Motorcycle accidents can lead to debilitating and sometimes deadly physical injuries. These accidents often happen when other drivers fail to follow standard traffic laws and drive carelessly and recklessly.
If you were recently in a motorcycle crash, obtain medical treatment for your injuries and consult a skilled motorcycle accident lawyer in your area as soon as possible after your accident. Never represent yourself after a motorcycle crash, especially when dealing with insurance companies and their adjusters.
A knowledgeable San Antonio motorcycle accident attorney can handle all the legal components of your case. At the same time, you focus your attention on recovering from your injuries and getting the medical treatment you need.
Specifically, your lawyer can gather reports and evidence on your behalf, file a claim with the at-fault driver's insurance company, negotiate with insurance company adjusters, and litigate your case in the court system if necessary.
Your attorney will also address your legal concerns, answer your questions, and help you make important decisions in your case.
Injuries That Motorcyclists May Suffer in an Accident
Motorcyclists frequently suffer severe injuries. Motorcyclists do not have an outer barrier between their body and the pavement except for their helmets and other motorcycle gear. If they strike the pavement, they may suffer permanent and, in some cases, fatal injuries.
Some of the most frequent injuries that motorcycle accident victims suffer include road rash, broken bones, soft tissue injuries, rib fractures, mouth and teeth injuries, traumatic head and brain injuries, spinal cord damage, complete and incomplete paralysis injuries, internal organ damage, internal bleeding, and eye injuries.
While you focus on obtaining the medical treatment you need and recovering from your post-accident injuries, your motorcycle accident lawyer can start advocating for you. Specifically, your lawyer can assemble a settlement demand package on your behalf and file that package with the insurance company once your medical treatment is over.
Categories of Motorcycle Crashes
Motorcycle crashes come in all shapes and sizes, depending upon the accident circumstances.
When drivers behave negligently, they may bring about any of the following types of motorcycle accidents:
- Rear-end accidents, where the front part of a vehicle hits the back tire of a motorcycle
- Broadside or T-bone accidents, where the front of a vehicle hits the side of a motorcycle that is traveling on an intersecting road
- Sideswipe accidents, where the side of a vehicle brushes up against the side of a motorcycle that is traveling in the same direction but in a different travel lane
- Head-on motorcycle accidents, where the front of a motorcycle and the front of another vehicle strike one another directly, frequently causing permanent injuries and fatalities
Upon suffering injuries in any of these types of motorcycle accidents, you should consult with a motorcycle accident lawyer in your area as quickly as possible. Your lawyer can review all your legal options and work with you to choose the best option for your personal injury case and circumstances.
How Does a Motorcycle Accident Usually Happen?
Motorcycle crashes frequently happen when other drivers commit moving violations and otherwise drive recklessly and negligently under the circumstances.
Common traffic law violations that can lead to a severe motorcycle crash include speeding, failing to yield the right-of-way to motorcyclists when appropriate, and failing to signal a lane change in busy highway traffic.
Motorcycle crashes can also occur when other drivers drink and drive. Drivers of passenger vehicles are legally intoxicated if their blood alcohol concentration meets or exceeds 0.08 percent.
Intoxicated drivers frequently exhibit aggressive driving tendencies and drive erratically. For example, an intoxicated driver might swerve in and out of their travel lane, negligently causing their vehicle to strike a motorcycle.
Alternatively, an intoxicated driver may be unable to control their reflexes or stop their vehicle in time to avoid an accident. Intoxicated drivers may also experience blurred vision, preventing them from noticing smaller vehicles, including motorcycles, causing a crash.
Distracted or inattentive driving may also cause a motorcycle accident. Drivers frequently become distracted when they listen to loud music in their vehicle, roughhouse with vehicle passengers, comb their hair or apply makeup, program a GPS navigation device, or text while driving. These activities may take a driver's eyes off the road and prevent them from seeing a nearby motorcyclist approaching.
Finally, motorcycle collisions may happen when people drive in an overly aggressive or zealous manner, often called road rage. Common road rage behaviors include tailgating motorcyclists, cutting off motorcycles and other vehicles in traffic, and aggressively weaving in and out of traffic, potentially causing a severe accident.
If you recently suffered injuries in a motorcycle crash that a negligent driver brought about, immediately speak with a knowledgeable motorcycle accident lawyer in your area. Your lawyer can evaluate the strength of your claim and pursue the monetary recovery you need to become whole again after your accident.
Potential Monetary Damages You Can Recover for Motorcycle Crash Injuries
Motorcycle accidents can lead to debilitating injuries that may affect the accident victim's entire life. However, since every motorcycle accident case differs, not all accident victims will recover the same monetary damages.
Rather, the monetary award that a motorcycle accident victim receives will usually depend on the cost of their medical treatment, the nature and extent of their accident-related injuries, and other accident circumstances.
Motorcycle crash victims may recover compensation for their related medical costs, both past and anticipated. If they had to miss time from work after their accident, they might pursue a lost-income claim or claim for a loss of earning capacity if their injuries necessitated that they switch jobs and take a pay cut.
Motorcycle crash victims may also pursue compensation for their intangible losses, such as for mental anguish and distress, past and future pain and suffering, loss of use of a body part, inconvenience, lost quality of life, loss of spousal consortium and companionship, lifetime or long-term care costs, and disabling or disfiguring injuries.
