The injuries you sustain in a motorcycle accident can be catastrophic. After all, you don’t have a frame around you, you don’t have seatbelts, and you don’t have airbags, so your body will feel the full weight of the crash. You could easily experience broken bones, spinal cord injuries and brain injuries as well. The other driver may have been responsible for causing the crash, so you may be able to receive monetary compensation for your injuries. A Naples motorcycle accident lawyer will fight to make sure that you receive damages that will pay for your medical bills, rehabilitation and therapy as well as pain and suffering.
Florida is known as the “Sunshine State,” so it gives motorcycle riders ample opportunity to take their bikes on the road. Most of the time, this doesn’t result in any mishaps, but sometimes, unfortunate accidents occur. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles reported the following motorcycle accident statistics:
A total of 2,072 motorcycle accidents resulted in catastrophic injuries.
A total of 550 motorcycle accidents caused someone to die in the collision.
A total of 8,895 motorcycle accidents left riders and passengers injured.
What Are Some Common Motorcycle Injuries?
For the reasons stated above, you are more likely to receive devastating injuries in a motorcycle accident than in a car accident. It doesn’t matter if the vehicle that hits you is very small and is traveling at a low speed. Your injuries can still be devastating. Your Naples motorcycle accident attorney will fight to make sure that you are compensated monetarily for the damages that occur during a collision.
The following motorcycle injuries typically result in monetary damages:
Soft tissue damage
Broken bones
Spinal cord injuries
Paralysis
Head trauma
Brain injuries
How Do You Win Monetary Compensation after a Motorcycle Accident?
To win monetary compensation for you, we are going to need to demonstrate that the other driver was at least partially responsible for the collision, and this is not necessarily the driver of a vehicle. Sometimes, motorcycle crashes are caused by faulty parts or the defective manufacturing of the motorcycle. Then, the manufacturer of the parts or the motorcycle can be held liable for the collision. Conditions on the street also lead to collisions. For example, a traffic control device may have malfunctioned at the time of the collision, or there may have been a large pothole in the middle of the street.
After you hire the Shiner Law Group, we will gather all of the evidence that exists and determine which person deserves the majority of the blame for the collision. Then, we will initiate proceedings so that we can hold the person or people accountable for your injuries.
Who Can Be Held Liable for a Motorcycle Accident?
Another Motorist May Be the One Responsible for the Motorcycle Collision.
You may have collided with another vehicle during your motorcycle collision. We will investigate the collision thoroughly so that we can determine how much responsibility the other driver deserves. If a driver performs any of the following actions, he or she can be determined to be partially or fully responsible for the collision:
Failing to obey traffic signs, traffic signals or other traffic control devices
Driving recklessly
Speeding
Driving while texting or using a cell phone
Driving under the influence
The Manufacturer May Be Held Accountable.
The manufacturer of your motorcycle and/or the manufacturer of the parts on your motorcycle may share responsibility for the collision. For example, the manufacturer of a defective part can be held liable under the following circumstances:
The helmet you were wearing failed to prevent injuries because it was defective.
One of your tires blew out and caused you to lose control of your motorcycle before you crashed.
The brakes were defective and failed.
We will examine all possibilities when you have your first consultation with us.
The Municipality in Charge of Road Maintenance May Be Liable.
The possibility also exists that the way that the road was designed or maintained may have contributed to your collision. A road has been designed or maintained improperly if there is debris on the road, it’s difficult for motorists to see, there aren’t any guard rails, the pavement is uneven, or there are potholes.
If any of the above are the case, a government municipality may be responsible for your injuries. This means that you have a limited amount of time to pursue a claim against the at-fault party. We will take action right away and determine if a government entity is responsible for your injuries and then we will work to ensure that you receive compensation for the damages.
How Can You Assist Your Attorney?
If you haven’t seen a doctor, you must make an appointment right away. If too much time passes between the time of the accident and the time that you get medical attention, the at-fault driver’s attorney will suggest that your injuries are due to something other than the collision. That is how they deny that they owe you any money.
Your next step should be to contact us at the Shiner Law Group. We will offer you a free consultation and then we will work on a contingency fee. This means that we will not charge you a dime until after we win your case, and if we don’t win, we will not charge you!
To ensure that we have the best chance of obtaining the highest settlement for you, we need to collect several pieces of evidence. This will include photographs of the scene of the accident, police reports, eyewitness statements and testimony from expert witnesses. If we have a tremendous amount of evidence, we will have a very strong case to present in court or during negotiations. You must contact us today so that we can get started on your case as soon as possible.
We will order your police report because it contains several important pieces of evidence. For example, we will know the time and date that the accident occurred along with the location. We will learn the contributing factors of the collision so that we can assign the correct amount of blame to each person. We will have the at-fault driver’s name and insurance company so that we can contact the insurance agent. Lastly, we will have your motorcycle’s VIN. This will be needed if the manufacturer is responsible in any way.
Which Damages Can I Recover from a Motorcycle Accident?
Because you are so likely to suffer devastating injuries in a motorcycle accident, it can take longer for you to recover from those injuries. The medical bills are often very high in the beginning, and they add up as time goes by. In addition to your medical bills, you would also be entitled to receive lost wages and a sum of money for emotional suffering. If your case is particularly extreme, we may even be able to obtain punitive damages for you that punish the at-fault parties for their gross misconduct or extreme negligence.
We may be able to obtain the following types of damages for you:
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages do not have a specific price attached to them, and they include loss of consortium, emotional damage, and pain and suffering. These damages are subjective, so we will need to present as much evidence as possible to show the court that you deserve to receive them.
Economic Damages
Economic damages compensate you for the money that the motorcycle collision caused you to lose. They include monetary compensation for time spent away from work, the earning capacity that you lost and bills for physical therapy, rehabilitation and medical care. You would also be entitled to receive compensation that would pay to repair your motorcycle or replace it.
Am I Entitled to Receive Compensation if I Am Partially to Blame for the Collision?
It isn’t unusual for a collision to be caused by more than one individual. If you are partially to blame, you can still obtain monetary compensation from the other motorist. In Florida, the legal community follows the “contributory negligence rule.” This rule states that you can receive monetary compensation even if you were partially at fault for the collision, but the amount of your reward will be reduced by your percentage of responsibility.
For example, the court may award you $100,000 for your damages, but it may also decide that you share the blame for the collision in the amount of 25%. This would be the amount by which the court would reduce your award. After subtracting 25% from $100,000, you would receive $75,000.
Why Would I Be Partially to Blame for the Motorcycle Collision?
You may receive a percentage of the blame if you were doing any of the following before the collision occurred:
Riding between two lanes of vehicles
Riding on the shoulder
Swerving in and out of traffic
Speeding
Helmet Laws
If you are under the age of 21, you are required by Florida law to wear a helmet. If you are over the age of 21 and you don’t want to wear a helmet, you must purchase at least $10,000 in medical coverage. If you fail to wear a helmet, the at-fault driver’s attorney can state that you are partially responsible for your injuries, but your Naples motorcycle accident attorney will be prepared for this argument. We will fight it by presenting the ample evidence that we will have in court.
The Statute of Limitations
In Florida, most people must file a personal injury lawsuit within four years of the accident. If you are filing a wrongful death lawsuit, you will only have two years to do so. It can seem like you have a lot of time to get your case started, but it isn’t a good idea to wait too long. You must contact us at the Shiner Law Group if you have been injured in a motorcycle collision. Evidence can be misplaced if too much time passes, and witnesses can forget what they saw, so you must contact us today.