When Do You Need a Motorcycle Accident Lawyer?

You will need a motorcycle accident lawyer to help you recover compensation to pay for all your expenses and your losses. For example, if you are in a motorcycle accident in New Jersey, you have an 80% likelihood of suffering serious injuries. As a result, you may incur significant medical expenses, not earn wages while you recuperate, and experience pain and discomfort. Regardless of whether you opted into Garden State’s no-fault insurance system, payments from your insurer may not be sufficient to reimburse you.   

Our motorcycle accident lawyers at Harrell Law Firm have a deep appreciation for New Jersey’s riding culture. When riders suffer injuries in accidents caused by negligent motorists, we challenge insurance companies offering inadequate reimbursements and fight to recover the damages injured riders deserve to get them back on their bikes. 

What challenges do riders face when claiming damages from negligent drivers? 

In many car-motorcycle collisions, the motorist will claim that they never saw the rider and will attempt to shift some or all of the blame for the accident on the rider. Under New Jersey’s comparative negligence laws, if an injured accident victim is determined to be more than 50% responsible for the accident, they will be unable to recover damages from other parties.  

Given this limitation, in every personal injury lawsuit, you will need a New Jersey motorcycle accident attorney. They will understand the safety precautions riders employ to make themselves visible and rebut all arguments that you were negligent and were not safely operating your bike.  

Your lawyer can use the facts in your accident case to show, for example, that:  

• You wobbled your front wheel and headlamp slightly (i.e., you did a “SMIDSY weave”) to alert oncoming drivers of your presence on a bike.  
• You were riding well within a traffic lane and were not lane-splitting (lane splitting is not illegal in New Jersey, but negligent motorists might argue that they could not see you because you were riding between lanes). 
• You wore bright clothing and rode within posted speed limits. 
• You regularly maintained your bike’s brakes, tires, and other components while practicing safe riding skills. 

What damages can a motorcycle accident lawyer help riders to recover? 

If you carry personal injury protection (“PIP”) insurance, your liability carrier should reimburse your medical expenses, lost wages, and other costs associated with your accident–up to the limits of your policy. Regardless, even with PIP insurance with a maximum cap of $250,000, your insurer might offer to pay some of your expenses.  

Moreover, PIP insurance does not cover property damage, pain and suffering, loss of earning capacity, and other forms of non-economic damages that you may sustain after a motorcycle accident. Therefore, you will need to retain a skilled lawyer to file a New Jersey personal injury lawsuit against the negligent motorist and other parties that may be responsible for your injuries and losses.   

The state gives you two years to file. However, your opportunity to collect the largest available damages award will be significantly greater if you retain a lawyer soon after your accident. They can then lock down the facts about your accident before witness memories fade and physical evidence has dissipated. 

Contact Us at Harrell Law Firm for a Free Consultation  

We offer complimentary consultations to New Jersey riders who have suffered injuries in accidents with negligent motorists. In addition, we represent riders throughout the state from our offices in Wall Township.  

We recommend you seek immediate medical treatment after a motorcycle crash and promptly call our offices to speak with an attorney. They can review your claim and assess the compensation that you may be entitled to recover. If you retain our firm and we accept your case, we will negotiate aggressively with insurance companies. We will also pursue all negligent parties for reimbursement of expenses and work tirelessly to get the damages you need to get you back on your bike.