Motorcycle riders are prone to severe accident injuries. In many situations, these accidents happen when others drive recklessly and carelessly. A driver may fall directly onto the ground with significant force, suffering debilitating injuries. Accident victims may also need to undergo serious medical procedures, including surgeries, to fully recover.
If you or someone you care about suffered injuries in a recent motorcycle accident, contact a knowledgeable motorcycle accident attorney as quickly as possible. Your lawyer can advise you on all available legal options and secure the monetary compensation you deserve for your injuries and other losses.
First, your St Louis motorcycle accident lawyer can gather the documents necessary to prove your case. They can then handle all written and oral communications with insurance company adjusters on your behalf.
If you decide to settle your case during negotiation, your attorney can prepare and finalize the necessary documents. However, if you take your case to a civil jury trial, mediation session, or binding arbitration proceeding, your lawyer can aggressively represent you and pursue the highest amount of damages available in your motorcycle accident case.
Injuries in Motorcycle Crashes
Unlike the occupants of trucks and cars, motorcyclists have a thin layer of protection in the event of an accident. Motorcyclists have no barrier between their bodies and the ground except for their helmets and other riding gear. Consequently, if the force of a motorcycle crash knocks them down, they may suffer severe injuries that leave them incapacitated for a long time.
The injuries that a motorcyclist ultimately suffers will depend on the force of the collision, the protective clothing and headgear they have on, whether they fall, and how they ultimately land.
Some of the most common injuries that motorcycle accident victims suffer include traumatic brain injuries, road rash, bruises, bone fractures, rib fractures, soft tissue neck and back injuries, internal organ damage, full and partial paralysis injuries, complete and incomplete spinal cord injuries, and death.
If you suffered any of these injuries in a recent motorcycle crash, complete your medical treatment regimen and get better. Failing to fully complete your treatment looks bad to insurance companies and makes them skeptical about the nature and extent of your injuries.
Therefore, wait for a medical provider to formally discharge you—do not discharge yourself. Additionally, completing your medical treatment regimen offers you the best chance of fully recovering from your injuries.
While you focus your attention on getting better, your motorcycle accident attorney can begin advocating for your legal interests. Specifically, your lawyer can gather important claim documents, including medical records and medical bills, and open a claim with the appropriate insurance company.
Causes of Motorcycle Accidents
Motorcycle accidents are, unfortunately, common in every U.S. state when other drivers behave negligently and recklessly.
First, some motorcycle accidents occur when other drivers are not paying attention to the road. Instead of observing the road, a driver might program a GPS device, use their hands to talk on a cellular phone, or text while driving. Some drivers may also become distracted when vehicle passengers misbehave or roughhouse. All these activities can divert a driver's attention from the road, preventing them from seeing a motorcyclist and causing a severe crash.
Next, some motorcycle accidents happen when drivers exhibit road rage. Road rage, or aggressive driving, occurs when one driver becomes frustrated with another driver. For example, the motorcyclist may not drive fast enough for the other driver's liking. As a result, the first driver may resort to horn honking and aggressive driving maneuvers, such as cutting off the motorcycle in traffic, failing to use their turn signal, or tailgating the motorcycle.
Unfortunately, when that happens, serious accidents are likely. In fact, an overly aggressive driver may bring about several collisions with other vehicles, leading to a multi-vehicle pileup.
Additionally, motorcycle accidents can happen when drivers do not follow standard procedures and traffic laws. For example, a driver might speed, fail to yield the right-of-way to a motorcyclist at the proper time, or fail to use their turn signal when switching lanes in busy highway traffic. As a result, the driver may inadvertently bring about a severe collision with a motorcycle.
Finally, some motorcycle accidents directly result from DUI or driving under the influence. Another driver is legally intoxicated if they have a blood alcohol concentration or BAC of at least 0.08 percent. Drivers under 21 and commercial drivers must follow stricter legal standards.
Intoxicated driving is hazardous because it prevents someone from driving carefully and safely.
For example, a drunk or drugged driver might suffer from impaired vision, preventing them from seeing a nearby motorcyclist or other vehicle.
Similarly, a drunk driver may experience dizziness, causing them to swerve in their travel lane, hitting a motorcyclist in an adjacent lane.
Finally, drunk driving may lead to delayed reflexes and reaction time, preventing the driver from stopping their vehicle in time to avoid a motorcycle crash.
If you or someone you love sustained injuries in a motorcycle crash resulting from another driver's negligence or carelessness, you must take the necessary legal steps immediately.
First, consult a knowledgeable motorcycle accident attorney who can explain your legal options and give you the best choices for your case and circumstances. Your attorney should work to maximize the total monetary damage award you receive in your case.
Types of Motorcycle Crashes
When people drive carelessly, they can cause several different types of motorcycle accidents.
