Should you file a motorcycle accident insurance claim or a lawsuit? Can you expect an injury settlement, and if so, how much? We'll tackle these questions and more in this article.
Motorcycles are much smaller and lighter than cars, have only two wheels, and don't enclose the rider in a reinforced box. These characteristics, and more, are a big reason why motorcyclists are 29 times more likely to be killed in a traffic accident, when compared with someone driving or riding in a passenger vehicle (according to the NHTSA).
Some risks unique to motorcycle riding include:
Check out the NHTSA's Motorcycle Safety Resources.
Liability in most motorcycle accident scenarios is governed by the personal injury law concept of "negligence." A person is negligent when they behave in a thoughtless or careless manner that ends up causing and injury to someone else.
In the context of driving, a driver must use reasonable care to avoid injuring other motorists, passengers, or pedestrians—basically, anyone they encounters on the road. If a driver isn't reasonably careful and they injure someone, the driver will likely be liable for those injuries and any other accident-related harm. (Get the basics on negligence in traffic accident cases.)
In many motorcycle accidents, it's the driver of another car or truck that is negligent. A vehicle driver can be negligent by:
Of course, a motorcycle rider might be negligent too, for driving at unsafe speed, ignoring stop signs, or lane-splitting, to name just a few possibilities.
Get more details on common causes of motorcycle accidents.
When it comes down to it, proving who was at fault for a motorcycle accident means proving who was negligent. This is a necessary step any time you're trying to hold someone else responsible for your injuries, property damage, and other crash-related losses, whether through:
In order to prove negligence (and in turn, fault for the motorcycle accident), the injured person must show that:
There are a number of ways to gather evidence of the other driver's negligence and strengthen your case, including:
As we touched on above, in the language of the law, "damages" means the full spectrum of losses resulting from an accident.
So, in addition to proving the other driver's negligence after a motorcycle accident, as an injured rider or passenger you'll need to prove (and document) the different ways you were harmed by it. That includes:
Medical bills, lost income, and other losses that can be clearly proven by bills, receipts, and other records are called "economic damages."
Along with related categories of damages like "loss of enjoyment," pain and suffering is the main component of what are known as "non-economic damages" in an injury case.
While it's often easy to prove lost wages and other income-related losses caused by a motorcycle accident, it can be much harder to show how the accident will affect the injured person's future earning capacity.
An experienced personal injury lawyer will hire an economic expert to properly present lost future earning capacity to an insurance adjuster (or to the jury in a court case), because it involves the concept of "present value."
Let's say that, before the motorcycle accident, you earned $90,000 per year, but that, after the accident, you could only return to a part time job earning $70,000 per year. In this case, your lost earning capacity is $20,000 per year for the remainder of your "work life expectancy."
"Work life expectancy" is a statistical measure based on federal government statistics of how many more years a person is reasonably expected to work, based on that person's age, gender, and other characteristics. That's easy to figure out, but it's much harder to calculate what $20,000 per year projected into the future is worth in the present. That's why personal injury lawyers generally hire economists to come up with reliable numbers.
When you're trying to value a motorcycle injury claim, remember that there are really two types of valuations: settlement value and trial value. A case's settlement value is what you reasonably hope to settle the case for. The settlement value will be lower than the trial value because you settle a case in order to avoid the risk of losing at trial and coming away with nothing.
Let's look at an example to see how settlement value and trial value relate. Let's say that, based on the liability and damages issues in your motorcycle accident case, you and your lawyer believe that:
One approach to this kind of situation is to settle your case for slightly less than $40,000 (i.e., 20% of the expected trial value). So, in general, a case's settlement value is a little less than the trial value multiplied by the estimated chances of winning the trial.
The big thing to consider is whether any settlement you're offered will truly cover all of your accident-related losses and, to the extent possible, make you whole again after the crash. Learn more what to consider before you settle a vehicle accident claim and sign a release.
