Motorcyclists take risks every time they head out on the road. Even a well-trained motorcyclist who follows all safety rules cannot control the acts of drivers around them. Unexpectedly, a car can collide with a motorcyclist and forever damage a life.
Rice Law’s Baltimore motorcycle accident lawyers represent victims of motorcycle accidents and their families in lawsuits against at-fault drivers. If you were injured in a motorcycle accident or someone in your family suffered serious injuries or died because of a motorcycle crash, our attorneys might be able to help.
For a free evaluation of your case, call Rice Law at (410) 694-7291.
What Should You Do After a Motorcycle Accident in Baltimore?
After the crash…
- Get immediate medical care
- Call 911 to get an ambulance and police response
- Answer the police officer’s questions and exchange contact and insurance info with the other driver
- Take pictures and gather information about the other driver and witnesses
- Call a lawyer.
Collecting Evidence
If you can stay at the scene of the accident and take pictures, that will be helpful evidence. After that, our lawyers can handle most of the evidence collection by getting damage appraisal records, deposing witnesses and taking witness statements, seeking medical records, and looking for security or dash cam video of the accident.
Should You Get a Baltimore Motorcycle Accident Lawyer?
After a motorcycle accident, you have your first concern should be your health, but contacting a motorcycle accident lawyer Baltimore has trusted for over 30 years will make the process smoother and guarantee your rights are protected.
Why Use an Attorney?
Hiring an attorney ensures you are not taken advantage of by the insurance company for the at-fault driver. Insurance adjusters will try to find any reason for placing blame on the motorcyclist. A lawyer will fight for you and hire investigators and a reconstructionist to prove you were not at fault for the accident.
Maximizing Damages
In addition to proving fault, a lawyer will work to get you the most money for your injuries as well lost wages. Do not be a victim twice after a motorcycle accident in Baltimore; speak with our lawyers today for a free case review.
What is the Average Payout for a Motorcycle Accident in Baltimore?
While each settlement or verdict for a motorcycle accident in Baltimore is different, we have found that motorcycle payouts are 20-30% higher than a non-liable driver or passenger in a car accident. To better illustrate this, below are some of our clients’ recent payouts for motorcycle accidents:
- $75,000 – A vehicle pulled out in front of the motorcyclist causing skin and soft tissue injuries
- $150,000 – the at-fault driver rear-ended the motorcycle causing the rider to be thrown from the bike.
- $276,000 – A truck ran a red light striking the motorcycle on the side and dragging the rider.
- $325,000 – A driver pulled out from a side street and took away the right-away for the motorcycle operator, causing broken bones, concussion, and brain injury.
These are just some examples, keep in mind each case is different, you should have our lawyers provide a free case review to determine the possible payout in your injury case.
What are Common Injuries from Motorcycle Crashes in Baltimore?
Common injuries suffered from a motorcycle accident include traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, broken bones + fractures, and road rash.
Motorcycles do not have airbags, seat belts, or sometimes even lack windshields to protect riders. In the event of a crash, a motorcyclist is almost completely vulnerable to traumatic impact with another vehicle or the road.
Maryland requires all motorcycle operators and passengers to wear approved protective helmets. While helmets lessen the potential for serious head trauma and death, they do not entirely prevent brain injuries, and helmets do nothing to protect the rest of the body.
Even motorcyclists who wear all possible safety gear can still face life-altering injuries.
Many motorcyclists will struggle with permanent disabilities or disfigurement for the rest of their lives after an accident. You may be entitled to compensation and reimbursement for injuries.
Damages for Motorcycle Accidents in Baltimore
Damages can vary significantly from case to case, but one thing remains true: injured motorcyclists have the right to hold negligent drivers accountable for their losses.
Insurance Payouts
Insurance companies are not always able to fully investigate and assess your accident, and they likely want to save as much money as possible. As such, the other driver’s insurance company may try to find a way to argue that you were at fault, and thus deny your claim.
Our lawyers can negotiate with them and fight to have your claim accepted. If they refuse, we can file in court and take them to trial, which often pressures them to settle before trial.
Medical Bills
Your injuries need to be treated, and any money you spend or are billed for that treatment should be compensated.
Lost Wages
If your injuries cause you to miss work, then that is the defendant’s fault. Motorcycle accidents are often totally or partially disabling, and the cost of past lost wages while you recovered as well as future lost wages from disabilities should be covered.
Vehicle Repairs
Your bike may need considerable repairs after a crash. It might even be totaled, where the cost of repairs is more than the remaining value of the vehicle.
Damages should be paid to cover the repairs or the remaining value of the vehicle. Lost value in the vehicle should also be covered, since a motorcycle that was in a crash is often worth less.
Pain and Suffering
Your pain and suffering damages may be a substantial part of your injury case. These cover the cost of physical pain, as well as emotional distress, mental anguish, and other harms.
