Menu
Menu
Texas is a beautiful state and with that beauty, most people are tempted to hop on their motorcycles and enjoy the scenes and the breeze on the road. Motorcycle crashes are a little too common in the state. According to the Texas Department of Transportation, more than 1,800 motorcyclists sustained severe injuries in 2019, while 412 ended up losing their lives.
More often than not, these accidents are caused by the motorcycle riders themselves as they engage in bad driving behavior like lane splitting and driving between cars to get to their destination faster. But, there are times when they become victims of another driver’s negligence and get seriously injured.
Some common causes are:
Motorcycle accident injuries can be severe and hamper the injured rider's ability to function normally. Some common injuries that can be caused by a motorcycle accident are:
Some accidents cause severe injuries that can eventually lead to wrongful death. If you have been a motorcycle accident victim due to another driver’s negligence in Texas, then having an understanding of how an average motorcycle accident settlement works can help you make your accident claim.
The actions you take after a motorcycle will have an impact on your personal injury claim. Here are some steps you can take that will have a positive impact on your case:
This depends on your medical condition but if you aren’t taken to the hospital by ambulance due to the seriousness of your injuries, you need to stay at the scene of the accident. Immediately call 911 and ask the responding officer to draft a police report for the accident.
Make sure you get all the necessary information from the at-fault driver like their name, address, license plate number, driver’s license number, and insurance coverage and company information.
If you see any eyewitnesses, make sure you take their contact information as well and if they agree, take a brief statement of what they saw.
This information will be critical in helping you present a strong personal injury lawsuit and will be a great help to your accident attorney.
The at-fault driver and the insurance company will want you to say something that can harm your case. The best thing to do in this case is to stay quiet and not say anything about the accident or the injuries you sustain.
Get medical attention for your injuries immediately. Even if you think you are fine, you need to get checked so a medical practitioner can determine the extent of your injuries and treat you accordingly.
We recommend you keep a folder with all your medical bills after the accident and also keep a note of how you feel on a daily basis. This medical record will also help your experienced accident lawyer make a robust injury claim.
Once you’re well enough to do so, hire a motorcycle accident lawyer to help you file and fight your personal injury claim. You will need professional help in dealing with the tactics of the insurance company and the defendant party.
The average motorcycle accident settlement is marked at $200,000 according to different statistical methods. Be mindful that this is the average which means that some settlements will be higher or lower than this. Different factors determine the settlement amount for a motorcycle accident like the kind of injuries sustained by the victim, the victim’s own fault in the accident, and etc.
When setting a value for a motorcycle accident settlement, three things must be considered: damages, liability, and sources of recovery.. It is very difficult to prove your claim if the other party was not entirely at fault. Keep in mind that Texas is a comparative negligence state, which means that if you are found to be 50% responsible for the accident, you cannot claim any damages at all.
If you can establish liability against the other driver or drivers, your settlement can be demanded and will depend on the extent of your injury and how they’ve impacted your life in the short and long term. You can practically claim money for all your harms and losses like your medical bills, physical therapy bills, lost wages and etc. It is critical for you to understand these harms and losses before you make your accident claim.
Although it can be a little difficult to calculate damages like “pain and suffering”. Lost income and lost earnings can actually be calculated quite accurately and even down to the lost dollar. This can include the sick time taken off to recover from the injuries, lost hourly wages, and the inability to grab other earning opportunities in this time frame. If the injuries are long-term and will render you incapable of earning in the future, you can also claim long-term lost earnings and work with your lawyer or economist to determine the present-day value of those losses.
In the same way, when you are calculating your past medical expenses you need to see if there were any insurance discounts or charity amounts that lessened these bills. According to Texas Law, you can only claim the medical costs that you paid for or incurred and that means that the faulty driver gets the benefit of the charity or discount amounts.
In case of future medical expenses, you will need to involve experts like doctors, economists, and your lawyer to do the calculations.
As we discussed before, each motorcycle accident and its after-effects are different and that means that the time it will take to settle a motorcycle accident will depend on different factors. The type of injury sustained will be a critical factor. Depending on how severe these injuries are, they require regular medical treatment. These cases can take a longer time to settle because more documentation is needed and also how these injuries are healing and manifesting.
Here are some factors that can impact the length of your settlement:
A motorcycle accident can completely change the life of the accident victim. You can sustain serious injuries that have a direct impact on your ability to lead a normal life. You will need medical attention and treatment that will result in mounting bills. Not only this, you may be incapable of going to work for the foreseeable future and become unable to take care of your family’s financial needs.
Most cases that involve such serious injuries and require a big compensation amount take longer to settle. You, your doctor, and your experienced lawyer will need to work together and document all your injuries and also determine whether or not you will ever recover from them.
Your personal injury lawyer will also have to spend time calculating your future expenses and current losses. This will take some time and finally, there will be more than one round of negotiations before your lawyer can get you a fair settlement for your losses.
When more than one driver is involved in your case, more time will be required. Communications and negotiations between the different individuals, their lawyers, and their insurance companies will contribute to the length of the settlement time.
Cases that are taken to the court always take longer than if the individual parties settle outside the court.
At Calhoun Meredith we understand that going through a motorcycle accident can be a life-changing event. The losses incurred as a result of this type of accident can leave a long-lasting impact on your life. At a time when you should be focusing on recovery and resting, you shouldn’t have to worry about the legal process and the tactics of the insurance company.
When you hire us, our experienced personal injury lawyer makes sure they do everything in their power to get you maximum compensation for your property damage, physical and mental pain and suffering, and financial damages.
We do a full assessment of your case and help you calculate your harms and losses to make a strong injury claim. We fight the case on your behalf and negotiate with the insurance company to get you compensation for all that you’ve lost due to another driver’s negligence.
Our experienced motorcycle accident lawyers work on a contingency basis, which means you only pay if you win and don’t have to worry about hefty legal fees.
Been in a motorcycle accident and need good legal representation? Call us now.