There are times when a driver of a car is negligent or reckless and causes injury to a motorcyclist, but the motorcyclist may have also done something that contributed to the crash. In these situations, the vehicle driver might be able to raise the motorcyclist's partial fault as a defense to their own liability for the crash.
Most states follow a "comparative negligence" rule, where shared fault on the part of the motorcyclist (if proven in court) might reduce the amount of the motorcyclist will receive from the driver. In a handful of states that follow the harsher rule of "contributory negligence," the motorcyclist's own share of fault might prevent them from getting any monetary recovery from the other driver in court.
Insurance adjusters approach settlement with an eye towards what might happen in court, so the shared fault rules in your state will have a big impact on the value of your claim.
Let's look at an example to see how these contributory and comparative negligence rules could affect a potential settlement offer. Imagine you get into a motorcycle accident resulting in $10,000 in property damage and $20,000 in medical bills. There's also some pain and suffering that you believe is worth $20,000.
After investigating the accident, the at-fault driver's insurance company and lawyer claim that you were 20 percent responsible for causing the accident. If you're in a comparative negligence state, this finding will reduce the amount of money the insurer will offer you, but it's still likely that you can end up with a fair settlement.
But if you're in a contributory negligence state, you might not get any settlement offer. Or if you do, it might be a small amount representing what the insurer is willing to pay to make the case go away.
Learn more about contributory and comparative negligence in traffic accident cases.
The answer here depends on the extent to which your motorcycle accident injuries were avoidable, especially if wearing a motorcycle helmet could have prevented (or minimized) your injuries, but you chose not to wear one. You can expect a lower settlement offer in this situation, especially if you were legally required to wear a helmet under your state's laws. Again, the insurance company is going to assess your case in terms of what might happen in court, and the issue of helmet use (and compliance with helmet laws) can, at minimum, complicate things for an injured rider if their lawsuit ends up going to trial.
This is a common question for readers looking for information on a wide variety of injury claims. But even if this kind of data were readily available and reliable, it wouldn't be of much value to an individual claimant trying to predict the outcome of their particular case.
Instead, let's focus on the factors that often carry the most weight when it comes to the potential settlement value of a motorcycle accident injury claim. These include:
Motorcycle Accident Settlement Example 1: Let's say you were approaching an intersection while riding at the speed limit with your headlamp on, and a car made a left turn right in front of you:
Considering all these factors, and depending on the cost of your medical care and other quantifiable losses, the value of your settlement could easily reach or exceed $100,000.
Motorcycle Accident Settlement Example 2: Let's say you were involved in a motorcycle accident in which you suffered very serious injuries, including long-term disability. The cost of your medical treatment is almost $30,000.
Despite the seriousness of your injuries and the availability of ample insurance coverage, it's doubtful that you'd receive more than a few thousand dollars in settlement in this scenario. And that's assuming you can demonstrate some measure of fault on the part of the driver.
If you've been injured in a motorcycle accident, taking on the at-fault driver's insurance company (not to mention their legal team) isn't something you want to try on your own. Having a qualified legal professional on your side can make all the difference.
The right injury lawyer will:
Learn more about how a lawyer can help with a traffic accident case.
Here's what you need to know about motorcycle accidents and how to get compensation for accident-related injuries and losses.
Motorcyclists are uniquely vulnerable when they collide with other vehicles and fixed objects (like trees, guardrails, and fences). Unlike drivers and passengers in cars, motorcyclists aren’t shielded by a box of metal, or cushioned by airbags. And motorcycles are much smaller and lighter than cars, trucks, and vans.
Collisions between cars making left-hand turns and motorcycles are common, and often deadly. In 2021, NHTSA reported that in 43% of all fatal crashes involving another vehicle and a motorcycle, the other vehicle was turning left at the time of the crash.
Cars turning left typically strike oncoming or passing motorcycles in intersections. Common reasons for left-turn accidents include:
Left-turn right-of-way laws are clear: drivers turning left must yield to other traffic. So, the driver of a vehicle who hits a motorcycle while turning left will almost certainly be at fault. But motorcyclists might share fault in left-turn accidents if they speed, run a red light, or ride in the wrong lane.
