When compared with occupants of cars and trucks, motorcyclists are at an extreme disadvantage in a collision scenario. Unlike the occupants of larger vehicles, cyclists have direct exposure to their surrounding environment, including the ground, which is likely concrete or macadam.
In addition, motorcyclists do not have a physical barrier between themselves and the ground. If they strike the ground forcefully in a crash, they are likely to suffer debilitating and sometimes fatal injuries.
If you suffered injuries in a motorcycle crash that resulted from another person’s negligence, you might recover various monetary damages via a personal injury claim or lawsuit in the court system. However, to maximize the financial recovery you receive, you should have skilled legal counsel on board in your case.
A lawyer can file a claim on your behalf and negotiate with insurance company representatives, pursuing the highest amount of compensation available. In addition, your lawyer can represent you at a courtroom hearing, such as a civil jury trial, and advocate for your legal interests there.
Throughout the process, your motorcycle accident lawyer can address all of your legal concerns and help you make informed and intelligent decisions throughout your case, including whether or not to accept a pending settlement offer. Your lawyer will do everything they can to maximize your final monetary award, ensuring that you receive the total compensation you deserve for your accident-related injuries and other losses.
Causes of Motorcycle Crashes
Motorcycle crashes typically occur when other people drive carelessly and negligently. At other times, these crashes result from defective motorcycle parts and defective roadway conditions.
First, drivers have a duty to drive in a safe and careful manner at all times. Part of this duty of care involves following all traffic regulations and signage. When drivers deviate from their legal duty of care, they are more likely to cause a severe accident, including one that involves a motorcycle.
Some of the most common ways that negligent drivers cause accidents with motorcycles include:
- Fatigued driving
- Speeding
- Failing to yield the right-of-way to other vehicles
- Failing to use turn signals when making a lane change
- Distracted driving
- Aggressive driving
- Intoxicated driving (DUI) or operating a vehicle while under the illegal influence of alcohol or drugs
At other times, motorcycle accidents happen because of faulty motorcycle parts, such as handlebars, steering components, and braking systems. Product manufacturers have a duty to exercise reasonable care when manufacturing and designing their products, and they must also make reasonable efforts to sufficiently test their products before making them available for sale to the public.
When a motorcycle part malfunctions while a rider is out on the road, it may result in a single-vehicle motorcycle crash, leading to severe injuries. In that instance, the accident victim may pursue a legal claim against the motorcycle part manufacturer, distributor, or other entity in the chain of product distribution.
Finally, some motorcycle crashes happen because of defective roadway conditions, including deep potholes, cracks, or groove pavement, which dislodge a rider from their motorcycle and cause them to land forcefully on the ground.
Roadway defects are often the fault of construction companies and municipalities that fail to maintain area roadways in a reasonably safe condition. If a cyclist suffers injuries in a motorcycle accident that results from a roadway defect, they may take legal action against the responsible construction company or municipality.
However, when it comes to municipalities, short statutory notice provisions often apply. Therefore, you should seek the legal help that you need right away. Your lawyer can take prompt action in your case by providing the required notice to the municipality, thereby safeguarding your right to recover the monetary compensation you deserve from the at-fault municipality or other potential defendants.
Injuries in a Motorcycle Collision
When a motorcyclist hits the ground with a significant amount of force, they are likely to suffer severe and sometimes permanent physical injuries. The injuries that a cyclist suffers will depend upon how the motorcycle crash occurred, the speeds of the vehicles, the amount of force involved, and how the cyclist hits the ground during the collision.
When a motorcyclist falls to the ground and hits their head on the pavement, they may suffer traumatic head or brain injuries, such as a concussion or coma. These injuries are common in motorcycle accidents, even when cyclists wear the necessary helmets and other protective gear.
Moreover, if a cyclist strikes their head, neck, or back on the pavement, they may sustain a bone fracture, spinal cord injury, or paralysis. As a result of scraping the ground or being dragged along the ground, a cyclist may suffer a road rash injury or deep laceration that requires stitches.
Other potential injuries in motorcycle crashes include:
- Rib fractures
- Soft tissue injuries
- Internal organ damage
- Internal bleeding
- Death
If you suffered any of these injuries in a recent motorcycle crash that someone else caused, you should seek the medical help that you need sooner rather than later. Before doing anything else, you should follow up at a hospital emergency room or urgent care facility for treatment. At the facility, a medical provider can order X-rays and MRIs for you, diagnose your medical condition, and develop a treatment plan.
As part of that plan, you may need to consult with other medical providers, including an orthopedist, neurologist, or physical therapist. You may also need to consult with your primary care doctor if you have one.
While you attend your medical appointments and recover from your injuries, a knowledgeable motorcycle crash lawyer in your area can start advocating for you. Your lawyer can begin to gather your medical records, lost income documents, police reports, and other evidence to use in your case. Your lawyer can then file a claim on your behalf with the appropriate insurance company, such as the at-fault driver’s insurer, and begin pursuing the full monetary recovery you deserve for your injuries.
