Georgia Motorcycle Accident Lawyer
Hiring a Georgia Motorcycle Accident Lawyer
While riding a motorcycle is a favorite pastime for many Americans, motorcycle wrecks can leave you with catastrophic injuries that can change your life forever.
If you’ve been in a motorcycle accident, contact the Georgia motorcycle accident lawyers at The Brown Firm today to receive maximum compensation in your motorcycle accident injury claim.
Below we will go over everything you need to know about Georgia motorcycle accidents.
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Can I Recover Damages After a Georgia Motorcycle Accident?
An experienced motorcycle accident lawyer can help you get the most out of your motorcycle accident claim. Generally speaking, a motorcycle accident victim can claim two types of motorcycle accident damages: punitive damages and compensatory damages.
Compensatory damages are meant to compensate for the financial losses you suffered from the accident. Punitive damages are meant to punish the negligent party to keep others from doing the same thing.
Compensatory Damages
Economic Damages
Your economic losses include all of the following but are not limited to:
Lost Wages: Not only does this include work you missed right after your accident, but it can also include money you won’t be able to make again if you can’t go back to work or are permanently disabled because of the accident.
Medical Care: You can be reimbursed for emergency medical expenses from the ambulance ride, hospital, or medical specialists you had to see due to the accident. You likely had imaging scans, like x-rays, MRIs, and CT scans, performed to determine how bad your injuries were. Those scans, along with any additional medical treatment and resulting medical bills, should be covered by your personal injury claim.
Property Damage: This includes your broken motorcycle and any other damaged property at the accident scene.
Wrongful Death Damages: Family members and people named in the deceased person’s will can get financial compensation from the at-fault driver. The wrongful death claim can include funeral and burial costs, loss of benefits, loss of ability to work, and any other damages caused by their death.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages after motorcycle crashes include the pain and suffering you had to go through because of the physical injuries and the emotional damage the accident caused. Pain and suffering after a motorcycle wreck can cause depression, grief, shame, anxiety, PTSD, and a sense of worthlessness.
The multiplier method is generally used to calculate non-economic damages. The multiplier is a number between one and five and is chosen depending on the severity of your injuries and other losses. Your lawyer will pick a number and multiply it by the total amount of your economic losses.
To figure out how much your settlement will cost, you add the cost of your economic damages to the cost of your non-economic damages.
Your pain and suffering damages are important, so you should tell your lawyer what kind of emotional pain you went through.
Wrongful Death Lawsuit Damages
You can file a wrongful death claim if a loved one was involved in a fatal motorcycle accident. In these claims, you can also be rewarded for economic and non-economic losses.
Non-economic damages after a fatal accident can include the loss of companionship and the loss of valuable services that the person would have provided for their family if they had lived.
For instance, if the person who died used to watch the children. your lawyer will count this as part of the damages. This is because the surviving spouse will have to now pay someone else to do this task.
Other types of damages caused by a wrongful death are the loss of guardianship, loss of consortium, mentorship, and more. You may also be compensated for burial expenses, funeral expenses, and medical treatment before the death.
Common Causes of Georgia Motorcycle Accidents
Like in auto accidents, a big reason for motorcycle wrecks is driver negligence or error. But when a motorcyclist gets into an accident, the results are often much worse for cyclists than passenger car occupants.
Motorcycles are harder to see than cars or trucks, and if they get into an accident, the riders have very little protection.
One of every four motorcycle accidents doesn’t involve any other vehicles, and the motorcyclists collide with something on the road.
Many things could cause a crash, such as:
- Other drivers swerving in front of the motorcycle
- Road defects that lead to potholes or pooled water
- Grass clippings
- Drunk driving
- Speeding
- Malfunctioning traffic lights
- Tree-covered stop signs
- Distracted driving
- Unsafe road design
- Failure to adhere to road signs and signals
Time Limits to File a Motorcycle Accident Claim in Georgia
There is a time limit called a statute of limitations for filing a motorcycle accident claim. In Georgia, you have two years from the time of an accident to file a claim, even if you are suing a city or other government entity.
There are many important reasons why filing a claim as soon as possible is essential. Witnesses forget the details of the accident, stories change, and evidence can be lost.
The sooner your Georgia motorcycle injury lawyer can start working on your case, the better off you’ll be.
