Motorcycle Accident Attorney in Birmingham & Huntsville, Alabama
Riding a motorcycle can be fun – an exhilarating experience. Amid high fuel costs and heavy traffic, motorcycles also offer an excellent alternative for transport. But it has underlying risks. Motorcyclists face dangers on the road, particularly motorcycle accidents. If you were hurt or lost a loved one because of a motorcycle accident, what are the things you need to know?
Being seriously injured in a motorcycle accident can be physically, emotionally, and financially draining. The public always perceives that accidents happen because of motorcycle riders’ negligence. Insurance claims are never straightforward, and it’s automatically assumed that it’s always the rider’s fault. If you are in this situation, you need a seasoned Birmingham motorcycle accident attorney capable of dismissing these preconceived notions.
Talk to us now, and let’s start taking action!
Why Do I Need a Motorcycle Accident Lawyer in Birmingham & Huntsville, Alabama?
Hiring an Alabama personal injury attorney to take over your motorcycle injury claim is not required by the law, but it is strongly recommended. Prejudice against motorcycle riders can reduce your chances of receiving the compensation that is right for you. Insurance companies will try to avoid paying high insurance claims as practically as possible. If you do not know your rights and how to fight for them, you will lose the chance to be compensated appropriately.
If you think you are in deep trouble and unable to find solutions to your motorcycle accident situation, Petro Immigration Attorneys is here for you. Our law firm has helped over a thousand individuals who suffered severe injuries due to motorcycle wrecks. Our lawyers know the process, including everything in between about motorcycle cases. Trust that our law office will help you achieve the following.
- Know all your legal rights
- Understand the process of filing a lawsuit and claiming damages compensation
- Investigate the incident and collect as much information as possible
- Consultation with medical experts, engineers, and other safety experts to assist with your case and prove liability
- Documentation of all your injuries and calculation of all expenses, losses, and compensation claims
- Timely filing of your case
- Negotiation with the other driver for settlement and further compensation
- Protection from insurance company tactics to undercompensate you
- Other legal services and representation as needed
Allow us to handle your case, from doing all the paperwork to answering creditors or insurance company phone calls and negotiations. Focus on your recovery and worry not about anything else. Our dependable attorney will stand by you until you receive proper compensation.
Do not delay this process anymore. Give us a call now, and let’s begin pursuing your case!
What is a Motorcycle Accident?
Motorcycle accidents refer to an unforeseen road accident caused by another party, driver’s negligence, and other factors. This can result in physical injuries, property damage, and wrongful death.
Motorcycle wrecks are so complex they involve a human, vehicle, and environmental factors. You can be a responsible motorcycle rider practicing safe driving and wearing proper protective gear, but you can’t control how other motorists act. Motorcycle accidents can not only be caused by your negligence; other drivers’ negligence, weather condition, manufacturing defects, and other factors can change your life in a second and cause accidents.
What Are the Most Common Causes of Motorcycle Accidents in Alabama?
Motorcycle accidents are common road accidents. Accidents can be caused by different factors – driver’s negligence, weather condition, rider’s skill and ability, visibility, motorcycle condition, safety parts, and other elements. Below are some of the usual causes of motorcycle accidents in Birmingham.
- The driver is distracted by a smartphone – texting or calling someone on the road.
- Driving under the influence (DUI)
- Reckless, careless, incompetent driving
- Drivers not obeying road signals, traffic signs, and speed limits
- Failure to obey road signs, traffic signals, and speed limits
- Road maintenance failure – roads not properly inspected, maintained, and repaired
- Road hazards like potholes, oil slicks, uneven pavement, and other road debris. No proper signages on construction zones.
- Visibility issues on intersections, buildings, parked vehicles, or shrubbery
- Other drivers do not detect motorcycle riders or if they appear out of nowhere.
- Blind spots for huge vehicles like trucks and buses. Small cars are not often visible to truck/bus drivers, resulting in road collisions.
