Austin Motorcycle Accident Attorney

Austin Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Michael Grossman Discusses a Motorcyclist’s Rights Following a Bike Crash

It is estimated that there are more than 400,000 motorcycles in use on roads throughout the state of Texas, and a very large portion of them are used in the Austin area. As a result, there are numerous chances for accidents to take place.

There are lots of reasons that motorcycle accidents occur in this state, and they range from simple causes such as distracted drivers to more egregious causes such as driving while drowsy or drunk driving. If you or a loved one have incurred an injury as the result of a motorcycle accident in the Austin area, it is critical that you know your rights. If you have suffered the tragic loss of a family member due to such an accident, you need to be informed of the legal options you may have that can ensure those responsible for your loss are held accountable. This article, provided to you by the Austin motorcycle accident attorneys with Grossman Law Offices, will give you some information on relevant issues that surround motorcycle accidents in Texas. With 20 years of experience in litigating Texas personal injury and wrongful death cases, the Austin motorcycle accident lawyers with Grossman Law Offices can help you get through this incredibly trying time.

How Motorcycle Accidents Differ from Car Accidents

If you have been involved in a motorcycle accident, or you have ever been to the site of such an occurrence, it should be pretty clear how that kind of accident is different from a typical car wreck. Accidents involving a motorcycle are often much more serious, and more often than not will result in severe injuries to the motorcyclist and a greater likelihood of death. The Texas Department of Transportation reports that two out of three motorcycle accidents in this state result in either serious injury or death to the motorcyclist. In 2009 there were 434 motorcycle accident fatalities; a number that accounted for 15 percent of all traffic accident fatalities that year. Another 5,800 motorcycle riders or passengers were hurt that year. It is pretty easy to see why motorcycle accident injuries can be so devastating; no matter how much protective gear motorcyclists and their passengers may wear, that gear is often no match for pavement or surrounding automobiles. A car, on the other hand, obviously provides a far higher degree of protection to its occupants. There are several brands of well-designed and well-built motorcycles on the market, such as Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, Harley-Davidson, Buell, Triumph, and other motorcycle manufacturers. However, no matter how well designed they may be, these motorcycles simply cannot prevent severe injuries from occurring in even relatively small accidents because they do not have an outer frame that can envelop and protect occupants as can an automobile.

But a lot of people, unfortunately, are unable to see that, because there are such significant differences between motorcycle accidents and car accidents, there are just as significant differences in the ways the two accidents are dealt with from a legal perspective. Typically, a car accident claim can be properly handled without the need for either party involved to bring in a lawyer. However, it is rare for accidents involving a motorcycle to not result in some sort of legal action taking place. Thus, those involved will need a seasoned and skilled Austin motorcycle accident attorney. Because of the increased likelihood of severe injury or death resulting from a motorcycle accident, there will be more money at stake to compensate injury victims or the family members of motorcycle accident fatalities. Insurance companies will fight extremely hard to avoid having to pay these very costly claims. Victims who do not have legal assistance often do not comprehend the full value of their claim, and as a result, may fall prey to ridiculously low settlement offers from those insurance carriers. If you do not have an experienced Austin motorcycle lawyer on your side to protect your rights, you could be taken advantage of by an insurance carrier that has no regard for your best interests, only protecting its profits.

Motorcycle Injury Accidents in Texas

Motorcycle accidents can result in a wide range of injuries. Those injuries can be relatively benign, such as scratches and bruises, but they can also be life threatening and debilitating, such as spinal cord injuries and brain injuries. A common injury suffered in a motorcycle accident is road rash, which is usually fairly minor. But if someone who suffers a road rash does not get it medically treated in time, an infection can result. In this instance, as in every kind of personal injury litigation, it is critical that a victim get medical help so that their case does not suffer due to a failure to mitigate damages. For example, if a motorcycle accident victim with a road rash does not get medical attention, and the rash develops into a life-threatening infection, the party or parties that were responsible for the motorcycle wreck cannot be held liable for the infection. As a result, the victim will be responsible for paying any medical expenses that stem from treating that infection.

