Pikesville, MD Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

Victims of motorcycle accidents can often find themselves with serious injuries that cause disabilities and potentially affect them for years to come or even for the rest of their lives.  In many motorcycle accidents, the driver of a car or truck that hit you faces no injuries and walks away from the accident clean, even though they might have been responsible.

Our attorneys can help you work to hold them liable in court, forcing them and their insurance companies to pay you for the damages you faced.  That can include getting compensation for your medical expenses, your lost wages, and the pain and suffering related to the crash.

For a free review of your injury case, call Rice, Murtha & Psoras today at (410) 694-7291 to speak with our motorcycle accident attorneys.

When to Call a Lawyer After a Motorcycle Accident in Pikesville, MD

After a motorcycle accident, your time will often be taken up by medical appointments and rest.  This is important if you hope to heal and get back to your life, as normal as it can be with your new injuries.  However, it is also important to gather the evidence and information you need to file a lawsuit, but doing so while you are still laid up in a hospital or resting at home can be difficult.

When to Call

Calling a lawyer as early as you can in the process can allow our motorcycle accident lawyers to focus on building your case and collecting evidence while you focus on your recovery.  If you are able to, call us in the first few days after your accident so that we can begin right away.

Statute of Limitations

Keep in mind that, at the latest, you have 3 years to file your injury case.  This is because of the 3-year statute of limitations that allows victims only 3 years to get their injury case filed in court.  However, it takes time for our attorneys to parse out the facts of your case, calculate damages, and distill everything into a claim we can file in court.  Additionally, evidence can be lost and memories can fade over time.  It is important to get evidence like photos of vehicle damage, security camera footage of the crash, and witness statements before the vehicles are repaired, the footage is overwritten, and the witnesses forget about the accident.

How We Can Help

As such, it really is best to call us as soon as you can after a crash.  From there, our attorneys can advise you on what next steps to take, how to protect your claim, and how to organize and gather evidence.  For example, we can help you understand how to retrieve a police report, advise you to avoid talking about your accident with anyone, and help you keep folders full of copies of your medical records and bills.

We can also begin preparing documents and negotiations with insurance companies to try to get you the compensation you need as soon as you need it, potentially speeding up the time it takes to settle your case.

Evidence Injured Motorcyclists Need for an Injury Claim in Pikesville, MD

To successfully bring a motorcycle injury claim, you will need sufficient evidence to prove that the defendant driver violated a legal duty and caused your injuries.  You will also need evidence of what those injuries were and how much they cost you.

Burden of Proof and Production

Victims – known as plaintiffs in court – have what is known as the burden of production and the burden of proof.  The burden of production means that it is up to the plaintiff to produce evidence of what happened, not the defendant.  The burden of proof means that it is up to the plaintiff to use that evidence to prove their case, not for the defendant to prove it did not happen.

Evidence you can use in your case includes statements and testimony from yourself and anyone else involved in the crash or who witnessed the crash.  This is how the basic facts of what happened, what the weather and lighting were like, and other necessary facts about the crash will be presented to the court.  You can also use “documentary evidence” like photos of the vehicle damage and injuries, medical records stating what injuries you suffered, and police reports (to some extent).

To win your case, the burden of proof states that you must show it is more likely than not that your claim is true.  This essentially means you need the jury 51% on your side and is a much lighter burden than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” burden of proof used in criminal cases.

Elements of a Negligence Case

Proving that the defendant caused your crash usually means proving that they did something “negligent” that resulted in your injuries.  To prove this, you have to show that they owed you a legal duty, that they violated that duty, and that that violation caused your injuries.  In many cases, this breach of duty is nothing more than a traffic violation like speeding or drunk driving.  Sometimes there is no explicit violation of a traffic law, but what the other driver did was still unreasonable or objectively unsafe, and that can satisfy the duty and breach elements as well.

To prove that the defendant’s actions were what caused your crash, you often need to defend against claims of contributory negligence.  That is, your attorneys will need to fight claims that something you did was also a contributing factor in causing the crash.

Proving Damages

Proving damages means turning in proof of the expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering the accident caused.  Often, bills and receipts for payments are sufficient evidence to prove how much those things cost, but additional evidence and perhaps expert testimony will be needed to project future lost wages and put a price on your pain and suffering.

Call Our Pikesville, MD Motorcycle Accident Lawyers Today

Call Rice, Murtha & Psoras at (410) 694-7291 for a free case review with our motorcycle accident lawyers today.