Can I Sue After a Motorcycle Accident?

California law allows for any persons who have been injured because of a motorcycle accident (or alternatively an bike accident) to be able to file their own lawsuits in court against the party that was ultimately responsible for the accident. This legal allowance and protection in the state extends to family members whose loved ones died in such a devastating motorcycle accident, who are no longer living to file their own wrongful death suit in pursuit of just compensation for the loss of life. In most cases, it is necessary to engage the services of a reputable and experienced motorcycle lawyer.

How Frequent Are Such Motorcycle Accidents in America Today?

In America, the numbers of motorcycle accidents have continuously increased during the last several decades. By the year 2016, nearly 5,000 deaths that were motorcycle-related occurred in the U.S. Nowadays, motorcycle deaths amount to fully 13 percent of all vehicular deaths in the country. This is despite th3e fact that nearly 16 times as many cars as motorcycles are registered vehicles within the United States today.

The IIHS Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported that motorcycles remain less obvious to passing cars, possess significantly greater capabilities for speed and sudden adjustments on the road, and prove to be less stable. More importantly, motorcycles do not come with the same level of safety and personal protection equipment that typical cars would include as a standard safety feature (like airbags and seat belts). These combine to ensure that riders of motorcycles are more likely by far to suffer from either severe injury accidents or accidents causing death than the drivers of automobiles, SUVs, and trucks. According to their miles traveled, motorcycle drivers have a death risk that is roughly 30 times higher than automobile drivers do.

Causes and Injuries from Motorcycle Accidents

Many different factors can contribute to motorcycle accidents and for why these crashes come with a greater risk of death or serious injury. Among the leading contributors to motorcycle crashes today are the following:

• Colliding with a fixed sign, curb, or light pole
• Cars merging into the motorcycle lane
• Automobiles pulling suddenly in front of motorcycles
• Tailgating a driver of a motorcycle
• Temporary metal plates fixed on the road
• Road conditions that are construction littered or uneven
• Malfunction of mechanical parts or electrical systems
• Loose gravel or rocks on the road
• Dangerous weather conditions

Accidents involving motorcycles are quite often severe. They can include the following injuries:

• Breaking joints like pelvis, shoulder, hips, elbows, wrists, knees, or fingers
• Spinal and neck injuries
• Broken bones
• Concussions or head injuries
• Severe nerve damage as with Biker’s Arm
• Severe scarring of the body or permanent facial disfigurement
• Serious internal bleeding
• Lost limbs
• Hearing damage
• Eye injuries
• Road rash

What Should I Do After I Get Into an Accident?

There are a number of things that you need to address if you are the victim of a motorcycle accident. Even if you do not believe that you are badly injured, you should go through the steps in any case, as you never really know how injured you actually are from a traumatic event such as this until potentially weeks or even months later otherwise.

1. Seek Medical Attention Right Away

If you are badly injured, have someone at the scene of the accident call you an ambulance via 911. Go to a walk-in clinic or to see your doctor if your injuries are not so severe as to require the immediate services of an ambulance. Remember that such injuries as motorcycle accident-caused ones can be tricky.

A great number of motorcycle riders feel regular following an accident. This can cause them to fail to acquire the contact information of all involved parties. Because such motorcycle accident-related injuries typically involve trauma to the back, neck, or head, a doctor should carefully evaluate and investigate such injuries.

Motorcyclists might wake up several days after the accident and suffer from severe and debilitating pain. It can require days for serious head, back, or neck injuries’ symptoms to appear. The earlier such injuries are treated, the better a person’s chances are of avoiding severe pain and greater, potentially lasting problems.

2. Obtain All Relevant Information from Accident Parties

It is critical next to obtain all of the contact information and more on every party and vehicle involved in the motorcycle accident. This includes getting all of the following before leaving the scene of the accident:

• Contact information on all parties involved
• License plate numbers of all vehicles
• All insurance policy numbers and insurance contact information for all parties’ policies
• Model, make, color, and year of all vehicles involved
• Vehicle Identification Numbers for all vehicles
• Essential contact information for any and all accident witnesses

It is also sensible to use smart phone cameras in order to take videos or photos of the scene of the accident and to record all information on all relevant vehicles. The motorcycle or ebike wreck should also be photographed before leaving the scene.

