If you’ve been injured in any way in a Mt. Pleasant bike crash, your best move is to consult a motorcycle accident attorney as soon as possible. Because a helmet and heavy clothing are your only protection in a motorcycle wreck, you’re much more likely to suffer severe injury than you would be in a car crash. Even if you don’t feel you’re badly hurt, you could have hidden injuries of which you’re not aware right after the wreck.
Causes of Motorcycle Accidents
Since motorcycles are smaller than cars or trucks, they’re harder for other motorists to see. The primary reason for most accidents in which a bike is hit by a larger vehicle is lack of visibility. Common bike crash scenarios include:
- Poor visibility due to weather conditions
- Failure to yield to a bike at an intersection, when merging, or when changing lanes
- Dooring mishaps
- Drug or alcohol impairment
- Failure to stop
- Speeding
- Distracted or fatigued driving
Accidents caused by these forms of negligence can lead to any of a number of catastrophic injuries, including fractured bones, burns, lacerations, spinal cord damage, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), internal organ damage, amputations, and, in some cases, death. Many of these injuries could have long-term or lifelong implications for the victim, and once you accept a settlement from the at-fault driver’s insurer, you may never ask for more compensation.
An experienced motorcycle accident attorney will not accept a settlement offer until your prognosis and future medical and psychological needs can be clearly established by medical evidence and consultation with your doctor(s).
The Role of Your Attorney in Defeating Biker Bias
Something your attorney will look out for during the course of your case is biker bias, which is an incorrect presumption that all motorcyclists are reckless outlaws likely to be responsible for any accident in which they’re involved.
Your attorney will be vigilant for any indications of such a prejudiced attitude and take steps to counteract it by proving that you’re a responsible motorcyclist who was injured by a negligent motorist. Your attorney will investigate your accident thoroughly, perhaps with the help of an accident reconstructionist, to show that the driver of the car or truck that hit you was at fault. Your lawyer will work to gather evidence in a timely fashion before it disappears, interviewing witnesses to your accident, obtaining video footage of the crash from any nearby cameras, and organizing and presenting your medical evidence convincingly to the insurance company or in court.
Help Your Attorney to Help You
If you’re physically able to do so after being involved in a motorcycle crash, you can protect and strengthen your claim for fair compensation by taking the following steps:
- Stay at the scene, call 911, and report your accident to the police.
- Take photos of all vehicles involved in the accident, including damage and license plates if possible.
- Note nearby cameras that might have taken video footage of the wreck.
- Exchange information with the at-fault driver, but do not discuss the accident.
- Don’t admit any kind of fault to anyone.
- Get contact information from witnesses to the crash.
- Seek medical attention immediately after the accident.
- Notify your insurance company of the wreck.
- Post nothing about the accident on social media.
- Consult an attorney.
If you are unconscious or otherwise unable to take these steps at the scene of the crash, consult an attorney to see how can we can help.
Have You Been Injured In A South Carolina Area Motorcycle Accident?
If you've been injured in a motorcycle accident you should to speak with a motorcycle accident lawyer as soon as possible. Contact us online or call our Charleston, South Carolina office directly at 843.488.2359 to schedule your consultation. We are also able to meet clients at our Conway, Myrtle Beach, Murrells Inlet, Mt. Pleasant, North Myrtle Beach or North Charleston office locations.
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