If you have suffered serious injury due to a motorcycle accident, you may be entitled to compensation. Here are some important things you need to know when pursuing a case:
Who can I sue?
Depending on your circumstances, there are numerous parties who may owe you compensation. These can include other motorists, the local authority responsible for maintaining the road where you sustained your injuries, and the manufacturer(s) of your vehicle or gear, or those of other motorists. It is best to consult a motorcycle accident lawyer to help you evaluate which parties may owe you compensation and to find the best way to obtain it for you.
What can I claim compensation for?
You or your family may be owed compensation for a wide range of reasons. The most common of these include wrongful death, medical bills, loss of wages, property damage, pain and suffering, and punitive damages.
How are damages calculated?
Damages can be very complicated to calculate in the wake of a motorcycle accident since there are many factors involved.
Getting medical treatment after a motorcycle accident can be very expensive. Some injuries in particular, such as harm done to the brain or spinal cord, can require expensive care on a permanent basis. All too often, people who have suffered a motorcycle accident find that their health insurance only covers a small portion of their medical bills. Documented medical costs are typically a key component in compensation awards.
The majority of serious accidents leave the victim at least temporarily unable to work, and some make it permanently inconceivable to return to work, leaving victims with no dependable source of income and consequently no way to cover medical or life expenses. Unavoidable current and projected loss of earnings is often a cause for compensation.
If the motorcycle itself is damaged but reparable, you may be able to sue for compensation for those costs. If the motorcycle is damaged beyond repair, victims are sometimes able to recover the cost of their motorcycle. Additionally, if you have suffered physical and/or emotional trauma as a result of your accident, you may be able to sue for these damages as well. Lastly, in relatively rare cases, punitive damages may be assessed on your behalf. These typically apply to other motorists in the event of malicious actions of extreme negligence. These are intended to punish the parties responsible.
It is worth remembering that the amount of compensation you might expect to obtain will be very different in a settlement to the amount you might be awarded at trial. It is typically considerably less. This is because going to trial involves the risk that no compensation may be awarded at all, and the risk that you may be ordered to pay the defendant’s costs.
Since many of these damages (such as emotional trauma or punitive damages) are not possible to quantify exactly, a great deal of the variance in compensation awards comes down to the quality of argument and the paper trail that you base your case on.
When you’ve been injured in a motorcycle or auto accident, the last thing you want to do is wait to get the justice and compensation you deserve. Contact Bert Parnall and the team at Parnall Law Firm to start your initial consultation and get on the road to recovery today.
