Maison Law helps victims who are struck by careless drivers while they are passengers on motorcycles. We stand up for injured riders and make sure car insurance companies are accountable for all hospital bills and the time the patient misses at work.
If you have been injured, please contact a Merced Motorcycle Accident Lawyer for a free case review. It’s an informative, no-strings-attached way to find out what your injury may be worth and how to hold a car insurance company fully responsible.
When to Contact a Lawyer
If you are in a motorcycle accident while a passenger and your injuries are serious, a lawyer may provide protection and add substantial value to your case. Maison Law helps make sure your injuries can’t be downplayed or dismissed. Your representative then fights to get you the maximum in support to help you make a full recovery.
An experienced lawyer would take these steps and others to help increase the amount on your injury settlement check:
- Fully investigate the accident and work with an accident reconstruction team when needed
- Use the evidence to fight back if an insurer tries to question fault in the accident or questions the severity of your injuries
- File your claim for you while you are allowed to concentrate on getting better.
- Demand full compensation for your current hospital bills and the medical care you may need in the future
- Check over every settlement offer you receive, reject it and demand more if it doesn’t cover all of your hardships
You always have the right to file your own claim, but a skilled lawyer can often earn you much more in support than if you tried to take on a giant auto insurance provider yourself.
This is especially beneficial when you come away from a crash with something like a broken bone, a neck or back injury, or a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). These serious injuries are a great sign that you should turn your case over to Maison Law of Merced.
A Free Consultation for Motorcycle Accident Victims
A motorcycle accident as 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 Merced County accident victims. If you can file your case yourself and come out just fine, we’ll tell you that. If we could probably help you win much more, we’ll explain why and show you how you can hire a lawyer without any upfront costs. We only get paid if we win, and then our fee comes out of the settlement that an insurance company must provide.
Injury Support Available for Motorcycle Passengers
California allows motorcycle accident victims to seek support for every hardship they are put through after an accident.
Unfortunately, victims without legal representation don’t know what to ask for and end up losing out on thousands of dollars in benefits. These are benefits the car insurance company won’t mention.
Your Maison Law attorney makes sure these and other damages were included in a motorcycle accident settlement check:
- Support for all current and future medical bills
- Lifelong support if you are left with a permanent physical disability
- Support for the pain you endure
- Support for the emotional trauma of a scary crash and long recovery
- Replacement of past and future lost wages
- Wrongful death benefits for a victim’s family after a fatal crash that claims a passenger’s life
Motorcycle Collision Dangers for Passengers
Motorcyclists are subject to many careless mistakes made by local drivers. Unfortunately, any passenger on the back of a bike is exposed to the same dangers when traveling along busy routes in Merced, like at rush hour on Highway 99.
These are just a few of the common driver errors that can send a motorcyclist and a passenger off a bike:
Lane Change Negligence: Drivers in bigger, heavier vehicles sometimes don’t bother to check their mirrors and blind spots and veer over onto a motorcyclist beside them. It’s also a common risk as traffic merges to get on or off Highway 99. All riders know to try to avoid the blind spots of drivers, but when drivers get reckless, they are still liable for the harm they cause.
Lane Splitting: This occurs when a motorcyclist travels between two lanes of slow-moving traffic, often at a traffic light. It also occurs when there are construction slowdowns. Many drivers don’t know that motorcyclists have this legal right to split lanes in California. Someone in an SUV might open their doors while waiting at a red light, not checking to see if motorcyclists are moving alongside them.
Rear-end Collisions: Drivers who don’t keep a close eye on the road can miss a light turning red, or a traffic slowdown, and ram the vehicles ahead of them. This is a particularly dangerous collision for those on motorcycles. Motorcyclists and passengers can end up thrown in the air, perhaps landing on the car behind them. Stop-and-go traffic on routes like Olive Avenue also makes motorcycle rear-end accidents more likely.
Road rage and Aggressive Driving: Drivers are known to become enraged over the legal actions of motorcyclists. They might try to block riders or make an aggressive pass. These ridiculous reactions can put vulnerable riders and passengers at extreme risk.
Vehicle Turning Left: Drivers can get antsy waiting to make a left-hand turn, see an opening, and hit the gas. The problem is that they can get “tunnel vision” and miss spotting an oncoming motorcyclist or passenger. The driver begins a wide, slow turn exposing the broadside of the vehicle to the rider, who has no chance to slow down and avoid a crash.
Who Is Responsible for a Motorcycle Passenger Injury
The Driver’s Fault: If a careless driver is responsible for a motorcycle crash, that driver can be proven at fault and held financially liable. The driver’s insurers will do their best to shift blame in the accident, so having evidence that proves the driver was responsible and evidence of how long you’ll need injury support is key. An aggressive lawyer can head them off and point to the evidence in hand.
The Motorcyclist’s Fault: In other cases, a motorcycle accident might be the fault of a careless motorcyclist. This might be a rider who went a little too fast or ran a stop sign. A motorcyclist inexperienced with having a passenger can also make a mistake and wipe out in a single-vehicle crash.
In these cases, passengers hurt in the accident can seek help with their recovery costs. They can file a claim against the motorcyclist’s motorcycle insurance coverage.
Unfortunately, not all motorcycle insurance coverage includes protection for passengers. The basic coverage only covers third parties outside the motorcycle, such as a victim in a car or a pedestrian who was struck.
Motorcyclists would usually need to have added guest passenger liability coverage onto the policy in order to provide coverage to injured passengers. If the policy provided no coverage, victims may have to ask the motorcyclist to help with medical bills out of their own pockets.
Motorcyclists do owe any passenger they ride with a “duty of care.” They must make sure a passenger has proper safety gear. They must inform the passenger of what to do during the ride. They should also practice with riding with weight of an extra person. It can really change how a motorcycle handles. Failing in these duties can leave a motorcyclist financially liable for some crashes.
Our website has more information on the duties of a motorcyclist in California when carrying a passenger.
Filing a Claim Against a Motorcyclist You Know
Unfortunately, in some situations, victims hurt as passengers will be forced to ask for help from the motorcycle operator in a crash.
Victims can feel unsettled about filing a claim against someone they know. But they should know that a claim would often target the motorcyclist’s insurer, and not the motorcyclist themselves.
If you were riding with a friend or family member, that person would likely want you to avoid going into bankruptcy over medical debt and lost time at work. A motorcyclist pays for motorcycle insurance in order to be able to help anyone hurt in a crash.
Contact a Motorcycle Passenger Accident Attorney
If you’ve suffered a serious injury while on the back of a motorcycle, it’s a good idea to discuss your options with a real lawyer. You’ll want to figure out who can be held responsible. You could also need help determining what you’ll need to demand to fully recover physically and financially after a crash.
Contact Maison Law to set up a free consultation with a real Merced County lawyer to go over your options.
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.
