Newark Motorcycle Accident Lawyer
Motorcycle riders might understand many of the risks they face when they take their bike out on the road, but understanding those risks does not make things any better if you get in a motorcycle accident in Newark.
If you were involved in a motorcycle accident and suffered serious injuries, you may have substantial medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering that need compensation. To recover damages on your behalf, we can investigate the accident, interviewing eyewitnesses and enlisting expert witnesses as necessary. We will prepare your case to file it before the deadline, which may be two years from the accident. To file on time, we must quickly identify the negligent party or parties and allocate fault properly. In some motorcycle accident claims, anticipating comparative fault defenses and planning to address them is crucial for victims to make full financial recoveries in Newark.
Call Newark motorcycle accident lawyer Jerry Friedman today at 1-800-529-4464 for a free case review.
What to Do After Being Hurt in a Newark Motorcycle Accident
Being involved in a motorcycle accident can have a devastating impact on your life in Newark. Thus, taking the necessary steps to protect your rights if you have been injured in such an accident is crucial. After protecting your rights at the scene, contact Jerry to start your case off right. By following the recommended measures below, the process of recovering compensation can be much more straightforward:
Call the Police
If you experience a motorcycle crash in Newark, call the police first. When police officers arrive at the site, they will record the incident and assist you with other necessary actions, such as exchanging information with the other driver or taking photographs of the damage. Additionally, if the other driver is found to have violated traffic laws during the crash, the police will issue a citation.
Calling the police is necessary to document the accident and to abide by N.J.S.A. § 39:4-130, which states that all drivers involved in accidents that cause injury, death, or more than $500 in property damage must alert law enforcement in Newark.
Exchange Information
In the event of an accident, it is important to gather information from the driver who caused the incident, as well as any witnesses, passengers, or other drivers involved. Make sure to jot down their names, addresses, and phone numbers. Also, remember to obtain the liability insurance information of the at-fault driver. If the other driver is uncooperative and refuses to exchange information, rest assured that the police can step in and obtain the necessary details.
When speaking with the at-fault driver, do not go into detail about the accident. Tensions might be high immediately afterward, especially if the damage is significant, and you might misspeak or say something that jeopardizes your claim. Do not engage with the other driver if they attempt to discuss the accident. Simply exchange the necessary information and wait for law enforcement to arrive. Never apologize for an accident you did not cause, even if you feel upset about the situation.
Take Photos
When dealing with the aftermath of a motorcycle accident, it is important to gather as much information as possible. Aside from exchanging information with the other parties involved, taking photos of the damage caused by the crash, including your helmet, can be incredibly helpful. Utilize your smartphone to snap pictures of various elements related to the accident scene, such as tire marks, broken glass, or debris on the road, and any visible damage from the impact, like broken taillights and headlights. It is also crucial to get photos of the location of the vehicles after the crash. These photos can come in handy when it is time to file a lawsuit. An accident reconstruction expert can review such photos to determine the crash’s ultimate cause.
Remember to take photos of your injuries immediately after they occur. This will allow you to compare them with the state of your injuries later in the litigation process after receiving medical treatment. Additionally, it is important to write down everything you remember about the accident before the details become hazy.
Seek Medical Care
After your motorcycle accident, prioritize seeking medical assistance, as your injuries might be severe. The longer you wait to go to the hospital, the worse the situation can get. Head injuries, in particular, require immediate attention from a doctor to prevent permanent damage. Delaying treatment may make it harder for your lawyer to prove the extent of your injuries and losses.
Accept care from paramedics at the scene and go to the hospital in an ambulance if advised. When you are at the emergency room, doctors can assess you for any apparent or underlying injuries. Your initial diagnosis immediately after the accident will be of interest during your claim, which is why skipping this step is inadvisable. Though some victims may be wary of the cost of a trip to the emergency room, those expenses should be covered in your lawsuit, so do not neglect your care for that reason or any other.
Contact Jerry
To secure your rights and obtain the compensation you deserve, reach out to our firm promptly. Our team will help facilitate the proper payout of insurance benefits by the responsible party’s insurer or file a lawsuit if necessary. Additionally, we can gather witness testimony and evidence to strengthen your case. Delaying your case for any reason could cause you to miss the filing deadline or fail to preserve crucial evidence, so contacting our motorcycle accident lawyer immediately after a crash is important.