According to the 2021 NHTSA report, just over half of the 6,082 motorcycles involved in fatal accidents were collisions with moving vehicles. In two-vehicle crashes, 75% of the motorcycles were struck in the front. (Only 8% of motorcycles were rear-ended.)
Head-on collisions are one of the most dangerous kinds of accidents for motorcyclists because of the mismatched amount of force involved (cars typically weigh four times as much as motorcycles) and the lack of safety features on motorcycles.
Motorcyclists were also more likely to die in collisions with fixed objects, compared with people in passenger cars in 2021. For example, motorcyclists can be severely injured or killed when they veer off a rain-slicked road and hit a tree or a fence. Of the fatal motorcycle accidents in 2021, 24% were collisions with fixed objects, compared to 17% for passenger cars, 12% for light trucks, and 4% for large trucks.
The driver of a car might barely notice something like gravel on the road, but bikers need to be on high alert for road hazards like this. Motorcycles are smaller and less stable than a car, so irregularities and unexpected objects on the road can cause a motorcycle to crash.
Examples of common road hazards for motorcycles include:
Most drivers have seen it: A motorcycle snaking between a line of stopped or slowly moving cars. The practice is called lane splitting. Lane splitting is a common cause of motorcycle accidents because cars simply aren’t expecting a vehicle to pass them in slowed or stopped traffic, and there's very little room for motorcycles to maneuver when they weave between cars.
As of 2023, only a few states allow lane splitting. If an accident happens when a motorcycle is lane splitting, there’s a good chance the motorcyclist will be found at fault.
Motorcyclists might not be able to control factors like road hazards, but they can control their own behavior. Some motorcyclists are willing to break the law and violate safety rules when they ride. Let’s take a closer look at how motorcyclist behaviors contribute to traffic accidents.
Riding a motorcycle while intoxicated is incredibly dangerous (and it’s a crime). Nearly 30% of motorcyclists in fatal crashes in 2021 were alcohol-impaired (blood alcohol level of .08% or higher).
Light and more powerful motorcycles (like sport and supersport bikes) encourage speeding and other high-risk behavior. A full 33% of motorcycle riders in fatal crashes in 2021 were speeding. Younger riders are even more likely to be involved in fatal accidents while speeding. Roughly half of all riders in the 21-24 age group who died in motorcycle accidents were speeding when they crashed.
One of the easiest things a motorcyclist can do to stay safe is to wear a helmet. The NHTSA estimates that 37 out of every 100 motorcyclists killed in crashes while not wearing a helmet could have been saved had they been wearing a helmet.
Some states require all motorcycle riders to wear helmets. Other states require riders to wear helmets based on their age (similar to bicycle helmet laws). For a breakdown of helmet laws in your state, check out: State-by-State Motorcycle Helmet Laws.
Your first priority after a motorcycle accident is to make sure you and others involved in the crash are safe. Call 911 immediately if you need emergency medical attention. If you’re not sure if making the call is necessary, call 911 anyway.
If you don’t call 911, call the police. An officer will be sent to the scene. The officer will prepare a police report and speak to everyone involved. A police report can be very useful in settlement negotiations.
You can take steps to help yourself get full compensation for your injuries. You should gather potential evidence for your car accident case, including:
Every state requires drivers to stop at the scene of a car accident. Hit-and-run accidents involve drivers who leave the scene of the crash without stopping to identify themselves and help anyone who might need assistance.
Hit-and-run drivers flee for all kinds of reasons. The driver might be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, have outstanding tickets, or fear going to jail for hitting a motorcyclist.
If you’ve been hit by a driver who flees the scene, don’t follow the fleeing driver. Instead, call 911 if you need medical help and then call the police. A hit-and-run violation is a crime.