More serious injuries that can result from motorcycle accidents include bone fractures and broken bones. Because a motorcycle is not enclosed by a frame, passengers and riders are often ejected from the motorcycle and thrown to the ground. Such a collision often occurs with brute force, and broken legs, broken arms or bone fractures can result. These kinds of injuries, of course, call for immediate medical attention (and that attention will result in medical expenses), but a motorcyclist suffering from this injury might also incur financial losses because of a mobility loss that could keep them from being able to perform their job. By filing a Texas personal injury lawsuit, however, a motorcyclist injured in this manner can attempt to obtain fair restitution for any wages he or she may have lost.

Motorcycle accident injuries can become even more severe, of course, and include traumatic brain injury, disfigurement and spinal cord injury. Each of these can culminate in debilitating conditions that can last a lifetime, possibly even requiring medical care around the clock. Burn injuries, another potentially severe consequence of a motorcycle accident, can mean severe pain and suffering, as well as disfigurement, for a victim. Lifetime reminders of the ordeal can include scars on the back, neck, legs, hands, arms or face. Other injuries can be just as devastating or worse, such as loss of limbs or a leg amputation or arm amputation that can significantly diminish a victim’s quality of life. And all of these injuries can also lead to incredible mental distress. Victims can seek restitution through the means of a personal injury lawsuit, and that restitution can go a long way toward helping victims heal from their injuries and move on with their lives.

All passengers and riders younger than 21 years of age must, by Texas law, wear a helmet while on a motorcycle. Riders and passengers who are older than 21 have the option of wearing a helmet or not wearing one – as long as they have either completed a Texas motorcycle rider training course or they can provide proof that they have health insurance. There have been compelling arguments made for years both for and against mandating the use of a helmet for motorcyclists, but it is hard to argue with the safety benefits provided by helmets. Traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injuries, the two most potentially devastating injuries associated with motorcycle accidents, can be prevented if riders and passengers wear a helmet. Injuries such as these can not only result in paralysis, they can also culminate in victims having to have constant medical attention after suffering debilitating, life-long injuries. And with these kinds of injuries come crushingly high medical bills. Victims of severe motorcycle accident injuries are arguably the victims who are most in need of experienced legal help; help that can get them the compensation they need in order to be able to pay the incredibly high medical costs associated with both spinal cord injuries and traumatic brain injuries.

After suffering an injury sustained in a motorcycle wreck, a victim, depending on the seriousness of the injury, might need medical assistance for a day, a week, a month, a year, for several years, or for the rest of his or her life. What goes along with that medical attention, of course, is a stack of medical bills and can range from hundreds of dollars to, as incredible as it sounds, millions of dollars. Therefore, an insurance carrier that is faced with having to pay potentially millions of dollars to an injury victim – even if that victim deserves that compensation – will fight extremely hard to defend its policy. If you do not have the experience of an Austin motorcycle accident attorney on your side, you may shortchange yourself by accepting far less compensation than you are entitled.

Motorcycle Fatality Accidents in Texas

Every day in Texas, according to the Texas Department of Transportation, a fatal motorcycle accident takes place. This is a sobering fact indeed, but it is compounded even more by the way in which it can be reinterpreted – somewhere in Texas every single day, there is a family that suffers the loss of a loved one due to a motorcycle accident. If your family has suffered this kind of incredibly tragic occurrence, the Austin motorcycle accident lawyers with Grossman Law Offices can help you. We can investigate the scene of the tragic accident so that you can get the truth behind what happened to your loved one, and make sure that all liable parties that played a role in causing the accident are properly determined and made to face justice for their negligent actions. When a responsible party’s negligence leads to the death of someone in an accident, the surviving family members of the deceased can initiate a wrongful death civil lawsuit against the responsible party or parties in order to obtain fair restitution for both survival damages and wrongful death damages.

