If you ride a motorcycle in Los Angeles, you understand the need to be vigilant and conscientious on the road. Even when you’re careful, accidents can happen, and you might need a motorcycle accident attorney. Riding gives you a distinct advantage over driving a car. A motorcycle is smaller, nimbler, and more compact than an automobile, which allows you to avoid traffic jams and gives you more options for parking. It is also a lot more fun. For some cool tips and tricks about motorcycles, visit DrivrZone.
You may take motorcycle safety seriously. You may adhere strictly to the rules of the road, but other drivers may not. And if you have been injured in an accident caused by the inattention or lawlessness of an automobile driver, then you must act legally to get the compensation you are entitled to. Only a motorcycle injury attorney in Los Angeles can help you get the guidance and insight you need to protect and pursue this right.
The Seriousness of Motorcycle Accidents
As a motorcycle rider, you have no protection against the impact of a collision. There is no chassis between you and an oncoming car. If you are hit by the latter, you will bear the impact of the force directly. This can lead to serious injuries such as the following:
1. Broken and fractured bones
A car moving at even a moderate speed can shatter bones in your body if it hits you. Such a collision can crush your leg, foot, ankle, and knee bones. You may suffer other broken and fractured bones in the upper body when you are thrown from the motorcycle.
2. Deep cuts and abrasions
You can suffer serious cuts and abrasions as a result of your motorcycle being knocked down and you sliding along the pavement until it comes to a complete stop. The worst abrasions consist of those in which the skin is torn off the flesh, which can cause the most excruciating pain and agony. You may also suffer deep cuts when you are thrown off the bike. This can cause you to bleed heavily, which can become a life-threatening condition if not stopped and treated shortly after the accident.
3. Head and spinal injuries
If you were in a minor motorcycle accident, you will probably suffer a concussion at the very least. A concussion is a violent shaking of the brain; it is the kind of injury that can be recovered from in a matter of days. If you were in a serious accident, you may end up with a spinal injury; it is an injury that can put you in the hospital for months and leave you permanently disabled.
You should always wear a helmet when you ride. But not even the most reliable and robust helmet can protect you from a collision that throttles you from your motorcycle and causes you to land in a way that bruises or severs your spine.
When to Hire a Motorcycle Accident Lawyer
Almost no one walks away from a motorcycle accident completely unscathed. After the accident, you will need some time to recover and get your health back. However, you should start planning for the future once you have become strong and stable enough to hold a conversation.
One of your first conversations should be about compensation: not out of greed, but out of necessity. If you have been hospitalized for a lengthy amount of time and you require even more treatment to get healthy, the bills will begin to pile up. You will also need to consider the loss of wages you have incurred owing to your inability to work. You will need to speak to a motorcycle personal injury attorney about your situation and the compensation you may be able to get to resolve it.
How to Find a Motorcycle Accident Lawyer
There is no shortage of ways to find a qualified and experienced motorcycle injury lawyer. You can call the local Bar Association and have them send you a list of law firms that handle cases like yours. However, the easiest way is to carry out your own search online.
You can get your friends and family to help you with the search and work with them to whittle a large number of choices down to a few candidates. Nothing less than your future is at stake. You should, therefore, scrutinize the qualifications and experience of each lawyer under consideration. Here are some of the things you want to look at:
1. Experience
Motorcycle injury is a specialized field in law. There is an entire range of tort law that specifically addresses such accidents, and only a lawyer with deep knowledge of it will be able to pursue your case competently and effectively.
2. Standing in the legal community
Your lawyer should also be in good standing with the California Bar. They should have no history of ethics violations or other misconduct. You want to work with a lawyer who is respected by judges and other lawyers.
3. Settlement track record
The lawyer you work with should have a record of getting high settlements for their clients. Some attorneys are good at this; others are not. You don’t need your lawyer to win in court; you need them to have the aggressiveness, determination, and negotiating skills to get you a more than adequate settlement.
How the Law Works in Motorcycle Injury Cases
California law gives you the right to file suit for damages against a party whose actions have caused you material or financial harm. If the person who hit you did so as a result of carelessness, negligence, or insobriety, they are liable for all that you have suffered physically and monetarily. However, you may not need to file a suit straightaway.
Once the insurance company of the driver who hit you realizes that their client is at fault for the accident, they may try to offer you a settlement. Such initial offerings from insurance companies tend to be much less than what you are entitled to. One of the reasons why you should speak to the best personal injury lawyer soon after the accident is so that they can determine the dollar value of your case. Your lawyer will consider the medical expenses, the money needed for rehabilitation and medication, loss of wages, and compensation for what you’ve been through to come up with this figure. They will then work to ensure that the insurance company pays this sum or something close to it.
Your attorney will make every effort to negotiate with the insurance company. However, if they refuse to pay fair compensation or prolong negotiations in order to put pressure on you, then you may need to sue them. Taking such an action will put pressure on the insurance company, as they will not want to take the matter to court.
West Coast Trial Lawyers have extensive expertise in gathering the evidence and expert testimony needed to put even more pressure on an insurance company. It is often in the best interest of the latter to make a fair offer rather than risk a jury trial.
If you have been injured in a motorcycle accident, you need an experienced legal advocate by your side. Working with West Coast Trial Lawyers with insight into this area of law can help you get the compensation you deserve.