The most common types include:
- Tailgate accidents, where the front of a vehicle hits the back tire of a motorcycle,
- Head-on collisions, where an oncoming vehicle strikes the front of a motorcycle, usually because the at-fault driver is intoxicated or fails to watch the road attentively
- Broadside or T-bone accidents, where the front of a vehicle hits the side of a motorcycle, usually because the at-fault driver fails to properly yield the right-of-way to the cyclist at a traffic intersection
- Sideswipe accidents, where the side of a vehicle brushes against the side of a motorcycle while both vehicles travel in the same direction
If you suffered injuries in one of these motorcycle crashes, retain trusted legal representation immediately. Your attorney can handle every step of the process and file a claim with the at-fault driver's insurer.
How Can a Motorcycle Accident Attorney Assist with Your Case?
If you recently sustained injuries in a motorcycle crash that another driver caused, you seek legal guidance as quickly as possible. The earlier you retain legal counsel to represent you in your case, the better your chances of obtaining a favorable monetary settlement or litigation result.
A skilled motorcycle crash lawyer in your area can gather evidence, negotiate with claims adjusters, and, if necessary, litigate your case. Your attorney can also represent you at various litigation proceedings to secure the best possible result in your personal injury claim or lawsuit.
Gathering Important Documents To Prove Your Claim
Your motorcycle accident lawyer can collect everything necessary to prove your case. To successfully recover monetary compensation as part of a motorcycle claim or lawsuit, you must establish several legal elements of proof.
First, you must demonstrate that another driver deviated from the applicable standard of care under the circumstances. In other words, they must have violated one or more traffic laws, such as speeding or failing to yield the right-of-way. Additionally, you must demonstrate that the accident and your physical injuries directly resulted from the motorcycle crash.
To support these legal elements of proof, your attorney can gather various documents and retain one or more experts who can testify in your case. Vital documents that your lawyer may use to meet your legal burden of proof include medical treatment records, medical bills, expert evaluations and reports, lost-wage documentation from your employer if you are pursuing a lost-wage claim, photographs of your injuries, property damage photographs, and photographs of the accident scene.
Once your lawyer gathers these documents, they will assemble them into a settlement demand package and forward them, along with a settlement demand letter, to the insurance company adjuster handling your claim. The adjuster will then evaluate these documents and may begin the settlement negotiation process with your attorney.
Negotiating with the Insurance Company on Your Behalf
Your motorcycle crash attorney can also handle the settlement negotiation process. Specifically, your lawyer can handle all oral and written communications with insurance company adjusters and advocate aggressively for your legal interests.
In the settlement demand letter, your lawyer will make an opening demand for a monetary settlement. However, the insurance company adjuster will likely come back with a much lower offer. Insurance companies, after all, are not truly interested in compensating accident victims for their injuries. Instead, they want to resolve a motorcycle accident claim as quickly and cheaply as possible.
Your attorney can zealously advocate on your behalf and negotiate with the insurance company adjuster assigned to your case. If the adjuster increases their offer significantly, then you may accept the offer, and the case will be over. However, if the insurance company refuses to fairly compensate you for your injuries, your lawyer can file a lawsuit and litigate your case in state court on your behalf.
Litigating Your Case Through the State Court System
Litigation begins when a lawyer files a lawsuit in the court system on behalf of the accident victim. During litigation, the parties will typically engage in both written and oral discovery. During the written discovery portion, the parties will answer interrogatories and continue exchanging documents.
During discovery, the defense attorney will likely take the motorcycle accident victim's deposition, asking them various questions about the accident, how it occurred, the injuries they suffered, and the effects the accident has had on their life and well-being. Your attorney can thoroughly prepare you for your deposition and anticipate the questions a defense attorney will likely ask.
Aggressively Representing You in Legal Proceedings
In addition to representing you at your discovery deposition, your motorcycle accident attorney can represent you at other litigation proceedings, including your civil jury trial. Your case may go to trial if it has not resolved beforehand.
During a trial, your lawyer can introduce evidence on your behalf, call witnesses supporting your case, introduce expert testimony, and make a favorable closing argument. The jury will then decide what, if any, monetary compensation to award you for your motorcycle accident injuries.
Instead of taking your case to trial, your lawyer can recommend various alternative dispute resolution, or ADR, proceedings. For example, a neutral mediator helps facilitate ongoing settlement discussions between the parties at a mediation session. However, at a binding arbitration hearing, an arbitrator hears the parties' evidence and determines the amount of monetary damages to award the motorcycle accident victim.
Throughout the process, your lawyer can answer all your legal questions, address your concerns, and advise you to make both intelligent and informed decisions in your case.
Contact a Motorcycle Accident Lawyer in Your Area Right Away
If you recently sustained injuries in a motorcycle crash, you need to involve a skilled motorcycle accident attorney in your case as soon as possible. Your lawyer will take on every step of the process, file a claim or lawsuit on your behalf, and pursue the maximum amount of monetary compensation you deserve from the insurance company, including monetary damages for your related medical expenses, lost earnings, inconvenience, pain and suffering, and mental distress.
Time is limited to take legal action, so do not wait to begin protecting your legal rights and future. Seek a free case evaluation today.
