Motorcycle Accident Lawyers

Couple on motorcycle

Being involved in a motorcycle accident usually means that you will at least sustain moderate injuries — maybe even a hospital stay. You might assume that your bike insurance and healthcare policy will cover all of your costs, but that may not be the case. In order to get full and fair compensation, you may need to work with experienced motorcycle accident injury lawyers. Even moderate motorcycle accidents could mean time in the hospital with mounting medical bills. You may be overwhelmed with the amount of work you have to do if you try to go it alone. A motorcycle accident lawyer can facilitate your claims, speak to your doctors, talk to witnesses to your crash, and even find out if your bike is at a tow yard accruing storage fees. These already complicated tasks can be made even more difficult when you’re in a hospital or at home with injuries.

Legal representation by a personal injury law firm can help you pursue your motorcycle accident case. Call 1-800-Injured to speak with an attorney from one of the network law firms in your area.

Motorcycle Accidents by The Numbers

There are many risks inherent with motorcycles, as indicated by the 5,014 motorcycle fatalities and 89,000 injuries in the United States in 2019 as reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. For another perspective about the dangers of motorcycles, consider this statistic: in 2019, there were 59.3 fatalities per 100,000 motorcycles registered; in the same year, there were 8.78 fatalities per 100,000 light trucks and passenger vehicles registered—a nearly 7x difference.

The unfortunate reality is that many of these accidents are not caused by the motorcycle operator but rather by other drivers due to inexperience or distractions. In these cases, though, it can be relieving to know that there are tort laws in place that are intended to provide financial protection for the victim or their surviving family members.

Find A Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Near You Today

1-800-Injured provides victims of motorcycle accidents with a simple way to connect with an attorney in their area who is ready to take their case today. Contact us now to begin working with a lawyer who can help you take on the insurance companies and work towards getting the compensation you deserve. Working with an experienced motorcycle accident attorney may be more affordable than you realize because most operate on a contingency fee: unless they win your case, you don’t pay. You can discuss this in greater detail during your free consultation.

Read more about motorcycle accidents, and contact us as soon as possible to take the next step towards getting a settlement that you are truly owed with experienced legal representation. 

Common Causes of Motorcycle Accidents

The following are some of the most typical causes of motorcycle accidents but are not meant to be exhaustive. Whether or not you see your own motorcycle accident below, contact us now to connect with a law firm in your area and work with a motorcycle accident lawyer who is ready to take your case today.

Source: iihs.org

Inexperienced Drivers

When an inexperienced driver takes to the open road, they are trying to pay attention to many aspects of driving that come as second nature to an experienced driver, such as maintaining a proper speed, changing lanes with ease, and navigating an intersection. When a driver fails to notice motorcyclists around their vehicle as they make sudden maneuvers, these riders are at risk of an accident. Unfortunately, a motorcyclist is at a much greater risk of injuries than those in a vehicle because of the lack of structural protection. 

Drunk Driving

When someone decides to exceed the legal limit of 0.08% BAC for adults over 21, they are putting everyone on the road at risk of an accident. If you are involved in a motorcycle accident or have suffered the death of a loved one due to a drunk driver, you should partner with aggressive lawyers immediately to fight for the money you are entitled to recover for a range of damages.

Distracted Driving

Texting while driving, eating, applying makeup, getting something out of the back seat, or even just letting your mind wander — all of these behaviors are considered distracted driving because they take a driver’s hands off the wheel, eyes off the road, or mind off of their duties. Distracted driving is dangerous no matter what but can be especially dangerous for motorcyclists that have a lower profile and may get overlooked more easily by a distracted driver, leading to an avoidable motorcycle accident, injury, and possibly even wrongful death.

Failure to Signal a Turn

When a driver turns through an intersection or makes a lane change without a signal, they put everyone at risk of an accident injury; however, a motorcycle accident tends to be more injurious than a similar crash between two passenger vehicles, and even a low-speed collision can lead to serious injuries or even wrongful death for a motorcyclist. While riding, a trained motorcyclist knows to drive defensively to avoid these surprise maneuvers, but even the most diligent riders are at risk.

Speeding

Speed is a factor in many motorcycle accidents, attributed to both motorcyclists and passenger vehicle drivers alike. However, in an accident between a car and a motorcycle, crash statistics show that motorcyclists are 16x more likely to be killed when compared to someone in a vehicle. This is especially true at high speeds when a motorcycle injury can be even worse than if the car had been riding at a safe speed.

Proving Fault After a Motorcycle Accident

One of the first steps in any personal injury claim is to determine who is at fault for the accident, and therefore responsible for the injuries and the financial impacts that they have on the victim’s life. In order to determine who is at fault, you and your attorney may need to go through many steps of an investigation, such as gathering eyewitness accounts about the accident scene, recovering surveillance footage, and more. However, there are plenty of times where it is very clear that the other driver is at fault, meaning that you will be able to go straight into calculating a fair settlement. 