Immediately after the accident, write down as much information as you can about the driver and the fleeing car, including the license plate number (even a partial number is helpful) and the make and model of the car. Pay attention to which direction the fleeing car is headed and let the investigating police officer know if the fleeing car has accident-related damage.
Learn more about your options if you’re injured by a hit-and-run driver.
In most states, the person who is at fault for the motorcycle accident has to pay (typically through an insurance company) for accident-related losses and injuries. Proving fault for a car accident means proving negligence (carelessness).
You’ll probably be making your case to an insurance company first, not to a judge or jury in court. An injured motorcyclist might file a claim against one or more of the following:
Most car accident claims settle well before the case goes to court. But if insurance settlement negotiations break down or the responsible party’s insurance coverage isn’t enough to fully compensate you for your injuries, you can file a personal injury lawsuit.
No two motorcycle accident claims are the same, so it’s hard to predict how much compensation you will get for your losses (called “damages”). Most insurance adjusters (and judges and juries) consider:
Your chances of reaching a settlement agreement in a motorcycle accident case depend on factors like:
Many people, including insurance adjusters, have preconceived notions about motorcyclists. They might assume that motorcyclists are risk-takers who are more likely to be at fault for an accident than other drivers. You’ll probably have to overcome this bias with concrete evidence to get a fair settlement offer or verdict in your favor.
Each state sets a limit on the amount of time you have to file a lawsuit (called a “statute of limitations”). The specific deadline varies from state to state and depends on the type of case you want to file.
In most states, you’ll have one to three years to file an injury-related car accident lawsuit. You might have more or less time to file a lawsuit based on property damage only in your state. The consequence for missing the deadline to file a lawsuit is harsh—you’ll likely lose your right to sue and get compensation for your losses. When in doubt, don’t delay and talk to a lawyer.
If you’re injured in a motorcycle accident, you should talk to a lawyer. An attorney who specializes in motorcycle accidents can help you handle your insurance claim, negotiate a fair settlement, or advocate for you in court.
Learn more about how to find a personal injury lawyer and what to ask a potential personal injury lawyer. When you're ready, you can connect with a lawyer directly from this page for free.
]]>In this article we’ll discuss how negligence works in car accident cases and then talk about how those general rules apply to “no contact” motorcycle accidents.
In general (and in a somewhat simplified translation from "legalese"), negligence means the failure to exercise reasonable care. When that failure ends up harming someone else, the negligent person can be held liable for the injured person's damages (medical bills, property damage, pain and suffering, and other impacts resulting from the accident).
Negligence is based on what lawyers call the "reasonable person" standard. So, if a reasonable person would have taken a certain action in a certain situation, then not taking that action amounts to negligence. Alternatively, if a reasonable person would not have taken a certain action, then doing that thing would be negligent.
To determine whether someone acted negligently, you have to examine all the circumstances relating to that person's actions in connection with the underlying incident. This evaluation could be made:
When evaluating negligence in a traffic accident, you start with the duty shared by all drivers on the road to obey traffic laws, be aware of what’s around them, and respond in a reasonable manner to those surroundings. That includes being on the constant lookout for obstacles and other variables on the road—including vehicles, pedestrians, traffic control devices, debris, bad weather conditions.
In a motorcycle accident case, this general duty to drive safely includes an obligation to account for specific dangers facing motorcyclists. For example:
Let's take a couple of examples of "no contact" motorcycle accidents to see who might be found negligent.
A car and a motorcycle are both traveling in the same direction down a two-lane street, each vehicle in a separate lane. The car is a little ahead of the motorcycle and switches lanes quickly, without using turn signals or otherwise giving any notice to the motorcyclist. In order to avoid the car, the motorcyclist swerves, loses control of the bike, and crashes, or just lays the bike down. There was no contact between the car and the motorcycle.
In this situation, it’s likely that the driver will be found negligent. The driver switched lanes without signaling an intention to do so, and prior to that, the driver could have easily seen the motorcycle by making a reasonable effort to determine whether a lane change was safe to execute.