Proving Fault in a Baltimore Motorcycle Crash
While motorcycles might not be as safe as cars, there is nothing about riding a motorcycle that automatically means you were at fault or that you contributed to your own injuries.
Motorcycle Riders Are Not Automatically at Fault
If you were involved in an accident where another driver was negligent or dangerous and caused the crash, the fact that you were riding a motorcycle should not be used against you to try to shift the blame.
Contributory Negligence
Under Maryland law, a victim who was responsible for their own injuries is not able to sue. Using this rule, many defendants will seek to shift the blame to the motorcycle rider by claiming that a lack of a helmet, lack of safety pads, or other factors in the crash mean that the motorcyclist shared fault for their own injuries.
This kind of victim-blaming is often rude and uncalled for, and our attorneys will fight to prove that it was the other driver – not you – who caused the crash.
Other Driver’s Mistakes
Many motorcycle accidents are clearly caused by the other driver. In some cases, however, the details and facts of the case must be presented in court to help a jury see what the other driver did wrong to cause the crash.
Many motorcycle injury cases rely on claims of negligence to prove that the other driver was at fault, which usually means pointing to some error in judgment or violation of duty committed by the at-fault driver, such as the following:
- Distracted driving
- Drunk or drugged driving
- Aggressive driving
- Speeding
- Following too closely
- Failing to check one’s blind spots
- Failing to yield
- Violating other traffic laws
What Do You Need to Prove?
More specifically, what you need to prove to win a motorcycle case falls into these four elements:
Duty
You need to prove that the defendant owed you a legal duty. This may be based on traffic laws or more general safe-driving rules.
Breach
A breach is a violation of these rules. It could be based on lacking skill or experience, or poor judgment.
Causation
If that actually caused your crash, then they are at fault for your damages.
Damages
You need to prove you have damages to win a case. You also need to prove the specific amounts.
Who Can You Sue in a Motorcycle Crash in Baltimore?
Many accidents are between two vehicles. In most cases, that means that your lawsuit would be filed against the other driver.
Commercial Accidents
However, if the driver who hit you was a commercial vehicle driver, their employer might be held responsible for the crash.
This is common in cases of taxi accidents, truck accidents, or crashes with a delivery driver. In those situations, the taxi company, the trucking company, or the delivery company that hired the driver might be responsible as the employer of someone who injured you while they were on duty. Alternatively, they might be partly responsible in their own right for hiring a negligent or dangerous driver.
Employer Pays for Employee’s Negligence
If the driver caused the accident while working within the scope of their job duties, then their employer pays for the employee’s mistakes. You still include the driver in the claim, but their employer pays.
Employer Pays for Their Own Mistakes
Sometimes the employer is also responsible for their own errors. Trucks with missing or broken equipment, negligent maintenance, or dangerous drivers that should never have been hired would be the employer’s fault directly.
They can also share a portion of the blame and pay a portion of the damages this way.
Insurance Available
In most cases, you sue the driver directly, not their insurance company. Another driver’s insurance company is obligated under the terms of their insurance policy to cover certain damages their driver causes.
Does Your Insurance Cover Anything?
In motorcycle accidents, the damages are typically paid by the at-fault driver’s insurance. However, your insurance might have some coverages that can help you.
This commonly comes in the form of add-on policies like MedPay, which covers your medical payments, or collision coverage, which pays for your vehicle damage. This usually requires a deductible payment on your end, which you can recover later.
Do You Have to Take the Case to Court?
Going to court often pressures the insurance companies to settle for a fair value. You do not need to go all the way to trial once you file in court. In fact, most cases do settle after being filed.
Can You Accept a Settlement?
You should always review a settlement offer with your lawyer before accepting anything. If you settle too early, the damages might not be enough.
You cannot reopen a settlement or go back and sue for additional damages if you have already settled. The case is over against that defendant once you sign the settlement.
Can You Be Partially at Fault?
Maryland follows strict laws that mean even 1% fault on the victim’s end blocks the victim from suing. However, your fault might not matter.
If the defendant had the “last clear chance” to avoid the crash, anything you did earlier might not factor into fault. Additionally, if you did not actually do anything wrong, that cannot be considered a contributing factor because there is no breach of duty.
Can You Use Your Car Insurance for a Motorcycle Crash?
Motorcycle drivers are expected to have a specific motorcycle policy. Your car insurance coverage will not apply to your motorcycle accident claim.
Can You Use Your Health Insurance to Cover Medical Care?
You should generally let the hospital bill the at-fault driver’s insurance when you get hurt. This can lead to delays in final payment, since you need to win your case first.
If you need to pay for medical care in the meantime, we may be able to arrange payment plans, let your insurance pay up front then recover damages later, or ask the hospital to wait and accept payment from the winnings in your case.
Our Baltimore Motorcycle Accident Attorneys Can Help
For your free case review, call Rice Law’s motorcycle accident lawyers at (410) 694-7291.