Attorney says contractors must be bike-minded

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Harley enthusiast and attorney Jason Abraham wants the state to require contractors to erect signs warning bikers when they approach street construction work.

Cars can simply roll over uneven pavement and loose gravel, but those conditions pose dangerous risks to bikers, said Abraham, owner of Hupy and Abraham S.C., Milwaukee.

“(Loose gravel) is a big hazard,” he said. “You can be the most careful motorcyclist in the world, and if you come upon loose gravel on a roadway, it’s a flip of a coin.”

The Federal Highway Administration sets the baseline standards for construction site signage, and the federal manual doesn’t require anything for motorcycles, said Tom Notbohm, Wisconsin Department of Transportation traffic engineer of design. The rules tell builders to post warnings about uneven lanes and low shoulders, and it makes contractors post loose gravel warnings if there’s a strip of road with gravel instead of paving.

The administration, in its latest proposed revision to its signage rules, suggested requiring signs that would have the image of a motorcycle and rider in profile next to warnings for grooved pavement or metal bridge decks. It noted that states with their own motorcycle rules use a variety of symbols, but it’s preferable to have standard icons nationwide.

“I know it’s a concern nationally,” Notbohm said. “I don’t think we’ve had unusual issues in Wisconsin.”

Abraham said courts can find contractors liable for bike-related accidents at project sites, but it’s an uphill battle for plaintiffs. Most defense attorneys, in an effort to show a site is not dangerous, point to the thousands of cars that pass by a project without trouble.

Motorcycle accidents at construction sites due to uneven pavement or gravel are more common than most assume, Abraham said, but some cases stand out.

“I’ve been on a case where a motorcyclist went into a construction site and there was a hole,” he said. “And because the signage wasn’t right and the barrels weren’t in the right place, the motorcycle just went into the hole.”

Abraham said his law firm spent years lobbying state government to adopt motorcycle signage rules, and would continue to focus on the local level since it’s more difficult to enact change in the federal government.

Notbohm said the latest version of the federal signage standards, which may include the new motorcycle sign rules, probably won’t be official until 2009 and 2010.

Abraham said he understands the work contractors do is important, but he implored builders to be conscious of the risks gravel or a two-inch lip in pavement creates for bikers.

“Be cautious,” he said. “And think about motorcyclists when they’re doing the job that they’re doing.”