How To Stay Safe While Riding a Motorcycle
We all know riding a motorcycle is a hazardous way to get around. Fortunately, there are a few simple things every motorcyclist can do to stay safe on their bike.
First, helmets save lives and keep motorcycle riders from getting badly hurt. The IIHS says that helmets prevent motorcycle deaths about 37% of the time and brain injuries about 67% of the time.
Aside from a helmet, there are a lot of other vital parts of the body below the neck that can be protected by gear. Wearing protective gloves, jackets, pants, suits, boots, etc., can make it much less likely that you will get road rash or another severe injury while riding a motorcycle.
You could potentially fall off your bike at some point, so it’s best to be ready for it.
Taking a course on motorcycle safety is a good use of your time and money. The Motorcycle Safety Foundation has classes all over the country, ranging from the basic ones needed to get a license to more advanced ones that teach riders how to avoid a crash and spot one before it happens.
A great way to stay safe is to keep your motorcycle knowledge up to date and learn new things.
Common Motorcycle Accident Injuries
Even though new safety equipment has made riding a motorcycle safer, riders can still get tragically injured.
Injuries like spinal fractures are even more likely when traveling in bad weather, at high speeds, and when dealing with other road hazards.
But accidents with cars and motorcycles can happen anytime and in any kind of weather. Some people don’t see motorcycles because they aren’t as big as cars, trucks, or vans.
Some drivers don’t pay attention and drive distracted. This makes it more dangerous for motorcyclists in general.
In a motorcycle accident, you could get one or more of the following injuries, which could be temporary or permanent and range from minor to severe:
- Broken bones
- Bone fractures
- Cuts and burns
- Road rash
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBI)
- Spinal cord injuries
- Paralysis
What Do I Do After a Motorcycle Accident?
In Georgia, there are a few steps to take if you are in a motorcycle accident. It’s important to know what to do when an accident happens because even an experienced motorcycle rider can be involved in an accident.
First and foremost, you should see a doctor if you’ve been in an accident. Seek medical attention even if you don’t feel injured. This is especially important after a motorcycle accident, where you could have head trauma or internal injuries that you may not feel immediately.
Your lawyer will need copies of your medical records for your motorcycle accident lawsuit.
Next, call the police to tell them about what happened. The police will look at the accident scene, talk to witnesses, and figure out what caused the crash as they prepare the police report.
You also need to seek legal representation. Talk to a motorcycle injury lawyer in Georgia as soon as you can after the accident.
Your insurance company will likely call you and ask you to give a recorded statement. Before you say anything, you should talk to your personal injury attorney because what you say could affect your case.
The insurance company might also offer you a quick settlement in hopes of getting you to settle the claim. Don’t take it because it probably won’t cover your costs.
This is how the insurance company tries to settle a case without paying as much as it should. If you accept the check, you typically lose your right to make more claims, even if the check doesn’t cover all of your damages.
You Need an Experienced Motorcycle Accident Attorney at The Brown Firm For Maximum Compensation
After a motorcycle accident, you will be faced with many questions.
When you’re hurt, how do you manage your accident claim? How do you know if you are being fully compensated? Can you trust that the insurance company offers reasonable compensation after a catastrophic injury like a traumatic brain injury?
The insurance companies want to pay you the least amount possible after a motorcycle accident. To be sure you get your medical costs covered, you need to work with a motorcycle accidents lawyer.
Most personal injury lawyers aim to reach an agreement as soon as possible. So what does this mean for you as a motorcycle accident victim?
The Brown Firm places a strong emphasis on customer service. It’s challenging enough to be hurt in a motorcycle accident; you need an advocate on your side.
We devote time to our clients to guide them through the legal process. To us, you are more than a claim number; you are a victim we are fighting to help.
Contact an experienced motorcycle accident attorney from The Brown Firm for a legal consultation if you or a loved one has been injured in a motorcycle accident that wasn’t your fault.
Click the button below to schedule your free initial consultation.
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Georgia Communities Our Motorcycle Accident Lawyers Serve
Acworth
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Alpharetta
Americus
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Atlanta
Auburn
Augusta
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Bainbridge
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Belvedere Park
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Dock Junction
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Martinez
McDonough
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Newnan
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Panthersville
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Perry
Pooler
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Powder Springs
Redan
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Thomson
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Whitemarsh Island
Wilmington Island
Winder
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