Los Angeles Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

How can a motorcycle accident attorney help me after a crash?

California motorcycle accident lawyers help motorcyclists recover the compensation that they need and deserve after they have been hurt in a motorcycle crash. These accidents are often very severe. Injured bikers frequently suffer terrible injuries that require expensive medical care.

Los Angeles motorcycle accident attorney David Woolf helps victims can maximize their settlement and recover compensation for all of their losses.

How often are motorcyclists hurt in crashes?

Every year, around 5,000 motorcyclists are killed in crashes. Another 90,000 are hurt. This accounts for 17 percent of all fatalities for vehicle occupants. Per vehicle mile traveled, the fatality rate for motorcyclists was 29 times higher than for occupants in passenger vehicles. The injury rate was 4 times higher than for normal car accidents.¹

What are some common causes of motorcycle accidents?

Many of these injuries and fatalities happen in accidents that are caused by someone other than the motorcyclist. This can happen when another driver:

• is driving while drunk or drugged,
• speeds,
• is not driving safely for the road conditions,
• does not look for motorcyclists on the road when changing lanes or turning,
• is distracted, or
• drives recklessly or negligently.

Motorcycle accidents can also be caused by other people in countless other ways, including:

• the road was poorly designed or maintained, and that caused the biker to lose control when he or she hit, for example, a pothole,
• a wild animal caused the wreck, or
• a truck did not properly tie down its cargo.

Whenever someone else was at least partially to blame for a crash, injured motorcyclists can recover at least a portion of the compensation they deserve for their injuries. This is because California is a pure comparative fault state. This means that victims in crashes can recover the percent of compensation in line with the other person’s degree of fault:

• if the other driver was 90% at fault, the victim can recover 90% of the compensation he or she deserves,
• if both drivers were 50% at fault, the victim can recover half of the compensation, and
• if the other driver was only 10% at fault, the victim can still recover 10% of the compensation they would have been entitled to receive.

For example: John is riding his motorcycle in California. He is hit by Paul, who did not see John on his motorcycle when he changed lanes on the highway. John suffers severe head injuries from the crash. He was not wearing his helmet – a violation of California law. The jury awards John $1 million in damages, but finds him 45% at fault for his injuries because he was not wearing a helmet. John can recover $450,000.

What are some common motorcycle accident injuries?

Some of the most common conditions that injured riders suffer include:

• foot injuries,
• broken legs, including broken femurs,
• other broken bones,
• knee injuries,
• pelvic injuries,
• head injuries, including traumatic brain injuries,
• whiplash,
• road rash,
• serious disfigurements,
• arm, hand, and wrist injuries, often sustained from the impact with the ground, and
• back and spinal cord injuries.

The injuries that are frequently suffered by motorcyclists are surprisingly serious. They can even be fatal. The severity often comes from the fact that, unlike motor vehicle occupants, bikers have little between themselves and the force of the impact. Especially serious injuries will often require more compensation to make a full recovery.

What forms of damages or compensation are available?

Motorcycle riders who have been hurt in an accident are not just entitled to their medical expenses. They can recover compensation for all of the foreseeable repercussions from the crash. These include:

• medical bills,
• lost wages,
• reduced earning capacity,
• pain and suffering,
• motorcycle repair bills,
• loss of consortium for a spouse or loved one, and
• potentially even punitive damages, if the conduct of the at-fault driver was extremely bad.

Severe injuries can lead to personal injury cases or a motorcycle accident claim that recovers hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.

How can a motorcycle accident lawyer help victims file a claim?

A motorcycle accident attorney from a local law firm in California can help crash victims by:

• maximizing the insurance settlement, or
• filing a personal injury claim, if the settlement is inadequate.

Insurance companies are for-profit organizations. They increase their profits whenever they get more premium payments and whenever they pay less on insurance claims. This gives them a financial incentive to underpay an insurance claim after a motorcycle accident. This can deny the victim fair compensation.

When a motorcycle accident victim hires a personal injury lawyer to represent them, insurance companies will see that the victim means business. Insurance companies and their adjusters are far less likely to make a lowball settlement offer, if the victim has the benefit of an attorney’s legal advice. Additionally, personal injury lawyers are familiar with the expenses that accident victims will face in the future, as well as the true extent of their losses. Victims who have legal representation will be better able to see whether the insurance company’s settlement offer is adequate or not.

If the offer is unsatisfactory and the insurance company is refusing to make a better one, a motorcycle accident lawyer can help the victim file a personal injury claim. These motorcycle accident cases take the dispute to court for a resolution. They would seek to recover the full amount of the financial compensation that the victim is entitled to receive.

A skilled attorney with years of experience would conduct his or her own investigation of your motorcycle accident before filing the claim. This would include:

• scrutinizing the police report,
• inspecting the auto accident scene,
• interviewing witnesses and other motorists who were involved, and
• checking the property damage for inconsistencies with the initial report.

These investigations often turn up new evidence that can help the victim recover the compensation he or she deserves.

When the accident was a fatal one, an experienced motorcycle accident lawyer would represent the victim’s loved ones in a wrongful death lawsuit. These are filed on the victim’s behalf against the parties that caused the deadly crash.

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