According to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), motorcycles are more likely to be involved in crashes than passenger cars and other vehicles. Furthermore, as many as two-thirds of these accidents are due to other negligent drivers.
A cell phone or infotainment system might distract these motorists; they might fail to yield the right of way to the motorcyclist; they can drive under the influence, disobeying traffic laws by speeding, or running red lights, or even not maintain their vehicles as they should.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter how they were negligent. The fact of the matter is that they were negligent, and their negligence caused the accident. The accident caused your injuries and your damages. Now, unfortunately, you are left to live with the consequences of their negligent actions. This can include medical bills, property damage, and pain and suffering.
However, you need to know you have options for pursuing compensation. For most injured motorcyclists, the best option involves hiring a seasoned motorcycle accident lawyer to help them receive full and fair compensation, whether through settlement negotiations or going to trial and obtaining a court award. A motorcycle accident attorney can help you in many ways after suffering injuries in a motorcycle accident.
The Financial Burdens of a Motorcycle Accident
Medical costs for motorcycle accident exceed those of other accident-related expenses. Many motorcyclists suffer catastrophic injuries with life-long effects, needing ongoing medical treatment and possibly personal care. Further, motorcyclists often suffer multiple injuries from a single crash.
The medical bills alone can overwhelm you. A victim might need ambulance transportation, emergency trauma care, hospitalization, surgeries, and more. Then, they might see many specialists, undergo rehabilitative therapy, take medications, and require medical equipment. For those with permanent injuries, their expenses might continue for the rest of their lives.
Further, severe injuries can prevent a victim from returning to work for a long time, if ever again. Lost income creates an extreme financial burden on a household, and disability benefits are usually only a fraction of what the victim once earned.
This is only a sliver of the financial picture a motorcyclist can face following a crash and serious injuries. This financial stress is in addition to the pain and suffering they experience.
Who Pays for Losses in a Motorcycle Accident?
Should motorcycle accident victims have to absorb these costs themselves? Thankfully, most have insurance, or the at-fault party to the accident has liability coverage. Even still, insurance companies make it difficult for injured individuals to receive the full value of their injury claim. While an insurance claim should be all they need to receive fair compensation for their injuries and other losses, it isn’t most of the time.
Always remember that insurance companies are in business to make money. If they provide all claimants with the full and fair settlement they deserve, they won’t make nearly the profit they do. To avoid this, they go to many extremes to pay claimants as little as possible.
Their tactics and strategies often include:
- Contacting you as soon as possible after the accident
- Requesting a recorded statement to lock you into what you have said
- Telling you that you don’t need a lawyer or that you will be better off without one
- Telling you your medical treatment isn’t necessary or that you shouldn’t seek more treatment
- Trying to get you to settle before you can meet with a lawyer
- Asking you to sign a medical authorization
- Twisting what you say or trying to get you to something detrimental to your injury claim
- Delaying the processing of your claim
- Wholly or partially denying liability
- Investigating your social media accounts
- Misrepresenting the amount of insurance coverage available for your claim
- Misrepresenting the law
When it comes to saving money, insurance companies are ruthless. Sadly, it’s pretty common for motorcycle accident victims to face many hurdles in attempting to get a fair settlement.
Challenging Insurance Company Tactics
If you are like most people, you haven’t been in many motor vehicle accidents. Not only are you unfamiliar with the unethical and questionable tactics insurers use, but you also don’t know how to handle them.
What if you can have someone on your side who has the experience and a track record of success dealing with insurance companies and getting motorcycle accident victims what they need during such a difficult time? You have that option. You can hire a skilled motorcycle accident attorney to represent you in your claim.
Having legal representation has multiple benefits. If you are wondering why you should hire a motorcycle accident lawyer, consider the following advantages you will have with an attorney on your side.
Space and Time to Recover
After a motorcycle accident, you may have severe injuries that will take some time to heal. You don’t need the stress of managing your own claim. Those who decide to do so might find themselves overwhelmed with tracking down evidence, speaking to insurance adjusters, getting statements from witnesses, juggling medical bills, filing legal claims, negotiating with big insurance companies and their attorneys, and worrying about how they will pay their bills. The list goes on and on.
At the same time, they try to heal from significant injuries. Most people recover from injuries faster when they can rest and take care of themselves, not while trying to work a second job in a field they likely have little experience in. A motorcycle accident attorney can walk you through every step of the legal process with you.
You Won’t Be Taken Advantage Of
Personal injury claimants without a lawyer are insurance carriers’ favorite types of claimants. They will take advantage of your lack of knowledge and experience every chance they get. They know you lack the experience, knowledge, time, and confidence to hurt their objective of settling your claim for as little as possible.
