Steps You Can Take to Help Get Full and Fair Compensation

When you’ve been injured in a motorcycle accident because of the careless, negligent or wrongful acts of another person, you have the right to seek damages for all your losses. The steps you take in the immediate aftermath of the crash, though, can have a significant impact on your ability to protect your legal rights. Here’s what you need to do:

• Focus first on your health—After any type of accident, your immediate concern should be your well-being. Unfortunately, within the biking culture, there’s a tendency to dismiss injuries, to show your toughness by shaking off any mishap. That’s not in your best interests when you’ve been in any type of accident on a motorcycle.Before you do anything, make certain you are safe. If you don’t think you can or should move, make certain there are people in place to guide the traffic around you. Be willing to stay where you are and travel to the hospital by ambulance, if necessary.When you arrive at the hospital, be sure to tell medical professionals about anything that seems out of the ordinary. Don’t focus only on the obvious injuries—the minor pain in your neck or lower back may have more long-term consequences than the scrapes on your hands or elbows.If you can walk away from the accident, immediately go to a hospital emergency room, an urgent care facility or your primary care physician. The longer you wait, the greater the risk you’ll compromise your personal injury claim.
• Gather evidence, if possible—Use your cell phone to get pictures of anything that might be relevant, such as damage to vehicles, your injuries, weather conditions or roadway defects. It is also helpful to get contact information for witnesses or other parties to the accident.
• Hire an experienced motorcycle accident attorney—The sooner you have legal counsel, the better. You want someone who has successfully handled motorcycle accident claims, who will understand the unique challenges and can anticipate all the potential injuries and losses sustained in that type of accident.