Personal Injury Legal Group > Motorcycle Accidents Injury Attorney

Table of Contents

Los Angeles Motorcycle Accidents Attorney

The California climate may be ideal for open-air motorcycle driving but the dense traffic and high rates of distracted drivers can create hazardous conditions on the road. If you had a motorcycle collision, call Personal Injury Legal Group to get qualified and experienced legal representation. Your initial consultation with an attorney is free and we only get paid if we win your case.

How Can a Motorcycle Attorney at Personal Injury Legal Group Help?

Building a strong case for your motorcycle accident is essential—At Personal Injury Legal Group we will go to great lengths to:

Question your witnesses
Conduct a professional crime scene investigation
Take depositions of all relevant parties
Negotiate the best possible insurance company settlement, and
Determining who is liable for your accident

Determining who is financially responsible for your medical expenses, income losses wages, and damages to your motorcycle is the first step in getting fair and just compensation. Personal Injury Legal Group attorneys will be relentless in determining who was at fault in your motorcycle accident and hold responsible parties accountable for your injuries and expenses.

How Long do I Have to File a Motorcycle Injury Claim in California?

California Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1 states that the statute of limitations for a personal injury case in California is two years. This means you have two years from your accident date to file a personal injury claim. An exception to this statute may be applied if your injuries are not identified until a later time.

What Compensation Can I Expect After My Motorcycle Accident?

After you sustained injuries in a motorcycle accident, you may be entitled to compensation for economic damages or noneconomic damages or both.

Economic damages cover actual financial losses resulting from your motorcycle accident. This may include current and expected losses due to:

Medical bills
Damages to property
Lost income/wages
Ongoing expenses or losses

Damages that are considered “non-economic” do not have an innate dollar amount, which makes them more challenging to assess. Examples of non-economic damages may include:

Physical pain, discomfort, and suffering
Loss of physical intimacy/family relationships
Emotional suffering and distress
Bodily deformities or disabilities
Loss of joy and an inability to fully participate in life

The courts generally consider non-economic damages when your injuries are permanent or severe, if they disrupt your daily life, or if your expected recovery is long.

At Personal Injury Legal Group, our Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorneys Also Focus on the Following Practice Areas:

Who May Be Liable for My Injuries?

The following entities may be held liable for damages in the event of a motorcycle accident:

An At-Fault Driver

A driver who breaches their legal obligation to drive safely or who violates the California Vehicle Code may be held responsible for causing your accident. This includes driver negligence due to tailgating, swerving into your lane, failing to yield, exceeding a speed limit, or if the driver was distracted by talking or texting on a cell phone.

Dangerous Roadway Conditions

If dangerous road conditions are present, a government entity such as a city or municipality may be held responsible for your motorcycle accident. Dangerous conditions include roadway debris, potholes, uncovered manholes, cracked or raised asphalt, absence of appropriate traffic signage, or a poorly designed roadway. When a governmental entity is held responsible, your attorney will guide you in following the required special procedures for filing an injury claim.

Product Defects

Your accident may have resulted from a manufacturing or product design defect, which endangered your safety. Examples of defects include a malfunctioning fuel tank, which can become a fire hazard, break failure, a tire blowout or skid, or an alignment issue that forced your motorcycle to uncontrollably weave.

Frequent Traumatic Motorcycle Accident Injuries

Damage to the spinal cord
Internal bleeding
Paralysis
Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
Bone fractures
Abrasive road rash
Deformity or amputation

If a motorcyclist experiences a traumatic injury, he or she can expect a lifetime of medical treatment and medical care expenses. Often, multiple surgeries and extensive rehabilitation may be required, which can last for years at a time, and sadly, some motorcyclists will not be unable to return to a prior career.

Without the guidance of an experienced motorcycle attorney, an injured motorcyclist may never receive the care and compensation necessary to begin a full and enjoyable life.

Motorcyclist Biases During a Trial

When motorcyclists take an accident case to court against a negligent party, they may experience bias from a jury and/or judge, even when the evidence proves the other party is at fault. Unfortunately, motorcyclists are often viewed as thrill-seeking, reckless people who drive at high speeds and cause accidents. These biases may be present when a police officer writes up the accident report. Officers may assume the motorcyclist is at fault and fail to conduct a complete, unbiased accident site investigation. When this happens the jury fails to hear all the evidence to decide who is and is not at fault.

Common Causes of Motorcycle Accidents

Several factors are often associated with motorcycle accidents including:

Hazardous road or weather conditions

Treacherous road conditions and poor weather are common causes of motorcycle accidents. Motorcycles offer less stability and barrier protection than most other passenger vehicles. Dangerous road conditions that typically go unnoticed by most drivers can become a major hazard for a motorcyclist. When high speeds are paired with an unseen pothole, uneven lanes, slick pavement, or debris laying on the road they can create devastating outcomes for someone who is riding a motorcycle.

