If you’ve been injured in a motorcycle crash, you may be entitled to financial compensation through a settlement with the other party’s insurance company or through a lawsuit. You and your personal injury attorney will need to prove a few things, though – including who’s responsible for your injuries.
Proving Fault in a Motorcycle Accident Lawsuit
When the victim of a motorcycle accident chooses to sue, he or she must show that it was the other party’s fault. In legal terms, that’s called liability; you have to prove that the accident was because of the other person’s negligence and that he or she is responsible for what happened to you.
Your attorney will examine all the evidence in your case, including police reports and your medical records. He’ll also talk to witnesses to find out who’s at fault for the crash. If your lawyer discovers that the other party was responsible for your injuries, he will most likely try to reach a settlement with that person’s insurance company.
Unfortunately, the other party’s insurance company has one goal: To protect its bottom line. Typically, insurance companies will try to offer a victim the lowest amount of money possible – and that’s often not fair to the victim. Your lawyer will negotiate, but if the insurance company won’t offer you a fair amount, you may have to take them to court.
In court, your lawyer will use the evidence he’s uncovered to show the judge and jury that the other party is responsible for your injuries.
How Easy is it to Prove Fault in a Motorcycle Crash Lawsuit?
Motorcycle accidents can happen for many reasons, and nearly 70 percent of them occur in intersections. Most of the time, these crashes are due to other drivers’ errors – not the motorcyclist’s error. Some of the most common causes of bike crashes include:
- Road hazards. Hazards on the roadways that aren’t dangerous to cars, like potholes and debris, can be incredibly dangerous to motorcyclists. Typically, accidents that occur because of road hazards are the result of the motorcyclist swerving away or hitting the hazard directly.
- You’ve heard that loud pipes save lives, and that’s true – to an extent. However, because motorcycles are so much smaller than the other vehicles on the roadway, even the loudest pipes can’t make everyone see you all the time.
Every case is different, and the amount of evidence available will determine how easy it is to prove that the other person is at fault. If there’s dashcam video, for example, or you were wearing a GoPro at the time of your accident that recorded the whole thing, it’ll be easier to prove that you didn’t anything wrong. However, if there’s no physical evidence and only witness statements, it can be much more difficult that the other party is solely to blame for your injuries.
If the accident was partly your fault and partly the other driver’s fault, the court will have to decide how much compensation to award you based on how much blame you carry.
What About Helmets?
In the state of Texas, you’re only required to wear a motorcycle helmet if you’re under the age of 21 . However, not wearing a helmet doesn’t mean you’re the only person responsible if you’re injured in a motorcycle accident.
You Don’t Have to Do This Alone
If you’ve been injured in a motorcycle crash, you don’t have to fight the insurance company alone. You can benefit from talking to an experienced personal injury attorney who’s willing to fight hard for what you deserve.
