No one expects to be in a motor vehicle accident but they happen every day. In 2015, 4,976 people were killed and 88,000 were hurt in motorcycle accidents, according to the U.S. Department of Transportationandrsquo;s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Each year, about 35% of all new spinal cord injuries are from motorcycle accidents. If you have been in such an accident, you may end up talking to a personal injury law firm. Here are some things you can do for your case.
- Get medical attention for your injuries. There are a lot of times when people are injured badly enough to go to the hospital in an ambulance. If that is not the case with your accident, you should still go to the emergency room. There are a lot of times when motorcycle accidents result in injuries that are not readily apparent. In these instances, it is important to be evaluated by a medical professional to make sure you do not have internal injuries that may be hidden.
- Have someone take pictures of the scene. If you cannot take the scene yourself, you should have someone you know and trust do it. You should also get photos of your motorcycle. This can show how bad the accident was and will go a long way towards bolstering your case.
- Talk to a personal injury lawyer. You should talk to a few personal injury attorneys. It always makes sense to talk to at least three lawyers before you settle on one because you need to feel good about your decision about who you hire and the best way to do that is to have a good idea of what your options are. It is a good idea to go with a dedicated motorcycle accident lawyer because, like medical professionals, lawyers specialize. These professionals will have a lot of experience dealing with cases like yours.
- See if there is footage of your motorcycle accident. Every day, we are photographed and find ourselves in video taken by security cameras. Depending on where your motorcycle accident was, there is a chance that area surveillance video caught it. If you were in an accident near businesses, you should check and see what they may have gotten footage of.
- Get notes from your doctors. When you get medical treatment for your injuries, make sure you tell the people who are treating you that you are talking to a lawyer about your accident. This can impact the way they take their notes. You will have to sign something to let them share their notes with your attorney. The more documentation you have from them about the extent of your injuries, the better.
- Keep records of everything. If there was a police report, that will also help your case. This is even truer if someone was arrested. Any information about your accident from the police can help bolster your case. You should also keep receipts for anything that you pay for — Uber or cab rides to appointments, copay amounts, receipts for medications, and even a journal of your experiences can help your lawyer. You may think that you will never forget how badly you feel after a bad accident but you will. Keeping a journal can really make a difference.
- Follow your doctor’s instructions to the letter. The insurance company who will have to pay you is going to want to find any reason at all why they do not have to. If your doctor tells you that you should not go back to work and you do, that will be used against you by the insurance company. People think that insurance companies are not going to look into these things but they do all of the time. They want to find anything they can to show that your injuries are not as bad as you say they are. You will keep your case in better shape if you take care to follow all instructions from your doctor or any other medical professional who is treating your injuries.
If you have been in a motorcycle accident, following these tips can get you the settlement that you need and deserve.