Motorcycle Accident Attorneys: Litigation and Legal Remedy After a Catastrophic Body Injury
Introduction
Motorcycles are one of the most enjoyable and economic means of traveling for millions of inhabitants of the United States. However motorcycle riders do not have the protection of a metal body and other safety features such as those that are offered by cars. This puts the motorcyclists at a disadvantage when it comes to the accident compensation since they do not have the protections that the car has. In even a quite minor accident, a person can suffer a catastrophic injury and the consequences are almost unimaginable in terms of physical pain, emotional stress and financial cost.
This is why, if you, or a close one, have been involved in a motorcycle accident and have sustained severe injuries, you should contact a motorcycle accident attorney without delay. In many cases, an attorney can assist you in getting to know your rights, how to handle the insurers or negotiations, and how to seek optimal compensation for your injuries and other damages.
Cautionary Signs of Motorcycle Accidents: The following are the main causes of motorcycle mishaps;
Several common factors contribute to motorcycle crashes:Several common factors contribute to motorcycle crashes:
- Driver Inattention and Distraction – Some other drivers often do not see the motorcycle and turn across the path of the rider or merge directly into it or move out into the motorcyclist’s path. Another way drivers may be deemed negligent is by driving while texting or talking on cell phones.
- Speeding and Reckless Driving – Some of the significant factors contributing to traffic deaths are the dangerous speed, and among them are the motorcyclists. Precarious behaviors like speed control, unsafe overtaking and turning a blind eye to traffic light and signs increase crash likelihood.
- Analysis of the Envisaged Consequences of Impaired Driving – Motorists under the influence of alcohol, drugs or any other legal or illegal substance will experience slower reaction time, poor judgment, vision and hand eye coordination and may hit motorcycle riders leading to serious or fatal injuries.
- Failure to check blind spots and inadequate signaling– Drivers who switch lanes without a proper check on blind zones or signaling pose a serious risk to the lives of motorcyclists since they expose them to a fatal side-impact collision.
- Poor road conditions – Some of these are; poor road conditions such as presence of potholes, debris on the road, uneven pavement or a recent construction which has not been marked well, slippery roads such as wet or icy roads can lead to loss of control crashes. Last but not the least; the poorly maintained roads also result in motorcycle accidents that are easily avoidable.
- Defective Products – This is a case where the motorcycle and its parts such as the brakes, the tires, the throttle, or other essential components are manufactured with defects, which can lead to the failure of the motorcycle and thus affect control. Contract claims appear when the product was not manufactured properly or if the part was supplied by a negligent supplier.
Kind of Motorcycle Accidents That Result in Injuries
Since a motorcycle does not provide stability and protection, as do other types of vehicles, the crash victim suffers severe trauma compared to an enclosed vehicle occupant. Some most common motorcycle accident injuries include:Some most common motorcycle accident injuries include:
- Road Traffic Accidents (RTA) – This type of injury can range from a minor knock on the head when one’s head hits the ground, car’s bonnet, trees, poles and other stationary objects to severe head injuries which cause brain damage that can result to a permanent disability.
- Cerebral Injuries – Rapid forces might compress, stretch, twist or shear the fragile brain tissues. This can result in the paralysis of some or all muscles.
- Losing Limbs – This is shown by legs and arms being fully or partially chopper off once they impact the hard surfaces and objects. Surgical reattachment may not always be clean in these cases.
- Road Rash – Sliding on the tarmac once a motorcyclist crashes can strip off the outer skin, the underlying tissues, and nerves, in addition to causing deep and long-term physical scars.
- Activities involving force and movement of body structure – Fractures, dislocations, sprains, and tears of bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, and muscles are characteristic. Healing may involve surgery and may even take one or more months in the process of exercising.
- Internal body trauma – The impacts exert pressure and force, which can cause organs to rupture, tear, or get crushed, including the lungs, heart, stomach, kidneys, spleen, pancreas, and other organs. This internal hemorrhaging is often massive and usually proves deadly.
- Neck and Back Injuries – Ruptured discs, slipped discs, compression of nerves and thus, fractured bones, spinal stenosis, spondyloarthropathy, and other chronic neuropathic pain conditions that affect the individual’s mobility and their overall well-being.
Lawsuit after motorcycle accident: How to file an injury claim
To have any chance of obtaining fair compensation for your injuries and other accident-related damages, you must take proactive legal action by:To have any chance of obtaining fair compensation for your injuries and other accident-related damages, you must take proactive legal action by:
- Reporting the Crash – Notify authorities to come to the scene so that all the causes of the crash are established including the alcohol influence if present. Photographs and even videos that the people have on their mobile phones are also very useful.
- When to Call for Medical Assistance – Never decline transport from the scene regardless of your feeling well owing to the adrenaline rush. Make a record of all the diagnosis and all the plans for treatment which have been recommended.
- Hiring a Lawyer – Motorcycle accident attorneys are conversant with insurer’s tricks such as denial and undue delay. They can manage the bargaining and strategise the legal issues.
- Reporting the Crash – Where there is an intention to report an injury claim to the insurance company arising out of the accident, both the reporting and the insurer of the other involved vehicle must be notified in writing. If possible, provide simple facts and estimates of other losses that may be a direct result of the main event.
- Gathering Evidence – Ensure that the motorcycle remains in the same state it was when in the collision until the lawyer can have accident reconstructionists look for mechanical manufacturing or maintenance defects. Likewise, keep all the torn-up riding apparels inclusive of helmets, jackets and others.
Some pitfalls that an insurance company may set are as follows; one should not accept what seem like first set lowball offers, or say anything in a recorded statement without first speaking to a lawyer. As I said earlier, be careful what you say because your opponent can use it against you!
