Every day, approximately 400,000 Texans hit the roads and highways of the Lone Star State on motorcycles. Unfortunately, accidents involving motorcycles are quite common due to the widespread popularity of riding motorbikes in Kerrville and the Hill Country. They can happen for a wide variety of reasons, from a harmless mistake like a momentary lack of attention to a more serious offense like drunken driving.
When you’ve been injured in a motorcycle accident, you need to know your rights and whether or not you have the grounds for a legitimate lawsuit against the party or parties who caused the wreck. Although our Kerrville motorcycle lawyers know how overwhelming the legal process can be for novices, we help you navigate this challenging time. For the past 30 years, our law firm has been helping people who have suffered injuries in motorcycle accidents seek the compensation they deserve for the harm that has been done to them. We offer the benefit of our experience with this informative article to help inform you about the confusing legal process in which you find yourself. Once you better understand the relevant information involved with motorcycle accidents in Kerrville, Texas, you can make the best decisions to get the compensation you deserve for the injuries you’ve sustained.
Motorcycle Injury Accidents in Kerrville TexasNot all motorcycle accidents are life-threatening. While death, traumatic brain injury, and spinal cord damage often occur in motorcycle accidents, mild injuries such as bruises, scrapes, and cuts are much more common. Road rash is probably the most common injury resulting from motorcycle accidents when the rider spills out and then severely scrapes away a portion of skin. While only a minor injury, road rash can become infected if not properly cleaned and treated. Thus, road rash illustrates the importance of seeking timely medical attention immediately after you have suffered an injury in a motorcycle accident. By treating the injury immediately, you not only document the injury, but you are also protecting yourself legally. When you don’t seek treatment immediately, and the condition worsens, you could assume liability for the injury someone else caused due to your negligent refusal to treat the situation responsibly. You can’t expect to hold someone else responsible for an infection caused by you not seeking medical assistance for your injuries.
In other incidents, motorcycle accident victims experience much more severe injuries, as they are often thrown from the vehicle in a wreck due to the lack of protection and constraint provided by the motorcycle. An airborne motorcyclist rarely comes down softly and usually ends up with a variety of broken bones. While not particularly expensive to repair, broken bones often result in missed work and lost wages – a portion of which can be recovered through a personal injury lawsuit.
In the most severe injury situations, motorcycle accident victims can suffer is spinal cord injuries, brain trauma, or disfigurement that leaves them permanently disabled and in need of medical treatment and care, as well as life accommodations. While scars can be embarrassing and sober reminders of one’s past ordeals, burns and amputations cause even more havoc in one’s life, with burns requiring years of painful recovery and amputations greatly reducing the quality of life. Any of these severe injuries not only cause physical pain but emotional and mental trauma, as well, for which the victim is entitled to be compensated in the state of Texas.
In the United States, there are only 20 states that require all motorcyclists to wear helmets, and Texas is not one of them. Texas only requires motorcycle riders under 21 years of age to wear helmets. Anyone over 21 can avoid wearing a helmet by taking a training course or providing proof of health insurance. While opponents of helmet laws feel very strongly that they have the right to feel the wind through their hair, the facts firmly support the importance of wearing a helmet while riding a motorcycle. A helmet can significantly reduce the chances of the rider sustaining a brain or spinal cord injury during a wreck that could lead to paralysis or some other form of lifelong disability that requires constant medical attention and lifelong accommodations. Such treatments are costly, and motorcycle victims are often forced into sizable debt due to their injuries. Unfortunately, the more expensive the treatment of your injuries sustained in a wreck, the more resistance the party who caused the wreck or his or her insurer will put up in order to avoid paying. Thus, the greater the damage sustained, the greater the need for a competent and capable motorcycle accident attorney.
Whether you need a day, a month, a year, or a lifetime of treatment following the injuries you have suffered in a Texas motorcycle accident, bills can run from thousands and soar up into the millions, depending upon the injury. Without a skilled and experienced motorcycle accident attorney who is imminently familiar with the process, you will likely be taken advantage of by aggressive insurance adjusters trying to protect their policies against a sizable claim. Don’t take the chance that you will be tricked into accepting less than you deserve for the injuries you have suffered.
Texas Motorcycle FatalitiesAccording to the Texas Department of Transportation, someone dies in a motorcycle accident in the Lone Star State every 18 hours. To put it more personally, somebody loses a family member in a fatal motorcycle wreck in this state more than once a day. If this tragedy has befallen your family, then the motorcycle accident attorneys at our law firm want to help you make sure everyone who caused your loved one’s death is brought to justice and made to pay for his or her negligence. If someone else’s negligent behavior caused the death of your loved one, then you have the right to seek compensation through a wrongful death lawsuit. However, several different parties may have done something to cause the accident when it comes to motorcycle accidents. Thus, you often need the help of our experienced Kerrville motorcycle accident lawyer just to figure out who caused the accident and whom you need to file a suit against.
The surviving family members may seek wrongful death and survival damages through a wrongful death lawsuit. In addition, surviving spouses, children, parents, and some other dependent relatives have the right to pursue wrongful death damages, which are designed to compensate them for their individual losses as a result of their loved one’s death – funeral bills, medical bills charged to the deceased before he or she died, mental and emotional trauma, loss of monetary support supplied to the family by the victim, and loss of familial love and consortium.
On the other hand, survival damages can only be sought by the closest living relative of the deceased. Survival damages may include lost wages that the victim would have spent in recovery, lost future earning potential caused by any long-term disabilities, physical pain and suffering, and the victim’s mental distress dealing with the injury. Ensuring that your family is compensated is not the only reason to file a wrongful death lawsuit after a fatal motorcycle accident. You also want to make sure justice is dispensed to the party or parties who caused your loved one’s death. When it comes to fatal car accidents, the negligent party will likely not be facing criminal charges unless he or she caused the accident intentionally or while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The only way you can bring them to justice is through a wrongful death lawsuit. Moreover, as we mentioned, it’s not always easy to figure out who is responsible for a wreck. Our Motorcycle Accident Attorneys are always available to take your call.
Call our Kerrville motorcycle accident lawyers today at 800-862-1260.