Source: NHTSA

Depending on where you live, your state may or may not use a tool known as “comparative negligence” to assign fault and allow for victims to seek compensation even if they were partially to blame for the accident. Victims, under comparative negligence, will have their final award reduced by the percent that they are responsible for the crash. However, if you are in an accident in Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, or Washington, D.C., your attorney will need to prove that your motorcycle accident was entirely the fault of the other driver, or you will be unable to seek compensation at all. Proving fault is one of the many reasons why hiring a motorcycle accident attorney as soon as possible is a good decision.

Determining Compensation In Motorcycle Accident Cases

The next step in any personal injury case after the fault has been established is to calculate fair compensation for your injuries and damages. This process is highly specific to the victim’s life, as a significant portion of the calculations hinges on things like the amount of their lost wages, medical bills, and the severity of their injuries. The following is just a general overview to give you an idea of what to expect during your own motorcycle accident case, but rest assured that motorcycle accident lawyers are skilled in these calculations and can take on this process for you.

Motorcycle helmet use has fluctuated in the past two decades, but as of 2019, it has returned to the high of 71% first reported in the year 2000.

Economic damages are the basis for a personal injury claim and are specific to the costs of your medical bills, the impacts on your income, and the costs of any supportive services that you may need to hire as you work on your recovery. Experienced motorcycle accident injury lawyers have a deep understanding of the range of damages that a victim may experience following a motorcycle crash and will work to ensure that each is included in their calculations.

It is important that each motorcycle injury is accounted for in your economic damages, and the financial impact of each injury is accurately calculated for both short-term and long-term damages. If you have suffered a motorcycle injury that will limit your ability to earn your former income or will hamper your ability to earn wage increases in the future, motorcycle accident attorneys will be able to make sense of these impacts and ensure they are presented during the insurance claims investigation.

Non-economic damages are more difficult to calculate because they attempt to assign dollar values to things such as the actual pain and suffering of your injuries, the depression that is so common for a motorcycle rider following these accidents, and impacts on your quality of life. Insurance companies like to argue these damages more aggressively since there is no established way to measure these things, but a good attorney will fight for what you deserve.

Insurance companies attempt to overlook these damages during the claims investigation, but you are entitled to recover this compensation just as much as your medical bills. When insurance companies are contacted by law firms acting as representation for motorcyclists, they understand that they will be working with a team that is aggressively working to recover adequate repayment for their clients.

Frequently Asked Questions About Motorcycle Accident Cases

Once connected with a law firm, you will be able to speak directly with a motorcycle accident lawyer who can answer the many specific questions you likely have about your motorcycle accident, injury cases, and much more. The following examples are some of the most common that injury lawyers answer during initial consultations and throughout the insurance claims process for a motorcyclist. Keep in mind that the following answers are just meant to give you a general sense of what to expect, and you should not take any of the following as legal advice.

You are under no obligation to work with an attorney while seeking compensation for your injuries; however, working with an experienced motorcycle accident lawyer may be the difference between a settlement that fairly covers the financial impacts and one that leaves you shouldering the burden of someone else’s reckless behavior. Injury lawyers have an in-depth understanding of the entire insurance claims process and leverage their experience by performing their own investigation, completing their own calculations, and then negotiating aggressively on behalf of their clients. Motorcycle injury lawyers know the intricacies of a motorcycle claim and will fight to make sure that all of your specific damages are included in negotiations.

There is no easy way to answer this question without working with a motorcycle accident lawyer, simply due to the fact that there are so many variables that go into determining a fair settlement in any injury claim. Lawyers understand how to calculate compensation based on a range of inputs, including both economic and non-economic impacts to the motorcyclist or the surviving family members in the event of a wrongful death.

After a motorcycle accident, you should not accept any offer from an insurance company without first consulting with an experienced motorcycle accident lawyer who can review your case and give you a sense of the damages you are rightfully owed. Insurance companies rely on the stress a victim feels as their medical bills mount and their income has dropped significantly in order to make a low, one-time payment that settles the case. Your attorney will go through the offer and get a better sense of what other damages you are owed for and will be able to negotiate on your behalf as you recover from your personal injury.

There are many different damages a victim is owed following an accident beyond the financial impacts of the motorcycle crash, including things like the pain and suffering of their injuries, the emotional impact of experiencing a motorcycle accident, and more. These damages can be complicated and confusing, which is why working with a motorcycle lawyer is such an important step in this long journey.

Contact 1-800-Injured Now To Connect With Proven Motorcycle Lawyers

1-800-Injured is an attorney and medical referral service that connects motorcycle accident victims with law firms and attorneys ready to take motorcycle accident cases today. Call today to be connected with motorcycle accident attorneys in your area for a free consultation and case evaluation. Once connected with an attorney, you can focus on your personal needs and recovery without the added stress of your insurance claims or legal issues. Stress is proven to have a detrimental impact on recovery from physical injuries, meaning that the sooner you have an attorney taking on this process for you, you can increase your recovery and get your life back on track sooner. 

Legal representation by a personal injury law firm can help you pursue your motorcycle accident case. Call 1-800-Injured to speak with an attorney from one of the network law firms in your area.