Maison Law’s Fresno Motorcycle Accident Lawyers help passengers on motorcycles who are hurt in accidents. We make sure careless drivers who cause these accidents are held fully responsible for victims’ medical bills and their lost income. If you or someone in your family has been injured in a motorcycle accident, contact us for a free consultation to discuss your options.
When Passengers Should Contact a Lawyer
If your Motorcycle accident involves a serious injury, and a careless driver was to blame, it’s a good idea to speak to a lawyer. When your injuries are costly, insurers work harder to avoid the monetary costs. But a skilled attorney helps you prove how badly you are hurt, how much you’ll need to make a full recovery, and how to demand the right amount.
You always have the right to file your own claim, but a skilled lawyer often gives you a much better chance to win the kind of settlement you’ll need to rebuild your life and get back on a motorcycle. When you come away from a crash with something like a broken arm, a neck or back injury, or a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), it’s a smart idea to talk over your options with a lawyer.
A Free Consultation for Motorcycle Accident Victims
A motorcycle accident while you are a passenger will leave you with a lot of questions over who is at fault and who should cover your medical bills.
To get answers, Maison Law offers a free, confidential case review as a way to get more information to all Fresno County accident victims. If you can file your case yourself and come out just fine, we’ll tell you that.
If we can help you bring home more in support, you should know that you don’t have to worry about paying an attorney’s fee at such a difficult time. We aren’t paid unless we win your case for you. Then, our fee comes out of the settlement check insurers are forced to write for you.
Injuries Suffered by Motorcycle Passengers
Even though passengers in motorcycle accidents aren’t in front when accidents occur, they still endure just as many serious injuries.
They can end up at the Level 1 Trauma Center at Community Regional Medical Center with damaged organs, bone fractures, and major head injuries.
Passengers will need to be able to earn car insurance money to be able to pay for the best care available for these and other injuries:
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): A brain injury can be something as mild as a concussion or an effect on the brain’s function that’s a lifelong concern. A TBI can cause seizures, blurred vision, and memory issues among other symptoms.
- Broken Bones: Motorcyclists can break hand and wrist bones while reaching out to catch themselves after being thrown from a bike. The foot, angle, and leg bones are also at risk. A knee or hip injury can end a rider’s time on a motorcycle for months or years.
- Chest Injuries: Motorcyclists often suffer chest injuries like broken bones and internal organ damage. Ribs can be smashed or separated from the tissue that keeps them in place. the breastbone, and the collarbones. Any damage to the rib cage could send bones into the lungs and heart, and harm other internal organs and blood vessels.
- Soft tissue damage: Damage to ligaments, tendons, and muscles. Sprains and tissue tears.
- Skin Damage: A slide across the pavement can cause “road rash” and lead to infections. Skin grafts may be necessary. A “Degloving” injury is also possible. This is where the skin is peeled back from the victim’s body.
- Facial Injuries: Damage to teeth and delicate skin. Broken jaws and noses. A cracked eye socket. Disfigurement.
These injuries can all affect your life for months or more. A skilled Fresno Motorcycle Accident Attorney would fully investigate your accident to gather evidence that forces insurers to accept all costs.
Your attorney would also work with your doctors to establish how long you could need medical care and the costs involved. Those costs must be included in any motorcycle accident settlement.
We have more information on our website about who can be a passenger in California and the motorcyclist’s duty to keep their guests safe.
Support Available for Injured Riders
There are so many ways motorcyclists can be sent into accidents by careless drivers. Those impacts also put any passengers on the motorcycle in great danger.
A driver texting while speeding along the Sequoia-Kings Canyon Freeway can make a quick lane change, not knowing a motorcycle is right beside them. A driver in a pick-up may be focused on the horizon and not see a red light on Shields Avenue in time to avoid rear-ending a motorcyclist and passenger in front of them. A passenger might even be thrown in the air in such a frightening situation.
The injuries mentioned above can be devastating and limit someone’s life for weeks or months.
Every hardship motorcycle passengers face must be included in an accident settlement.
These are just a few of the damages that a lawyer would make sure are factored into any settlement check:
- Totals on hospital bills and physical therapy expenses.
- All costs associated with a permanent physical disability after a motorcycle crash. These expenses include estimates on medical care over a lifetime, renovations to a home, and perhaps job training for a new career.
- The hardship of dealing with pain right after the accident and during recovery.
- Emotional trauma. This non-economic damage can lead to depression and anxiety during recovery and beyond. The inability to get back on a bike can contribute to a loss of enjoyment of life, and that distress shouldn’t be ignored.
- Past and future lost wages and benefits while victims are away from work.
- Wrongful death benefits. Families can earn support after losing a motorcyclist in a tragic motorcycle accident. The support can cover the cost of a funeral and any remaining ambulance and hospital bills. The income the deceased can no longer provide for a spouse and children in the years ahead would also be reimbursed.
Frequently Asked Questions
What if I wasn’t wearing a motorcycle helmet when I was hit?
You can earn accident compensation, even if you weren’t wearing a helmet. The fact that a rider or a passenger wasn’t wearing a helmet (the law says they must) doesn’t affect the fault in the accident. The support may be reduced if a jury determines your injuries would have been less severe with a helmet. A jury can still award you a substantial judgment.
How long do I have to file a motorcycle accident claim in California?
Two years. Motorcyclists face a statute of limitations of two years to file an insurance claim. Talking to a skilled attorney as soon as possible only helps your case because evidence and testimony become harder to secure as time passes.
What if a motorcyclist causes a careless accident while I’m on the back?
If the motorcyclist you are riding with causes an accident, you can ask the at-fault rider’s motorcycle insurance provider for support to pay for recovery. Note: Not all policies cover passengers, and if there’s no guest passenger liability add-on, passengers may not be protected. The motorcyclist may have to help the passenger from their own savings. This may also mean you must file an injury claim against someone you know. A friend or family member. But this claim isn’t directed at the rider. Any support comes from the insurance company, and your loved one wouldn’t be targeted directly. If you suffer serious injuries, this may be the only way to get the care you need to rebuild your health and your life. Your friend should also want you to receive as much support as possible to get better. It’s one of the reasons why motorcyclists pay insurance premiums.
Contact a Motorcycle Passenger Accident Attorney
If you’ve suffered a serious injury while on the back of a motorcycle, it’s a good sign that you could earn more with a lawyer’s help. Contact us to set up a free consultation with a real lawyer to go over your options.
We are ready to answer questions for any injured Fresno-area accident victim in a free, no-obligation case consultation. If you don’t end up needing our help to earn justice, we can still send you in the right direction for winning a fair settlement on your own.
Remember, if you do need legal representation, you don’t have to worry about how you’ll pay a lawyer. We work on a contingency basis. It means we don’t get paid unless we win your case. Then, our fee comes out of the settlement check that an insurance company must write for you.
