Making Accidents Easier To Recover From

Posted on: 9 January 2019

Motorcycle accidents can cause riders serious injuries, and if you are ever in a motorcycle crash, you may need to pursue legal action to get compensation for your medical bills and lost wages. To successfully litigate this type of case, however, it's important to understand a number of key legal issues regarding motorcycle injuries and the law. Here are some important points about these types of civil suits that every motorcycle rider should know.

Helmets

Whether you were wearing a helmet at the time of the accident and the state laws that apply to the wearing of helmets by riders can play a critical role in some civil suits. For example, if the state law mandates that riders must wear helmets and you suffer head injuries because you did not wear one, your case could be dismissed, or your damage award reduced as a result.

Typically, if not wearing a helmet does not contribute to your injuries, then it will not have any significant impact on the outcome or your compensation unless the lack of a helmet actually contributed to the accident happening.

Poor Roads 

Some accidents do not involve another driver or another vehicle. Examples of this are motorcycle accidents that happen because of poor road conditions, such as potholes. In this instance, the responsible party is likely to be a government agency. Many governments agencies are immune from civil suits, but the laws are complex and vary from state to state. You will need the advice of an experienced accident attorney to determine if you can pursue a legal case when a crash happens, and you suffer injuries due to bad road conditions.

A crucial point to remember when considering a civil suit against a government entity is that, in some states, the statute of limitations is shorter for these types of cases.

Defect

Another possible cause of motorcycle accidents is a design defect or a part that goes bad. For example, if a motorcycle's brakes are defective, this could cause the rider to crash through no fault of his or her own. Cases involving defective parts or design are often judged by a legal concept known as strict liability. This means that you do not have to prove that the manufacturer was negligent, just that the motorcycle had a defect and that the defect led to the crash and your injuries.

If and when you are ever injured in a motorcycle accident, contact a qualified motorcycle accident lawyer with experience in these types of civil suits as soon as possible.