3. Do Not Try To Determine Who Is At-Fault Then and There

It is critical that the parties do not allow themselves to descend into a grudge match or shouting fest at the scene of the accident. Regarding which party is at-fault in the accident, this is ultimately up to the jury in court and not the accident participants. The motorcycle lawyer should handle all other drivers’ issues as well as any government bodies, police, and insurance companies’ interactions on behalf of their clients. This is what a good motorcycle accident injury lawyer will specialize in after all.

4. Do Not Neglect Calling a Motorcycle Accident Injury Lawyer

In California, the best policy regarding motorcycle accidents is to sit down with a personal injury attorney of great experience and reputation who handles motorcycles in these cases. Insurance companies like to lowball offer victims and attempt to get them to sign a waiver of rights immediately following as a condition to receive the settlement check. The insurance company’s best interest is to pay out as little claims money as possible. One should never settle a case until he or she has first discussed the particulars of it with a personal injury attorney to determine the full extent of rights in the state of California.

What Injuries Can Motorcycle Accident Victims Receive Compensation For After the Accident Has Occurred?

For any individuals who are injured because of a motorcycle wreck, it is possible to obtain just compensation for the following:

• Lost wages
• Physical harm and injuries
• Medical costs
• Motorcycle vehicle damage
• Future treatments

Requirements for Maintaining Safe Property

Thanks to the liability laws of California, individuals must maintain their owned or occupied property in conditions that are deemed by the state to be reasonably safe for drivers and motorcyclists. This is important where motorcycle accidents are concerned, especially with regards to the following duties and obligations;

• Properly maintain all property
• Inspect all property periodically
• Repair all possibly hazardous conditions
• Provide official warning and notification of all hazardous conditions

Just because the city owns such property (instead of an individual), this does not exempt the property owner of its responsibilities. Parking lots and public roadways are prime examples of government or city-owned and controlled property that can be deemed improperly maintained and hazardous to motorcyclists. If a person needs to file a personal injury suit against the state, county, or government, it is often necessary for the victim to prove these conditions existed:

• Property was controlled by the state, county, or city
• Condition of the property was dangerous when the accident occurred
• A foreseeable risk existed from the perilous condition that resulted in the injury
• The governmental agency possessed ample time in possession of the notification of perilous conditions to have taken effective action to properly resolve it
• The victim suffered harm and/or injury
• Such dangerous conditions proved to be a major contributing factor in the harm or injury done to the victim

What Are Considered to Be Damages in Such a Motorcycle Accident and Injury Lawsuit?

Damages permitted in the state of California regarding motorcycle accidents cover any potential financial losses related to or harm stemming from the crash itself. Damage types could depend on if the victim suffered severe injuries or instead actually died because of the motorcycle wreck. In the majority of such personal accident and injury cases, injured parties or their survivors are permitted to sue for such compensatory damages as the following:

• Hospital bills
• Doctor and tests bills
• Occupational or Physical Therapy costs
• Medical supplies and medications
• Reduced earning capacity
• Lost real wages
• Lost companionship from a spouse or domestic partner
• Scarring effects
• Lost limbs or other permanent disfigurements
• Severe pain and suffering

Can I Sue After a Motorcycle Accident?

California law allows for any persons who have been injured because of a motorcycle accident (or alternatively an ebike accident) to be able to file their own lawsuits in court against the party that was ultimately responsible for the accident. This legal allowance and protection in the state extends to family members whose loved ones died in such a devastating motorcycle accident, who are no longer living to file their own wrongful death suit in pursuit of just compensation for the loss of life. In most cases, it is necessary to engage the services of a reputable and experienced motorcycle lawyer.

How Frequent Are Such Motorcycle Accidents in America Today?

In America, the numbers of motorcycle accidents have continuously increased during the last several decades. By the year 2016, nearly 5,000 deaths that were motorcycle-related occurred in the U.S. Nowadays, motorcycle deaths amount to fully 13 percent of all vehicular deaths in the country. This is despite th3e fact that nearly 16 times as many cars as motorcycles are registered vehicles within the United States today.

The IIHS Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported that motorcycles remain less obvious to passing cars, possess significantly greater capabilities for speed and sudden adjustments on the road, and prove to be less stable. More importantly, motorcycles do not come with the same level of safety and personal protection equipment that typical cars would include as a standard safety feature (like airbags and seat belts). These combine to ensure that riders of motorcycles are more likely by far to suffer from either severe injury accidents or accidents causing death than the drivers of automobiles, SUVs, and trucks. According to their miles traveled, motorcycle drivers have a death risk that is roughly 30 times higher than automobile drivers do.

