Many accidents involving cars and motorcycles are caused by the car driver's failure to see the motorcycle in time to avoid the crash. If you were injured in a motorcycle crash, contact an experienced personal injury lawyer to discuss your options.
Information About Motorcycle Accident Claims
I am Jim Desmond, an attorney who has more than 14 years of experience in motorcycle accident and wrongful death cases in both Indiana and Kentucky. My firm is committed to helping victims and their families through this challenging time, by taking care of financial compensation while they focus on healing.
Some basic information about motorcycle accident claims appears below. In a free consultation, I can answer any questions you might have about your case and discuss how my firm can help you.
FROM DAY ONE, I HAD MY LAWYER'S CELL PHONE NUMBER. WHEN I CALLED, HE ANSWERED THE PHONE, NOT A PARALEGAL OR SECRETARY!
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I personally handle all cases, from the free initial consultation and accident investigation to the insurance settlement negotiations or litigation. Find out if you have a good case and if I am the right attorney to handle your claim. If I am not, I will do my best to find you an attorney that I personally trust.
Call me at 502-609-7657, toll free at 888-515-4246. I can meet with you in my offices in Louisville or at a location of your choosing.
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Do you have enough motorcycle insurance? I can review your policy and recommend the coverage you should have. Let's talk before the accident happens. When the accident happens, it is like a photograph is taken. You can't add anything or take anything away from that photograph. As a result, let's make sure you have what you need before the accident occurs. Hopefully, you will never use the advice but, you will feel a lot better knowing you have it.
In a motorcycle accident case, the police report does not always accurately describe what really happened. I fully investigate the cause of an accident with the help of an accident reconstructionist. If the injuries and the facts call for it, we can incur the expense of an trained professional to analyze the accident scene, the photographs and the vehicles themselves to see if we can reconstruct how this accident happened. These experts tend to be rather expensive so we cannot justify the cost on every case. However, if these kind of experts are necessary, we want to hear from you immediately after the accident.
For example, I had a case once where my client was hospitalized and the issue was who crossed the center line and caused the accident. Because I heard from this girl's mother early on, the accident reconstructionist we hired was able to find divots in the road, which the police did not and by viewing the accident scene, that established that my client was not at fault in causing the accident. When the insurance company saw the report of our accident reconstructionist, their own expert had to admit that our reconstructionist was completely right.
* The Kentucky State Bar requires me to say that COURT COSTS AND CASE EXPENSES WILL BE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CLIENT.
Helmet Laws
Many states have mandatory helmet laws that require motorcycle drivers and passengers to wear helmets while operating or riding on a motorcycle. These laws generally specify the type of helmets that have been approved for use by a state agency. If you have questions about whether your state has a helmet law or whether your failure to obey that law will affect your ability to recover damages in a motorcycle accident case, contact an attorney at Desmond Law Offices in Louisville, Kentucky to discuss your particular situation.
Wearing a helmet is an effective way to protect yourself in the event of a motorcycle accident. If a motorcyclist is hit and falls off the bike, a head injury often occurs. A helmet may save the life of a motorcycle driver or passenger by reducing the severity of head injuries. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, as of June 2007, 20 states and the District of Columbia had laws that required all motorcyclists to wear helmets; 27 states had laws requiring only some motorcyclists to wear helmets; and three states had no motorcycle helmet use law. 1 The National Occupant Protection Use Survey reported that helmet use has fallen from 71% in 2000 to 51% in 2005.2
How the Failure to Wear a Helmet Can Affect Your Case
In a personal injury action brought by an injured motorcyclist, the defendant may argue that the injured party's own negligence was actually the cause of his or her injuries. Generally, to establish that the injured party was negligent the defendant must prove that the injured party had a duty of some kind to operate his or her motorcycle in a safe and reasonable manner; that the injured party breached this duty in some way; and that the breach of duty was a proximate cause of the accident. If the defendant can prove all these elements and establish that the injured party was negligent, the injured party's recovery may be barred or reduced because of his or her contributory negligence.
In states that have enacted mandatory helmet laws, the statutes may provide only for criminal penalties. In addition, some of these statutes are silent as to the effect that a violation of the law has on the determination of whether a motorcyclist was negligent. In these states, it is not necessarily clear what the effect of a motorcyclist's failure to wear a helmet will have on the determination of his or her negligence.
As mentioned above, many states do not have laws that require motorcyclists to wear helmets. Some courts within these states have found the fact that an injured rider was not wearing a helmet is inadmissible in a personal injury suit.
Legal Challenges to Helmet Laws
Generally, mandatory helmet laws require that drivers and passengers of motorcycles wear a protective helmet or other headgear that has been approved by a state agency. Constitutional challenges to helmet laws in a number of states have had mixed results. Some courts have upheld these laws, finding that they are a legitimate use of the state's police power to promote the general health, safety and welfare of citizens. There is also limited authority, which provides that helmet laws are unconstitutional because they do not bear a substantial relationship to protecting the general public. Courts have held that helmet laws are not discriminatory against a particular class of people and do not violate the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause because a helmet requirement is a reasonable means to protect people on highways from the greater hazards caused by the increased risk to motorcyclists. Other courts have upheld helmet laws against arguments that they are unconstitutional burdens on interstate commerce, finding that any burden was incidental.
Individuals wishing to challenge the constitutionality of a mandatory helmet law bear the burden of proving that the law is unconstitutional. This can be a difficult task, particularly because there is a strong presumption of validity of statutes that govern safety issues.
Talk to a Lawyer
If you were injured in a motorcycle accident and you were not wearing a helmet in violation of your state's law, you may have questions about whether this will affect your chances to recover damages for your injuries from the person who hit you. An experienced personal injury attorney at Desmond Law Offices in Louisville, Kentucky can evaluate your situation.
1. See Helmet Use Laws, available at http://www.iihs.org/laws/HelmetUseOverview.aspx
2. See Popularity of High-performance Motorcycles Helps Push Rider Deaths to Near-record High, available at http://www.iihs.org/news/rss/pr091107.html.
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