"Motorcycles Are Hard to See" The “I Didn’t See Him” Defense

The Motorcycle Legal Minute™ was created by Jason Waechter, THE Motorcycle Lawyer, to explain Michigan’s motorcycle law in a short and easy to understand way.

I’ve had defense attorneys argue in court, “Motorcycles are hard to see.”  They say this when their negligent client causes a motorcycle accident and says, “I didn’t see him.”

One attorney referenced some scientific study about how the human brain processes - or fails to process - information. They suggest a person fails to notice things that are unexpected, even if they are in plain sight.

They gave this phenomenon a name: Inattentional Blindness. The defense attorney said that this inattentional blindness was the cause of these “looked-but-failed-to-see” motorcycle crashes.

What?

You know what I say?  Hell to the no!

They put a fancy name on it, so what? It’s an explanation, not a valid legal defense. The negligent car driver still has a duty to see what is there to be seen. He has a duty to make sure it is clear and safe before pulling out or turning across traffic.

You know, car drivers are actually required to ‘watch for motorcycles.’ They were taught this in Drivers Ed and, every time they renew their license at the Secretary of State’s office, they are reminded of it.

There are 250,000 registered motorcycles in Michigan. You see one on every nice day.

Here is an example of how asinine their argument is. It’s the same as if scientists did a study and found most neighbor-to-neighbor shootings have to do with the shooter being drunk and having access to a firearm when an argument breaks out. “We call this phenomenon Angry Neighbor Syndrome.”

Well okay, there’s a fancy name that may explain it, BUT, you are still not allowed to shoot someone! When a car driver fails to see what is plainly there to be seen, they are 100% liable for all the harm they cause.