Maison Law represents all injury victims in Bakersfield motorcycle accidents. We understand how devastating these accidents can be, and the many different injuries that can result from them. Of these, some of the most serious involve broken bones and fractures. If you or someone you care about has experienced these injuries in a motorcycle accident, contact us today for a free consultation to discuss your options.
What Can You Do After Experiencing These Injuries?
Being in a motorcycle accident can be very traumatic, especially if you experience fractures or broken bones. Not only are these injuries extremely painful in the short-term, they can have long-lasting effects on your life moving forward. That’s why the steps you take in the aftermath are very important for your recovery.
Legally speaking, you don’t necessarily need to have our lawyers represent you in a claim if you don’t want to. If you feel like your injuries or the accident itself is straightforward enough that you just go through your own insurance coverage, you certainly have the right to do that.
However, in the event you want to fully pursue your legal rights, you can talk to our team for free. In this initial meeting, we’ll lay out what we can do for you:
- Explaining your legal rights and options, and what the path forward looks like
- Investigating your accident, then figuring out all the liable parties
- Helping you gather evidence and medical records to properly value your claim
- Dealing with insurance companies
- Making the overall process easier on you and your family
Steps to Take
While we can certainly explain your options and what the path ahead looks like for your claim, it’s often the things you do in the immediate aftermath of the accident that sets the tone for the rest of your claim. So, after a motorcycle accident where you have broken bones, it’s extremely important to:
- Find a safe spot out of the way of traffic
- Assess the seriousness of your fracture or other injuries
- Get emergency medical care to stabilize your fracture
- Call the police and report the accident
- Exchange insurance information with anyone involved
- Gather evidence and take pictures and videos of the scene
Again, these steps are very important. At the same time, the trauma from these accidents sometimes make taking these measures easier said than done. Regardless, you have the right as an injury victim to file a claim against anyone that’s responsible for causing the accident.
What Makes a Good Injury Claim?
When you have broken bones or fractures from a motorcycle accident, it can mean a long road to recovery. On top of things like surgeries and treatment, you’ll have to deal with a period of healing that may or may not end successfully. But in legal terms, getting financial support in an injury claim is going to depend on figuring out who’s responsible for the accident itself. And in order to do that, you’ll have to show who was negligent, which has four components:
- Duty of care – The driver has a responsibility to ensure your safety and avoid causing harm by driving in a safe manner.
- Breach of duty – The driver failed to breached this duty by driving negligently.
- Root cause – The breach of duty directly caused the motorcycle accident.
- Damages – The accident led to injuries and other losses.
Broken Bones and Other Factors
Once fault is determined, it decides who pays for your losses, usually through an insurance claim. The responsible driver must have insurance. However, every motorcycle accident is different, and many factors go into how good your claim is:
- Injuries – The seriousness of your injuries greatly affects how much your claim is worth. For example, if you have broken bones or fractures, the value of your claim increases due to the extensive treatment needed. More to the point, virtually everywhere on your body is vulnerable to these injuries in a motorcycle accident, but most result in the following:
- Fractured arms or wrists
- Broken legs or ankles
- Collarbone fractures
- Pelvic fractures
- Rib fractures
- Facial fractures, such as broken nose or jaw
- Spinal fractures, including vertebral fractures
- Fractured hands or fingers
- Fractured feet or toes
- Broken ribs
- Liability – Just because you can prove the other driver is at fault doesn’t mean the insurance company will agree. They often investigate and may try to get damaging statements from you.
- Comparative negligence – In California, comparative negligence means your compensation is reduced based on how much you’re at fault. Insurance companies may try to blame you, so it’s important to gather evidence showing the other party is mostly responsible.
Obviously, the relative strength of your claim is going to vary. What’s important to remember is that the law is on your side, and our team can support you and make sure you claim remains strong throughout the process.
Damages in an Injury Claim
Regardless of other factors, the ultimate goal of filing an injury claim after a motorcycle accident is to recover the financial support and benefits that California law makes available to you. The recovery process in these accidents in particular, though, can be very difficult. That’s where our team can be a huge help. Generally speaking, you can file your injury claim through insurance outside of court, or by filing a formal personal injury lawsuit.
Both options allow you to recover “damages” from the responsible driver or other parties involved. While every claim is different, you can potentially recover the following in a claim:
- Medical expenses like hospital bills, surgeries for the broken bones, doctor’s visits, and prescriptions
- Rehabilitation costs and related expenses
- Past and future lost income
- Motorcycle repair or replacement costs
- Physical pain, emotional distress, and mental anguish
- Loss of enjoyment of life or companionship
- Wrongful death expenses, in the event the accident is fatal
Any motorcycle accident is going to have its own unique circumstances, but it’s vital to keep in mind that a broken bone or fracture is likely going to be on top of other injuries and losses you’ll have to deal with. This makes these damages equally vital to your overall recovery. With that in mind, in order to get these damages, you have to file your claim on time. In California currently, you have a two year statute of limitations on any injury claim. Missing this deadline usually means you can’t recover damages, no matter how strong your case is.
Experienced Support After a Bakersfield Motorcycle Accident
At Maison Law, we understand the profound impact of any motorcycle accident. If you’ve experienced one of these unfortunate incidents in Bakersfield and experienced broken bones, you’re likely contending with a long recovery period.
Our team of experienced Bakersfield motorcycle accident lawyers is here to guide you through this challenging journey. Whether you opt for an insurance claim or a lawsuit, we’ll make sure to give you the support you need. Contact us today for a free consultation to get your claim process started.
