Motorcycle accidents are much more dangerous for motorcycle drivers than most other forms of motor vehicle crashes on the streets of Florida. The disproportionate risk of serious injury and wrongful death that most motorcycle owners have to contend with is worrisome and well-documented.
The biggest problem with such cases is that they are not like the usual. Many motorcycle accidents care hit and run cases where the responsible party flees the scene to avoid justice. In other scenarios, there may be some complications in assigning the blame.
Simply put, motorcycle accident claims are hard to handle and only an experienced motorcycle accident lawyer can deal with such cases. You may be a bit hesitant to hand over your case to a personal injury lawyer due to financial concerns or confusion about the strength of your case.
But you should never let these worries hold you back.
Instead, call an Orlando motorcycle accident lawyer as soon as possible to explore your legal options and claim a fair settlement for your losses.
In this article, we’ll explore what an experienced attorney can do for motorcycle accident victims.
Motorcycle accident cases are complicated because the crashes themselves are very tricky to figure out. They are not like car accidents that can be dissected easily and accurately, instead, motorcycle accidents are complex because of the intensity of damages involved and for placing liability.
In hit and run cases, for instance, you can’t put the blame on the responsible party because you’ve got no idea who they are and where they went. Similarly, if the crash involved multiple liable parties, you’ll have no way of knowing which one is to be blamed primarily.
This is why a motorcycle accident lawyer has to go the extra mile, ask some complicated questions, gather evidence, examine the facts, and perhaps even seek help from an accident reconstruction expert to get to the bottom of your motorcycle crash case.
Let’s understand this with one simple example.
In many cases, motorcyclists are ejected from their seats and then run over by another vehicle. This means that one negligent driver was responsible for causing the crash and thus the ejection, while the other driver may also share liability in that they ran over the motorcyclist.
Now this is only possible if the lawyer can somehow prove that the second driver saw the motorcyclist on the road and could’ve stopped in time to prevent the crash but didn’t. Maybe they were texting while driving and thus too distracted to notice the poor fellow on the ground.
If that was indeed the case, then your lawyer will have to dig out the reality and confirm whether or not the second drier too was liable.
And if it turns out that they were indeed liable for the injuries, then your lawyer will have to establish the degree of their liability, i.e. liable by how much.
This is just one example, motorcycle crashes can be complicated by several factors and your motorcycle attorney needs to go over each possibility and eliminate doubt for your personal injury claim.
Needless to say, you need a good lawyer if you plan on demanding a fair payout for your sufferings.
Most people ache at the mere mention of lawyers and we don’t blame them – the financial burden of paying the legal fees can be overwhelming for some. However, since most personal injury attorneys, such as our experienced team at the VG Law Group, work on a contingency fee basis, you should not hold back from calling them.
Here are a couple of reasons why you need an experienced personal injury attorney on board:
When you first contact a lawyer and set an appointment for discussing your case, you’ll have to walk them through the details by telling them what you experienced. The lawyer will ask you to explain why you feel the other party is liable for the damages you sustained.
This means that you’ll have to share all the details of the crash with them, how it happened, what were the damages, why the other driver was responsible, and so on. They will then go through the evidence you have at hand.
You should ideally photograph the auto accident scene, report the incident to the police, exchange information with the other driver, seek contact information of independent witnesses, and so on. Presuming that you did all of this, your lawyer’s job just became easier.
They will examine witness statements, the evidence, and all the ground facts to see where you stand in the case and how they should approach it.
Riding motorcycles presents its own set of unique challenges for the motorcycle riders. If things do go as far as a personal injury lawsuit, your lawyer will have to explain the unique challenges and rules regarding motorcycles to the jury. This is important if you want the jury or the insurance adjusters to look at your case fairly.
Since motorcyclists can’t lock their brakes, they often have to take evasive action to avoid collisions. These evasions can be tricky but are important to prevent a crash, if the jury fails to understand your position, they will not give a favorable verdict.
Your lawyer will ensure that they know exactly what you had to go through.
As per the legal requirements of personal injury law, you’ll also have to prove that the injuries you sustained were a direct result of the crash caused by the negligent party and that the damages were as serious as your motorcycle accident claim shows.
You may think that this might be easy but it’s not.
There are usually heated debates and fights over who’s at fault for the crash, and such tussles can become even more competitive if the biker fell unconscious after the crash or died because if it. But your lawyer will walk the insurance company rep or the jury through all the evidence and prove that your side of the story is more probably true than not.
This way, you'll be able to demand maximum compensation for the physical injuries, property damage, lost wages, extra expenses, and pain and suffering.
The problem with wrongful death cases is that the victims of motorcycle accidents are no longer around to tell their side of the story, leaving the liable parties free to lie about what happened. Such false claims are not unheard of but Orlando motorcycle accident lawyers know exactly how to deal with them.
Firstly, common sense is a factor, i.e. why would the victim act as the other party is claiming they did. Secondly, the lawyer will analyze all the evidence available, leaving no room for doubt. Thirdly, they’ll work with the survivors of the victim to develop evidence that can help their case.
For instance, if there were any surveillance video footages in the area that could help shed some light on the matter, your legal advocate will get their hands on it.
Lawyers can also help your case by getting expert witnesses on board.
We already mentioned one case where two parties could be liable for a crash, i.e. if one hits the biker and another one drives over them. There can be a ton of other scenarios where multiple liabilities may apply, and if that is the case, your motorcycle crash lawyer will have to explore the full extent of it.
The manufacturer (product defects), maintenance crew (improper maintenance), a government department (poor road conditions), and so on – the list of possible at-fault parties goes on, depending on the exact details of your case.
Motorcycle crashes can be horrific but dealing with the aftermath is no walk in the park either. You may feel intimidated by the financial pressures and thus may want to settle for a payout as soon as possible without exploring your legal rights.
We would caution you here and ask you to think it through.
After all, Florida’s no-fault insurance laws slash down your settlement payout substantially, making it nominal financial aid rather than fair compensation for damages. If your case falls within an exceptional situation, you might be able to seek financial compensation from the responsible party.
Of course, to know that and to pursue this option, you’ll have to seek legal consultation as soon as possible. Don’t let the worries of legal fees and other issues keep you from contacting a competent motorcycle crash lawyer with years of legal experience because, at the VG Law Group, our legal team operates on a contingency fee basis plan.
This means that you’ll only have to pay for our services after we’ve won you a fair settlement, no win-no pay, it’s that simple. Moreover, the initial consultation for your case is also free and we won’t oblige you either, feel free to reach out to us and then make up your mind as you see fit.
PS, we give auto accident victims the personal attention they need.
Call us today!