Causes and Injuries from Motorcycle Accidents

Many different factors can contribute to motorcycle accidents and for why these crashes come with a greater risk of death or serious injury. Among the leading contributors to motorcycle crashes today are the following:

• Colliding with a fixed sign, curb, or light pole
• Cars merging into the motorcycle lane
• Automobiles pulling suddenly in front of motorcycles
• Tailgating a driver of a motorcycle
• Temporary metal plates fixed on the road
• Road conditions that are construction littered or uneven
• Malfunction of mechanical parts or electrical systems
• Loose gravel or rocks on the road
• Dangerous weather conditions

Accidents involving motorcycles are quite often severe. They can include the following injuries:

• Breaking joints like pelvis, shoulder, hips, elbows, wrists, knees, or fingers
• Spinal and neck injuries
• Broken bones
• Concussions or head injuries
• Severe nerve damage as with Biker’s Arm
• Severe scarring of the body or permanent facial disfigurement
• Serious internal bleeding
• Lost limbs
• Hearing damage
• Eye injuries
• Road rash

What Should I Do After I Get Into an Accident?

There are a number of things that you need to address if you are the victim of a motorcycle accident. Even if you do not believe that you are badly injured, you should go through the steps in any case, as you never really know how injured you actually are from a traumatic event such as this until potentially weeks or even months later otherwise.

1. Seek Medical Attention Right Away

If you are badly injured, have someone at the scene of the accident call you an ambulance via 911. Go to a walk-in clinic or to see your doctor if your injuries are not so severe as to require the immediate services of an ambulance. Remember that such injuries as motorcycle accident-caused ones can be tricky.

A great number of motorcycle riders feel regular following an accident. This can cause them to fail to acquire the contact information of all involved parties. Because such motorcycle accident-related injuries typically involve trauma to the back, neck, or head, a doctor should carefully evaluate and investigate such injuries.

Motorcyclists might wake up several days after the accident and suffer from severe and debilitating pain. It can require days for serious head, back, or neck injuries’ symptoms to appear. The earlier such injuries are treated, the better a person’s chances are of avoiding severe pain and greater, potentially lasting problems.

2. Obtain All Relevant Information from Accident Parties

It is critical next to obtain all of the contact information and more on every party and vehicle involved in the motorcycle accident. This includes getting all of the following before leaving the scene of the accident:

• Contact information on all parties involved
• License plate numbers of all vehicles
• All insurance policy numbers and insurance contact information for all parties’ policies
• Model, make, color, and year of all vehicles involved
• Vehicle Identification Numbers for all vehicles
• Essential contact information for any and all accident witnesses

It is also sensible to use smart phone cameras in order to take videos or photos of the scene of the accident and to record all information on all relevant vehicles. The motorcycle or ebike wreck should also be photographed before leaving the scene.

3. Do Not Try To Determine Who Is At-Fault Then and There

It is critical that the parties do not allow themselves to descend into a grudge match or shouting fest at the scene of the accident. Regarding which party is at-fault in the accident, this is ultimately up to the jury in court and not the accident participants. The motorcycle lawyer should handle all other drivers’ issues as well as any government bodies, police, and insurance companies’ interactions on behalf of their clients. This is what a good motorcycle accident injury lawyer will specialize in after all.

4. Do Not Neglect Calling a Motorcycle Accident Injury Lawyer

In California, the best policy regarding motorcycle accidents is to sit down with a personal injury attorney of great experience and reputation who handles motorcycles in these cases. Insurance companies like to lowball offer victims and attempt to get them to sign a waiver of rights immediately following as a condition to receive the settlement check. The insurance company’s best interest is to pay out as little claims money as possible. One should never settle a case until he or she has first discussed the particulars of it with a personal injury attorney to determine the full extent of rights in the state of California.

What Injuries Can Motorcycle Accident Victims Receive Compensation For After the Accident Has Occurred?