In regard to a survival damages lawsuit, only one family member can try to obtain survival damages on behalf of the deceased motorcyclist. However, multiple members of the family can seek wrongful death damages to compensate for the monetary losses they might have incurred due to the death of their loved one. But seeking fair compensation is not the only reason that many wrongful death lawsuits are pursued. The pursuit of restitution is a necessary component of a wrongful death suit and serves the purpose of helping the family overcome the financial losses that have been incurred as the result of the accident. However, this kind of suit also serves the purpose of holding those parties responsible for the accident accountable, and helping to make sure their negligent actions do not cause another family to experience this kind of tragedy.

Before initiating any form of legal action, however, it is strongly recommended that a grieving family get in touch with an experienced Austin motorcycle accident attorney so that a thorough investigation can be launched. This investigation will look into the tragic accident in order to determine those responsible for causing it. Each responsible party can be sued for the role it played in either contributing to the accident, or causing the accident. The attorneys with Grossman Law Offices have 20 years of experience in investigating the scenes of fatal motorcycle accidents. As a result, we know all the complexities involved with vehicle accident scenes, and know when it is appropriate to dig deeper into the cause so that all of the parties responsible are identified and held accountable. By doing so, we can work together to make sure those responsible for your pain and loss are brought to justice.

Motorcycle Accidents in Texas Involving Drunk Drivers

Motorcycle accidents that involve a drunk driver, just as automobile accidents that involve drunk driving, can result in a lawsuit being field against the negligent drinking establishment that over-served the patron who caused the accident. According to dram shop law in Texas, an establishment that serves a patron to the point that he or she exceeds a .08 blood alcohol content, or BAC, level, and that patron injures himself or herself, or someone else, can be held partly liable for the drunk driving accident. For example, a plaintiff can initiate a first party dram shop cause of action if a drunken motorcyclist hurts himself or herself by wrecking the bike. If a drunk automobile driver causes an accident, then a third party dram shop cause of action can be pursued. Either way, if the drunk driver became intoxicated because he or she was served past the point of intoxication at a drinking establishment before causing the accident, an injury victim can seek restitution from that negligent drinking establishment. In a third party dram shop cause of action, the injured victim can seek restitution from the drunk driver as well as the alcohol-serving establishment. These same kinds of liability issues apply to cases where a wrongful death has occurred.

Determining that a person was served past the point of intoxication at an alcohol-serving establishment prior to causing a drunk motorcycle accident, however, can be very difficult for people who have no legal experience or inexperienced lawyers. The attorneys with Grossman Law Offices have two decades of experience in handling drunk driving accident cases in Austin and throughout Texas. We are intimately familiar with Texas dram shop laws and we can help you hold all responsible parties accountable.

Defective Motorcycles

Mechanical failures as a result of either product defects or poor maintenance are often another source of motorcycle accidents. Typically, service or recall bulletins will recommend minor changes to passenger automobiles in order to address some sort of flaw. However, there is an old adage pertaining to motorcycles that goes, “when something goes wrong on a motorcycle, it goes very wrong.” A properly operating motorcycle is precarious enough, requiring a fairly significant effort on the part of the rider simply to remain upright. If a motorcycle suffers a mechanical failure, a rider can quickly lose control of the bike. Unfortunately, it is highly unlikely that a rider will simply be able to coast to safety under these kinds of conditions.

Product Liability for Motorcycles

It is a rare occurrence, but sometimes a motorcycle is sold that has an inherent flaw that is a result of either poor engineering or poor design. More often, motorcycles are negligently manufactured in such a manner that a critical part will fail under the stresses and loads that are a part of their intended use. Parts that fail, such as a brake proportioning valve, a chain that breaks, or an engine bearing that malfunctions, can lead to an accident that causes a devastating injury or even worse. If such a failure occurs, and causes an injury or a death to a motorcycle rider or passenger, the victim or victims are allowed under Texas law to initiate a product liability claim against the manufacturer of the motorcycle. There are some instances where there are multiple parties that can be named as defendants in a product liability lawsuit. For instance, if a manufacturer produces a motorcycle and a part such as a brake caliper fails, the manufacturer, the retail operation that sold the bike, and the supplier of that individual part can all be held liable. This depends, of course, on the extent of the responsible parties’ negligence.

