MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT FAQs - SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT LAW FIRM
- Is there anything I can do to reduce my risk of getting into a motorcycle accident?
- If I have been involved in a motorcycle accident, should I contact the police?
- What should I do if I am involved in a motorcycle accident and someone has been injured?
- What injury claims are typical in motorcycle accidents?
- How are damages awarded in motorcycle accident cases?
- What are the two phases of a traffic accident reconstruction?
- Why are expert witnesses important in motorcycle accident cases?
- Can a failure to wear helmet reduce the claim for damages sustained by an injured motorcycle rider?
- I have been injured in a motorcycle accident: how to do I pursue a motorcycle insurance claim?
- Is there anything I can do to reduce my risk of getting into a motorcycle accident?
California has some great rider safety courses, which can help you understand the "rules of the road" in terms of safely operating a motorcycle. For example, the California Motorcyclist Safety Program (CMSP) offers both a Basic Rider Course (for beginning motorcyclists) as well as an Experienced Rider Course Suite. Participants who successfully complete a course offered by the CMSP will have learned skills to help them become safe and responsible motorcyclists, will receive a DMV licensing skills test waiver, and may even be eligible for an insurance discount. Taking the time to learn the proper motorcycle operation can help reduce your risk of being involved in a motorcycle accident.
- If I have been involved in a motorcycle accident, should I contact the police?
Yes. If there has been an injury, death, or damage arising from the accident, you should call the police. Do not forget to get a copy of the investigating officer's report, which you should review to ensure that it contains the precise details of the accident.
- What should I do if I am involved in a motorcycle accident and someone has been injured?
If you are involved in an accident, it is important that you remain at the scene until the police arrive, inform the police of the injury or damage, and seek medical assistance for those who have been injured. Additionally, you should obtain the name, license number, insurance, and personal details of the other driver(s) involved in the accident. Such information will be vital in preparing any personal injury claims arising from the accident.
- What injury claims are typical in motorcycle accidents?
Injuries sustained in motorcycle accidents can be minor or major. Minor injuries are discomforts, which last only for a short while and include road rash, sprains, strains, bruises, and minor bone fractures.
Major or serious injuries have devastating effects on an individual sometimes and often involve huge expenses, plus mental and physical hardships. These injuries could be a head and spinal injury, amputations, disfigurement, nerve injury, and organ damage. Serious spinal cord injuries could result in paralysis, paraplegic, and quadriplegic injuries. A serious motorcycle accident injury often involves claims for extensive and costly long-term therapy or a life-care plan.
Claims typically involve mental anguish, which includes grief, depression and anxiety concerning recovery and employment. Emotional distress can extend to traumatically- induced neurosis, psychosis, chronic depression, phobia and post-traumatic stress disorder and even cognitive loss.
- How are damages awarded in motorcycle accident cases?
Damages in motorcycle accident cases vary, depending on the severity of the injuries, the degree of one’s own negligence, and the nature of the circumstances. Recovery also can depend on the type of accident the case involves, the amount of expenses involved, the skill of your lawyer and your experts. Damage claims typically involve medical expenses and lost past and future earnings, and can involve loss to the family if the injured party is disabled or dies. Under the right circumstances, punitive damages may be available in addition to ordinary compensation.
- What are the two phases of a traffic accident reconstruction?
Accident reconstruction often, if not always, plays an important role in injury suits. The process typically involves two phases – investigative and analytical. The investigative phase includes the gathering of all facts and information (the police report, photographic evidence, physical measurements of the accident scene and of the vehicles involved repair estimates, and witness statements.) The analytical phase involves analysis of the engineering data collected, testing to determine operator and vehicle performance, and calculations needed to allow experts to model and describe the events and movements before, during, and after the accident. For a trial setting, it is important that the experts present the engineering and physics in a manner that lay jurors can comprehend.
- Why are expert witnesses important in motorcycle accident cases?
The use of accident reconstruction experts in trials has increased in recent years. In presenting a motorcycle accident lawsuit on behalf of a plaintiff, accident reconstruction usually is required to obtain, preserve, and present objective evidence of liability and causation of injury. Evidence can be lost with the passage of time. Skid marks on the pavement can quickly be worn away by traffic and weather. Witnesses can forget what they saw or can move out of the area and vanish. The state of the road can be altered by construction, weather damage, or normal maintenance, especially if the surface is made of gravel or dirt. Vehicles involved in the accident may be repaired or demolished for salvaged parts. The small scale, delicate nature, exposed state, and comparatively unusual character of two-wheeled vehicle components can make them difficult to preserve for analysis.
The physics and materials science needed to reconstruct vehicle accidents often are highly technical in nature. Materials used in motorcycles and other two-wheeled vehicles can be specialized and be far different from car and truck materials that are familiar to the average juror. Compared to the typical car or truck, two-wheeled vehicles often are not produced in high numbers and often are not subjected to widespread analysis. Because of that, comprehensive collision kinetics data may not be available for the two-wheeler in question. As a result, an accident reconstruction engineer may be required to generate the required physical data in a laboratory setting. That basic research often requires skill and experience peculiar to seasoned accident reconstructionists.
Accident reconstructionists not only test and analyze, but also transform test results into courtroom presentations that lay jurors can understand. Raw data can be useless if they are not presented in a jury-friendly way. Part of the reconstructionist's value is in using computer-modeling technology to create effective presentations.
- Can a failure to wear helmet reduce the claim for damages sustained by an injured motorcycle rider?
Yes, sometimes. For that to occur, state law pertaining to motorcycle helmets must be consistent with federal regulations governing the performance and safety requirements for such helmets. California's helmet law meets that standard. Court decisions regarding whether a bicyclist's or a motorcyclist's failure to wear a helmet is treated as presumptive negligence have been inconsistent. If the evidence establishes that the failure to wear a helmet contributed to the severity of the injuries, it is more likely that the damages could be reduced to the extent that a helmet would have decreased the injuries. If you have questions about whether the lack of a helmet may reduce your personal injury claim, contact the experienced professionals at Pave & Bogaards today to discuss your options.
- I have been injured in a motorcycle accident: how to do I pursue a motorcycle insurance claim?
In general, in order to be able to receive compensation on a motorcycle accident claim, a plaintiff must establish that the accident occurred as a result of the negligence or recklessness of the other parties involved; that the plaintiff was injured in the accident, and that the injury was caused by the accident not by a preexisting condition or unrelated event. An experienced personal injury attorney with knowledge of motorcycle accident law, such as those at Pave & Bogaards, can help evaluate your case and discuss next steps if you are contemplating filing an insurance claim.
