Carmel Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

You may be the safest motorist on the road, but your insurer may treat you like a menace when you seek compensation for a motorcycle accident. Learn how to fight back by calling a Carmel motorcycle crash lawyer.

Stereotypes may suggest that motorcycle crashes almost exclusively strike leather jacket-clad rough riders, but reality paints a different picture. Put plainly, a serious accident can happen to nearly anyone.

Whether you ride fast or slow, for convenience or leisure, a motorcycle accident can result in devastating consequences, affecting not only your physical health, but your psychological and financial wellbeing.

While it is important to stay calm during times of distress, a serene state of mind can feel almost impossible to achieve without at least some hope for the future. Fortunately, the legal system can provide you with the means to recover damages for the injuries and losses you have sustained in your motorcycle crash.

To learn more about filing a personal injury claim after an accident, contact a Carmel motorcycle accident lawyer at Kooi Law today.

How Unfair Stereotypes Can Bite Back

Motorcyclists have an unfair reputation for being aggressive, if not reckless, on the road. This untrue stereotype has consequences in the real world.

Namely, many motorcyclists seeking compensation after a serious accident may find themselves shunned, mocked, or even manipulated by insurers, who wrongfully assume that motorcyclists are the main culprits in their collisions.

While insurers’ motives can be questioned, their incentive to pin the blame on a motorcyclist is fairly clear. That incentive can be explained through the lens of modified comparative negligence, which is a liability standard that has multiple implications in a Carmel motorcycle accident case.

One clear implication of modified comparative negligence is an insurer’s ability to reduce its liability, which translates into lesser compensation for an accident victim. For example, let’s look at Paul, a fictional motorcyclist who forgot to signal before making a turn directly prior to his collision.

If Paul was later deemed 25 percent at fault in his accident, he should expect to lose 25 percent of his potential damages. The kicker, however, is that someone like Paul could also be deemed ineligible to receive any damages in the event that he or she is deemed primarily (51 percent or more) responsible for his or her injuries.

Insurers in Indiana take full advantage of the benefits these outdated “reckless biker” stereotypes afford them. They’ll go to great lengths to portray you as someone you’re not.

Even having a casual conversation with an insurance company representative may jeopardize your case, which is why we recommend contacting a Carmel motorcycle wreck lawyer who knows how to handle difficult and dishonest insurers.

Common Causes of Carmel Motorcycle Accidents

Moving past stereotypes, it helps to understand some of the leading causes of motorcycle accidents in Carmel. Some common causes include the following:

• Operating under the influence of drugs or alcohol
• Lack of sleep
• Using an electronic device, including a smartphone
• Inclement weather conditions, such as snow or rain
• Poor visibility
• Tailgating
• In-vehicle distractions, such as bickering passengers
• Poor judgment or signaling (e.g., making a turn from the wrong lane)
• Driving too fast or slow
• Inexperience behind the wheel

A motorcycle accident may be attributable to a number of these factors or none at all. Nevertheless, being able to clearly identify how another driver caused your crash is important when you finally decide to formulate and file your claim for compensation.

Injuries in Carmel Motorcycle Accidents

While identifying the cause of your crash is a clear prerequisite to properly structuring your personal injury claim, it is only half the battle. In your Carmel motorcycle crash claim, you will want to identify all of the injuries to which you have been or will be subjected.

Common injuries suffered in motorcycle accidents include the following:

• Traumatic brain injuries
• Broken or fractured bones
• Spinal damage
• Eye and face injuries
• Severe burns
• Open wounds and lacerations
• Organ damage or failure
• Nerve damage
• Internal bleeding
• Death

It goes without saying that the more provable your injuries are, the better your shot at fair compensation is. The same logic applies to the severity and quantity of the injuries you suffered.

Documenting Your Damages

In addition to your injuries, you should clearly document each and every loss to which you’ve been exposed because of your Carmel motorcycle collision.

Examples of losses that may apply to your case include damage to your motorcycle, medical costs, lost wages, reduced future earning potential, emotional distress, pain and suffering, loss of consortium, and overall diminished quality of life.

You and your lawyer will determine the value of your claim by assigning a value to each damage you’ve suffered because of your motorcycle crash, and that includes estimated future costs associated with your damages. While this may be easy for economic damages like medical bills and lost wages, it’s more difficult for non-economic harms like pain and suffering.

Legal Considerations

Before you pour countless hours into filing a personal injury claim or suit for your motorcycle accident in Carmel, it would pay to be cognizant of a few other concepts that will likely be pertinent to your case.

One legal concept that should be considered from the outset is your case’s statute of limitations, which is another way of noting how long from the date of your accident you will be given to recover compensation. In Indiana, the statute of limitations for personal injury cases is two years. This time limit is rigid, meaning that you shouldn’t expect to receive an exemption.

Your motorcycle accident lawyer in Carmel can help you make sure you fully understand every legal consideration that could affect your case.

Speak with a Carmel Motorcycle Accident Attorney

Motorcyclists get a bad rap in accident cases, and we’d like to help change that for you. To work with experienced legal counsel that will stick with you through thick and thin, contact a Carmel motorcycle accident lawyer at Kooi Law. Call us at (317) 569-1335 or fill out the contact form below to request a free, no-pressure consultation with one of our attorneys.