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Wesley Chapel
Motorcycle Accident Lawyer
There is nothing like the freedom and exhilaration venturing out on a motorcycle. Although motorcycles deliver direct contact with Florida’s sunshine and cooling breeze, motorized two-wheel vehicles also come with an element of risk. Not only are motorcycles more vulnerable to accidents in Florida, but injuries to motorcycle riders are often more severe. If you or a member of your family has been injured in a motorcycle wreck, our Wesley Chapel motorcyle accident attorneys can help. Couture Law is available to file a claim and negotiate motorcycle accident settlement offers on the victim’s behalf. We’ll stand up to the insurance company and fight for you to get the best settlement offer available.
Getting a medical exam after an accident
In the moments after a motorcycle accident, notifying law enforcement is most often the top priority. Your health and safety are most important. Therefore, we always suggest that accident victims request and undergo a medical examination even if the victim does not appear to be injured. It’s not uncommon for accident injuries to remain undetectable until the following days or even weeks after the date of the accident. In some cases, very severe injuries like internal bleeding and severe internal bruising may be present but undetectable by the victim. Getting medical attention immediately after the accident will allow hidden injuries to be detected and treated before the victim’s condition worsens and potentially causes impairment or death.
Not only is it critical for accident victims to immediately be examined to protect their health, but doing so may also help the victim’s potential personal injury claim. Melbourne accident lawyers use medical records to document the nature and extent of their clients’ injuries. Delaying medical attention may afford the party who caused the accident an opportunity to challenge the underlying cause of the victim’s injuries. For example, an accident victim who previously had back problems may have difficulty proving a motorcycle accident caused the condition to worsen. Medical records that accurately document the injury can help the plaintiff in the example establish causation between the accident and the worsening of the pre existing back injury.
Following a motorcycle accident treatment plan
After seeing an accident victim for the first time, the doctor will devise a treatment plan to help the injured victim recover. It is imperative that Wesley Chapel motorcycle accident victims follow their doctor’s treatment plan to the letter. If a revision or modification is necessary, the victim should consult the doctor to have the modification documented in writing. Similar to delaying medical attention, failure to follow the approved treatment plan can also affect the victim’s case. In a motorcycle accident claim, the opposing party may argue that the victim’s condition was negatively affected by the victim’s failure to follow the treatment plan. Defendants also sometimes point to failure to follow a treatment plan as evidence that the victim’s injury is not as bad as the victim claims the injury to be.
Our Wesley Chapel motorcycle accident lawyer can help you get the necessary medical attention so you can recover. We will use your treatment plan along with other evidence to establish your case and get you the money you deserve.
Settling vs. going to trial
Our clients are often surprised to learn that most personal injury cases do not go directly to trial. When a motorcyle accident victim files a lawsuit against the defendant who caused the plaintiff’s injury, a detailed series of communications take place before the court assigns a trial date. At this point, known as the pretrial phase, the plaintiffs may request a settlement amount. In the absence of request, the defense may also make an initial settlement offer to the plaintiff. If the parties do not agree on the amount, the each party may try to negotiate a lower amount. Settlement negotiations end when the parties are unable to agree on a compensation amount, and the plaintiff opts to proceed with taking the case to court.
Settlement negotiations with insurance companies
Florida law requires all drivers to carry auto insurance. As residents of a “no-fault” state, Florida drivers must also have personal injury protection (PIP) coverage within their auto insurance policy. Settlement negotiations in most motorcycle accident cases involve insurance companies. These companies are represented by corporate attorneys whose first priority is to reduce costs by minimizing payout to accident victims.
Accident victims are often tempted to immediately accept a settlement offer from an insurance company without treating the offer as the first step in the negotiation process. Because the insurance companies have attorneys to represent their interests and priorities, accident victims should also have a Florida personal injury lawyer on their side to advocate for their needs.
PIP coverage for injured motorcyclists
Florida’s PIP system often comes into the claims process for Wesley Chapel motorcycle accident victims who also own a car and have auto insurance. PIP coverage allows policyholders to file a claim to receive compensation even if they were at fault in the accident. Moreover, PIP policies generally cover other types of personal injuries beyond those caused by car accidents. Therefore, a motorcyclist who has PIP coverage may file a claim with his or her own insurance company in the event of an accident.
Advantages to the PIP system include ease of filing a claim without having to prove fault and the expectation that the victim may receive compensation relatively quickly. However, one of the major downsides to PIP is that policies are limited in the amount of compensation an accident victim may receive. Policies cover up to 80% of the accident victim’s reasonable and necessary medical expenses with a maximum payout of $10,000 per person. If the accident causes the vicitm’s death, PIP insurance will also pay a $5,000 death benefit for funeral and related expenses. Accident victims may also receive 60% of their lost wages caused by the accident up to maximum of $10,000. If a victim’s damages exceed the maximum limits of Florida’s PIP system, the accident victim may file a claim against the at-fault party in civil court to receive additional compensation.