For any individuals who are injured because of a motorcycle wreck, it is possible to obtain just compensation for the following:

• Lost wages
• Physical harm and injuries
• Medical costs
• Motorcycle vehicle damage
• Future treatments

Requirements for Maintaining Safe Property

Thanks to the liability laws of California, individuals must maintain their owned or occupied property in conditions that are deemed by the state to be reasonably safe for drivers and motorcyclists. This is important where motorcycle accidents are concerned, especially with regards to the following duties and obligations;

• Properly maintain all property
• Inspect all property periodically
• Repair all possibly hazardous conditions
• Provide official warning and notification of all hazardous conditions

Just because the city owns such property (instead of an individual), this does not exempt the property owner of its responsibilities. Parking lots and public roadways are prime examples of government or city-owned and controlled property that can be deemed improperly maintained and hazardous to motorcyclists. If a person needs to file a personal injury suit against the state, county, or government, it is often necessary for the victim to prove these conditions existed:

• Property was controlled by the state, county, or city
• Condition of the property was dangerous when the accident occurred
• A foreseeable risk existed from the perilous condition that resulted in the injury
• The governmental agency possessed ample time in possession of the notification of perilous conditions to have taken effective action to properly resolve it
• The victim suffered harm and/or injury
• Such dangerous conditions proved to be a major contributing factor in the harm or injury done to the victim

What Are Considered to Be Damages in Such a Motorcycle Accident and Injury Lawsuit?

Damages permitted in the state of California regarding motorcycle accidents cover any potential financial losses related to or harm stemming from the crash itself. Damage types could depend on if the victim suffered severe injuries or instead actually died because of the motorcycle wreck. In the majority of such personal accident and injury cases, injured parties or their survivors are permitted to sue for such compensatory damages as the following:

• Hospital bills
• Doctor and tests bills
• Occupational or Physical Therapy costs
• Medical supplies and medications
• Reduced earning capacity
• Lost real wages
• Lost companionship from a spouse or domestic partner
• Scarring effects
• Lost limbs or other permanent disfigurements
• Severe pain and suffering

Can I Sue After a Motorcycle Accident?

California law allows for any persons who have been injured because of a motorcycle accident (or alternatively an ebike accident) to be able to file their own lawsuits in court against the party that was ultimately responsible for the accident. This legal allowance and protection in the state extends to family members whose loved ones died in such a devastating motorcycle accident, who are no longer living to file their own wrongful death suit in pursuit of just compensation for the loss of life. In most cases, it is necessary to engage the services of a reputable and experienced motorcycle lawyer.

How Frequent Are Such Motorcycle Accidents in America Today?

In America, the numbers of motorcycle accidents have continuously increased during the last several decades. By the year 2016, nearly 5,000 deaths that were motorcycle-related occurred in the U.S. Nowadays, motorcycle deaths amount to fully 13 percent of all vehicular deaths in the country. This is despite th3e fact that nearly 16 times as many cars as motorcycles are registered vehicles within the United States today.

The IIHS Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported that motorcycles remain less obvious to passing cars, possess significantly greater capabilities for speed and sudden adjustments on the road, and prove to be less stable. More importantly, motorcycles do not come with the same level of safety and personal protection equipment that typical cars would include as a standard safety feature (like airbags and seat belts). These combine to ensure that riders of motorcycles are more likely by far to suffer from either severe injury accidents or accidents causing death than the drivers of automobiles, SUVs, and trucks. According to their miles traveled, motorcycle drivers have a death risk that is roughly 30 times higher than automobile drivers do.

Causes and Injuries from Motorcycle Accidents

Many different factors can contribute to motorcycle accidents and for why these crashes come with a greater risk of death or serious injury. Among the leading contributors to motorcycle crashes today are the following:

• Colliding with a fixed sign, curb, or light pole
• Cars merging into the motorcycle lane
• Automobiles pulling suddenly in front of motorcycles
• Tailgating a driver of a motorcycle
• Temporary metal plates fixed on the road
• Road conditions that are construction littered or uneven
• Malfunction of mechanical parts or electrical systems
• Loose gravel or rocks on the road
• Dangerous weather conditions

Accidents involving motorcycles are quite often severe. They can include the following injuries:

• Breaking joints like pelvis, shoulder, hips, elbows, wrists, knees, or fingers
• Spinal and neck injuries
• Broken bones
• Concussions or head injuries
• Severe nerve damage as with Biker’s Arm
• Severe scarring of the body or permanent facial disfigurement
• Serious internal bleeding
• Lost limbs
• Hearing damage
• Eye injuries
• Road rash

What Should I Do After I Get Into an Accident?

There are a number of things that you need to address if you are the victim of a motorcycle accident. Even if you do not believe that you are badly injured, you should go through the steps in any case, as you never really know how injured you actually are from a traumatic event such as this until potentially weeks or even months later otherwise.

1. Seek Medical Attention Right Away

If you are badly injured, have someone at the scene of the accident call you an ambulance via 911. Go to a walk-in clinic or to see your doctor if your injuries are not so severe as to require the immediate services of an ambulance. Remember that such injuries as motorcycle accident-caused ones can be tricky.