Getting Evidence of a Motorcycle Crash in Newark
In the days and weeks following the accident, we can collect evidence unavailable at the scene. For example, we can organize your medical records, obtain surveillance footage, enlist experts, and interview eyewitnesses.
Newark is fairly populated, and homeowners or business owners near the accident site might have surveillance systems on their properties. If so, Jerry can contact the owners to request access to footage. We can do the same for doorbell camera systems or dashboard cameras. Acting quickly to access surveillance footage is crucial to ensure owners do not delete vital evidence. Clear video footage might show an accident as it happens, proving the accident’s sequence of events and the driver’s negligence.
We will also focus on interviewing eyewitnesses, as their statements may correspond exactly with yours, cementing the defendant’s negligence and liability. We will interview witnesses immediately after the crash to ensure their statements are as accurate as possible. If you could not get their contact details at the scene, we can learn this information from the police report.
Testimony from accident reconstruction experts and other expert witnesses can also demonstrate a defendant’s liability. In especially complex accidents, or if a victim’s liability is questioned, accident reconstruction experts can review photos, videos, and physical evidence to ascertain the accident’s exact cause.
Suing for Damages After a Motorcycle Accident in Newark, NJ
While you might have some options to seek compensation for your injuries after a crash, filing a lawsuit may allow you to claim greater damages than in an insurance claim, such as compensation for your non-economic damages.
A lawsuit against the at-fault driver can unlock access to additional damages such as pain and suffering, and a jury verdict for damages for medical expenses and lost wages can cover these damages at their full cost instead of forcing you to accept discounted damages from an insurance claim.
To get these damages, you must prove that the other driver was indeed at fault. This means proving that they violated some duty they owed you and that the breach of duty caused your injuries and damages. You must also prove the damages you suffered by producing medical bills, pay stubs, financial statements, and testimony about the damages and injuries you faced.
In cases involving the death of a loved one, the damages plaintiffs claim can include additional economic and non-economic harm they and their families suffer because of a loss. This can include suing for burial and funeral expenses, ongoing lost wages the deceased can no longer earn, damages for lost companionship and spousal benefits, and other costs and expenses.
You should only accept a settlement or an insurance payout for a motorcycle accident after you talk to a lawyer. Many insurance payouts are too low to cover victims’ needs, and the same can be true of settlement offers from negligent drivers. Before filing your case, motorcycle accident lawyer Jerry can help you understand what it is worth so that you can judge whether a settlement is fair or whether it would be better to fight your case in court in Newark.
How Does a Lawsuit for Motorcycle Injuries Work in Newark?
A lawsuit for motorcycle accident injuries is a civil lawsuit filed against the at-fault driver and other responsible parties. It starts with filing a complaint in court.
This document lays out the basic details of the accident and explains why the driver was at fault and how they were negligent. We will also include your request for damages in the complaint. Once we file the complaint, the defendant will be notified and served with the lawsuit.
From there, the other side will have a chance to challenge these assertions. Eventually, the case will move into the discovery portion, where both sides turn over evidence and interview witnesses in recorded depositions to get all the information related to the accident.
Many cases settle at this point since both sides now know what they are facing. If the case does not settle, it may move on to trial, where both sides present evidence and witnesses, and the jury decides who is at fault and how much money the victim is owed.
Settlement negotiations are successful when victims have enough evidence to leverage against defendants. Because of this, we can prepare your claim to meet the standard of proof for a trial, even if you ultimately settle out of court. When faced with overwhelming evidence of negligence, a defendant might be more likely to settle at a substantial amount, one that includes compensation for a victim’s pain and suffering.
Parties Who Can Be Held Liable for Motorcycle Accident Injuries in Newark
The complexity of a motorcycle accident lawsuit depends on who injured you and whether they are the only person or entity responsible for your injuries. Multiple parties might sometimes act negligently, leading to an accident. Other times, the negligent party might not be another driver at all but a motorcycle manufacturer or a local government entity in Newark.
The Driver Who Hit You
Typically, the driver who hits you is responsible for the accident and your resulting damages in Newark. Drivers often fail to notice motorcycles, and a moment of distraction or carelessness might result in a collision. When speaking with the driver who hit you, do not apologize for the accident in any way, as that can be misconstrued as you accepting some liability. The other driver might then try to use a comparative fault defense in court, which could lower your damages.
