Car Accident Lawyer » Motorcycle Accidents

Ensure Your Rights in a Motorcycle Accident

admin — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 02:26:49 +0000

Have you been in a motorcycle accident in Los Angeles? Regardless of whether it was a minor accident or a serious crash, a motorcycle accident lawyer is your best resource to ensure your rights. A good attorney can help sort out all the details in a motorcycle accident claim.

There are various causes for motorcycle accidents. When a car or truck pulls out in front of you at the last minute, your bike and the car can collide. Many times the driver just does not see you coming. That is no excuse though, He or she can still be held liable. You may have had to swerve to miss the car and then crashed into an oncoming car or hit a tree or stop sign or even a telephone pole. The driver of the car is still liable even if their car was not damaged.

There are rear end collisions also where the driver stops for some unknown reason and you crash into the back of their vehicle. Who is responsible for that one? Is it you because you were not paying attention? The experienced motorcycle accident lawyers in Los Angeles will know the answers to these questions. They are experts in California motorcycle riding laws.

U-Turn accidents happen frequently. Usually the car will do a u-turn in front of you and will not have even seen you. Again, who is responsible? The motorcyclist or the automobile driver? Debris on the road, trash thrown out the window or lose pavement can cause your bike to skid out from under you. Are you at fault for that? Is the city or the county? What if you are splitting lanes and a car door opens and knocks you off your bike.

The causes of motorcycle accidents are endless. The injuries caused by them can be endless too. The injuries can be a simple but painful road rash up to the end result, being death. If there is a passenger involved there are many questions that need to be answered for them too. Los Angeles and the Orange County in general suffer many motorcycle accidents.

Personal injury Lawyers and Motorcycle Accident lawyers are ready and able to help you receive just compensation for any accident you may have been involved in. Don’t hesitate to call if you need help understanding the law regarding motorcycle accidents.

By: Michael Ehline

FAQ’s About Motorcycle Accidents and Answers from Michigan Motorcycle Accident Lawyers

admin — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 23:24:31 +0000

Question: At the time of my Michigan motorcycle accident, I did not have insurance on my motorcycle. Can I still sue the driver who hit me?

Answer: Yes. Michigan law treats motorcyclists differently than individuals driving their own cars without insurance. Thus, an injured motorcyclist, who did not have insurance on his or her bike, may bring a lawsuit against the careless driver who caused the Michigan motorcycle accident.

Question: What is Uninsured Motorist Coverage?

Answer: Uninsured Motorist Coverage is an insurance coverage option that may allow you to recover damages from your own insurance policy, when an at-fault driver did not have insurance or cannot be identified (i.e. hit and run driver). It is a wise idea to carry uninsured coverage, to protect yourself in case you are in this situation when you are in a Michigan motorcycle accident.

Question: Is there a difference between uninsured motorist coverage and underinsured motorist coverage?

Answer: Yes. Underinsured coverage provides an additional means of collecting damages, if you are seriously injured in an accident. It is different than uninsured coverage, which is available when there was no identifiable insurance on an at-fault vehicle. For example, if you carried a policy of $100,000 underinsured coverage and the at-fault driver had a $20,000 liability insurance policy, you could seek up to $80,000 in additional damages from your own insurance company. This applies only after your attorney secures a tender offer of the underlying policy of insurance. As you can see, these claims are complicated and must be handled carefully.

An uninsured endorsement on a policy does not necessarily include an underinsured endorsement. Premature acceptance of an underlying policy in full settlement of your Michigan motorcycle accident claim could deprive you of the right to collect uninsured coverage.

Question: The driver who caused the Michigan motorcycle accident did not have insurance. I did not carry uninsured motorist coverage on my motorcycle, but have it in my motorcycle insurance policy. Can I make a claim for damages I suffered in the Michigan motorcycle accident through my motorcycle insurance?

Answer: Maybe. Your eligibility for uninsured coverage may depend on the specific wording of your Michigan motorcycle insurance policy. You should contact a Michigan motorcycle accident lawyer for help determining what your insurance policy covers.

If you or a loved one was seriously injured in a Michigan motorcycle accident, talk with an experienced Michigan motorcycle accident lawyer.

By: Marya Sieminski

When Should You File a Lawsuit After a Car Accident?

admin — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:52:25 +0000

An experienced lawyer knows the importance of timing when it comes to settling car accident injury claims. But before getting into the details of when to file and the tactics used by some insurance companies, a quick look at car accident statistics in Compton, California may help.

