We can sue for your damages as long as we can show that someone else was negligent and caused your injuries. You do not have to sort through all of the legal requirements. Just call us for a free consultation, and we can take a look at your accident to let you know if you can sue for your losses.
Requirements for Filing a Lawsuit for a Motorcycle Accident
We have to prove that someone has liability for the accident to sue them for your damages. We cannot file a lawsuit against every driver in the wreck. We have to evaluate four factors to determine who we should sue.
Elements of Liability
If someone else's carelessness caused him to suffer harm, you, we might be able to sue for a motorcycle accident under the legal theory of negligence. We have to prove all four of these factors to hold someone responsible to you financially:
Duty of Care
The at-fault driver must have owed you a duty of care. In motor vehicle accidents, this duty is automatic because operating a car, truck, or other vehicle imposes a duty to act with caution and to obey the law.
Breach of the Duty of Care
It is negligence when a driver fails to operate the car in accordance with the duty of care. Examples of violating the duty of care when driving a car include such things as speeding, driving while under the influence of narcotics, falling asleep at the wheel, and texting while driving.
Causation
The negligence must be the thing that caused the accident. For example, if the driver was texting while driving and this behavior caused him to run into the back of your car, the negligent failure to keep a proper lookout while operating a motor vehicle was the cause of the crash.
If the police discover, when they come to the scene of the accident, that one of the other drivers happened to be over the legal limit for blood alcohol content (BAC), you can only sue the drunk driver if that person's negligence also contributed to causing the accident. The reason for this rule is that the person’s negligence must have caused or contributed to the wreck.
The Negligence Caused Measurable Damages.
We have to show that you sustained quantifiable damages from the negligence in order to file a lawsuit for compensation. If you suffered physical injuries from the crash, you have measurable damages.
Damages from a Motorcycle Accident
Once we establish who we can sue for a motorcycle accident, we need to consider the types of damages for which you can collect compensation. Every situation is unique, so there is not an automatic amount of damages for any particular motorcycle accident. Your injuries might be different from those of a passenger on your bike.
These are some of the more common types of damages for a motorcycle accident lawsuit:
- Medical expenses for the reasonable treatment you needed because of your injuries. This category can include things like the ambulance, emergency room, hospital, surgery, doctors, lab work, x-rays, prescription drugs, and physical therapy.
- Rehabilitation center expenses, if you had to get treatment at a rehabilitation center, for example, if you suffered a catastrophic head injury or spinal cord injury.
- Long-term care facility, if your severe injuries caused you to need daily assistance with medical treatment and personal care.
- Lost income to make up for wages, salary, self-employment, and other income you missed because of the accident and your recuperation time.
- Loss of earning capacity, if your injuries leave you unable to make as much money as you could before the crash.
- Disability, if you cannot support yourself through gainful employment because of your injuries.
- Pain and suffering, for the physical pain and emotional distress you experienced because of the wreck.
- Other intangible losses, like disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and your spouse's claim for loss of consortium.
Potential Defendants in a Motorcycle Accident Lawsuit
In many situations, more than one person was negligent leading up to an accident. We can explore whether we can file the lawsuit against multiple defendants.
People often assume that you can only sue the driver of one of the vehicles in a collision. In reality, other parties might also be liable to you for some or all of your damages. These parties can include:
- The owner of the car that hit you, if the driver was using someone else's car.
- A passenger inside one of the vehicles, if that person's negligence led to the crash.
- The government agency responsible for constructing and maintaining the roads, if unsafe road design or conditions contributed to the collision.
- The manufacturer of tires, brakes, or other vehicle parts of your motorcycle or another vehicle in the wreck, if defective equipment contributed to the accident.
- Any other individual, company, or entity's whose carelessness was at least partly to blame for the crash.
You do not have to sort out all of these legal issues. Give S. Burke Law a call today at 404-842-7838 for a free consultation. There is no obligation.