As with most litigation involving motorcycle accidents, product liability claims are extremely intricate and complex. You simply cannot base any portion of your case on mere speculation – in order for you to have any chance at all of winning your case, it is imperative that you collect and preserve quite a bit of evidence. It is not enough to simply say, for example, that “the throttle cable broke.” You, as the plaintiff in your case, bear the burden of proof, meaning you have to prove that the failure of the part occurred due to negligence on behalf of the manufacturer. It is critical to your case that the exact cause the failure is determined. In order for you to have any chance at winning your case, there must be a detailed evaluation performed by a qualified engineer. That evaluation will supplement a report filed by an expert that will pinpoint the exact nature of the part’s failure. Also, the motorcycle and any accessories that accompany it must also be stored in such a manner that they can be used as evidence during the trial.

A lot of claims involving product liability fail to succeed because the party initiating the claim did not properly catalog and preserve the evidence necessary to proving their case. Legal laypeople do not have a sufficient enough grasp of proper courtroom procedure, and this lack of knowledge can cause their case to be dismissed. As a matter of fact, product liability cases are beyond the capabilities of most lawyers – if it is that difficult for most lawyers to win this kind of litigation, it is almost impossible for someone with no legal background whatsoever to succeed. You simply must have a seasoned and skilled Austin motorcycle accident attorney working for you in order to obtain the just compensation you have coming to you.

Issues Involving Motorcycle Maintenance and Misrepresentation of Condition

Professional maintenance shops sometimes perform shoddy maintenance work that can also lead to an accident that causes a severe injury. As we stated previously, when a car suffers some sort of malfunction, the driver can often guide the car off the road and to a shop for service without an accident occurring. But when a motorcycle experiences a mechanical failure due to improper maintenance, the accident that can result can lead to devastating injury or death for the rider. There are some motorcycle repair shops that do a slip-shod job of hiring qualified mechanics. A negligent mechanic could easily overlook something that can lead to a mechanical failure. When this occurs, a claim of negligence can be brought against the repair shop responsible for the shoddy work.

There are some mechanical problems, however, that do not result from any sort of oversight or negligence. There are cases where a private seller, or even a motorcycle dealership, will sell a motorcycle with the full knowledge that it is in bad mechanical shape. Some will even go to the extreme of hiding the fact that the bike is such poor shape. In one instance, a man contacted us who had bought a bike from a licensed, and supposedly reputable, dealer. But when he rode the motorcycle home, he noticed it was behaving erratically. He was able to take the bike to a repair shop for an inspection, luckily for him, before suffering any sort of injury due to an accident. The shop was able to determine that, below the bike’s new fairings, a part called the “triple tree” was cracked, and that could have led to a disastrous accident. Also, the radiator was not attached properly. In addition, and almost unbelievably, the frame had been damaged, and the damage concealed with spray paint and body filler.

What had basically happened was that the motorcycle had been previously wrecked, but the dealership did some cosmetic “repairs” and misrepresented the bike as being in good condition. This is not only a blatant violation of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, the faulty motorcycle could easily have killed the buyer. Not only could the buyer sue the dealership for negligence, but this blatant attempt at deception that occurred in the effort to sell a dangerously flawed motorcycle could also result in punitive damages against the dealership as well.

Jury and Insurance Adjuster Bias in Austin Motorcycle Accident Litigation

Motorcycle riders often face bias when pursuing litigation in regard to their accident. The general public has been led to believe that motorcyclists in general are reckless, wild people who are always heavy on the throttle and a menace to fellow users of the road. As a result, defense attorneys and insurance adjusters will do whatever they can to prey on this bias and compel a jury to believe that the injured motorcyclist was to blame for the accident that injured him or her. Basically, seasoned insurance adjusters will try and employ this stereotype and shift blame to the victim. And, like it or not, this is actually a sound strategy, because if an adjuster or defense lawyer can make a compelling enough argument and sway a judge or jury to the side of the defense, the insurance company will save a very significant amount of money.