Let's say the motorcycle is traveling behind the car in the same lane. The car slows down, but the motorcyclist doesn’t notice the deceleration, and maintains his speed. At the last moment, finally noticing that the car has come to a near-stop, the motorcyclist swerves and/or lays the bike down to avoid a collision.
Who is responsible here?
This accident is like a rear-end car accident, except that there was no actual collision. In rear-end collisions, the tailing vehicle is almost always going to be liable for the crash. This example is no different. In this case, it’s the motorcyclist who had the obligation to register what was there to be seen and react accordingly. The accident happened because the motorcyclist failed to notice the car slowing down and had to lay down the bike in order to avoid crashing into the car.
In this example, there would likely be no valid personal injury claim against the driver. The motorcyclist was probably negligent and would likely be deemed solely responsible for the accident.
As these examples show, when it comes to determining responsibility for a "no contact" motorcycle accident, the law works just the same as it does for any other kind of traffic accident. The issue is not whether the two vehicles hit each other, but whether a driver or rider acted negligently. The bottom line is, if the negligence of a driver causes a motorcyclist to crash, that driver will be held liable to the motorcyclist even if there’s no actual collision.
You can read more about motorcyclists’ legal rights and responsibilities—including additional details on how motorcycle accident lawsuits work, and tips on how to make sure you ride safely and follow the rules of the road.
]]>When you're making a legal claim after a motorcycle accident, having the right lawyer on your side can be crucial. In this article we'll cover:
Motorcycle accidents can occur in a wide variety of situations. Most often, they're due to the carelessness ("negligence" in the language of the law) of a vehicle driver, the rider, or both. Common motorcycle accident scenarios/causes include:
Get more details on common causes of motorcycle accidents.
As with most kinds of traffic accidents, there are key steps to take in the wake of a motorcycle accident:
It's possible to handle a motorcycle accident injury claim on your own, if all goes smoothly and the insurance adjuster is coming to the settlement negotiation table with a fair offer. But having a lawyer on your side is crucial in a few common scenarios.
The first is when you’ve filed a claim the insurance company (the at-fault driver's, or your own) but there’s disagreement about a key aspect of your case—anything from the severity of your injuries to who was at fault for the accident.
The second scenario in which you almost certainly need a motorcycle accident lawyer is when you need to file a personal injury lawsuit against the at-fault driver.
A lawyer isn't always needed to resolve a motorcycle accident insurance claim. If you're comfortable handling the day-to-day aspects of the claim, and most importantly, sticking it out during settlement negotiations to make sure you come away with a fair result.
But when the insurance company (especially the at-fault driver's) is pushing back on a key issue that could have a big impact on the value of your claim, it might make sense to turn the matter over to an experienced motorcycle accident lawyer. And if you've suffered serious injuries, having a lawyer on your side from the start might end up being in your best interest. The lawyer's expertise in putting your best case together (from establishing fault for the accident to illustrating the impact of your injuries on your life), and their comfort with the often adversarial settlement negotiation process can be crucial to getting the best result.
If you need to file a lawsuit against the at-fault driver, a motorcycle accident lawyer will be familiar with local court rules on filing a personal injury case and all phases of the lawsuit process, including discovery, settlement negotiations, motions practice, trial, and appeal (if necessary).
The single biggest reason to hire an attorney to handle your lawsuit is that you don’t know what you don’t know. For instance, do you know the statute of limitations for filing a motorcycle accident lawsuit in your state? And if you do, are you aware of the exceptions and how they work? And if you decide to file a lawsuit, are you in a notice pleading or fact pleading jurisdiction? Finding the answer to this question isn’t the hard part. The hard part is knowing the question exists in the first place.
One place to start is online. You can type “motorcycle accident lawyer in [your town or city]” into a search engine, and check out the results. This is admittedly a somewhat scattershot approach.
Other sources to consider include recommendations from friends, family members, or coworkers, as well as contacting your local bar association. Most states have a bar association, with is a professional organization of lawyers. And many counties and major cities have their own local bar associations, too.
