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Motorcycle accidents are some of the most dangerous and damaging accidents on the road in Georgia. If you have serious injuries from a motorcycle accident in the Augusta area, do not wait to contact the lawyers at Nicholson Revell LLP. We will fight for justice and fair financial compensation on your behalf. Call (706) 722-8784 today for your free consultation.
While you might think it will be easy to get an insurance company to pay for your medical bills and property repairs, this is often not the case. Insurance companies are great at convincing clients to settle for less than they deserve. If you hire a lawyer, however, you can rest assured an insurance company will not take advantage of you.
Hiring a lawyer will do more than maximize your financial compensation. A lawyer by your side during the legal process will give you the peace of mind you need during this difficult time. Your lawyer will gather evidence for your case and take care of legal matters on your behalf, allowing you to focus on recuperating from your serious motorcycle accident injuries.
Motorcycle accidents occur far too often in the United States. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an estimated 82,000 motorcyclists were injured in accidents during 2018. During that same year, 4,985 motorcyclists died from their injuries. Fatalities in motorcycle accidents were 27 times more frequent than motor vehicle collisions. 154 Georgia motorcyclists died in accidents during 2018.
These motorcycle accidents are more likely to occur in urban areas versus rural areas; 61 percent of motorcycle collisions during 2018 occurred in cities. Additionally, 59 percent of these accidents occurred during the day versus 37 percent that occurred at night. Most of these accidents involved passenger vehicles—the most harmful event in 56 percent of 2018 motorcycle accidents was a collision with a moving car.
Motorcycle accidents can occur for several reasons, from poor weather conditions to faulty roads and failing infrastructure. In many cases, however, driver negligence is responsible for the collision. Some of the most common causes of Georgia motorcycle accidents include the following.
At Nicholson Revell LLP, our personal injury attorneys have represented clients with many serious crash-related injuries. Common injuries in motorcycle accident cases are:
The injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident in Augusta can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical care alone over a victim’s lifetime. If you have a serious injury, you may be eligible for financial compensation.
Georgia is a fault-based insurance state. After an automobile accident, the driver or party at fault for causing the collision is responsible for paying you. After a crash in Augusta, you may have grounds to file a claim against the other driver’s insurance if:
Although in personal injury law you will see the phrase motorcycle accident often, these collisions are often not accidental. They are the direct outcome of preventable negligence or carelessness. If another person caused your motorcycle accident, that person’s insurance has to pay for your losses.
Since Georgia is a fault insurance state, the person or entity responsible for the collision is financially liable for a motorcyclist’s damages. Many parties may be at fault for an accident, including other drivers, manufacturers, and even government agencies.
You will need to identify the primary cause of the accident in order to file your lawsuit or insurance claim. In these situations, you need an attorney on your side. An Augusta motorcycle accident lawyer from Nicholson Revell, LLP can aid in this investigation, conducting an in-depth examination of your accident to determine who was responsible. Your attorney will also consult with expert witnesses, such as accident reconstructionists, who can help you understand how the accident occurred.
Although you may be able to establish the at-fault party’s liability in your motorcycle accident lawsuit, you could face challenges while attempting to obtain a fair settlement. Motorcyclists are often subject to scrutiny and stereotyping during accident claims, and the at-fault party may claim that you are partially responsible for the collision.
If the court accepts this allegation, it will reduce your award according to Georgia’s comparative negligence rules. Under this law, if the court determines you are at fault for 50 percent or more of the accident, you will not recover any compensation. If you are responsible for 49 percent or less of the collision, your award will be reduced by the amount of liability you share.
For example, say that you are seeking $100,000 after a vehicle made an unsafe lane change and collided into you. However, the court discovers you were lane splitting at the time of your accident and assigns 45 percent of the liability to you. You would only recover $55,000 of your original award. If the court assigned 55 percent of the fault, you would receive $0.
In Georgia, the statute of limitations is two years from the date of the injury or discovery of injury to file. This means you will have no more than two years to bring your lawsuit to the civil courts, in most cases. Act quickly to pursue financial compensation for your motorcycle accident. If you wait too long, you may miss your deadline.