Depending upon the extent of your injuries and the accident itself, your attorney can estimate the likely settlement or verdict value of your personal injury case so that you develop realistic expectations. Your lawyer can then file a claim or lawsuit seeking the full monetary recovery you deserve for your accident-related losses.
Steps You Should Take After a Motorcycle Accident to Recover Favorable Monetary Damages
Following a motorcycle accident and after leaving the accident scene, there are several important steps that you can take to increase your chances of recovering favorable monetary damages.
First, you need to follow through with all recommended medical treatment from healthcare providers. For example, depending on the extent of your injuries, you might need to undergo a medical procedure, such as surgery, to correct a broken bone. You might also need to consult a neurologist, orthopedic doctor, or other medical specialists for the injuries you suffered in your motorcycle crash.
Finally, depending on your doctor's treatment recommendations, you may need to attend physical therapy for an extended period after your accident.
By completing your medical treatment regimen, you increase your chances of fully recovering from your accident-related injuries. Additionally, you show the insurance company that your injuries are severe and that you were taking your medical treatment seriously.
As a result, the insurance company may be more likely to offer you favorable monetary compensation for your injuries and other losses, including the pain and suffering you experienced (and may continue to experience).
Also, keep a record or journal of your injuries and symptoms after your accident. Categorize your journal entries by date and list the symptoms you experience.
In addition, if you have to cancel a vacation or trip or experience limitations with your daily work and social activities, keep records of those incidents. Keeping a journal helps you to organize your thoughts and experiences following an accident. It may refresh your memory and prepare for a deposition or civil jury trial in your case.
Next, gather and retain important documents in your case.
These documents may include:
- Copies of police investigation reports about your motorcycle accident
- Lost-income documents from your employer that show the dates and times that you missed work (as well as the amount of money that you lost from not working)
- Medical bills
- Medical treatment records
- Witness reports and contact information
- Video camera footage that shows the accident happening
- Photographs of your injuries
- Photographs of the accident scene
- Photographs of any property damage to the involved vehicles (including to your motorcycle).
Once you retain an attorney to represent you in your case, you should forward those documents to the attorney. Your attorney can then use these documents when assembling a settlement demand package for the insurance company adjuster's review.
Finally, you need to consult with a skilled motorcycle accident lawyer as quickly as possible about your legal matter. According to the statute of limitations, accident victims have only two years to file a lawsuit seeking monetary damages, starting on the date of their motorcycle crash.
A motorcycle accident lawyer can probably file a claim or lawsuit on your behalf, safeguarding your right to recover monetary compensation for your accident-related losses. Your lawyer can then handle every step of the legal process with you and pursue the maximum monetary damages you need to recover in your case.
How to Prove a Motorcycle Accident Claim Successfully
Other drivers owe motorcyclists a high legal duty of care to drive safely and carefully and obey all traffic laws and regulations. However, when other people drive unreasonably under the circumstances, they may cause an accident, which leaves a motorcyclist seriously injured and incapacitated.
To recover monetary compensation for injuries you suffered in a motorcycle accident, you must satisfy various legal elements of your personal injury claim or lawsuit.
To satisfy their legal burden of proof in a motorcycle accident claim, injured motorcyclists must establish that:
- The other driver behaved unreasonably or carelessly under the circumstances
- As a result of the other driver's breach, the motorcycle accident occurred
- As a direct result of the accident, the accident victim suffered one or more physical injuries
An experienced personal injury attorney can retain one or more experts who can testify in your case and help you legally establish your required burden of proof.
Experts in a motorcycle accident case can include:
- Accident reconstructionists who piece together how an accident happened and who was at fault
- Medical experts who can relate an accident victim's claimed injuries to the subject accident and establish whether the accident victim suffered one or more permanent injuries
Call a Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Today
Motorcycle accidents can lead to debilitating and sometimes deadly physical injuries. These accidents often happen when other drivers fail to follow standard traffic laws and drive carelessly and recklessly.
If you were recently involved in a motorcycle crash, there are several important steps that you should take. In addition to obtaining medical treatment for your injuries, you need to consult with a skilled motorcycle accident lawyer in your area as soon as possible after your accident.
Never represent yourself after a motorcycle crash, especially when dealing with insurance companies and their adjusters.
A knowledgeable motorcycle accident lawyer can handle all the legal components of your case. At the same time, you focus your attention on recovering from your injuries and getting the medical treatment you need. Specifically, your lawyer can gather reports and evidence on your behalf, file a claim with the at-fault driver's insurance company, negotiate with insurance company adjusters, and litigate your case in the court system if necessary.
Your attorney will also address your legal concerns, answer your questions, and help you make important decisions about your case.
Talk to a Motorcycle Accident Lawyer in Your Area Right Away
If you recently sustained injuries in a motorcycle accident, time is of the essence. By taking the legal steps outlined above, you significantly increase your chances of recovering favorable monetary damage — either a favorable settlement offer or a favorable litigation result in court.
Your lawyer can work to get you the compensation you need and deserve for your motorcycle accident injuries.
Consultations with San Antonio personal injury attorneys are entirely free. This initial meeting provides an opportunity to discuss the specifics of your case, learn your rights, and explore potential legal avenues.
You can ask questions, seek advice, and gain a clearer understanding of your options moving forward. This cost-free consultation is a crucial step towards making informed decisions about pursuing a claim after a motorcycle accident.