Motorcycles provide recreation, adventure, and even sensible transportation. For many, these benefits are worth the risks of riding. Although motorcycles are different from other vehicles on the road, all drivers owe them the same level of respect, courtesy, and most of all, a duty of care. Even still, motorcyclists are 27 times more likely to suffer fatal injuries in a collision than those driving or riding in other vehicles.
If you or someone you love recently sustained injuries in a motorcycle accident, you might be wondering what your rights are. You have a right to hire an attorney and to file a claim for your damages.
Motorcycle Accident Claim Damages
A motorcycle injury lawsuit is a civil case. Damages are monetary payments, also known as compensation or recovery in a civil case. They represent the losses and impacts to the injured party’s life that arose from someone else’s reckless or careless actions.
Lawsuits involving motorcycle accidents have two different categories of damages:
Compensatory Damages
Compensatory damages are available to compensate the injured party for the expenses they incurred and the impacts to their life resulting from their accident injuries. The former is known as economic damages or special damages; the latter is non-economic damages or general damages.
Payment for compensatory damages can come through a settlement offer from the other party’s insurance provider or the court may award them. It’s important to note that compensatory damages aren’t income. As such, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) can’t tax them.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are different because they aren’t available to cover economic or non-economic losses resulting from the motorcycle accident. Rather, the court only awards punitive damages as a consequence to punish the defendant for incredibly reckless or even intentional behavior.
For instance, if an accident occurred because the other party was driving while under the influence after having several previous convictions for driving under the influence, punitive damages would be appropriate. Punitive damages are also different because they are taxable as they aren’t compensation for the victim’s injury itself.
What Do Economic Damages Include?
Economic damages are the easiest type to recover. They are easily quantifiable and easy to prove. Depending on the specifics of your situation and physical recovery, economic damages can include:
Medical expenses, which can vary widely depending on the severity of an injury:
- Emergency medical attention at the accident scene or in the emergency department
- Transport to the hospital by ambulance or air
- Appropriate diagnostic testing
- Physician or surgical services
- Hospitalization
- Prescription medications
- Physical therapy
- Occupational therapy
- Rehabilitation
- Prosthetic limbs
- Assistive medical devices such as crutches or a wheelchair
Many people might need medical treatment well after their claim resolves, and you can seek an estimate of future medical costs and pursue compensation for them.
Lost wages are also compensable. Suppose you miss work or have to use PTO due to your injuries sustained in the accident, or you have to take time off of work to go to an injury-related medical appointment. In that case, you can recover damages for lost wages.
Loss of future earning capacity applies when a victim sustains a permanent disability because of the accident. If their injuries leave them unable to do the same job-related duties that they performed before the accident or even make them unable to return to any gainful employment, they should receive compensation accordingly.
After a motorcycle accident, you also deserve compensation for the expenses associated with repairing or replacing damaged personal property, such as your motorcycle or helmet.
You can also receive money for your out-of-pocket expenses. For example, the expense of modifying your home or car to accommodate your accident-related disabilities and even costs incurred from transportation to and from medical appointments is recoverable.
Motorcycle Accidents and Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages represent the negative consequences that an injury has on an injured individual’s everyday life.
Non-economic damages incurred after motorcycle accidents can include:
- Physical pain and suffering resulting from the injuries sustained in the crash
- Emotional distress
- Loss of the enjoyment of life—damages that motorcycle victims can claim if their injury leads to an inability to take part in hobbies or activities they previously enjoyed before the accident. Perhaps you enjoyed running marathons before your motorcycle accident but can’t participate now due to your severe injuries.
- Loss of consortium is a unique damage for the victim’s spouse. This damage covers the loss of physical companionship and intimacy arising from severe injury or a permanent disability.
- Scarring and disfigurement—if you suffered severe injuries to your skin, such as burns or lacerations that will cause permanent scarring or loss of a limb, you can ask for damages for these losses as well.
How Much Is Your Case Worth?
Your motorcycle accident attorney can provide you with an estimate of what your case might be worth. While no attorney can predict precisely how much you might receive from a settlement or court award, their experience and knowledge of other cases can help them give you an idea.
Economic damages are inherently easy to calculate since they are actual monetary costs. Your attorney can calculate these expenses by using documentation such as receipts and medical bills or the cost to repair or replace your bike. Your physician and other healthcare professionals can help estimate the cost of your future medical needs. This will depend on the extent of your injuries, your prognosis, and the predicted cost of medical treatment you might need in the future.
