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The Mother Road, Route 66, cuts right through San Bernardino, and the great Nat King Cole hit song named after the highway name-checks our city. With our year-long warm, dry weather and a legendary highway, who wouldn’t want to ride motorcycles in San Bernardino?
The wonderful experience of rolling through San Bernardino on a Harley, Kawasaki, or Triumph, however, can turn tragic and even deadly when other motorists fail to react in time to stop a motorcycle accident.
If you or someone you care about suffered injuries in a San Bernardino motorcycle accident, your initial concerns will focus on your physical safety, but soon, the financial impacts of the injuries will start to pile on as well. If you are in San Bernardino or a surrounding area, our San Bernardino personal injury lawyers at Gomez Trial Attorneys can help you determine your eligibility to recover damages for your motorcycle accident injuries. Contact our firm today for a free case evaluation.
Gomez Trial Attorneys zealously advocates on behalf of each of our clients, which has resulted in a consistent history of successful results. The firm has successfully collected over $750 million in verdicts and settlements for our clients, including numerous motorcycle accident cases. While our case results represent the firm’s success well, each case is unique, and the strength of the evidence and facts will dictate the anticipated recovery. Our San Bernardino motorcycle accident attorneys work with all of our clients to understand their cases and goals, including an analysis of all evidence and consultation with experts.
There is a reason why there are more than 800,000 registered motorcycles in San Bernardino. Motorcycles provide mental, physical, and environmental benefits, including an improved mental outlook through boosted endorphins, increased calorie burn and core strength, improved focus and attention, and better fuel efficiency.
Motorcycles also come with risks, most notably the risk of accidents that result in serious injury or death. As many as 100 motorcycle collisions take place every year in San Bernardino. In California, 488 fatalities from motorcycle accidents took place in a recent year, and with over 5,000 fatalities nationwide the year before. Motorcyclists are 29 times more likely to suffer fatal injuries than passengers in a car, and nearly 50 percent of motorcycle crashes result in more than minor injuries.
Motorcycle accidents come with a high risk of injury. Unsurprisingly, they often result in serious injuries. Below we discuss some of the risks and injuries associated with motorcycle accidents.
The factors that contribute to these risks include:
The following injuries are common after a motorcycle accident:
The physical pain of a motorcycle accident injury is not all that a victim suffers. Injured individuals must also deal with the financial and physical stresses caused by such injuries. A victim will often attempt to determine if another party should bear responsibility for the accident.
While serious injuries are unfortunately common in motorcycle accidents, some steps can reduce your risk of suffering a life-altering injury in an accident, including the following:
Even though motorcycles present unique risk scenarios, this does not mean that a motorcycle driver is always (or even usually) at fault for an accident. If another party acted negligently and caused the accident, then that party is responsible for the injuries suffered by the victim.
Other parties who are often at fault for motorcycle accidents include the following:
These actions by a driver give you a good idea of what constitutes negligence, but the above list is not comprehensive. Work with a lawyer to understand the strength of the evidence of negligence in your case.
Additional parties that may face liability include:
Once you have established that another party’s negligence or intentional act was the cause of the accident and your injuries, you are entitled to recover compensation, from either the responsible party or his or her insurance party, for the damages you have suffered. Damages are generally intended to compensate you for any injuries that you have suffered due to the accident. It is important to include all injuries, not just the obvious medical expenses.
Additional damages may include:
Your San Bernardino motorcycle accident lawyer can prepare a comprehensive damages assessment that can help you understand the damages you are owed and coordinate with necessary experts for input. Having a clear view of your damages will help you evaluate any settlement offer from the other party. Commonly, the defendant or his or her insurance provider will propose a settlement offer that fails to adequately compensate an injured plaintiff. It can be tempting to accept an early settlement offer to get quick financial relief, but make sure you work with your San Bernardino motorcycle accident attorney to ensure that a settlement offers fair compensation before accepting.
Motorcycle accidents in San Bernardino can have catastrophic and deadly consequences for riders and others. Whether the crash happens on a major freeway like I-215 or a residential street near Encanto Park, the outcome is often the same: life-long pain, financial strain, and a heavy toll on the biker’s ability to enjoy life and the company of loved ones.
Victims of San Bernardino motorcycle accidents should not have to shoulder the heavy financial and personal burden of injuries and losses when someone else’s carelessness or recklessness caused the crash. Below, we answer some frequently asked questions about the legal rights of victims of San Bernardino and Inland Empire-region motorcycle accidents. For answers to specific questions about a motorcycle crash that has impacted your life, contact our experienced San Bernardino motorcycle accident injury lawyers today.
Motorcycle accidents take a severe toll on many victims in and around San Bernardino. Riders, of course, often bear the brunt of the harm from a crash. However, riders are not the only individuals who might have the right to take legal action seeking compensation for accident-related injuries and losses.
Others can include:
In other words, virtually anyone who suffers harm in, or because of, a motorcycle accident, may have legal rights to sue for compensation. To find out if you have those rights, contact an experienced San Bernardino motorcycle accident injury lawyer right away.
Under California law, anyone whose unreasonably dangerous decisions or actions cause a motorcycle accident in San Bernardino may owe damages to the accident victims. Every accident is different, so the identity of the individual, business, organization, or government entity that has liability can vary widely.
However, experienced San Bernardino motorcycle accident lawyers who represent injured victims will often find that one or more of the following parties faces legal liability for a crash:
These are just a few examples, of course. Virtually anyone can owe money damages to victims if their actions or decisions cause a motorcycle crash in San Bernardino. To learn who might have legal liability for harm you or a loved one suffered in a bike wreck, contact an experienced San Bernardino motorcycle accident injury lawyer today.
