When you’re injured in a motorcycle accident, you may quickly realize that insurance companies don’t always treat you like you’re the victim. Instead, they might blame you even when another driver caused the crash.
It’s always important to have a local motorcycle wreck attorney help you navigate the legal process to ensure you’re treated fairly and get the compensation you deserve for your injuries. Hipskind & McAninch, LLC in Belleville, IL and St. Louis, MO understands rider culture and fights against the biases motorcyclists often encounter from insurance companies and juries to maximize compensation for severe injuries. Your search for a motorcycle accident lawyer near me begins and ends with our legal team who is committed to protecting your legal rights.
Understanding Motorcycle Accidents
In motorcycle accidents, riders are far more vulnerable to injuries than those in enclosed vehicles. The severity of injuries sustained, even when wearing a helmet, can result in massive medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other losses.
When motorcyclists file injury claims, they are often fought every step of the way by insurers who blame them for choosing this mode of transportation. It is your right to choose to ride a motorcycle, and by searching for a “bike accident lawyer close to me,” you’ll ensure you have representation familiar with local and state laws to stand by you.
Common Causes of Motorcycle Accidents
There are many common causes for motorcycle accidents, but most often, drivers fail to see motorcyclists. They may be drunk or distracted, or the low profile of a motorcycle escaped their attention when they were attempting to make a left-hand turn at an intersection.
Left turns are a common reason for accidents, but when the crash involves a motorcycle, it can be deadly. Accidents can also be caused by drivers who make unsafe lane changes, follow a motorcycle too closely, or open their doors without checking when parked on streets.
Drunk and distracted drivers remain an issue for all road users, but motorcyclists suffer most when these negligent motorists cause an accident. Even poorly maintained roads with potholes, debris, or oil slicks can cause a rider to lose control and tumble into oncoming traffic. If any of these accidents happened to you, choosing a motorcycle crash attorney is the next step to take after getting medical treatment.
Injuries Unique to Motorcycle Accidents
When a motorcycle crash happens, motorcyclists are more prone to certain types of serious injuries:
- Road rash, requiring skin grafts
- Traumatic brain injuries even when wearing helmets
- Spinal cord injuries and paralysis
- Leg and foot injuries
- Internal organ damage
- Facial and dental injuries
The costs of the medical procedures needed to treat these injuries can be astronomical, and even then, you may be left with lifelong impacts because another driver failed to drive safely. Choose a motorcycle injury attorney in your area to help you build a strong case that prevents insurers from issuing a low settlement or denying your claim.
Overcoming Bias Against Motorcyclists
Why do you need to find “the best motorcycle accident lawyer near me?” Unfortunately, there are many stereotypes and prejudices involving motorcyclists. They are seen as risk takers since there are known dangers to riding a motorcycle.
However, most motorcyclists abide by traffic laws and are not the ones to cause accidents. Insurance companies make assumptions about rider fault largely due to these stereotypes.
Evidence is crucial in disproving this bias, as are jury education strategies when cases like these go to trial. If you find that the insurer is blaming you for these serious injuries someone else caused, you need a Harley accident lawyer to help you fight back.
Hipskind & McAninch, LLC’s Motorcycle Accident Services
Along with our other practice areas for personal injury in Belleville and St. Louis involving car accidents and truck accidents, we take on every aspect of your motorcycle accident case by:
- Conducting thorough investigations of the accident scene to collect evidence
- Gathering witness statements
- Working with motorcycle accident reconstruction experts
- Documenting road conditions and hazards present at the accident scene
- Building compelling visual presentations that help overcome juror bias
You should be focused on following doctors’ orders to have the best chance at recovering, not adding more stress by fighting to be heard by insurers who don’t want to listen. Let our motorcycle accident attorneys stand up for you and get you a full and fair settlement for your injuries.
Helmet Laws and Comparative Fault
Every state has helmet laws for motorcyclists, and while some require every rider, regardless of age, to wear one, others do not. Helmets help to minimize the impact of injuries and sometimes can prevent them, but not always. While it is best that you wear a helmet for your safety, if you weren’t wearing one, whether the law requires it or not, you may face partial blame for your injuries.
Comparative fault allows for shared fault in all traffic accidents. Insurers will blame you for not wearing a helmet, which will reduce your compensation by the percentage of fault assigned. It’s a common tactic that they use to diminish or deny claims.
A motorcycle accident attorney will protect your rights regardless of safety equipment choices. Through other evidence, it can be shown that if the other party hadn’t been speeding, running a red light, or behaving in some other negligent way, the accident would never have occurred and neither would your injuries.
Compensation for Motorcycle Accident Victims
Motorcycle accident victims tend to sustain severe injuries, with many facing impacts for the rest of their life. In cases like these, you may recover compensation for these damages and many more:
- Emergency medical care and life-saving surgeries
- Long-term rehabilitation and physical therapy
- Motorcycle repair or replacement
- Protective gear replacement
- Lost wages during recovery
- Permanent disability compensation if your injuries have caused a physical impairment
- Pain and suffering
Choose a Lawyer Who Understands Riders
Not all personal injury attorneys understand motorcycle riders. It takes deep knowledge of motorcycle dynamics and understanding the perspective of riders to have respect for the motorcycle community.
Those who don’t ride motorcycles sometimes look down on motorcyclists, like they are always putting themselves in deliberate danger. It takes an attorney who can effectively communicate with jurors who are non-riders and stand up to the insurance company to provide proper representation that gets full compensation.
Why Choose Hipskind & McAninch, LLC?
At Hipskind & McAninch, LLC, our attorneys understand the bias and the hardships that injured motorcyclists face. We have stood up for clients over the years and have proven results for the motorcycle accident victims we have represented.
There is no judgment here, just aggressive representation to fight insurers who refuse to do the right thing because they think you’re a daredevil. While riding has its risks, it isn’t fair that you’re being blamed when someone else’s negligence caused you to suffer injuries.
The costs of your medical care and other financial impacts are high, but we work using a contingency fee, which means there are no upfront costs to getting the legal representation you need. Contact us today to schedule your free initial consultation and learn more!