A Motorcycle Accident Case is Easy to Win… with Prior Preparation
Several years ago, I had a close friend involved in a motorcycle accident.
As he navigated a round-about, he mentally went through his checklist. Lean into the turn, check the other lane, hit the throttle at the right moment… all was going well. As he glanced to his right, to ensure side traffic wasn’t coming into his lane, the truck on his left made an illegal lane change and literally ran him over.
Because my friend was wearing the proper safety gear, injuries were relatively minor. The lawsuit that ensued, however, wasn’t minor and ended up dragging on for quite a while.
Prior Planning Could have Helped with a Motorcycle Lawsuit
A broken collar bone and destroyed bike later, this friend was trying to work with insurance companies on his own. It seemed simple enough; the other driver came into his lane and ran him over. But there was a big problem.
There were no witnesses that were willing to give a report of what happened. The official police report didn’t make mention of who was in the wrong or the exact circumstances of the accident.
The other driver, as many people do, denied that he swerved into the other lane, and maintained that my friend that was ran over swerved into his lane.
It was one word against another; so the help of a local personal injury attorney was sought.
The problem, however, was that no attorneys wanted to pick up the case. In this situation, it would be incredibly difficult to prove who was right, and all anyone had to go on was the testimony of the drivers. In the end, after things stalled out for nearly a year, it was time to either go to litigation, or drop the case completely.
The case was ultimately dropped.
Safety Gear that Made Things Better
The story isn’t all bad though. It could have been much worse. Most people don’t survive a full sized truck running over their torso.
Because proper safety gear was used, physical injury was minimized. Safety gear that included:
- A jacket with built in carbon fiber “armor”
- A helmet that exceeded DOT regulations
- Leather gloves and pants that eliminated road rash
- And quick thinking thanks to a defensive riding class
Things could have gone a little better though.
What You Need to Ensure You Win Your Motorcycle Accident Case
The one thing that was missing from his case was the ability to prove what happened before, during, and after the crash. This area doesn’t have any public cameras on the streets. There were no businesses nearby that would have caught the footage on their cameras. Without witnesses that come forward to say what happened, there was no proof of anything.
Going forward, if he chooses to ride again, cameras on his bike are the only thing that will prevent another stalled settlement. They’re relatively cheap, and with a bike mounted camera and a helmet mounted camera, nobody will be able to argue that something else happened.
You Also Need Herbert & Eberstein Motorcycle Accident Attorneys in Dallas
When you ride with all of the proper safety equipment, you can fend off a good portion of the physical injuries that could happen in a motorcycle accident.
When you ride with cameras that help to show exactly what happened in a crash, you can fend off a good portion of the their word against yours arguments that could stall out a settlement designed to make sure you are made whole.
But what you really need is an attorney that will help make the entire process much easier. Enlisting the help of a motorcycle accident attorney, like Zach Herbert and Brian Eberstein, you can focus on healing that collar bone and fixing your bike so you can ride again someday.
Let’s talk about your potential motorcycle accident case. Give us a call at 214-414-3808, or fill out our contact form.