Seek Immediate Medical Attention
This one should be obvious; if you have been injured in a motorcycle accident, getting medical attention is certainly more important than dealing with legal issues. That being said, you should also pay attention to witnesses, getting photographs and collecting other pieces of evidence that may disappear after a short amount of time; even skid marks tend to fade very quickly. If possible, someone else should deal with gathering the evidence if the victim is on the way to the hospital, or the accident victim should make arrangements for someone to do what is needed at the first opportunity.
Gather The Names Of Witnesses
It is always surprising how many potential witnesses simply leave the scene of an accident without leaving their names, even those that are promptly investigated by police officers. We find out about this because we sometimes go back to the scene and discover a videotape of the accident or other times an investigator might go door-to-door in the area and find people who saw the accident but whose names were not mentioned in the police report. Attention should be given to this issue very quickly while it is easier to locate witnesses.
Take Pictures Of The Accident Scene And Injuries
Skid marks tend to fade quickly and small debris such as the plastic covers from lights, clutch handles, brake levers and other little bits can quickly get pushed around from their original location. Speed is the order of the day with regards to getting pictures of these things before they disappear or get moved.
They should also get pictures of their injuries right away. Injuries can change over time and even a cut which started out bleeding will at some point close up and take on a different look, so it’s important to take photographs at every opportunity, in part because it’s simply too late to document the injuries once they’ve healed. Pictures of the injuries are very effective when presenting the person’s case; there’s really no substitute for that.
Refrain From Social Media Until After The Case Is Over
It is sickening how many times I see a seemingly innocent social media post that ends up seriously hurting someone’s case. On my own side of the fence, I have seen this happen to defendants but I have also seen injured accident victims who, time after time, make posts on social media that become very difficult to explain at trial. A person can start out with a dollar’s worth of credibility, but every time they have to explain a social media post, they lose a quarter or fifty cents, which is not a good way to spend their credibility.
Hire An Attorney, Then Give Them Everything and Follow Their Advice
An attorney can do things for their client that the client simply can’t do for themselves, and they can’t start doing those things until they’ve been hired. It’s a big mistake to delay hiring an attorney because someone feels they can settle the case without one. Every credible study of this question has determined that people do better with an attorney, even when attorney’s fees and costs are factored in than they will they don’t use one.
Of course, the attorney can’t help their client unless they have everything they need to go forward. The attorney can obtain many things for their client, but only if they have the basic information to work with; things just tend to go faster if the client does their share of the work.
Also, it’s not wise to hire an expert, ask them what to do and then ignore the advice; attorneys who handle these types of cases have a great deal of experience and they would know how things have to be put handled for their client to see a successful result. The attorney will only ask their client to do something because it had to be done to help the client with their case.
Follow Up With The Attorney And The Doctors Regularly
One of the easiest things to avoid is gaps in medical treatment that can imply that someone no longer needs treatment because their injuries have resolved. In fact, many people delay going to a doctor because they feel the doctor won’t be able to do anything for them, and this may work in situations outside of a legal claim, but they definitely won’t work if they are pursuing legal action. It’s necessary to keep in touch with the attorney all the time and to see their doctor regularly so that the doctor’s records will properly document the injuries and the course of treatment they were undergoing at any point in time. When the accident victim tells the doctor what problems they faced, that will make it into the doctor’s records and they can be used to get compensation.
Follow Their Doctor’s Orders
Nothing is more embarrassing than someone being cross-examined about why they did not bother to follow their doctor’s recommendations for treating their injuries if their injuries were that serious. It is very hard to feel sorry for someone and that they should be compensated if they themselves did not take their injuries seriously enough to treat them properly.
Keep A Positive Outlook On The Situation
Nothing ventured, nothing gained; it’s self-defeating for a client to feel that their attorney can’t help them, or that their doctor is unable to assist them with a good medical report, or if they thought their employer would not help them by discussing the problems they were having due to injuries sustained, whereas all of these people can and will help them with their case. That’s why they should maintain a positive attitude.
Make Arrangements For Transportation
If someone’s motorcycle is unavailable because it was being repaired or because it was totaled and it had not already been paid for, in that case they would be entitled to make a claim for compensation for the amount of time they lost the use of their motorcycle. A motorcycle typically rents for more than $100 a day and the person whose motorcycle was damaged will be entitled to an amount approximating the rental value for their motorcycle.
Insurance companies try convincing people to rent cars because the rental car rate is so much lower and they would rather pay the rental car rate, but people really should not fall for this unfair treatment.
For more information on Things To Do After A Motorcycle Accident, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you’re seeking by calling (800) 928-1511 today.
