If you or a loved one got injured in a motorcycle wreck, a seasoned personal injury attorney can help you pursue medical expenses, lost wages, and other losses. You are not in this alone. We can handle communicating with the insurance company for you.
You should focus on recovering. We can tackle all the little things. Our Elgin motorcycle accident lawyer can negotiate directly with the insurer on your behalf so that you can rest and recuperate.
You can call the Kryder Law Group, LLC today for a free case evaluation.
Motorcycle Accidents Present Unique Consequences and Injuries
Motorcycle riders tend to sustain more severe injuries and fatalities in collisions than car passengers because motorcyclists do not have a massive metal body or a car surrounding them as physical protection. A motorcyclist is 27 times more likely to die from crash injuries than a person in a car or other type of motor vehicle, according to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration.
Also, when there is a crash, a motorcyclist can go airborne, leading to additional injuries from impact when they land. Being thrown from the bike can cause a motorcycle rider to fall into the path of oncoming traffic or to strike an object, like a tree, telephone pole, guardrail, or building.
Types of Injuries in Motorbike Collision Cases
Given the lack of protection for the body on a motorcycle, many riders sustain injuries to multiple areas of the body in a collision, according to a study published in the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine. Motorcyclists tend to experience significant harm to these areas in a crash:
- Head
- Lower extremities (legs)
- Thorax (chest)
- Upper extremities (arms)
Other regions that suffer injury due to a motorcycle crash include the face, neck, spine, and abdomen. The Kryder Law Group, LLC, can help you hold the at-fault party responsible for the harm they caused. Call our Elgin attorneys today to get a free consultation about your motorcycle accident case. There is no obligation.
How We Establish Liability in a Motorcycle Injury Claim
We cannot sue every driver who was in the crash. The law requires us to prove all four of these elements to find someone liable for your injuries:
- Duty of care: We have to establish that the liable driver had a duty of care toward you. Every driver has a responsibility to exercise caution and obey the law when operating a motor vehicle.
- Breach of the legal duty: When a person’s conduct fails to measure up to the legal standard, the person is negligent. For example, a driver who did not yield when a motorcyclist had the right of way violated the duty of care.
- Causation: The responsible party’s negligent act must have caused or contributed to the accident. We could say that the driver of a car pulled out right in front of a motorcyclist, striking the motorcycle. The negligent act of failing to yield the right of way was the cause of the accident.
- Measurable losses: There must be quantifiable damages to pursue a personal injury claim. By way of example, a “close call” might be terrifying, but if there were no physical injuries, there are no measurable losses. If the victim got physically hurt, however, the facts satisfy this factor for establishing liability.
After our Elgin lawyers prove that the defendant is responsible for the motorbike accident and your injuries, we can then address the amount of compensation.
Potentially Recoverable Damages in Motorcycle Wrecks
We cannot say how much you are likely to recover for your losses from a motorcycle accident until after we talk with you and investigate your situation. Every plaintiff’s injuries are unique. Two people in the same crash can have vastly different losses. Here are some examples of money damages we have won for our clients:
Medical Expenses
You can recover the cost of the medical treatment you need for your injuries. These losses can include things like the ambulance, “jaws of life,” life flight, emergency room, doctors, surgery, hospital, physical therapy, prescription drugs, diagnostic testing, x-rays, and lab work.
Lost Wages
Getting hurt in a motorcycle can make you miss work. If the injury, medical treatments, and recuperation time cause you to miss paychecks, you can add this item to your damages claim. This can include lost wages, salary, self-employment, and other types of regular income.
Intangible Losses
Some consequences of motorcycle accidents do not come with an invoice or receipt, but they have value. For example, you might have a claim for disfigurement, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), loss of enjoyment of life, and pain and suffering.
Wrongful Death
If your close relative died from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident, our local attorneys might be able to pursue additional compensation for the legal heirs.
How an Attorney Can Help with a Claim
When you work with a lawyer on your injury claim, the insurer is not allowed to contact you directly. You will no longer get harassed by the adjuster, continually pressuring you to accept his low-ball offer. If anyone from the insurance company or the defendant contacts you after the motorcycle accident, tell them to talk to your lawyer.
An Elgin motorcycle accident attorney can help you avoid pitfalls that could reduce the value of your claim for compensation or destroy your case. For example, as the insurer knows, you only have a short time to take legal action against the at-fault person. Missing this timeline may mean that you lose your chances of recovering compensation.
Do not wait to talk to us. We want to help people who get hurt as a result of the carelessness of others.
Our Attorneys Help Elgin Motorcycle Accident Victims
Consider retaining an Elgin motorcycle accident lawyer today. You do not have to pay upfront legal fees to get our help. At The Kryder Law Group, LLC, we handle personal injury cases on a contingent fee basis. That means that our legal fees will come out of the settlement proceeds or award at the end. We collect our fee from the settlement we win for you.
Contact our law firm to speak with a member of our team about your claim at no charge if you call. There is no obligation.