in multi-vehicle accidents
the injury rate jumps to 98%. Of these injuries, 45% were serious
and 55% were minor. Whether the injury is serious or not, insurance
can help cover doctor visits, leave from work, good physical rehabilitation,
and repairs to the motorcycle.
While motorcycle insurance can be expensive, you can reduce the
costs by taking additional motorcycle safety courses. There are
independent motorcycle safety courses in most sates, and the DMV
offers additional training as well. Most insurance companies offer
discounts to riders that get additional certification beyond their
motorcycle license. These savings allow you to afford better coverage
while the training itself will allow you to be safer and avoid
crashes more often.