- Defective motorcycle fuel system or any parts of the motorcycle – bad brakes, tire blowouts, and other faulty motorcycle parts
- Bad weather conditions such as heavy rains, fog, snow, and hails lead to decreased visibility, worst zero visibility, and hazardous driving conditions.
- Collision with other surrounding vehicles. Failing to notice and avoid collisions of vehicles
- Tailgating
- Over speeding
- Driving while experiencing fatigue or sleep/drowsy driving
- Aggressive/hostile driving
What Are The Common Types of Motorcycle Accidents Injuries
Head Injuries
The most common motorcycle accident injuries are head injuries. During the accident, the rider gets thrown off the motorcycle and lands on pavements, other vehicles, or collides with any surrounding objects. Accidents do not happen only at high speed. Even at low speed, motorcyclists are also at risk of severe blows to their heads.
Wearing a helmet properly can reduce the severity of any injuries to the head, but it does not provide 100% protection. You can suffer from concussions or fractures in the skull during a motorcycle crash once your head impacts a road surface or any object. And this will likely lead to a severe brain injury.
Neck Injuries
Related to head injuries, neck injuries are another common motorcycle accident injury. The neck contains nerves, arteries, and muscles. It links nerves and vessels between the head and the trunk and plays an essential role in the spine’s mobility, stability, and function. Any blow that could impact the neck can be severe.
Severe injuries in the neck can leave the motorcyclist paralyzed. Worst, it can even result in death. Protecting the neck and the head should be every motorcyclist’s priority during rides. A good airbag vest that inflates and braces the neck if thrown during a motorcycle crash can be a good investment.
Back Injuries
Imagine what happens after you fly from your motorbike and smash into the concrete pavement or side of the road. You can also hit or run over by another vehicle during motorcycle accidents. These scenarios can cause severe back injuries requiring long-term physical therapy or surgery. The possibility of severe spinal cord injury can render you paralyzed and bedridden throughout your lifetime.
Road Rash
Road rash is an abrasion in the skin caused by friction. During a motorcycle crash, your skin can get scraped off by hard pavement or cement. It can be pretty painful, especially if it covers a large area of your body. Some severe road rash includes not just a simple bruise or scrape but multiple layers of skin peeling off, exposing your muscles underneath. Commonly, you can get road rash on your forearms, elbows, knees, hands, and forehead.
The lack of seatbelts in motorcycles is a significant factor why motorcyclists fly over the handlebars during an impact. Some road rash might appear like simple cuts and bruises, but it tends to develop into infections, irritations, and sometimes even nerve damage is possible once left untreated.
It is essential to wear proper protective gear like leather jackets, riding pants and boots, and gloves to lessen the potential impact of motorcycle wrecks in Birmingham.
Muscle Damage
When you make an impact with another vehicle, pavement, or any surrounding object during a motorcycle accident, and muscles in your legs and arms are exposed, muscle damage can happen. Muscle damage is a more severe injury than road rash and may require long-term physical therapy to recover.
Muscle damage can sometimes mean permanent loss of that muscle function, leading to paralysis or limited mobility. Wearing protective gear should always be a top priority to avoid this.
Biker’s Arm
During a motor vehicle accident, it’s a natural human instinct to use the arms for protection. You can use your arm to shield your head, face, or any part of your body. You can also use your arm as a stand to help brace yourself from the impact of the instant collision with the ground or another object. This results in sustained injuries to the arm as it absorbs all that impact.
Biker’s arm injuries can range from simple aches and soreness in the arms, or they can result in more severe muscle or nerve damage.
Leg Injury
Another body part that is difficult to protect during a motorcycle wreck is the legs. You can suffer from leg and foot injuries when you fly out of your motorcycle and down to the ground. Road rash, nerve, and muscle damage can happen, as well as shattered, fractured, and broken bones. Some leg injuries can be so severe they can be permanent and require losing your leg.
Rear End Injuries
Rear-end injuries happen when a vehicle crashes into another car in front of it. Motorcycle riders can’t see behind them very well. It is hard for them to move away or brace for impact if another vehicle is about to hit them from behind. This can result in motorcyclists being thrown off their bikes and pinned underneath other cars.