Why It Is Beneficial to Seek the Services of a Motorcycle Accident Attorney as Early as Possible
It is indeed critical after a motorcycle collision that one should seek medical help within the shortest time possible. The statute of limitations acts to limit the amount of time that accident victims have to complete or litigate cases to receive compensation. These deadlines differ across states but commonly are in a range from one to six years.
Additionally, crashes require extensive investigations into factors like: road hazards or conditions, product defects, recklessness and negligence by drivers, and insurance companies’ and their adjusters’ dishonesty. The evidence can simply disappear and so can the memories of witnesses.
If you acquire the motorcycle accident attorney right after consulting with a doctor, you stand to benefit from the best chance of handling unfair denials and delays plus copious resistance from the insurers.
Seasoned lawyers also know when to compromise further rather than seeking an early trial as this often becomes the right approach depending on the details of the particular case at hand.
What Damages Can Be Claimed After a Motorcycle Accident?
Large economic and social losses occur, especially if motorcycle wrecks lead to critical injuries or fatalities. Meals and tipped wages, general and out-of-pocket expenses, lost wages and earning capacity, physical and mental anguish, and household contribution damages are equal or more than $1 million. Accountability is certainly warranted.
Through aggressive legal advocacy and negotiations or personal injury/wrongful death lawsuits, motorcycle crash victims or bereaved families may recover:Through aggressive legal advocacy and negotiations or personal injury/wrongful death lawsuits, motorcycle crash victims or bereaved families may recover:
- Costs for past and future medicals – This includes all costs associated with any form of hospitalization, all surgeries, any form of therapy whether in the hospital or at home, rehabilitation treatment and costs for all forms of medication as a result of crash injuries.
- Loss of income and future earning capacity – If crash trauma leads to permanent inability of the victim to continue working in their job, then adequate compensation for loss of earnings in the future must be of great aid.
- Loss of services/consortium – Sometimes the injuries that result from a car crash may render an individual incapable of performing certain services for his or her family or conducting marital activities again.
- Specific heat of damages – Scarring, flesh wounds and whether the claimant has sustained an amputation means that there are extra heads of damages for mental distress and loss of lifestyle due to the disfigurement.
- Compensation for pain and suffering – Whereas there is no strict mathematical way of estimating the intensiveness of suffering and the consequent decrease in the victim’s quality of life due to severe motorbike accidents. It is equally surprising that when multimillion dollar sums are required and just, they are called for.
- Wrongful death as a result of negligence – Burial expenses, loss of society to surviving members, and loss of supervision to dependent children, punitive damages to reckless drivers/companies.
- Punitive damages – If the negligence or actions that lead to the crash are considered as being wanton, outrageous, or intentional, the court may also award the victims punitive or punitive emergent damages in addition to compensatory damages. These enormous monetary punishment sums draw attention and are intended to prevent further endangerment of the public by the defendant.
Some of the common questions that many people ask after a motorcycle accident include the following;
Survivors and their families can experience a lot of confusion and a lot of questions in the early days and weeks after a catastrophic crash: Medical treatment, cops reports and insurance forms and whether or not to get an attorney. Some most common motorcycle accident FAQs include:Some most common motorcycle accident FAQs include:
Just how much is my motorcycle accident case worth?
Each of the motorcycle accident lawsuit has value factors such as negligence of the liable party, the speed and manner of the accident, the quality and quantity of evidence available, the nature and intensity of the injury and impact on the victim or the family’s income generating ability as well as the repute of the law firm involved. ave for such cases fall in the range of 500,000-2 million plus depending on these aspects.
How is the cost of hiring a motorcycle accident lawyer?
However, leading motorcycle accident law firms operate under contingency fees, whereby legal costs, which range from 30-40% of the gross settlement amounts, are only earned and due when your case is successful. Otherwise, you do not contribute anything to the attorney’s time and the costs of the litigations incurred. Before engaging in any retainer agreements, inquire whether the firm applies this method of payment.
How Many Years Does It Take to Settle a Motorcycle Accident Lawsuit?
The insurance company’s tricks plus extremely backlog-laden civil courts mean that it can take motorcycle accident victims years just to get a check in the mail or the results of a civil trial. However, small claims of less than $50,000 may take several months to be processed. The average time for filing serious injury cases is 12-18 months while in wrongful death claims it can even take over 2 years including the appeals.
Should I Settle My Accident Case with the Insurance Company?
No, at least not without the guidance of an attorney to review and to advise you on the contract’s terms and conditions. It’s a common practice by insurers to tender very small initial settlements in the belief that the end-users of the product such as riders who have been involved in an accident and are facing exorbitant medical bills will take the offers gladly because of their immediate needs. Letters from lawyers of high standing usually soon elicit the necessary upward pressure on claim resolutions.
Conclusion
They are involved in a preventable motorcycle accident and suffer serious and life altering injuries as a result of the negligence of a motorist who fails to exercise reasonable care and thus, the victims are left worse off in various ways. Some may be irreversibly incapacitated. Unfortunately, some insurance companies act as cold-hearted and unjust entities that attempt to take advantage of the victim’s situation and submit lowball claims.
However, motorcycle accident law firms can put right the injustices and unbalanced stages. If you are diligent in your case investigation, cunning in your settlement discussion and fearless in your trial advocacy, they can assist you in receiving reasonable out of court settlements or jury awards running into millions of dollars for deserving survivors. As attorneys who have handled motorcycle accident cases, they understand that clients should not be wasted time in battles with insurance firms when they can be recovering.
Pingback: Motorcycle Crash Lawyers - How They can Assist You After An Accident - Nixo city is your safe place in an unsafe world 2024
Your point of view caught my eye and was very interesting. Thanks. I have a question for you.