When motorcycle accidents lead to personal injury and a claim is made, liability is dictated by negligence law. The person who is negligent behaves in a careless or thoughtless manner. It is this behavior that leads to the injury of another individual.
All drivers have to use care in order to avoid the unwanted situation that their actions injure pedestrians, passengers, and motorists. To put it simply, when the driver is not careful and ends up injuring someone because of his/her actions, the driver becomes liable for the injury.
With motorcycle accidents, we usually see a driver of a truck or car being negligent. This is possible through an action that should not be done. For instance, the driver might be speeding and going through a red light. Alternatively, the driver might not do something that should have been done. For instance, the driver might not check the mirrors before a turn is initiated.
Michigan motorcycle accident lawyers highlight that motorcycle riders can also be negligent and be a defendant in a lawsuit. For instance, inebriated bikers can swerve and hit a car, which can lead to a crash. In this case, it is the driver of the motorcycle that is liable for the injuries that were suffered by the occupants of the car.
Negligence Claim Elements
Negligence claims have 4 elements. Plaintiffs need to show these things:
- The defendant was required by law to be careful in a reasonable manner. This is often a given in motorcycle and car accident cases. The motorists have to exercise care whenever driving or riding.
- The conduct of the defendant led to the injuries of the plaintiff.
- Defendants were not careful. When determining this, the law will compare how the driver conducted himself/herself to what reasonable people do in the same situation.
- The plaintiff was affected by losses or injuries. When motorcyclists were not hurt and damages cannot be proved, nothing can be recovered. This is true even if the behavior of the defendant was careless.
Motorcycle Accident Case Defenses
In some situations, the car driver was reckless or negligent. This led to motorcyclists being injured. However, at the same time, it is also possible that the motorcyclists did something wrong, an action that actively contributed to the incident. When such a situation appears, vehicle drivers can raise behaviors for motorcyclists as a defense. There are states where such defenses can reduce how much the motorcyclist is going to receive. In other states, the behavior of the motorcyclist can actually prevent the issuing of monetary compensation. Trusted motorcycle accident law Philadelphia PA will help you in identifying what and how you should deal with your lawsuit.
As you can see, a motorcycle claims case can be quite difficult. Keep in mind that we only talked about liability. There are several other factors that have to be discussed and determined. As a result, it is very important that you only file a complaint when you are instructed by an experienced injury attorney, preferably one that handled several motorcycle accidents in the past. This can drastically impact how much money you are offered as compensation to cover the injuries you suffered.
