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.
Motorcycle Defects and Recalls
A defect in a motorcycle or one of its parts can cause serious accidents. For example, a defective helmet might not provide the protection it is intended to, resulting in more serious head injuries. A defect in the brakes may not allow you to stop in time to avoid an accident. If you suspect that your motorcycle has a dangerous safety defect, you can report this defect to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a federal agency tasked with investigating alleged defects, issuing safety standards for vehicles and requiring manufacturers to recall vehicles that do not meet federal safety standards. If you were injured in a motorcycle accident that you believe was caused by a defective part, an experienced attorney at Desmond Law Offices in Louisville, Kentucky can evaluate your situation and advise you of your legal options.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Federal motor vehicle safety standards set minimum performance requirements for parts of a vehicle that affect its safe operations, including brakes and tires, and parts that protect drivers from serious injury, such as air bags, seat belts and motorcycle helmets. The Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has the power to issue vehicle safety standards and order manufacturers to recall vehicles with safety-related defects and vehicles that do not meet federal safety standards. Safety-related defects in motor vehicles are those problems that pose a risk to motor vehicle safety and may exist in a number of vehicles or pieces of equipment with the same design or manufacturer.1
Some examples of safety-related defects include: airbags that deploy at the wrong time, accelerators that stick or break, seats that fail during normal use, wheels that crack or break and issues with fuel system parts.1 The following defects are not related to safety issues: air conditioners or radios that do not work properly; rust on a nonstructural part of the body and ordinary wear of equipment, such as batteries, shocks and brake pads that need to be inspected and replaced periodically.1
If you suspect that your motorcycle or any related equipment has a safety-related defect, you can report it to the NHTSA so that the agency can investigate the issue. Safety problems can be reported by telephone or online at www.safercar.gov under the heading "File a Complaint." The information that you provide the NHTSA will be used to determine whether a safety recall is necessary and to inform the public about potential safety issues that the NHTSA is currently looking into. The NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation has a four part investigative process:
- Screening - an initial review of complaints submitted by motorists and other information about alleged defects to decide whether to start an investigation
- Petition Analysis - a review and analysis of any petitions that call for an investigation into an alleged defect and/or reviews of safety-related recalls
- Investigation - conducted in two phases: the preliminary evaluation and engineering analysis
- Recall Management - monitoring of safety recalls to make sure the scope of the recall is appropriate and that the recall completion rate and remedial measures are sufficient
If the NHTSA makes a "final decision" that a safety defect exists, the manufacturer of the vehicle or part can challenge the order to issue a recall in federal district court. Manufacturers voluntarily initiate many recalls without the NHTSA becoming involved. If a recall of a component part or motorcycle that you own occurs, the manufacturer must notify all registered owners and purchasers by mail of the problem and evaluate the risk to motor vehicle safety. The letter should also inform people how to have the issue fixed and remind them that they do not have to pay for the defect to be fixed. Manufacturers basically have three options for fixing defects: repair, replace or refund.
Strict Liability Claims - Defective Motorcycles and Parts
A plaintiff may bring a strict liability action against the manufacturer of a defective motorcycle or component part. A motorcycle or part may be defective because of a design defect, manufacturing defect or the failure to provide adequate warnings about its safe use. To establish a case for strict liability for an injury caused by a defective motorcycle, the plaintiff must prove that the motorcycle was in a defective condition that made it unreasonably dangerous; the defective condition was attributable to the defendant; the defective condition of the motorcycle was a proximate cause of the plaintiff's injury; and the defendant is in the business of manufacturing or selling motorcycles. Some states also have a requirement that the plaintiff prove that at the time he or she was injured, the motorcycle was being used in its intended or reasonably foreseeable manner. A defendant will not be held strictly liable if the motorcycle was not defective or unreasonably dangerous; the condition of the motorcycle did not cause the plaintiff's injury; or the condition is not attributable to the defendant.
If you were injured in a motorcycle accident and believe that your injuries were caused by a defective condition in your motorcycle, you may be able to bring a strict liability claim against the manufacturer. An attorney at Desmond Law Offices in Louisville, Kentucky can evaluate your situation and explain your options.
1. See Motor Vehicle Safety Defects and Recalls - What Every Vehicle Owner Should Know, available as a pdf at http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/DOT/NHTSA/Traffic%20Injury%20Control/Articles/Associated%20Files/MVDefectsandRecalls.pdf.
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