While the year-round weather in Los Angeles is typically mild and sunny, the few days each year when it does rain can result in slick, dangerous road conditions. Freeways like the 405 and 101, are known for being slippery after rain because the build-up of oil, normally underground, rises to the surface in wet weather, creating dangerous conditions.

Driver Negligence

Most traffic accidents result from driver inattention. Research has shown that 8 out of 10 motorcycle accidents result from the driver of the passenger vehicle being inattentive to common traffic risks and hazards.

While additional factors may be involved in a crash, driver inattentiveness is pervasive on our roads. We live in a culture where “multi-tasking” is common and too often, drivers distractedly multitask while driving their cars. Such behaviors are particularly dangerous to motorcyclists. Under the most ideal conditions, motorcycles are small and harder to see. When a driver is distracted, the odds of a driver missing a motorcycle will increase and place the motorcyclist at greater risk.

Driving Under the Influence

An impaired driver is acutely dangerous and particularly harmful to motorcyclists. Some researchers identify motorcycle accidents resulting from drug and alcohol usage at almost 30 percent, with the motorcyclist most often being the person who is impaired.

Motorcycle Control or Inexperience

Another frequent incident involving motorcycles is when the motorcyclist loses control of his or her bike. One researcher found that almost 92 percent of motorcycle accidents resulted from riders having inadequate training. Often the motorcyclist was taught to ride by a friend or family member or was self-taught. In the absence of formal motorcycle trading, a rider can:

Not recognize the motorcycle’s limitations
Fail to drive defensively
Lack the appropriate cornering and braking skills

It is essential that motorcyclists learn how to control their motorcycles and understand the differences between a motorcycle and a car before taking off on the open road.

High Speeds

At least one-third of all motorcycle accidents are attributed to speed, even when speed is not considered the primary cause of an accident, it is often a contributing factor. Sport model motorcycles, with speeds reaching 190 mph, are associated with four times as many driver fatalities as drivers who ride “standard” motorcycles.

High speeds are often associated with motorcyclists losing control of their bikes, particularly when other drivers are also operating their vehicles at high speeds. Accelerated speeds are truly recipes for disaster.

Failing to Look for Motorcyclists

It is common for automobile drivers not to be on the lookout for motorcycles, which is a habit that can lead to serious or fatal collisions. Often motorcycle accidents happen at busy intersections. As a driver attempts a left turn, he or she may not notice an oncoming motorcyclist or misjudge the motorcyclist’s speed.

Other common motorcycle accidents happen when a driver is backing into a driveway or parking lot without checking for the presence of a motorcycle.

Absence of Protection

Simply stated, motorcycles do not offer any protection from a crash. This fact accounts for the much higher rates of fatalities and catastrophic injuries. In most cars, vans, SUVs, or small pickup trucks, there are multiple safety features that protect drivers and passengers. These include steel frames, glass, and metal, not to mention tightly secured seat belts. Today, most cars are equipped with front and side airbags to add to vehicle protection safety.

Motorcycles have zero safety features, which leaves cyclists defenseless when a 3,500-pound vehicle, traveling at relatively high speeds collides with their bike.

The Importance of having Legal Representation in a Motorcycle Accident

Even more so than following an automobile accident, it is in your best interest to call an experienced California motorcycle personal injury attorney if you were involved in a motorcycle accident. Your attorney will help you navigate the complex and unique elements of a motorcycle accident case and the potential presence of police, jury, and judge bias. A qualified attorney will reconstruct your accident and present factors that can pinpoint negligence that resulted from another driver.

Safeguard your rights and ensure that your future is protected by contacting Personal Injury Legal Group. Our attorneys have deep knowledge and experience in handling the complexity of California motorcycle accidents.

Personal Injury Legal Group headquarters are located in Los Angeles with additional offices throughout California. Since 1999, we have been serving clients nationwide, with a concentration in Southern California counties including Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Orange, San Diego, Kern, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Imperial. We also serve Northern California counties of San Francisco, Alameda, Marin, Sacramento, San Mateo, Solano, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Contra Costa, Napa, Yolo, and Sonoma.

CONTACT US

We firmly believe that everyone has a right to qualified legal representation. Allow our Los Angeles personal injury lawyer to fight for your rights and benefits. Schedule a free consultation, call or email us at 310-388-4306 or admin@personalinjurylegalgroup.org.

Personal Injury Legal Group

11601 Wilshire Blvd 5th Floor, West Los Angeles, CA 90025

Phone: 310-388-4306

Share This Page: