Motorcycle Accident Attorney in Birmingham
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Were you injured in a motorcycle crash that wasn’t your fault in or around Birmingham, Alabama? If so, you may have serious questions about your medical bills, being able to make ends meet while you recover, and whether the person who hit you owes you money for their carelessness. With the help of a Birmingham motorcycle accident lawyer, you can seek compensation for your injuries or the loss of your loved one.
Contact Attorney April H. Collins and her compassionate team at Collins Law, LLC for a free consultation about your motorcycle accident case. We are here to review the circumstances of the crash and explain your legal options for recovering compensation.
Why Should You Hire a Birmingham, AL Attorney for Your Motorcycle Accident Claim?
Hiring a Birmingham motorcycle accident attorney is essential after a collision injury. Your attorney can assist you by investigating the crash, identifying the person who caused it, filing your claim and lawsuit, negotiating with insurance companies, and representing you in court.
Attorney Collins has over a decade of personal injury litigation experience, and she and her team strive to go above and beyond for each of their clients. Some of the unique ways Collins Law assists their clients with integrity, honesty, and empathy include:
- Representing and empowering accident victims who feel they’re marginalized and don’t have a voice
- Putting forth every effort to help motorcycle accident victims keep more of the compensation they win — and never taking more money than their clients would
- Negotiating with medical providers to reduce their clients’ accident-related medical bills after the case is resolved
- Not charging any out-of-pocket expenses to get started on accident injury cases
What Should You Do After a Motorcycle Accident?
After a motorcycle accident, there are specific steps you should take to protect your right to seek compensation. You should:
- Follow Up with Medical Care – Always follow up with your medical treatments and appointments. This not only benefits your health but also makes it harder for insurance companies to deny the fact that you were injured and that your treatments are necessary.
- Collect Your Medical Bills – Keep your medical bills and receipts so your attorney can use them when calculating your economic losses. These bills will make up a significant portion of your motorcycle accident compensation.
- Record Your Memory of the Crash – Before you forget the details of the motorcycle collision, write them down. You can use these notes to refresh your memory months or even years later when your case goes to trial.
- Avoid Providing a Statement – Don’t talk to insurance adjusters about the crash until after you speak to your attorney. An experienced attorney will instruct you on what to say to protect yourself from the insurance company using your words against you.
- Contact a Motorcycle Accident Lawyer – Contacting a motorcycle accident lawyer is crucial for your case. Their experience in gathering evidence, negotiating settlements, and litigating cases will increase the odds of receiving a favorable outcome in your case.
How Does a Lawyer Investigate a Motorcycle Accident Case?
When you hire a motorcycle accident law firm, one of their most important roles is to investigate your case. These investigations identify the liable parties and uncover evidence supporting your version of events. Some ways lawyers investigate motorcycle crashes include:
- Collecting Evidence – Attorneys collect various pieces of evidence from the accident scene, including photographs of skid marks on the road, relevant traffic signs or signals, police reports, and nearby traffic and security camera footage.
- Gathering Witness Testimony – Attorneys also follow up with witnesses who saw the accident and gather their statements. These witness statements can support your story about what caused the crash.
- Hiring Expert Witnesses – Attorneys may hire expert witnesses to provide insight into specific parts of the case. For example, they may hire a crash reconstruction specialist to speak about the likely events leading up to the crash or a medical professional to speak about how the collision caused your specific injuries.
What Compensation Could You Recover in a Motorcycle Accident Claim?
Motorcycle accident victims can recover various types of compensation for their injuries and damaged property. Some of the most common types include money for:
- Your medical expenses, including surgeries, prescription medications, medical treatments, physical therapy, and hospital stays
- Your lost wages from your recovery period when you were unable to work
- Your loss of future earning capacity if your injuries leave you with a permanent impairment that impacts your ability to work
- Your physical pain and emotional suffering caused by your injuries
- The cost of repairing or replacing your damaged or lost property, such as your motorcycle and riding gear
When you meet with us at Collins Law, you can learn more about the compensation that could be available for your specific motorcycle accident claim.