Motor vehicle drivers are not the only people who need insurance in Georgia. Under the state’s fault-based insurance laws, motorcyclists must purchase certain amounts of coverage to uphold their financial responsibilities in the event of a collision. Georgia requires motorcyclists to hold the same amounts of liability insurance as motor vehicle drivers.
● $25,000 for injury or death of one person per accident
● $50,000 for total injuries or deaths per accident
● $25,000 for property damage per accident
If you are in an accident with a negligent driver, you have the right to hold him or her accountable for the damages you suffered due to the collision. Motorcycle accident victims in Georgia are eligible to collect two types of damages: economic and non-economic.
Economic damages are your tangible, financial losses. Common economic damages in Georgia motorcycle accident claims include the following.
On the other hand, non-economic damages concern your physical and emotional pain and suffering. These damages may include the following.
Calculating these damages can be challenging. You will need to gather necessary documentation such as bills, invoices, receipts, and estimated long-term costs. Additionally, you will need to estimate your pain and suffering damages using certain formulas. The attorneys at Nicholson Revell, LLP can accurately calculate your economic and non-economic damages and help you identify the full extent of your potential award. Armed with this information, you can avoid accepting an insufficient settlement offer and pursue maximum recovery.
In addition to economic and non-economic damages, you may also be eligible to recover punitive damages after your collision. Unlike compensatory damages, which are intended to reimburse you for your accident-related losses, punitive damages are intended to punish the at-fault party for especially negligent actions. To recover this type of compensation, you will need to prove that the at-fault party exhibited one of the following during the accident.
A standard negligence-based accident is not likely to be eligible for punitive damages. However, cases involving intentional harm, drugged or drunk driving, road rage, or very reckless or aggressive driving may qualify. For example, if a driver forgets to check the next lane before merging and collides into you, his or her actions may not rise to the threshold necessary for punitive damages.
After the collision, the police conduct a blood test after the accident and find that the driver was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident. In this situation, the driver’s actions rise to the level of egregious conduct required for punitive damages. In this situation, you could hold him or her accountable for additional compensation.
After your collision, a representative from the at-fault driver’s insurance company may ask you for a statement. He or she may claim that providing a statement will help resolve your case faster, providing you with the settlement that you need. However, you should never speak to an insurance adjuster before consulting with an Augusta accident attorney.
It is important to remember that your goals for your insurance claim differ from the goals of the insurance company. While you may want to recover maximum compensation, it is not in the company’s best interest to provide a large award to each and every accident victim. As a result, an insurance company’s first settlement offer is not likely to be sufficient to pay for your damages.
Additionally, providing a statement too early in your case could harm your future recovery. In the days or weeks following your collision, you may not know all of the facts about the accident or your injuries. As a result, you may provide an incorrect or incomplete statement to the insurance company. If you discover new facts that change your previous statement, the company could use these inconsistences as a reason to doubt your credibility, offer a lower settlement, or deny your claim altogether.
To protect your right to compensation and avoid any errors that could harm your case, it is important to speak with an Augusta motorcycle accident lawyer from Nicholson Revell, LLP. Your attorney will have significant experience handling discussions with insurance companies and can guide you through each stage of your claim. Your lawyer will advocate for your maximum possible recovery from consultation to settlement.
If you are involved in a motorcycle accident in Augusta, it is important to remain calm and seek help as soon as possible. The steps you take after your collision can impact your ability to recover compensation. To protect yourself and your right to recovery, take the following steps after the accident.
After seeking medical attention for your injuries, contact an Augusta motorcycle accident lawyer from Nicholson Revell, LLP as soon as possible. Your lawyer will evaluate your case and help you identify your optimal path to compensation.
If you are in a motorcycle accident in Augusta, you need an attorney on your side. Navigating the claims process after a recent injury is challenging, and motorcyclists are often subject to unfair scrutiny during insurance investigations. By hiring a lawyer to represent your case, you will have someone to advocate for your best interests during each stage of your claim.
A motorcycle accident attorney can also provide several benefits, including the following.
If you are curious whether you have grounds for a motorcycle accident insurance claim or personal injury lawsuit, contact Nicholson Revell LLP to ask an attorney during a free consultation. All of our attorneys are local to Augusta. We will listen to your story, explain your rights, and list all the ways we can help you and your family. Contact us online 24/7 to request your meeting.
Our Personal Injury law firm in Augusta also provides: