Motorcycle Accident Causes in Florida
Motorcycle Accident Causes in Florida
Injury Attorney for any Motorcycle Accident Cause in Florida
Motorcycle accidents may not be more common than car accidents but they are more likely to end in severe injuries or death. Motorcycle accident causes in Florida include negligent car drivers, manufacturing errors, motorcyclists driving under the influence, and many others. Around 56% of motorcyclist deaths are due to accidents with other cars. Generally, in an accident involving a vehicle and a motorcycle, the car will hit the motorcyclist in the front; this type of collision is very dangerous for the rider because the momentum of their body can carry them off of the motorcycle and into traffic on the road.
List of Common Causes for Motorcycle Accidents
The above scenario is only one example of a collision that can lead to severe injury for a motorcyclist; some of the other common causes of motorcycle accidents include:
Cars making left-hand turns
This type of collision is common both when involving a motorcycle and between two cars. These accidents make up about 42% of the total accidents that occur between a car and motorcycles on the road.
Motorcycle lane splitting
Motorcyclists tend to ride in between two lanes on the road in order to avoid waiting in traffic. Lane splitting increases the risk of an accident because motorcyclists are close to the vehicles on the road and do not have much space to maneuver. On top of that, most cars do not expect for motorcycles to be passing so they may change lanes without looking for vehicles coming from far back and end up cutting off a motorcyclist.
Accidents with stationary objects
25% of motorcycle accident deaths are due to the collision of a bike and an object. Similar to the accidents where a motorcycle is cut off from the front, when hitting a fixed object the bike will stop but the rider can be thrown from the bike. Being thrown from a bike can lead to numerous types of injuries from broken bones to paralyzing disabilities.
Hazardous road conditions
To cars, potholes or uneven ground is a minute hazard on the road, but to a motorcycle, those irregularities can easily throw the bike off-balance and cause an accident. Also, wet roads and dead animals in the road can be a problem to any vehicle, but since motorcycles are not as stable as a car, the unsafe conditions are even more dangerous.
Manufacturer error
The design or the assembly of the motorcycle could have a defect that can lead to wobbling on the bike or involuntary weaving causing a rider to lose control. Collisions are at high risk when motorcycles have a defect because a lot of times there is nothing the motorcyclist can do to prevent an accident.
Get Free Advice From An Experienced Motor Vehicle Accident Lawyer.
Safety Precautions for Motorcycle Riders
Riding a motorcycle is risky, which is why it is vital to take the necessary safety precautions before going on the road. The first safety requirement is to have a properly fitted helmet so in case the rider is involved in a collision, his or her head will be protected. One of main causes of a motorcycle accident is lane splitting; in order to avoid accidents, motorcyclists should not weave through the lanes or speed through two lanes to get through traffic.
It is also important to remain out of the blind spots of other vehicles, if others cannot see a motorcycle then they are more likely to make a move that can cause an accident. Using a turn signal is also crucial for every lane change or turn so that cars are aware of where the motorcyclist is going. Tailgating is incredibly dangerous because the time allotted to brake or maneuver if necessary is significantly diminished so leaving room between a motorcyclist and a vehicle is very important. These are just a few precautions that should be followed when taking a motorcycle on the road but, sadly, accidents can still happen.
Great guys who take their job seriously. They took care of me when I had my accident and made sure I was walked through 100% of the way.
– Joshua M.
Obtain Qualified Counsel from a Fort Lauderdale Injury Lawyer
If you have been involved in a motorcycle accident, seek experienced legal representation from a Fort Lauderdale personal injury attorney from our firm. Our lawyers thoroughly investigate the details of our client’s cases to ensure that we provide the best opportunity to recover the damages that our clients deserve after a motorcycle accident. Ace You Case, P.A. offers a free consultation so you can call today and discuss your case with a skilled motorcycle accident lawyer. You have nothing to lose because you do not have to pay unless we recover damages in your case!
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Plantation Personal Injury FAQs
When Is It the Right Time to Call a Personal Injury Lawyer?