However, when a reputable attorney represents an injured individual, they immediately know that that individual means business and that they will have to fight to meet their objective. They approach claims with attorney representation much differently than they do the claims of individuals without.
Maximum Compensation
Attorneys can take many steps to maximize your compensation, which is their ultimate objective. For example, studies show that, on average, personal injury victims, including those in motorcycle accidents, receive much more than victims who don’t hire legal representation.
Part of maximizing your compensation is ensuring that all you account for all your damages within your claim. Damages are the losses and inconveniences you suffer due to your injuries.
They can vary from one accident to the next but generally include:
- Medical expenses
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of consortium
- Lost income
- Loss of future earning capacity
- Property damage
- Medically necessary home modifications
Once your attorney identifies your damages, they will have the job of proving each one and its value. Without experience, this job is almost impossible for motorcycle accident victims to complete independently.
With an attorney on your side, you will know if you receive a lowball offer, and they will work to negotiate a better settlement. Injured motorcyclists without legal representation often settle their claims for too little too soon.
Timely Filing of Your Lawsuit
Sometimes injured individuals are unaware of legal deadlines for filing an injury lawsuit. This mistake can be fatal to your claim. Every state has what is known as a statute of limitations, which mandates the deadline that injury victims can file a lawsuit. Each state is different, but generally, the statute of limitations is around two to three years after the date of the accident and sometimes only a year if the claim is against a government entity.
Being unaware of the statute of limitations is not an excuse the court will accept for filing your claim past the deadline. In almost every case where the injured party files their claim after the statute of limitations expires, the defendant moves the court to dismiss the case, and the court grants their request. If this happens, there isn’t much the injured party can do to pursue compensation within the court system.
When a lawyer spearheads your legal claim, they will be fully aware of the statute of limitations and the deadline for filing your particular claim. They will budget their time accordingly so you can ensure you file your lawsuit on time.
Help Mitigating Damages
As a claimant in a personal injury matter, you must do everything possible to mitigate your damages. This means you do everything you can to keep your injuries and property damage to a minimum. The insurance company can fight paying your claim if you fail to take these actions or take the wrong actions.
For example:
- Get medical attention as soon as possible after your accident.
- Follow your doctor’s orders, such as adhering to activity limitations, taking prescribed medications, attending therapy sessions, or even having surgery.
- Not continue medical care or treatments that you know are no longer necessary.
- Not rely wholly on alternative medicine if your doctor warns against it.
- Not ride your motorcycle until it is repaired and deemed safe to ride again.
Sometimes injured individuals mistakenly and inadvertently fail to mitigate their damages, which can significantly impact the recovery of their damages. If you hire a skilled lawyer, they can help ensure that you are doing all you can to mitigate your damages and receive the compensation you deserve.
Settlement Negotiations
Most motorcycle accident lawyers are skilled negotiators, as it’s an essential aspect of legal representation. If your claim settles and doesn’t have to go to court, it can save you time and money.
With a settlement agreement, you can also:
- Receive your compensation sooner
- Decrease your risk of having the jury determine a lesser award
- Avoid the hassle and anxiety of going to court
Generally, most laypeople don’t have the negotiation skills to negotiate a fair settlement; they either accept an unfair settlement or decide to represent themselves in court, which will also likely lead to them getting less than they deserve for their claim.
Experienced attorneys know what their client’s claim is worth. They also know the strengths and weaknesses of their case and the defendant’s case. They use this knowledge to negotiate a reasonable settlement on behalf of their clients.
If settlement negotiations fail to garner a fair settlement, a personal injury attorney has the experience and confidence to go to trial. Most people hurt in a motorcycle accident are in no position physically, financially, emotionally, or otherwise to go to trial to fight for fair compensation.
You Pay Nothing Unless You Win
Another benefit of working with a personal injury attorney is that most of them will provide free case consultations. You pay nothing to speak with a reputable attorney who will assess your case. At the end of this meeting, the lawyer can tell you if you have a valid legal claim, how much it might be worth, and what your next steps might be.
If you decide to hire the attorney, you might be surprised to learn that you won’t need to pull out your checkbook. Personal injury lawyers commonly work only on a contingency fee basis. They don’t get paid unless you get paid. If they cannot negotiate a reasonable settlement or win a court award on your behalf, you won’t owe them anything. If they are successful, they will receive a predetermined percentage of your recovery. The more you get paid, the more they get paid.
Contact a Seasoned Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Today for Help
A motorcycle accident lawyer can help you in many different ways. Unless you have been through a personal injury claim in the past, you may not truly appreciate how much they can help. Call Denver personal injury law firm’s lawyer today to schedule a consultation and learn more about what they can do for you. Don’t wait to protect your rights.