How Does a Motorcycle Accident Differ from a Car Accident?
The primary way motorcycle accidents differ from car accidents is that motorcycle riders are more exposed to harm than car drivers or passengers. Motorcycle riders don’t have a vehicle frame protecting them from the impact or airbags to cushion their bodies in the impact. After being struck by a vehicle, riders also often experience a secondary impact when their body hits the pavement.
For these reasons, motorcycle accidents tend to result in worse injuries than most car accidents, and fatal injuries are more common. If you were injured in a motorcycle accident, recovering compensation for your injuries is essential due to the extensive medical treatment they require and their potential to significantly impact your ability to earn income.
The liable party in your motorcycle wreck isn’t always obvious, which is why a thorough investigation is necessary. There may even be multiple liable parties. Some of the parties who could be liable for your injuries are:
- Other Motorists – If another motorist caused the wreck due to their negligent actions, such as distracted driving or failing to yield the right-of-way, they could be liable.
- Vehicle Manufacturers – If a part defect on your motorcycle or another motorist’s vehicle contributed to the crash, the vehicle manufacturer could be liable.
- Government Entities – A government entity could be liable if poor road conditions, such as uneven lanes, significant potholes, or missing signage, contributed to the crash. It’s important to keep in mind that lawsuits against government entities typically have shorter deadlines for filing a claim, so you should speak to an attorney as soon as possible.
Alabama follows a contributory negligence rule for personal injury claims. Under contributory negligence, anyone who was partly at fault for the accident that caused their injuries cannot recover compensation.
It’s essential that you hire an experienced motorcycle accident lawyer in Birmingham who can defend your right to compensation. If the insurance companies attempt to push some blame onto you, you need an attorney who will use evidence to fight back against their claims.
Under Alabama’s statute of limitations, victims have two years to file a motorcycle accident lawsuit. If you file your lawsuit after the deadline lapses, the court will likely dismiss your case without a hearing, and you will lose your opportunity to pursue compensation in court. By speaking with Attorney Collins as soon as possible after sustaining injuries, she will help ensure you do not miss any crucial deadlines.
Some of the most common types and causes of motorcycle accidents include:
- Left-turn collisions occur when other motorists don’t yield the right-of-way to oncoming motorcycle riders.
- Rear-end collisions may occur if another driver is tailgating a motorcycle rider, as motorcycles require shorter stopping distances than larger vehicles.
- Head-on collisions occur when another vehicle crosses the center line into the motorcyclist’s lane, often leading to a fatal collision.
- Many collisions can occur when distracted drivers fail to notice a nearby motorcyclist.
- Blind spot crashes occur when drivers fail to check their blind spots before changing lanes.
Motorcycle wrecks often leave victims who survived the crash with severe, life-altering injuries, such as the following:
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) occur when the brain strikes the inside of the skull or when it is pierced with a foreign object. These injuries can range from mild concussions to severe brain damage, causing permanent physical and cognitive impairment.
- Spinal cord injuries happen when an impact causes pinching or severing of the spinal cord. These injuries can cause permanent paralysis.
- Road rash occurs when a collision knocks a rider from their motorcycle and causes them to slide across the pavement, tearing multiple layers of skin.
- Lacerations from the initial impact, the pavement, or broken glass may require stitches.
- Broken bones, especially arms, wrists, ankles, and ribs, are among the most common injuries.
- Internal injuries are extremely dangerous and require immediate medical care but may not immediately display symptoms. This is why you should always see a medical professional after an accident.
Contact a Birmingham, AL Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Today
Attorney Collins and her team are here to assist if you’ve been injured in a Birmingham motorcycle collision. Contact Collins Law, LLC today for a free, no-obligation consultation. Discover the difference an experienced motorcycle accident lawyer can make on your case and your recovery.