“Risk compensation” is the concept that people generally have some inborn tolerance for taking risks, and that as their perceptions of increased safety from enhanced safety measures rises, they will feel less vulnerable to injury and take greater risks that compensate for the enhanced safety precautions. Our Galveston motorcycle injury lawyers point out that in effect, greater security might lead to greater recklessness.

So some safety devices like seatbelts might have the adverse effect of causing drivers to take greater and more dangerous risks than they would have otherwise. And these greater risks have the chance then of over-compensating for the safety features and leading to more injuries or fatalities.

Human Risk Compensation Behaviors

Our Galveston motorcycle injury lawyers note that those who study human behavior and safety issues in all areas of life have observed human risk compensation behaviors:

• Seat-belted drivers might drive faster or take more chances than drivers without seat-belts.
• Motorcyclists with helmets and full protective gear might drive faster, take faster turns, and be less careful of other traffic than un-helmeted riders in ordinary clothing.
• Improved parachute ripcords lead confident skydivers to open their parachutes too late.
• Stronger levees and the availability of government disaster relief leads people to move increasingly into dangerous flood plains and to remain there without evacuating even when they’re directly in the path of cataclysmic storms.
• Children with helmets and pads engage in rougher sports play than children without them.
• People with a lawyer on retainer might be tempted to disregard the law believing that their lawyer can spring them out of any sort of legal trouble.
• And hikers conscious of the presence of on-call rescue squads take more risks than hikers who feel they’re on their own.

Galveston Motorcycle Injuries

Our Galveston motorcycle injury lawyers caution that risk compensation is a highly dangerous behavior. If you even slightly over-compensate for the security provided by your additional safety measures, you might find yourself with more injuries or even a fatality that you would have avoided without the safety features to make you overconfident.

Don’t allow the presence of safety equipment of precautions to tempt you into dangerous risks. The Galveston motorcycle injury lawyers at Denena & Points remind you that your best course if you want to avoid injury or untimely death is always to avoid unnecessary risks.

Injured in a Galveston Motorcycle Accident?

And if you’re injured in a motorcycle accident and you need help, feel free to contact our experienced Galveston motorcycle injury lawyers for a free and confidential legal consultation. We’ve been helping injured bikers to successfully obtain financial relief for their grievous injuries for more than 12 years. Our extensive skill and knowledge regarding motorcyclists’ injury issues could benefit you too. Call today at (713) 807-9500 or use our convenient online contact form to schedule your case evaluation/consultation today.