People riding motorcycles are more vulnerable to serious injuries when accidents happen. Meanwhile, negligent drivers in cars might suffer few, if any, injuries. Our team can help you get justice from the driver who hurt you.
Motorcycle accidents often occur because negligent drivers are not paying attention to riders. Rear-end collisions, side-impact crashes, and accidents in blind spots are just a few of the common ways that motorcycle riders are hurt. If you ever find yourself in a collision on your motorcycle, you should call for help, speak with the police, exchange information with others at the scene, and call a lawyer. Our lawyers can help you recover valuable damages, including medical expenses, property costs, lost wages from missing work, and emotional or mental distress. To get compensation for these damages, we need to prove the defendant’s negligence in court.
Call Howe Law at (844) 876-4357 and ask our motorcycle accident lawyers for a confidential claim review for free to begin your case.
How Your Motorcycle Crash Might Have Happened in Shelbyville, TN
How your accident happened is an important detail to figure out. This might seem like it should be obvious, but many motorcycle riders do not clearly recall how their collisions occurred. Riders often say that the other driver came out of nowhere and are not quite sure how everything went down.
Many motorcycle riders are injured in rear-end collisions. These kinds of accidents often happen at stop signs or red lights when a motorcycle rider stops, but the car behind them does not. In typical car accidents, rear-end collisions are sometimes not very serious, often called fender benders. When a motorcycle rider is involved, they might be thrown from the bike because the car is so much bigger and heavier.
Side impact crashes in intersections are another common problem for motorcycle riders. You might have been hit in an intersection when another driver blew a red light or ignored a stop sign. On the other hand, the other driver might have turned illegally or entered an intersection when they should not have, causing you to crash into them.
Blind spots are a serious concern for motorcycle riders. Most cars have blind spots where drivers cannot see unless they turn around, which might not be possible while driving. Even side and rearview mirrors might not fully reveal everything in a blind spot. Since motorcycles are smaller, they may be more easily concealed in a blind spot. If a driver does not check before merging lanes or turning, they might hit a motorcycle rider in their blind spot.
What Do I Do if I am in a Motorcycle Accident in Shelbyville, TN?
If you are unfortunately in a motorcycle accident, there are some steps you should take to ensure your physical safety in addition to your legal interests. Your first step is to call for help. Right after the crash, someone should call 911 and ask for help. Dispatchers will likely send law enforcement officials and emergency medical personnel to the scene.
Injuries might not be extreme in all cases, or at least they might not seem outwardly serious. Some accident victims are hesitant to take an ambulance to a hospital when they do not feel that bad. Even if you do not feel badly hurt and would rather avoid taking an ambulance, you should still get to a hospital as soon as possible. You might have unseen internal injuries that need treatment. You also need to make sure your medical records are as accurate as possible, as they might make for useful evidence later.
You should also talk to the police at the accident scene, at the hospital, or shortly after you get out of the hospital. The police might want to investigate the accident, and they will need your statements about the accident for their report. Our motorcycle accident attorneys can check the police report for additional evidence uncovered by the police that we might have missed.
Before you leave the scene of the crash, exchange information with the driver or drivers who hit you. You should also exchange phone numbers with people who might have seen the accident, as they might testify as witnesses later.
Finally, you need to contact an attorney. Between vehicle damage and medical expenses, you might have a lot of expenses you cannot afford, all because of someone else’s negligence. We can help you explore your legal options and take action to get fair compensation.
How to Prove Your Injury Claims in a Motorcycle Accident Case in Shelbyville, TN
To prove your claims in a court of law, we need to show how the defendant was negligent. Negligence is made up of 4 legal elements. These elements are duty, breach, causation, and damages.
Duty refers to the duty of all drivers to drive with reasonable safety under the current circumstances and adhere to all traffic codes and regulations. In a motorcycle accident case, this is likely the duty that applies to the case.
The breach is what the defendant did to violate their duty of care. This varies from case to case. The breach might include something like speeding, inattentive driving, drinking and driving, violations of traffic laws, or generally reckless under the current conditions.
Causation is the link between the defendant’s breach of their duty and the accident. In short, the breach must be the direct cause of the accident. A common defense strategy is to argue that some other intervening force caused the accident, not the defendant. We must be prepared to refute such arguments to hold the defendant accountable for their negligence. Damages must be real. We need evidence of your damages.
For Help, Call Our Shelbyville, TN Motorcycle Accident Attorneys
Call Howe Law at (844) 876-4357 and ask our motorcycle accident lawyers for a confidential claim review for free to begin your case.