Your lawyer can use your pay stubs to calculate your lost wages. Self-employed individuals can use their invoices for services provided or the previous year’s tax returns to determine what they might recover.
The wages and benefits you likely would have earned in the future if you continued working in the same type of job and position you had before the accident represent your loss of future earnings.
Generally, the more severely you are hurt, the more money you can recover. For example, a motorcyclist who became a paraplegic due to their injuries may recover more than someone who broke their wrist and recovered within six weeks.
To determine the total damages a motorcycle accident victim can seek, add the sum of economic damages and the sum of non-economic damages together. Keep in mind that this doesn’t consider any potential punitive damages, which a jury might consider at trial, depending on the circumstances of your accident.
Negotiating a Settlement for Your Motorcycle Accident Damages
Once your lawyer has determined your case’s value, they can start a motorcycle accident injury lawsuit on your behalf. They’ll begin by collecting critical evidence and taking witness testimonies. These steps will help prove fault and the hard costs of your case. Your attorney can then begin the negotiation process with the negligent party’s insurance company.
Be patient, as it may take a while to negotiate a full and fair settlement on your behalf, even with the most skilled attorneys at your side.
The following factors can affect how quickly your case resolves:
How Long It Takes to Reach Your Level of Maximum Medical Improvement
This term refers to the time in which you’ve recovered as much as physically possible from your injuries, even if you had continued treatment. Your attorney can calculate your damages before you reach maximum medical improvement. However, waiting until you have reached maximum medical improvement is the ideal time to establish your damages. At this time, you should have a strong idea of how the injury will impact your life, which can also help your lawyer establish value in your case.
Multiple Party Liability
Sometimes more than one party is responsible for your injuries. For example, two drivers could have caused your accident, or a driver and a malfunctioning traffic light maintained by the county. When multiple parties are involved, they tend to blame the other, which can drag out the negotiation process.
Your Health Right Before the Accident
A common tactic insurance companies use to decrease their insured’s liability is to argue that your injuries resulted from pre-existing medical conditions. Your lawyer will need some time to reveal the evidence required to prove that the other party’s actions were the cause of your damages.
Your Patience
Typically, initial settlement offers are low and increase in value as the case gets closer to trial. Some accident victims feel financially pressured to end their claim as soon as possible, or they just don’t want to deal with the entire situation. Those who act on these feelings and pressures usually walk away from the compensation they truly deserved for their damages.
Insurance companies don’t like settling third-party claims but paying high litigation costs is even worse for them, especially with the risk that they will also end up paying your claim for damages. In many claims, the fairest settlement offer only comes right before or even after the trial has started but before a jury determines a judgment.
It’s up to you whether you want to accept the settlement or let a jury decide your case’s outcome. Your lawyer can provide you with the necessary information to decide if you want to accept a settlement offer or not. Each time your attorney receives a settlement offer, they are obligated to tell you and ask what you want to do.
Settling can be beneficial for both parties. It decreases the time and expense of the entire case. It also increases the control each party has over the outcome. Going to trial is risky for you, and it’s risky for the insurance company.
If you go to trial and lose, you walk away with nothing but litigation expenses. If you go to trial and win, the insurance company now has to pay you what the jury determined and their litigation expenses. The jury often decides that motorcycle accident victims are due more recovery than what the insurance company offered to settle their claim for.
However, going to trial and testifying about their experience and injuries in front of a jury can wrack the nerves of many victims. You will need to discuss the pros and cons of going to trial with your lawyer before deciding to accept a settlement or not.
Starting the Process by Hiring an Experienced Motorcycle Accident Attorney
One of the most critical steps in starting the process to claim damages after a motorcycle accident is hiring an experienced attorney who will guide you and stand up for your right to receive compensation for your injuries. However, many injured individuals decide to seek compensation for their damages without an attorney’s help.
If you are thinking of representing yourself in your accident claim, consider:
- You can expect that the at-fault party’s insurance carrier will try to avoid paying you altogether or will offer to pay you much less than what your case is worth. Your attorney will know the fair value of your claim and help you obtain the amount you deserve.
- Suppose you miss a deadline for any reason or don’t follow the appropriate procedures for claiming damages. In that case, you could decrease the amount of compensation you can receive, or you could even become ineligible to receive compensation.
- A seasoned lawyer will examine your case thoroughly to locate all sources of liability and insurance coverage that can be accessed to obtain fair compensation on your behalf.
The process for claiming damages after a motorcycle accident begins with strong legal representation. Your lawyer will guide you through the rest. Contact a motorcycle accident attorney today to learn what your case could be worth and how they can help you.