Recoverable Monetary Damages after a Motorcycle Crash
Victims of severe motorcycle crashes may recover monetary compensation and damages, assuming they can prove the legal elements of their personal injury claim or lawsuit.
First, they must demonstrate that the responsible party owed them a legal duty of care they subsequently violated. For example, another driver might have acted unreasonably under the circumstances by speeding, exhibiting road rage, or operating their vehicle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Next, the accident victim must show that as a direct result of the other person or entity’s negligence, the accident occurred, which in turn led to the accident victim’s physical injuries and damages.
Since every motorcycle accident case is different, the types and amounts of monetary recovery that an accident victim receives will depend upon the severity of their injuries, the circumstances surrounding their accident, and whether or not they missed time from work due to their injuries.
Monetary damages that motorcycle collision victims can recover from the at-fault party’s insurance company include financial compensation for their:
- Lost earnings, if they had to miss time from work to recover from their injuries and attend medical and physical therapy appointments
- Loss of earning capacity, if they had to switch jobs and take a pay cut because of the injuries they suffered in their accident
- Inconvenience
- Mental distress and emotional anguish
- Past/future physical pain and suffering
- Loss of spousal companionship and consortium
- Loss of the ability to use a body part, such as when an accident victim suffers a spinal cord injury or full/partial paralysis injury
- Loss of enjoyment of life
In addition, if a cyclist suffers fatal injuries in an accident, surviving family members may recover wrongful death damages. Those damages may include monetary compensation for burial and funeral expenses, loss of the decedent’s future income (if they depended on the decedent for financial support), and loss of the decedent’s future comfort, companionship, and care due to the decedent’s untimely death.
A knowledgeable motorcycle crash lawyer in your area can determine which of these damages you can realistically and successfully pursue in your motorcycle accident claim or lawsuit. Your lawyer can then set about helping you recover the monetary damages you need for the injuries and other losses you suffered.
How Can a Lawyer Help after a Motorcycle Accident?
Hiring an experienced lawyer to represent you throughout your motorcycle accident claim is one of the most critical steps that you can and should take. First, your lawyer can meet with you to discuss the circumstances surrounding your motorcycle crash and determine if you are eligible to file a personal injury claim in the first place
If you can, your lawyer can begin gathering the necessary evidence to prove your claim, including:- Medical treatment records
- Lost income documentation
- Income tax returns if you are asserting a lost income claim or a claim for loss of earning capacity
- Photographs of your injuries
- Police reports
- Witness statements
- Pictures of the accident scene
- Property damage photographs
After an accident your lawyer can then submit these documents to the insurance company adjuster handling your claim and encourage the adjuster to accept fault for your accident. If the adjuster accepts liability in the case, they may place an initial settlement offer on the table for your review.
One of the most critical ways that motorcycle accident lawyers help accident victims is by negotiating favourable settlement offers with insurance company adjusters. Especially when it comes to first-time settlement offers, insurance companies are likely to offer very little compensation to resolve a motorcycle accident claim. This is true even in cases where motorcyclists suffer significant and permanent injuries.
Insurance companies have a strong incentive to offer as little monetary compensation as possible to settle claims and lawsuits. After all, insurance companies can stand to lose a significant amount of money if they have to pay out a large personal injury settlement, arbitration award, or jury verdict. These companies only make money when they collect premiums from their insureds. Therefore, most insurance companies will do everything possible to avoid a sizeable monetary payout in a motorcycle accident claim.
Your personal injury lawyer can aggressively negotiate with the insurance company on your behalf and encourage them to increase their settlement offer. If that does not happen, your lawyer can prepare a draft lawsuit and threaten the insurance company with litigation in the court system.
If your lawyer has to file a lawsuit in your case, they can assist you with every step of litigation, including:
- Drafting answers to written Interrogatories
- Preparing you for your deposition
- Attending a settlement conference with you
- Advocating for you at a civil jury trial or binding arbitration hearing
Along the way, your lawyer can answer all of your legal questions and help you achieve the best possible result in your motorcycle accident case.
Contact an Experienced Motorcycle Accident Lawyer in Your Area Right Away
If you recently sustained injuries in a motorcycle accident, your first priority should be obtaining the medical treatment that you need. Your next step should be contacting a skilled motorcycle accident lawyer in your area to advocate for you. You should remember that claimants who are represented by an experienced lawyer receive more compensation than those who are not.
A lawyer can be beneficial to your case from the very beginning until the end. Your lawyer can first help you gather claim documents and file a claim with the appropriate insurance company. During settlement negotiations, your lawyer can aggressively field settlement offers on your behalf and push the insurance company adjuster for more money.
Finally, if the insurance company refuses to take your case seriously and offers you the fair damages that you deserve, your lawyer can litigate your motorcycle accident case to a conclusion in the court system.
If your case must go to court, your personal injury lawyer in Edmonton can represent you at all legal proceedings, introduce the appropriate evidence on your behalf, and bring your case to an efficient and successful resolution.
