Riders love being on their motorcycles for the freedom of the open road. Unfortunately, negligent drivers often ignore the safety of motorcycle riders and cause serious crashes.
Motorcycle crashes are known for being serious, and riders commonly experience injuries like road rash, brain injuries, and spinal cord damage. The person who caused your accident deserves to be held accountable. To do so, we must identify the other driver, evaluate your losses, find evidence supporting your claims, and file a complaint with the courts. An attorney can assist you in your quest for justice by helping you develop effective legal strategies, locate evidence, and navigate the complex legal procedures of the court.
Call Howe Law at (844) 876-4357 to arrange for a free review of your claims with our motorcycle accident lawyers as soon as possible.
Common Injuries in Motorcycle Accidents in Franklin, TN
Motorcycle accidents are notorious for how badly riders are injured. It is not uncommon for motorcycle riders to be hospitalized with severe or life-threatening injuries after a crash. One very common injury experienced by injured riders is road rash. Road rash is a severe skin abrasion caused by a motorcycle rider skidding or being dragged along the rough pavement. While these injuries are technically only skin deep, they can be very large, painful, and leave scars.
While motorcycle riders are legally required to wear helmets, some still experience severe head trauma or brain injuries. Even with a helmet, you might still experience things like concussions or injuries to your skull. If the helmet comes off or breaks during the crash, riders risk hitting their heads and experiencing brain injuries.
Riders also often experience neck and spinal cord injuries. For example, someone thrown from their motorcycle might land in a way that badly injures their back and neck. If the impact is especially powerful, your spine might be damaged, and your ability to move or walk might be impaired.
How to Hold Someone Liable for a Motorcycle Accident in Franklin, TN
Liability is not easily determined. Courts must carefully weigh the evidence and apply complex laws to complicated facts. After a motorcycle accident, you might be badly hurt and unable to handle a lawsuit on your own. That is where our motorcycle accident attorneys come in.
Identify the Driver
The first step in your case is to identify the driver who hit you. For many, this should be a fairly easy process since all drivers are required to stay put at accident scenes and wait for the police to arrive, especially if there are injuries. During this time, you should either exchange information with the other driver or get their information from the police later.
Unfortunately, drivers do not always follow the law. Many motorcycle accidents are hit and runs where the negligent driver fled the scene before anyone could stop them. You might have been left injured on the side of the road, with nothing to do but wait until someone came along to help.
In hit and run accidents, the police may launch an investigation into the crash. Hit and runs are criminal offenses, so the police should take great interest in your case. We can work with law enforcement to find the negligent driver and bring them to justice.
Assess Your Damages
Our next step is to identify and evaluate your damages. While you might have experienced numerous painful bodily injuries, your damages may go beyond just hospital bills. Compensatory damages involve both economic and non-economic losses, and these damages may be greater than you realize.
Economic losses are chiefly comprised of medical bills, property damage, and lost income. Medical care is notoriously costly with or without health insurance, and the cost to replace your totaled motorcycle might be more than you can afford. You might also have to take time away from work to recover, losing valuable income. On top of these larger costs, we must add any other out-of-pocket expenses you incurred, no matter how small.
Non-economic injuries are harder to quantify because they are very subjective. Pain, suffering, embarrassment, damage to your reputation, and other negative experiences constitute your non-economic damages. Often, we do not have to come up with a value for these damages. Instead, the jury makes the final decision about how much these damages are worth. As such, it is important that we drive home how severely these experiences have impacted your life.
Gather Evidence
To prove your claims for damages, we need strong evidence showing how the defendant’s negligence caused your motorcycle crash. Evidence often comes from the scene of the accident but might also be found in some unexpected places.
Photographs of the accident scene are very valuable as they might show a jury where the accident happened, who was there, and how the vehicles were damaged. Witnesses may provide insight into how the accident occurred. Witnesses from different vantage points may help us paint a better picture of the accident for the jury.
Evidence might also come from your medical records. Not only can these records help us show the severity of your injuries, but an expert medical witness (preferably your doctor) can testify about how your injuries are consistent with the motorcycle crash.
File Your Complaint
Believe it or not, the last step in getting your case started is to submit it to the appropriate court. While many people believe that a lawsuit begins when the case is filed, a lot of preparations are made long before filing.
Your complaint is not just a simple document. It must contain very specific details about you and the defendant and how we believe the defendant caused your accident. We must also claim your damages, and any damages left out of the complaint might not be compensated.
Call Our Franklin, TN Motorcycle Accident Attorneys About Your Case
Call Howe Law at (844) 876-4357 to schedule a free review of your case with our motorcycle accident attorneys as soon as possible.