Rear-end injuries can potentially result in traumatic brain injury, broken bones, paralysis, and accidental amputations.
Fatal Motorcycle Accidents
Birmingham motorcycle accidents can be fatal. Motorcycle accidents are often deadly, unlike other vehicle accidents, where casualties often suffer from minor cuts, bruises, and bumps.
If another person or another driver causes the accident, you can make a wrongful death claim. This death claim will compensate the widower or widow, children, or the victim’s parents. As these cases are more often encountered in motorcycle accidents, you need a Birmingham personal injury attorney who can help you with your claims.
Hit & Run Motorcycle Accidents
A hit and run motorcycle accident is when another party that caused the accident flees and leaves the scene before providing aid, reporting the accident, or giving sufficient information – name, license number, contact number, and other information. Hit and run motorcycle accidents can include:
- Hitting the motorbike in motion.
- Knocking or hitting a stationary bike.
- Forcing it off the road or pushing it into a dangerous situation.
- Running from the scene without leaving anything.
Victims can claim insurance, and insurance companies give compensation even if the driver at fault is anonymous. But in most cases, insurance companies do not offer the hit and run victims proper compensation. Assistance from a reliable and aggressive Birmingham motorcycle accident attorney can help you get the payment you deserve.
What Are The Damages In A Motorcycle Accident In Birmingham & Huntsville, AL?
If you suffered from a motor vehicle accident in Alabama, you must know that you are entitled to demand compensation for damages. Because every accident is different, it’s hard to say precisely how much compensation you can claim. It will also be subject to the severity of your motorcycle damage.
Consult with an experienced Birmingham motorcycle accident lawyer to help determine the possible recoverable expenses you can claim and ensure you get every dollar you deserve.
Lost Wages
You can miss work due to being injured in a motorcycle accident. If you’re suffering from a severe injury that can take several weeks or months to recover, you can also suffer a significant wage loss. Your trusted Birmingham motorcycle accident attorney can help you review your employment records and seek damage claims accordingly.
In demanding compensation for lost wages, you can recover your monthly salary. Your lawyer can also help you recover lost performance bonuses, tips, benefits, commissions, etc.
Loss of Future Wages & Opportunities
If the motorcycle accident changed your life in a blink causing permanent disability, you could claim compensation for the inability to draw future income.
The accident might also force you to resign, change your jobs and take on a lower-paying role. If you are up for promotion or aiming for a leap in your career, you can also include loss in advancement opportunities. The recoverable compensation you can claim can account for all of these situations.
Medical Bills
You are entitled to demand claims to cover your current and future hospital and medical bills. Current bills can include ambulance, emergency room, professional doctors fees, surgery, pain management, and any expenses you incur in the hospital. Future expenses will cover physical therapy and rehabilitation after hospitalization, follow-up check-ups, or if you will require long-term medical treatment care.
Property Damage
Your motorbike might have also suffered a big blow and needs to be replaced or repaired after the accident. You can seek compensation to cover repair or replacement costs from the defendant.
Pain And Suffering
Pain and suffering damages account for all the physical pain and emotional trauma you and your family suffered because of the accident. Not all motorcycle accident victims can claim this damage. You will need a compassionate yet aggressive Alabama lawyer to help you prove the physical discomfort, inconvenience, and emotional distress you have to go through and overcome.
Calculating the pain and suffering compensation will be based on various aspects you have suffered from, including your mental health.
Punitive Damages
Also called exemplary damages, punitive damages are not compensatory damages. Victims will not be compensated with punitive damages. Instead, this serves as a penalty for the liable party. In Alabama, if the court assessed that the motorcycle accident resulted from negligence like drunk driving, it may award punitive damages up to three times the total compensatory damage amount.
Wrongful Death Damages
You could seek damages if your loved one or family member suffered a wrongful death from a motorcycle accident. This can cover funeral expenses, loss of income support, and even loss of unique companionship.