Elements in a Wesley Chapel motorcycle accident case
Motorcycle accident claims are categorized within the practice area of personal injury law. Most motorcycle accident cases are based on the theory of negligence. There are a few exceptions in which courts decide motorcycle accident cases based on strict liability. To win a motorcycle accident case, the plaintiff’s lawyer must prove four elements:
- the defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff
- the defendant breached the duty owed
- the breach of duty caused the plaintiff’s injury
- the breach of duty caused the plaintiff to suffer damages
Duty of care in motorcycle accidents
A duty of care can be defined simply as the responsibility to keep someone safe from foreseeable harms. Within the context of motorcycle accidents, people who use Florida’s roadways owe others on the road a duty to avoid engaging in negligent or reckless behavior that may cause harm.
Duty of care can also extend beyond the people who were physically present at the time of the accident. For example, if brake failure causes a motorcycle accident, the company that manufactured the brakes may also be at fault because they owe a duty of care to their customers. Other potential third parties to motorcycle accidents are:
- dealerships
- auto mechanics
- property owners
- government entities
Your Wesley Chapel personal injury lawyer can determine whether one or more third parties may be liable in your motorcycle accident. The accident lawyer at Couture Law will identify the parties who caused your injury and pursue compensation on your behalf.
Breach of duty
After proving that the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care, the next element the plaintiff must prove is breach of duty. A defendant breaches the duty of care when it fails to take reasonable steps to protect or warn the other party of a foreseeable harm. Examples of breach of duty in a motorcycle accident may include:
- speeding
- distracted driving
- failure to maintain landscaping
- failure to maintain road pavement
It's important to note that a defendant does not breach his or her duty of care if he or she does not warn or protect a plaintiff against an unforeseeable harm. A plaintiff who is injured when his or her motorcycle strikes a meteorite that suddenly fell from the sky and cracked the pavement is less likely to win his or her case against the city.
Proving causation in a motorcycle accident
A plaintiff’s attorney effectively proves the element of causation when he or she establishes that there is a link between the defendant’s actions and the plaintiff’s injury. More specifically, the defendant’s actions must be the reason the plaintiff’s injury occurred. Florida civil courts apply the “but-for” test to determine whether a plaintiff has met the minimum requirement for establishing causation.
Proving damages
Even after establishing the first three elements in a motorcycle accident claim, the plaintiff must demonstrate that the defendant’s actions caused the plaintiff’s loss or damages. The loss may be a tangible, financial loss including:
- medical expenses
- lost wages due to taking time off from work
- future lost wages due to disability
- funeral expenses in accidents that cause the plaintiff’s death
A plaintiff may also receive compensation for intangible damages. Some examples are:
- pain and suffering
- loss of parental guidance
- loss of emotional support
- changes lifestyle and quality of life
Personal injury plaintiffs often find it challenging to assign an exact monetary value to their pain. A Wesley Chapel motorcycle accident attorney can help you determine how much compensation you should request in a personal injury claim.
Comparative negligence
Even if you don’t work in the legal profession, you are likely familiar with the pure negligence rule. Under pure negligence, an accident victim may receive 100% of the amount the court awards in the victim’s negligence-based personal injury claim. Florida courts deviate from the pure negligence rule and instead follow the rule of comparative negligence.
When a judge applies comparative negligence, he or she determines whether the plaintiff was partially at fault in the accident that caused his or her injury. For example, an injured motorcyclist may have contributed to the accident by speeding or running a stop sign. After determining the extent to which each party was at fault in the accident, the court will assign a corresponding percentage. When the court awards a judgment to the plaintiff, the court reduces the award by the percentage of fault the plaintiff contributed to the accident.
A plaintiff who was five percent at fault can expect to receive 95% of the amount awarded by the court. Plaintiffs in Wesley Chapel motorcycle accident cases may receive compensation no matter how much fault they contributed to the accident. A plaintiff who is 99% at fault may receive 1% of the awarded compensation. Having a seasoned Florida personal injury lawyer on your case can maximize the amount of compensation you receive for your claim.
Strict liability
Unlike negligence-based claims, which require the plaintiff to prove the defenadant failed to exercise reasonable care, strict liability does not account for the defendant’s behavior. The doctrine of strict liability generally applies in the following types of cases:
- dangerous products
- dangerous or exotic animals
- unusually dangerous activities
More commonly, a defendant in a motorcycle case may be strictly liable if he or she manufactured a vehicle that caused the accident due to a design defect. In a strict liability motorcycle accident case, the plaintiff’s attorney is not required to prove that the defendant failed to exercise reasonable care in his or her actions. However, the plaintiff must establish that the injury occured as a result of ordinary or reasonably foreseeable use of the defective part.
Let us start on your case today
If you or someone you know has been involved in a bike accident in Wesley Chapel, don’t delay in contacting an attorney. Contact a Wesley Chapel personal injury attorney to receive a free case evaluation.