It is an unfortunate fact of life in litigation regarding insurance that, no matter how severely a cyclist has been injured in a wreck, the adjuster will do whatever he or she can to make sure that victim’s claim is denied. The worse a victim is injured, the higher the potential compensation that victim can obtain, and the more the insurance company’s bottom line will be damaged. This is a key reason why motorcycle accident victims simply have to consult with an Austin motorcycle accident lawyer before trying to go it alone and representing themselves. There is simply too much to lose in restitution that can be used to pay off present and future medical expenses, take care of property damage costs, make up for lost wages and cover pain and suffering. If you decide to be your own legal representation, or to rely on the help of an inexperienced lawyer, you could be making the worst decision of your life. If you lose – and it’s almost a guarantee that you will – you will be responsible for all of those expenses. That could ultimately lead to your financial ruin. The Austin motorcycle accident attorneys with Grossman Law Offices know how to defeat the defense’s attempts at using bias against injury victims, and deal with any other tricks the opposition may use in an attempt to deny you the just compensation you have coming to you.

Our seasoned attorneys are well aware of the fact that the vast majority of motorcycle riders are extremely safe, and follow the rules of the road. A lot of them simply enjoy riding their hog on a sunny day, and thousands flock to Austin each year for the ROT Rally. For thousands more Texans, a motorcycle is more than a weekend pleasure; it’s a cost-effective way to get around, and their primary means of transportation. So the last thing they want to do is operate it in a reckless manner. Most motorcyclists consider not only their safety, but also the safety of others around them when operating their bikes. But it is not enough to state simply that a rider involved in an accident is a save driver. That won’t be sufficient to convince a judge or jury that the biker was not to blame for his or her accident. That biker will have to produce compelling evidence from the scene of the accident, and that evidence has to be gathered in a manner that is can be admitted into court. With this evidence, used in conjunction with the testimony of eyewitnesses (and expert testimony, if necessary), a skilled and seasoned attorney can help you successful bear that burden of proof and establish for the court that the negligence party was responsible for your motorcycle accident. If you cannot produce that evidence, you will have nothing but empty words, and you will leave that courtroom with nothing. Again, the stereotype of the reckless motorcyclist is pervasive in society and likely pervasive among the jury as well. You need rock-solid evidence in order to refute that stereotype and have a chance to win your case.

Dealing with Aggressive Insurance Adjusters

As we mentioned above, insurance adjusters involved with motorcycle accident claims are under a vast amount of pressure from their insurance company to deny a claim, because a massive amount of money is potentially on the line should that claim be awarded to the victim. So the adjuster won’t care how badly the victim is hurt – compassion is not necessarily one of an adjuster’s strong points. The only thing he or she cares about is denying the claim and saving the insurance company’s bottom line. That adjuster might even be more motivated to do so, because often in cases like these, insurance companies will offer an adjuster a significant bonus or raise if he or she is successful. No matter what the motivation, that adjuster’s interests will be diametrically opposed to yours or that of your family. They will, as a result, often use some formidable tactics in their pursuit of victory.

For example, an adjuster will try and shift blame away from the defendant he or she represents and onto another party such as the victim. If the majority of the fault can be placed on the victim, the case will be dismissed. If that blame can be shifted to other parties, than the insurance company won’t have to pay as much in restitution. It follows logically, then, that insurance adjusters will act in an extremely aggressive manner in order to shift blame from their client. Adjusters commonly badger motorcycle accident injury victims with a barrage of questions designed to trick the victim into saying something that will make it seem like he or she was to blame for the accident. The conversation will be recorded and later dissected, so that whatever missteps the victim may make will be used against him or her during a trial. They may, for example, try and trip up the victim regarding his or her recollection of the accident and later use that to dispute the validity of the victim’s memory regarding the accident. And to make matters worse, the defense attorneys will conduct a detailed investigation of the accident, and the adjuster can use that evidence to further damage the victim’s case. If you do not act quickly in procuring legal representation that can conduct an investigation on your behalf, you are playing with a deck that is severely stacked against you. If you cannot produce evidence that can offset and defeat that of the defense, you stand basically no chance of winning.