Multiple Drivers
In a motorcycle accident involving multiple drivers, each driver can be held accountable for their portion of the damages. For instance, suppose one driver was speeding and collided with another driver who was making an illegal lane change, causing damage to your motorcycle. In that instance, both drivers would be liable for covering the costs associated with their actions. Allocating fault in these instances is challenging, and we can enlist accident reconstruction experts to review the available evidence to assist on this front.
Motorcycle Manufacturers
If a faulty bike part contributed to or caused the accident, you may have a claim against the manufacturer or importer, especially if it was a foreign-made motorcycle. The manufacturer could be liable for negligence in failing to ensure a safe motorcycle design or warn consumers of any associated risks.
Employee Drivers and Their Employers
If an employee’s negligence during work duties leads to a motorcycle accident resulting in injuries, their employer can be held responsible. For example, if a driver, acting on behalf of their employer, caused harm while delivering goods, both the driver and their employer could be subject to legal action under the doctrine of respondeat superior.
State and Local Governments
Motorcyclists might sustain injuries due to poor road conditions or other hazards that are the responsibility of the state or local government in Newark. For example, hitting a hard-to-spot pothole can throw a rider off their bike. If the government should have been aware of and fixed the issue beforehand, you may have grounds for a negligence lawsuit. Nonetheless, these cases are intricate due to additional legal regulations when suing a government entity.
Proving Fault After a Newark Motorcycle Accident
Unfortunately, preconceived notions about motorcyclists being irresponsible or reckless might impact some victims unfamiliar with New Jersey’s comparative fault laws. In reality, there is nothing about riding a motorcycle that automatically makes you at fault for an accident in any way.
Many other drivers like to blame motorcyclists for crashes by claiming that they came out of nowhere or that they should have been in a car where there is more protection. A motorcyclist has the same rights and duties on the road as the driver of any other vehicle, so these arguments are often invalid. Under § 39:3-76.7, New Jersey requires motorcyclists to wear helmets; the fact that you did not wear other pads or full body armor on your bike should not be used against you in court because it is not a very reasonable request.
Instead, the question of who is at fault for a motorcycle accident should be handled like in car or truck accident claims. This means that the insurance company, the judge, or the jury should look at which drivers followed the law and who made mistakes or errors in judgment that led to the crash.
In most motorcycle accidents where the other driver is at fault, the driver who caused the accident is responsible because they failed to keep a proper lookout for motorcycles, failed to yield to a motorcycle, was driving under the influence, or committed some other traffic violation. Proving these traffic violations and obvious errors behind the wheel can help you hold these drivers responsible after a serious crash.
Recovering Compensation for All Motorcycle Accident Damages in Newark
Often, motorcycle accident victims must anticipate comparative fault defenses to ensure full recoveries in Newark. If a defendant successfully argues a victim shares fault for their injuries, a jury could lower their compensation.
According to § 2A:15-5.1, New Jersey is a modified comparative fault state. Under this rule, victims who share fault for their injuries can still sue other parties, provided they are not more at fault than another party. Furthermore, despite being able to sue, victims in these situations may see their compensation lowered proportionally to their percentage of liability.
For example, if the jury decides a motorcycle accident victim is 25% at fault for an accident, the defendant would only be liable for covering 75% of the victim’s damages. The jury will assess damages and then reduce them according to their decision on liability.
Comparative negligence rules often impact motorcycle accident victims because of the preconceived notions surrounding motorcyclists. Fortunately, compelling evidence can undermine comparative negligence arguments and show that the defendant alone is liable for the victim’s damages.
Furthermore, according to § 2A:14-2, to recover full compensation for your damages, you must file your case on time, within two years of the accident. As we prepare your case, we will keep the statute of limitations in mind so you can take advantage of your opportunity to pursue litigation.
Jerry will also represent your interests in settlement negotiations and calculate your damages beforehand so that you can identify lowball settlement offers. If necessary, we can take your court and prove the defendant’s negligence, after which the jury may compensate you for all losses due to the accident, financial and emotional.
Our Newark Motorcycle Accident Attorneys Can Help
For a free evaluation of your case with an experienced motorcycle accident lawyer, call Jerry Friedman today at 1-800-529-4464.