A great number of motorcycle riders feel regular following an accident. This can cause them to fail to acquire the contact information of all involved parties. Because such motorcycle accident-related injuries typically involve trauma to the back, neck, or head, a doctor should carefully evaluate and investigate such injuries.

Motorcyclists might wake up several days after the accident and suffer from severe and debilitating pain. It can require days for serious head, back, or neck injuries’ symptoms to appear. The earlier such injuries are treated, the better a person’s chances are of avoiding severe pain and greater, potentially lasting problems.

2. Obtain All Relevant Information from Accident Parties

It is critical next to obtain all of the contact information and more on every party and vehicle involved in the motorcycle accident. This includes getting all of the following before leaving the scene of the accident:

• Contact information on all parties involved
• License plate numbers of all vehicles
• All insurance policy numbers and insurance contact information for all parties’ policies
• Model, make, color, and year of all vehicles involved
• Vehicle Identification Numbers for all vehicles
• Essential contact information for any and all accident witnesses

It is also sensible to use smart phone cameras in order to take videos or photos of the scene of the accident and to record all information on all relevant vehicles. The motorcycle or ebike wreck should also be photographed before leaving the scene.

3. Do Not Try To Determine Who Is At-Fault Then and There

It is critical that the parties do not allow themselves to descend into a grudge match or shouting fest at the scene of the accident. Regarding which party is at-fault in the accident, this is ultimately up to the jury in court and not the accident participants. The motorcycle lawyer should handle all other drivers’ issues as well as any government bodies, police, and insurance companies’ interactions on behalf of their clients. This is what a good motorcycle accident injury lawyer will specialize in after all.

4. Do Not Neglect Calling a Motorcycle Accident Injury Lawyer

In California, the best policy regarding motorcycle accidents is to sit down with a personal injury attorney of great experience and reputation who handles motorcycles in these cases. Insurance companies like to lowball offer victims and attempt to get them to sign a waiver of rights immediately following as a condition to receive the settlement check. The insurance company’s best interest is to pay out as little claims money as possible. One should never settle a case until he or she has first discussed the particulars of it with a personal injury attorney to determine the full extent of rights in the state of California.

What Injuries Can Motorcycle Accident Victims Receive Compensation For After the Accident Has Occurred?

For any individuals who are injured because of a motorcycle wreck, it is possible to obtain just compensation for the following:

• Lost wages
• Physical harm and injuries
• Medical costs
• Motorcycle vehicle damage
• Future treatments

Requirements for Maintaining Safe Property

Thanks to the liability laws of California, individuals must maintain their owned or occupied property in conditions that are deemed by the state to be reasonably safe for drivers and motorcyclists. This is important where motorcycle accidents are concerned, especially with regards to the following duties and obligations;

• Properly maintain all property
• Inspect all property periodically
• Repair all possibly hazardous conditions
• Provide official warning and notification of all hazardous conditions

Just because the city owns such property (instead of an individual), this does not exempt the property owner of its responsibilities. Parking lots and public roadways are prime examples of government or city-owned and controlled property that can be deemed improperly maintained and hazardous to motorcyclists. If a person needs to file a personal injury suit against the state, county, or government, it is often necessary for the victim to prove these conditions existed:

• Property was controlled by the state, county, or city
• Condition of the property was dangerous when the accident occurred
• A foreseeable risk existed from the perilous condition that resulted in the injury
• The governmental agency possessed ample time in possession of the notification of perilous conditions to have taken effective action to properly resolve it
• The victim suffered harm and/or injury
• Such dangerous conditions proved to be a major contributing factor in the harm or injury done to the victim

What Are Considered to Be Damages in Such a Motorcycle Accident and Injury Lawsuit?

Damages permitted in the state of California regarding motorcycle accidents cover any potential financial losses related to or harm stemming from the crash itself. Damage types could depend on if the victim suffered severe injuries or instead actually died because of the motorcycle wreck. In the majority of such personal accident and injury cases, injured parties or their survivors are permitted to sue for such compensatory damages as the following:

• Hospital bills
• Doctor and tests bills
• Occupational or Physical Therapy costs
• Medical supplies and medications
• Reduced earning capacity
• Lost real wages
• Lost companionship from a spouse or domestic partner
• Scarring effects
• Lost limbs or other permanent disfigurements
• Severe pain and suffering