Car Accidents in Compton Cause Daily Tragedies

Statistics compiled by the California Highway Patrol’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS) showed that in 2006, nine people lost their lives and 359 people were injured in Compton car crashes. Three pedestrians were killed and 27 were injured in motor vehicle mishaps. And bicycle accidents injured 18. In addition, motorcycle accidents killed one and injured 20 people. Those who insisted on drinking and driving caused four deaths and 38 injuries. During 2007, eight car accidents resulted in as many fatalities. The following year, nine car collisions caused nine deaths.

Timing is Key when Settling Car Accident Injury Claims

Successful Compton car collision lawyers know that timing can mean the difference between a fair compensation settlement, an unfair one, or none at all. While you certainly want to make sure that your injuries are thoroughly diagnosed and treated, you don’t want to let the statute of limitations – two years in California – expire. Do that and you lose your rights and an insurance adjuster will tell you that the insurance company won’t have to pay you for your injuries or your losses.

Waiting too long for filing your lawsuit leaves you open for another tactic employed by insurance companies–the insurance adjuster becomes hard nosed and/or hard to reach during the last 90 days before the statute of limitations runs out. What they’re counting on is your eagerness to settle at this point, and that you’ll accept a much lower settlement sum. As the filing deadline nears, they hope that you’ll lose the patience and personal fortitude to even file a lawsuit.

This tactic is most often used when dealing with clients who are not represented by a car accident lawyer or with law firms that rarely go to trial. Adjusters are fully aware of law firms that simply settle out of court and they suddenly become hard to reach and even tougher to bargain with.

By: J. Bisnar

Motor Vehicle Accidents and Injury Claims

admin — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 22:34:28 +0000

When you have been injured in a vehicle or by a vehicle (car, motorcycle, bicycle, truck, on while on foot), your personal injury case in Chicago or in Illinois turns on the Illinois Motor Vehicle Code. It is the same in whatever State you are inthe Rules of the Road of that State govern driving in that State.

Every personal injury case involving a car accident, truck accident, bicycle accident, or car versus pedestrian accident in Chicago Illinois (or in any State for that matter) turns on the Rules of the Road because the injured person has to prove that the accident was “the other guy’s” fault. And traffic laws are different from State to State.

When evaluating whether you have a good car accident injury case, you, and especially your lawyer, must be familiar with the Rules of the Road in Illinois. Individual cities, like Chicago, have their own ordinances regarding trucks, cars, motorcycles and bicycles, so you need a lawyer who is knows what Rules to apply to determine who had the right of way and therefore, who was at fault for your accident. And, in accidents involving semi-trucks, Federal regulations and laws apply to trucks and truck drivers.

Injuries in car accident, motorcycle accidents, pedestrian versus car accidents and bicycle accidents can vary from temporary muscle strain type injuries like whiplash and a thrown out back, to cuts from broken glass, contact with the road, to broken bones from the tremendous impact forces, to knee and shoulder injuries, to even paralysis and death. Remember, all vehicles, whether muscle-powered or engine powered, propel the human body faster than it can go by itselfand that causes the body to be exposed to forces in a crash that it was never designed to handle.

So not only does handling such personal injury cases require knowledge of liability law (Illinois Motor Vehicle Code, local Municipal Codes, and possible Federal trucking law and regulations), but skill and knowledge of a broad base of medicine to handle proof of the injury aspects of the case.

And, insurance companies these days do everything in their power to defeat an inured person’s claim right from the beginning, before the injured person knows their rights. They do things like take recorded statements from witnesses and injured people before they know their rights, and get injured people to sign papers before the injured person knows what is at stake.

Here are the Top Five Guaranteed Ways to Destroy Your Injury Case

1. Fall For What I Call the “Good Cop–Tell Me All About It” Routine. This is when the insurance adjuster acts like he is she really cares about you, your injuries, and your financial needs, especially after a motor vehicle collision. They call you, tell you not to worry about the medical bills, that “everything will be taken care of.” Be aware, they are doing this so that you open up, let your guard down, and provide them with a recorded statement, or sign away your rights on paperwork they send you to sign. Once the insurance adjuster uses the skills he or she has in getting the RIGHT kind of answers out of you (RIGHT for the insurance company, but WRONG for you and any chance of getting a fair recovery) and once the Medical Payments coverage is exhausted, their attitude changes. They got what they wanted, and now, you cannot get a return call or any help whatsoever.

