Motorcyclists are 35 times more likely to experience a deadly accident on the road than those in passenger cars, and 11 percent of all roadway accidents that occur in the United States involve motorcycles, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Many riders think, “That will never happen to me.” But what if it does? Are you insured? If you are injured, would you or your family be able to afford the many expensive medical bills that seem to pile up when treating injuries relating to a motorcycle accident?
Denver personal injury attorney Scott O’Sullivan says, “[In a motorcycle accident], what happens if you are permanently hurt or even temporarily injured? It doesn’t matter if it’s your fault. Even something as simple as road rash can take days or weeks to heal and, depending on your line of work, that could be devastating to your financial situation.”
Scott O’Sullivan and his team are more than willing to help – they’re doing something about it. The O’Sullivan Law Firm is teaming up with BikerDown.org, a nonprofit organization that supports injured motorcyclists and their families by offering Aflac insurance scholarships to motorcyclists.
BikerDown.org was founded in 2011 by Laurie Easton, a motorcycle rider herself. She founded BikerDown after she witnessed a motorcycle accident where several of her fellow riders went down. There were 12 motorcycles on the road, and believe it or not, none of the riders had a first aid kit, their cell phones didn’t work, and they were all in quite a predicament. Making matters worse, some of the riders didn’t have any insurance.
Unfortunately, one of the motorcyclists ended up losing her job, and she didn’t have insurance to cover her medical expenses from the accident. BikerDown was born from Easton’s frustration in knowing this could have been prevented with proper insurance – and knowing how easy it would have been for the bikers to protect themselves before an accident occurred.
“As bikers, it feels like we are constantly doing fundraising rides for each other to help with medical expenses,” Easton said. “Bikers are the most generous people in the world! But we wouldn’t have to do this if we all had disability insurance like Aflac.”
Laurie came up with a way to make sure motorcyclists would be aware of the importance of having insurance and would have affordable insurance options in order to make sure that their families, and the riders themselves, were covered.
BikerDown.org is a nonprofit organization that supports injured motorcyclists and their families by offering Aflac insurance for only $35 a month. This insurance includes roadside assistance, services related to the accident, medical equipment, and financial advice to help victims keep creditors at bay while the injured focus on their recovery and getting their lives back. The Alfac insurance policies even cover services to provide emotional support to family members of injured or killed riders.
Scott O’Sullivan has a deep respect for BikerDown’s mission and wanted to get involved, saying, “BikerDown is seriously concerned about helping bikers and making sure that they are properly insured.”
That’s why The O’Sullivan Law Firm is teaming up with BikerDown.org and will offer two $10 scholarships each month—which will bring the membership fee down to just $25 for two motorcyclists.
Scott O’Sullivan will also bring much-needed skills to the 2-year-old organization by being an active member of the organization’s board of directors to help with marketing and fundraising for the endowment.
According to Easton, “We bikers have a culture of ‘It’s not going to happen to me.’ They don’t want me to be Debbie Downer or jinx them by talking about accidents. But I’m getting more and more calls from people who may not have listened a year ago and, after an accident, they’re calling me up.”
“We’re changing the culture to proactive riding,” Easton added.
“Scott showed me that he has a tremendous amount of compassion for injured riders,” she said. “He feels, as I do, that it is our humanitarian responsibility to help one another.”