Adjusters use another tactic that is just as aggressive, and much more insidious. In order to try and save the insurance company some money, adjusters often make injury victims or the grieving family members of a deceased motorcyclist a settlement offer designed to bring quick cash. The majority of the time, however, this settlement offer comes with forms that the victim or victim’s family must sign in order to get the money. This is a shrewd, calculated and cost-effective move, because it will be a low-ball offer. It will be very tempting to take to most victims, but it won’t come close to being fair. If you accept this offer, however, you forfeit the right to sue the defendant at a later date in an attempt to get more money. You are basically signing away your rights. But it happens all too often; when insurance adjusters get to a victim before that victim has consulted with an experienced Austin motorcycle accident lawyer, that adjuster has a great chance of shortchanging the victim and protecting the insurance carrier’s profit margin. If the insurance company cannot get the case dismissed entirely, this is often their second-best option.

Why You Need an Austin Motorcycle Accident Attorney

Hopefully by now we have convinced you that the only real chance you have at winning your case is by enlisting the help of a seasoned and skilled Austin motorcycle accident attorney. If you are still not convinced why you need the help of an experienced law firm such as Grossman Law Offices, here’s a summary of the reasons you do:

• We are intimately familiar with Texas vehicle accident law, and have 20 years of relevant experience investigating all kinds of accidents, including those involving motorcycles, 18-wheelers and automobiles. So we know what, and more importantly, who, to examine in connection with all kinds of accidents.
  
  
• We can be of immense assistance to you in your attempt to obtain restitution for medical expenses. Seemingly minor motorcycle accidents can still lead to serious injuries that require extensive and expensive medical treatment.
  
  
• We are a proven, effective Texas wrongful death law firm. Over the last two decades, our attorneys have been at the side of families through some of the most trying times of their lives and helped them realize justice against those whose negligence robbed them of their loved ones.
  
  
• We have significant experience in litigating accidents in Texas involving drunk drivers. Our lawyers know dram shop laws like the back of their hand, and we are willing to do the heavy lifting required to prove the negligence of alcohol-serving establishments and hold them accountable for the role they play in causing drunk driving accidents.
  
  
• We know the complexities and intricacies involved in motorcycle accident litigation and know how to handle them. We know the technical details surrounding, for instance, accidents caused by malfunctioning mechanical parts. If need be, we have strong relationships with experts who can provide compelling testimony to bolster your case.
  
  
• We know there is a bias against motorcyclists that is pervasive in our society, but we can produce the compelling evidence needed to defeat that stereotype and hold those truly responsible for your accident accountable.
  
  
• We have carved out a well-earned reputation for success against aggressive insurance adjusters and defense attorneys. We have faced, and defeated, nearly every major insurance carrier in the United States. They know our reputation, and they respect it. In fact, there are many instances where an insurance company will offer our clients fair settlement offers rather than risking the loss of much more money by tangling with our attorneys in a courtroom.
  
  
• We will not let an insurance company take advantage of you. When you hire us, we shield you from a carrier’s aggressive tactics because we deal with them – not you. You can focus on healing, either physically, emotionally, or both, from the accident.

You can put our proven experience, ample knowledge and well-deserved reputation to use for you in your efforts to get just restitution for the losses you have incurred. The Austin motorcycle lawyers with Grossman Law Offices stand ready to help you through this tremendously difficult time. For a free and confidential consultation regarding the circumstances surrounding your case, please give us a call as soon as possible at 1-855-338-0170. We will gladly answer any questions you may have.