2. Give a Recorded Statement. Every insurance adjuster out there is trained by insurance company lawyers about WHAT questions to ask, and more importantly, HOW to ask them to get the answers they need to defeat your claim. That’s why the ONLY time I allow one of my clients to give a statement is when they are in my office and being represented and advised by me.

3. Sign the paperwork. This sounds like a horror story out of a book. And it is so underhanded and rotten, I can barely believe it myself. But early in my career, I was contacted by an elderly gentleman who could not read too well. He got hurt in an accident. The Insurance company told him “sign these papers we send you and we will send you $1,000.00 for your pain and we will pay all of your doctor bills.” Guess what? He got the $1,000, but because he could not read too well, he did not realize that notwithstanding the promise to pay the doctor bills he was told on the telephone, he signed away his rights forever. Even highly educated people’s eye glaze over when an insurance company sends them a document with teeny tiny print using legal mumbo jumbo. But that “legalese” can kill your chance at fair compensation.

4. Tough it our and don’t see a doctor (or see a doctor 3 months after the accident). When a seriously injured person fails to be seen by a doctor after an injury, it is like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Eve all rolled into one for an insurance company. They love it. Now, you an I know that MOST people do not like going to a doctor, and MOST people put it off until they just cannot stand it anymore. But, when someone tries to explain that at trial, juries are skeptical. They think “this guy is asking for money for his injuries–how bad it could the pain have been if he waited a month to see a doctor?”– EVEN WHEN THEY THEMSELVES HAVE PUT OFF SEEING A DOCTOR FOR MONTHS OR EVEN YEARS FOR THEIR OWN MEDICAL CONDITIONS.

5. Try to Hide a Prior Medical Condition, Old Accident (or Lie About Anything, Really). When I was a young lawyer, I hard stories about lawyers who told their clients to keep old injuries a secret, or to try to suppress they fact that they had a car accident before. Aside from the fact that this is completely unethical, a lawyer can lose his license for suggesting this, and a client can lost their case, it is just plain stupid to try to do this. We live in the computer age. Believe me, there are databases that track everything about you, including prior accidents, prior medical treatment, you name it. You are just asking for trouble. I always advise my client to tell the whole truth. As Benjamin Franklin said: If you always tell the truth, you do not have to remember anything.

Obviously, these are just the top five–I see many, many more mistakes made in motor vehicle accident cases all the time, but the above five are probably the most common. The best way to level the playing field and ensure that your rights or the rights of a loved are protected is to consider hiring a skilled, aggressive, and ethical personal injury lawyer. Insurance companies hate it when a good lawyer gets involved in the case, because they know the shenanigans stop, and the injured person then has their best chance at fair compensation–the very thing the insurance company goes to great lengths to avoid.

I hope that this information has been helpful to you. If you have any questions or would like to consult with me about handling your case, you can contact me at www.desalvolaw.com.

By: Scott Desalvo

How Car Crash Lawyers Proceed With Liability Determination in Court

admin — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 10:42:00 +0000

When a motorcycle accident case goes to court, the case is judged from different angles and a lot of points are considered before judgment. To prove the negligent conduct of the offender court checks whether the car or truck drivers, motorcycle riders and pedestrians, if any, involved in the accident complied with traffic laws or not. Court decides who was responsible for the accident after checking all the evidences, considering statements of eye witnesses and finally performing a comparative study of fault. At last the compensation amount is computed.

The actions taken in court can be broadly classified under following headings:
Liability determination
Compensating the victims
Liability determination is the process of determining who was responsible for the accident. A lot of drivers and motorcycle riders violate traffic rules while driving. Disobeying traffic rule does not necessarily fetch any penalty, however, if an accident happens because of the driver’s fault OR rush driving results in injury for someone else, the driver is held responsible.

However, the process is not so easy. Most of the time both of the parties involved in the accident are responsible more or less. Hence, a comparative study is carried out to find out each party’s share of responsibility. If both of them violated street laws and traffic rules then who was at bigger fault? A comparative responsibility study answers such questions.

There is no specific rule for conducting comparative liability study as all accident cases are unique in nature. One can hardly find similarities between two motorcycle accidents. That is why a thorough study of the situation is required to carry on the comparative liability study.