Motorcycle accidents in San Bernardino exact a heavy toll on crash victims and their families. Victims who have the right to take legal action for damages can often seek compensation for:
Economic damages, which are monetary losses tied to the accident and the victim’s injuries, such as:
Non-economic damages, which are the harms victims suffer that do not come with a price tag attached, like:
Punitive damages, which are available in some cases and meant to punish the defendant for extreme or outrageous actions that caused a San Bernardino motorcycle crash.
There are no guarantees in legal actions, of course, Every San Bernardino motorcycle accident is unique, and the amount of money a victim might have the opportunity to recover for each of the categories of damages above can vary widely. The financial resources of the party that owes damages to a victim can also affect the outcome of a case.
To give themselves the best possible chance of recovering maximum damages, bike wreck victims and their families should always seek the services of a skilled, experienced San Bernardino motorcycle accident injury lawyer who has the strength to stand up to powerful defense lawyers and insurance companies, and the know-how to build and prove a case for motorcycle accident damages.
First, there are no guarantees of a favorable outcome. That is why motorcycle accident victims in San Bernardino should always hire a motorcycle accident injury attorney who has a track record of success in these types of cases which, while not a guarantee, does give them the peace of having a lawyer on their side who knows how to get results.
In cases that do reach favorable outcomes, the timeline varies. Some San Bernardino motorcycle accident cases can go from start-to-finish in just a few weeks. Others can last a year or more, especially if they head to trial.
Lawyers for motorcycle crash victims and their clients do not usually have much control over the timeline for a case, because it often depends on factors like:
Victims of San Bernardino motorcycle accidents and their families do, however, control when they first contact a motorcycle crash injury lawyer about their case. The sooner they take that step, the faster a claim can start down the path toward a (hopefully favorable) resolution.
In California, victims of a motorcycle crash typically have two years from the date of their injuries to take legal action for damages. However, this period can be decreased or extended depending on factors related to an injury, such as the victim’s age or whether the claim is against a government entity. Failing to file a claim before a deadline can result in the loss of legal rights to compensation.
To ensure that you preserve your legal rights to compensation after a San Bernardino motorcycle accident, do not wait to speak with an experienced lawyer who can determine how long you have to file a claim.
Probably not, but you can never be certain, which is why it is so important to hire a San Bernardino motorcycle accident injury lawyer who has the skill, resources, and know-how to get results in any setting, in or out of a courtroom.
Most motorcycle accident injury claims in California settle out of court. That is just the way the system works. In a settlement, the victim usually receives payment in exchange for releasing the paying-party from liability. A settlement usually ends a case for good.
Not all cases settle, however, and it is difficult to tell ahead of time which ones will end up in a San Bernardino County Superior Court trial. Victims can keep their bases covered by hiring a lawyer who has proven results at trial and is ready to walk away from settlement negotiations if that is what it takes to get a full and fair outcome for an injured client. In many cases, just having a skilled trial lawyer with a strong reputation on your side can help to convince the other side to throw in the towel and agree to pay you a fair settlement.
California law requires all motorcycle riders to wear helmets, and they face a fine for failing to do so. We strongly encourage all riders to wear helmets, which time-and-again have been shown to reduce fatality rates in accidents and protect riders from severe traumatic brain injuries.
Still, failing to wear a helmet does not amount to an invitation to others to put you in harm’s way on your motorcycle. Even if you did not have a helmet on at the time of your crash, you still have the right to seek compensation for your injuries and losses. Of course, if those injuries include head or brain trauma that you could have prevented by wearing a helmet, then that might weaken or reduce your claim for damages, but that is a risk riders take in going unhelmeted.
Do not let the fact that you were not wearing a helmet in your San Bernardino motorcycle accident keep you from speaking with an experienced motorcycle crash injury lawyer. Chances are good you still have the right to receive compensation by taking legal action.
Yes. The single most important thing you can do to make your San Bernardino motorcycle accident injury case stronger is to seek immediate and appropriate medical attention for your injuries, and to file your doctor’s orders to-the-letter.
Let EMTs examine you at the crash scene, ride in the ambulance to a local trauma center if first responders recommend it, and unless you have been admitted to the hospital, always follow up with your regular doctor or at an urgent care clinic within 24 hours for a full physical exam to identify and/or rule out serious injuries.
Never assume that you have avoided injury just because you feel okay after a crash. The stress of an accident can mask pain, and many potentially life-threatening injuries may not show symptoms right away.
Seeing the doctor, and then doing exactly what the doctor tells you until you have healed, is important for several reasons. First, it protects your health, which is the top priority. Second, it generates medical records that your lawyer can use later to help prove your case for damages. Third, it ensures that no defense lawyer or insurance company can claim you made your injuries worse by not doing what the doctor ordered.
Aside from seeking medical care, other steps you may want to take that can improve your chances of a favorable outcome in a lawsuit include:
San Bernadino Personal Injury Lawyer, John Gomez
At Gomez Trial Attorneys, it’s our goal to be the best in the business. Our attorneys have excelled at the nation’s top law schools and have gained valuable skills that they bring to all of their cases.
We not only have the personnel, but the resources and facilities to help us win difficult cases. In addition to our team, the firm has a 20,000 square foot legal center that includes an on-site audio, visual, and graphics department, a jury and trial consultant, a full courtroom for mock trials and focus groups, a video conferencing center, and a jury deliberation area for mock deliberations.
If you are located in San Bernardino or the surrounding area and a motorcycle accident changed your life, contact us today at (619) 237-3490 or through our website to schedule a free case evaluation. We want to help you.
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Gomez Trial Attorneys
655 W Broadway #1700, San Diego, CA 92102
(619)-237-3490
No Fees Unless We Recover Money On Your Behalf