The right time to call is as soon as possible after your accident. There are many reasons why you need to begin the legal process as quickly as you can. The legal process may even begin without you, with many calls from the insurance company trying to either rush you or to pressure you to give a statement. They may try to catch you unaware and trick you into compromising your legal rights. Hiring an attorney could prevent this from happening.
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Equally important, as time passes from the time of your accident, the evidence that could help your claim can become harder to find. People might quickly clear the scene of the accident, and you may lose the ability to contact witnesses. The witnesses that you have may begin to lose their recollection of what they saw. When you hire a personal injury lawyer, they will get to work immediately to gather the evidence before it is lost.
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Calling a lawyer to get started on your case is a crucial step in the legal process. Knowing that you have someone on the job with the experience and tenacity to fight for you can give you at least some peace of mind during an undoubtedly difficult time.
How Do Insurance Settlement Negotiations Work?
An insurance claim is just like any other negotiation. You have a number in mind for what you think that you should receive for your injuries, and the insurance company has a much lower number in mind for what it wants to pay. Your insurance claim begins when your Plantation personal injury attorney files a demand letter with the insurance company. This is when the adjuster goes to work to try to save money for their bosses.
The insurance adjuster may outright deny your claim or question liability. They may come back with a settlement offer. When the number seems low, and it will, know that this is just their opening offer. Your Plantation injury attorney will likely reject the offer and respond with your own demand.
Eventually, you will lower your number, and the insurance company will raise theirs, and you could meet somewhere in the middle. This is a time-honored dance that personal injury lawyers have been doing with insurance companies since the advent of courtrooms. Even when you seem very far apart from the insurance company, most cases eventually will settle.
What Happens After I File a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
Filing a personal injury lawsuit is an early part of the claim process. Most cases will never go far enough to see the inside of a courtroom. Statistically speaking, a vast majority of personal injury cases are settled out of court. However, if your case does make it to court, you should expect going into it that the trial process may take one to two years to complete. The legal system is far from rushed, as courts and judges have busy schedules and full dockets.
In the short term, you can expect motions and attempts to obtain evidence. Many people associate a lawsuit with a trial, but that only happens after many months of the nuts and bolts of the legal system. The phase of your case that will take the longest time is discovery. This is when the two sides obtain evidence that the other has in their possession. At this point, you may even need to sit for a deposition.
Filing a lawsuit will not cut off settlement negotiations. As was previously mentioned, most cases will settle without a trial. If anything, litigation may give each side more incentive to settle. The two parties usually continue negotiating right up until the point when the jury is seated.
What Evidence Can Prove My Injury Claim?
Negligence is the basis of every personal injury claim. When you file a lawsuit in court, you have the burden of proof. It will be up to you to show that what you say is more likely than not to have happened. You need to back your claim up with evidence.
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Your Plantation personal injury lawyer will work to gather things that can backup your side of the story, including:
— Witness statements from people who say your injury or accident
— Pictures of the scene of your accident
— Security camera footage
— Expert witness testimony that could reconstruct the accident
— Maintenance logs of the area or vehicle involved
— Medical records that can help prove damages
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These are things that can be difficult to get on your own and piece together to tell the story of what happened. Injury lawyers in Plantation, Florida, know how to both get the evidence and use it to prove that someone else was responsible for your accident.
What if I Cannot Work Due to My Injuries?
Your personal injury damages include both economic and non-economic compensation. Economic compensation aims to pay you back for the actual money that you lost. This includes bills that you paid and earnings you lost. This specifically pays you back for lost wages from your job when you are unable to work. Since you would have worked, this is money out of your pocket.
Lost wages in a personal injury settlement are much broader than you think. Of course, this includes the time that you have already missed from work. It also encompasses time that you will miss from work in the future. You do not need to outright miss work to receive compensation for this. For example, if you were qualified for a promotion but cannot get it now because your injury limits you in the type of work that you can do, you can get compensation for the reduction in your earning capacity.
Lost wages are often a very contested part of your personal injury claim because you can bet that the insurance company will see things differently to try to lower its bill. They may dispute what your possible earnings are or use a lower rate of inflation to calculate what they may be in the future.