Accident vicims in Florida may see Florida lawyers. Competent Fort Lauderdale accident attorneys and personal injury lawyers sketch the plan of action in such a way that establishing the liability clause against the offender becomes easier. Once liability determination is done, the case becomes simpler.

Having liability determination done, personal injury lawyers focus on Compensation Evaluation. The objective is to help the victims get just compensation that satisfactorily fulfills all the requirements of the moment.

Common damages from motorcycle accident are:

Property damage: Motorcycle and vehicles involved in the accidents may get damaged. Valuable possessions may be spoiled or lost during the accident. All these details must be documented properly.

Personal Injuries: Victims or both the parties can be severely injured. Bone fracture, spinal cord injury, brain injury etc. are quite common in motorcycle accident. Victims may become permanently disabled if the accident was too harsh.

Wage Loss: With severe injuries it becomes difficult for the victims to go to work. Therefore reduced income, wage loss and unemployment are inevitable.

Physical and mental stress: Not only the victims, but their family members undergo huge mental pressure and stress because of the whole incident. These damages are counted during compensation evaluation. Florida personal injury lawyer knows how to get these damages counted.

Medical expenses: One needs to spend a lot on treatments after automobile accident. Total amount of expense may depend on the nature of injuries. Amount expended for treatment must be compensated by the guilty party.

Compromised lifestyle: Victims and their dependants are put in a compromised lifestyle physically and financially. This creates huge mental pressure that should be compensated by the offender.

Expert motorcycle accident attorneys present the case in most effective way so that all the damages are considered and counted properly while calculating compensation amount. Should you become victim of motorcycle accident, take help from professional personal injury lawyers to win your compensation claim lawsuit.

By: Markus Skupeika

Lawyer Representation in a Motorcycle Accident Action

admin — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 03:40:22 +0000

Dangers of Motorcycle Riding

Motorcycle riding is indeed one of the most popular alternative means of travel. As well, a growing number of enthusiasts ride their bikes to relax and forget their worries for at least a short period.

However, many of these motorcycle lovers are not fully aware of the possible dangers riding a motorcycle may bring to them. According to statistics, thousands of individuals are being involved in motorcycle accidents every year. This is despite the continuous efforts of the government and other concerned groups to warn the people and convince them to follow safety measures and avoid tragic accidents.

Considering the characteristics of a motorcycle, one may easily predict what will happen after its collision with a much larger and heavier vehicle like a car or even a truck. Unlike other vehicles, motorcycles do not have metal cases to protect its passengers.

Further, safety belts are not applicable in motorcycles. This explains why those who were victims of these accidents have sustained serious injuries or even died.

Lawyer Representation in a Legal Action

Victims of motorcycle accidents certainly have their rights to be recover damages against the liable individuals. Yet, because of the intricate process of litigation and the many complicated law statutes associated with it, they certainly need the assistance of a motorcycle accident lawyer.

Depending on the circumstances of the crash, a competent legal counsel will try to address all the problems that the victims may encounter. They will do their best to make the pursuance of a lawsuit stress-free for their clients. This is by taking charge in all of the important tasks in a case litigation.

There are three duties that a legal advocate has to closely work with his client initially:

Planning responses for the case discovery Preparation of plaintiff’s deposition Settlement options

After these matters are all dealt with and discussed accordingly, the victims may choose to either engage in an out of court settlement or just continue the battle in the courtroom. Yet, whatever the decision may be, they must be sure that they already understand the pros and cons of their choice.

Settlements vs. Litigation

Similar to what other personal injury claimants do, majority of motorcycle accident victims result in entering out of court settlement procedures. This is for the following reasons:

A litigation procedure may take a lot of time and money before coming up with a court resolution. Settlements are more restricted to public knowledge In a settlement procedure, the amount of damages is decided upon by the parties involved and not by a judge

Finding the Credible Representation

Since the role of a lawyer in a motorcycle accident claim is very vital, the victims must strictly examine his qualifications before hiring his services. It will also be wise to look on his records of winnings and ascertain if he specialize in handling such cases.

Another thing to ask a motorcycle accident lawyer is his manner of charging fees. Generally, legal professionals imparting their services on a “contingency basis” are better that those who charge per appearance. This method of payment means that a client will just have to pay his lawyer if the case has already won and he already receive his money. No payment then will be made if the case will lose.

By: Rainier Policarpio