Other Non-Economic Damages
On top of damage claims for pain and suffering, you can also demand other non-economic damages. These intangible losses may include disability, scarring due to severe road rash or cuts, disfigurement, and even loss of consortium.
What Should I Do After A Motorcycle Accident? Contact the police.
After a motorcycle accident, call the police immediately. Do not give statements to third parties other than the contacted police. Do not admit to any fault or any liability. Allow the police to review the scene and prepare an accident report. Police reports are expected to include the following, which can help you, later on, with your case and claims.
- Information about the witnesses. Your compensation claim needs to establish the cause of the accident. Anyone on the scene can be your eyewitness. Police will gather their names and phone numbers. They will also need to collect their sworn testimonies.
- Pictures of the scene and CCTV cameras. Photographs of all your visible injuries and any bleedings are important. Road and scene conditions – gouge marks, tire marks, and the overall collision site will be a great help too.
You should request CCTV videos if the area is covered with CCTV cameras.
- Consult a medical professional. If you are not severely injured, you might not feel anything wrong with your body after the accident, but this should not stop you from consulting a medical professional. Your body might still be in a state of shock or still feeling an adrenaline rush. During this time, your body might not show any symptoms or injuries.
It is best to seek for doctor’s thorough examination immediately for potential internal injuries and bleeding, including brain injury. This can help you with any compensation demands in the future. Also, this will eradicate chances for insurance companies to claim that your injuries are not caused by the motorcycle accident but by other factors.
Keep a daily journal of all your experiences during hospitalization and recovery period. This will help in identifying the extent of damages you suffered.
- Notify the insurance company about the motorcycle accident. Inform the insurance company of the accident but do not provide any statements – recorded or written.
- Consult with an experienced Birmingham motorcycle accident attorney. It is recommended to speak and consult with a Birmingham motorcycle accident lawyer before giving specific details to the insurance company. Providing details right away to insurance companies can limit the compensation amount you can receive. Your lawyer will certainly know how to navigate the situation in your best interest.
When Can I File For Motorcycle Accident Civil Case in Alabama?
Filing for your motorcycle accident civil case should be done immediately if possible. Do not waste time any longer. Consult with your most trusted Birmingham motorcycle accident attorney, gather all the evidence you have, talk to all the witnesses and start with your case.
If you cannot file immediately, you can submit your motorcycle accident case in Birmingham and Huntsville, Alabama, within the state’s statute of limitation – 2 years from the date of the motorcycle accident. Filing for wrongful death compensation should also be filed within two years from the day your loved one passed away. If you have missed the deadline for filing your case, you will lose the right to demand compensation for your losses, and your case will be thrown out of court.
At Petro Immigration Attorneys, you can trust our credible motorcycle accident lawyer in Birmingham can manage to work on your case as soon as possible. You can rest assured our personal injury attorney can work out the statute of limitations deadlines. You will not have to worry about losing the chance to demand compensation for all the damages.
Call our Birmingham & Huntsville, AL Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Now!
Being hurt during a motorcycle accident is traumatizing enough. Undergoing the process of demanding damages and compensation can be physically and emotionally taxing. It will not be easy because who would want to pay thousands of money for damages? Even insurance companies will work to lower the potential claims you can get.
Getting the proper compensation that you deserve will be tough. You need a Birmingham motorcycle accident attorney who can aggressively fight for the claims you deserve.
We at Petro Immigration Attorneys law office believe that everyone who suffered from motorcycle accidents deserves proper and just compensation, especially if it’s due to others’ negligence. Schedule a consultation with us now, and let’s discuss your legal rights and all the compensation claims you are entitled to!
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Unsure whether you have a motorcycle accident case?
Talk to a Birmingham motorcycle accident attorney immediately. Whether you are the motorcycle rider involved in a collision or a victim of a negligent motorist, you need to hear legal advice from a reliable Alabama motorcycle accident attorney before you approach insurance companies. Don’t try to settle the case alone, let someone who knows the law and how to negotiate with insurance companies take on the challenge. Your job is to heal and get back to your feet. Schedule a consultation with one of our attorneys today!