It’s time to sit down with a lawyer if the victim of a motorcycle accident is in a condition to feel ready to begin giving statements to the insurance company. This statement is going to be recorded, and it will affect your case, so it is important to go over your statement with someone competent and experienced in motorcycle accidents.
Due to the serious nature of the injuries received in motorcycle accidents many attorneys like to represent themselves as motorcycle lawyers in their advertising. Many of these attorneys just want the larger injury cases. They don’t own a motorcycle, have never ridden one and have a minimal idea of how motorcycles operate. They will not be sensitive to things that will be different in a motorcycle accident.
Motorcycle accident cases work out best when experienced motorcycle attorneys handle these cases. It takes a lot of experience before these attorneys really know what they are doing. Most of the top motorcycle attorneys have been riding for years, have owned multiple motorcycles and they have experience on different kinds of bikes. They will know what those differences among the various motorcycles mean. They will understand how ABS brakes work, and how they work differently on a motorcycle than they do on a car. They will understand that the mechanics of turning and stopping a motorcycle is very different from turning and stopping a car, and that the reconstruction of a motorcycle accident cannot be done correctly using the same basic assumptions used when reconstructing an automobile accident, so they will know that there were many things that might be different.
An attorney who handles motorcycle accidents regularly has seen enough front-end collisions, where the front of the motorcycle has hit something to have a pretty good idea about what took place just by looking at the bike. They will be sensitive to issues such as the angle at which the motorcycle hit the car, what changes happened in the impact, whether the motorcyclist had enough time to use the brakes before he hit, what happened to the rider’s body when they flew off the motorcycle and ultimately landed, and even whether their arms were out when they hit the ground. A general personal injury attorney or even an attorney who handled a lot of car accidents will not always understand these important questions.
If the Other Party’s Insurance is Harassing You
It is not uncommon for there to be an unfavorable police report or to have a witness claim the motorcyclist was at fault. There is a significant bias against motorcycles because people don’t understand how they work, and they don’t understand what a motorcyclist will experience when someone cuts them off or drives into them.
Many people have unrealistic ideas of what the motorcyclist could have or should have done to avoid the accident or to have never been in that position in the first place. It’s not the end of the case if the investigating officer made it look as if the motorcyclist was at fault. On the other hand, to be fair, most of the times they get it right.
What If The Other Person Has No Insurance?
This is a very common situation, and there are two variations; some have no coverage and others have too little coverage. If there isn’t enough coverage, it may be necessary to see if another party may have responsibility for causing the accident.
For example, while the other driver may have made an unsafe turn, maybe the design of the intersection or the parking lot they were turning into was also unsafe. Maybe that unsafe design was a factor in causing the accident. Maybe the signage was poor, and confusing.
Sometimes motorcyclists may have the option of looking to their own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. Those coverages step in and act exactly like the coverage of the person who caused the accident. In this instance, the riders own policy will pay for the negligent driver’s mistake.
Because the rider may end up fighting with their own insurance carrier, it is important to be very careful when making statements even to their own carrier. Whatever is said in the statement will be used if it helps fight the claim.
Motorcyclists often buy insurance through the dealership and dealerships. These dealerships routinely have them waive uninsured motorist coverage, so they later find out that they do not have any insurance and they’re stuck. This is tragic; a rider who is encouraged to buy all kinds of accessories like special exhausts is also encouraged not to buy insurance coverage that will protect them if they are injured by people driving without insurance or, more commonly, with inadequate coverage that will not cover much in the way of damages.
For more information on Dealing With Insurance Companies, please call (800) 928-1511 today to schedule a free initial consultation. Get the information and legal answers you’re seeking.