When doing your research, you want to focus on lawyers that spend most of their practice on motorcycle accidents. If you’re in an area where this isn’t possible, then you can expand your search to personal injury lawyers who handle car accident cases.
After you get a list of a few potential lawyers or firms to hire, you’ll want to contact them and set up an initial consultation. The vast majority of motorcycle accident lawyers will offer free consultations. They’ll get the basic facts of your case, make sure there aren’t any immediate deadlines you need to be aware of, and provide an overall picture of what you could expect if they take your case.
During this consultation, you should ask a few questions to help decide if you want that lawyer to represent you in your motorcycle case. Potential questions include:
As important as the answers to these questions are, it's also important to pay attention to how the attorney answers them. For example, concerning what your case is worth and how long it’ll take, there’s no way for an attorney to provide an exact answer. The best they can do is provide a rough estimate or cite examples of similar cases they handled and how those turned out.
The majority of lawyers that take on motorcycle accident cases get paid the same way most other personal injury lawyers get paid – on a contingency fee basis. This means they only get paid if they win your case or otherwise obtain a recovery for you. Then they take a certain percentage of what they recover. This is often anywhere from 25% to 35%.
There are nuances in how the final amount gets calculated. For instance, if your attorney takes 30%, will it be “off the top” before any of the litigation expenses get paid? Or will they first pay off any litigation costs, then take 30% of what’s left? Before you agree to hire a motorcycle lawyer, make sure your attorney explains to you how the attorney’s fees work.
The short (and likely frustrating) answer is no one knows for sure. Every accident is different and each claim and lawsuit involves different juries, lawyers, judges, and insurance claims adjusters. But below are some major factors that can influence how much your claim is worth:
Learn more about how much a motorcycle accident injury claim might be worth.
If you still have questions, you can learn more about getting help from a personal injury attorney. If you're ready to reach out to a motorcycle accident lawyer, you can use the tools right on this page to connect with a legal professional in your area.
]]>Laws on lane splitting (sometimes called lane sharing, lane filtering, shoulder surfing) vary from state to state. As of 2022, a handful of states have legalized some form of lane sharing. A majority of states ban it in all situations. In the remaining states, lane splitting isn't recognized as a legal maneuver, but it's not explicitly banned either.
Many people think lane splitting is dangerous because of how close motorcyclists get to cars when they split lanes, the limited space the vehicles have to maneuver, and the fact that drivers don't always anticipate that a motorcyclist might pass them in slowed or stopped traffic.
If an accident happens while a motorcyclist is lane splitting, there's a good chance that investigators and insurance adjusters will find the motorcyclist to be at fault for the accident. If a motorcyclist's carelessness (negligence) caused an accident, the rider is typically out of luck when it comes to getting compensation for accident-related losses (called damages).
However, if a motorcycle rider can show that another driver shares blame for the accident, the rider may be partially or fully compensated for accident-related injuries and property damage. For example, if a driver is texting or otherwise distracted and collides with a motorcyclist who is lane splitting, the driver might share fault (liability) for the accident.
The following factors can help show that a motorcycle rider isn't entirely at fault for a lane splitting accident:
Learn more about proving fault in personal injury accidents and what happens in shared fault situations.
Motorcyclists should try to support their description of the accident with a police report and witness statements. Learn more about how to take notes after an accident and how to preserve evidence after an accident.
If you are going to lane split, be sure it's not against the law in your state and then make sure you do it in a safe manner. If you get in an accident while lane splitting, evidence of your safe riding behavior will make it more likely that an insurance adjuster or court will find that you were not at fault for the accident.
Safety tips for lane splitting include:
To learn more about motorcycle, bike, and car accidents, and how to recover for injuries and property damage resulting from these accidents, get How to Win Your Personal Injury Claim, by Joseph L. Matthews (Nolo).
]]>Learn more about Demand Letters for Personal Injury Claims.
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