Belmont, MA Motorcycle Accident Lawyer
Countless motorcycle riders get injured in crashes every day. While motorcycles may have certain advantages and aesthetic appeal over regular cars, the fact of the matter is that when motorcycle accidents do happen, the motorcycle rider is often worse off because they are less protected than people in cars. The seriousness of injuries that motorcyclists may suffer in these accidents can make recovery extremely difficult, and that is to say nothing of the cost of medical care both for emergency treatment and long-term management of injuries.
You can sue parties who caused your motorcycle accident in court to get financial compensation. However, to do that you will need competent, professional legal counsel in your corner, and we can provide just that.
Get in touch with our motorcycle accident lawyers by calling the Law Office of John J. Sheehan by dialing (617) 925-6407.
Who Can You Sue in Belmont, MA Motorcycle Accident Lawsuits
When you start talking to our motorcycle accident lawyers about your case, one of the first orders of business will be figuring out who is liable for your injuries. To have a defendant be found liable in court, you have to show that they were negligent and, as a result, you got hurt. There may be multiple negligent parties in your claim, so it is not unusual to file against multiple defendants in these cases. Some of the parties you may sue in your lawsuit include:
Other Drivers
The driver who injured you should probably be the primary target of any motorcycle accident lawsuit. You can prove that a driver was negligent in a couple of different ways. First, you can show that they violated a traffic law by speeding, ignoring traffic signage, driving under the influence, or engaging in other conduct. Second, you can prove to the jury that the driver did not act as a reasonable driver would have acted in the present circumstances.
You may want to sue more motorists than just the one who hit you. For example, if one driver was driving carelessly, got hit by a third driver, and both vehicles impacted your motorcycle, both drivers may be liable for your injuries, so you would want to include both of them as defendants.
Vehicle Manufacturers and Designers
If problems with either your motorcycle or another vehicle contributed to your crash, you can sue the designer or manufacturer of those vehicles. When dangerous products are put out to market, they are considered “defective” when they are likely to injure people during their intended use. Defects can be broken down into either design defects or manufacturing defects.
Design defects are issues with the vehicle that are inherent in its design. Even a motorcycle or car made exactly in accordance with the blueprints will have a problem if it has a design defect. Manufacturing defects, on the other hand, come from mistakes made somewhere along the way. For example, if the plant that made the vehicle used metal with structural integrity issues to make critical parts of a car or motorcycle, that vehicle can be said to have a manufacturing defect.
The party that you sue depends on where the defect originally arose. For example, you might sue the workshop that installed defective brakes on a car if that led to your motorcycle accident.
Employers
You can sue companies for the negligent acts of their employees, provided that the employee was doing something related to work at the time of the accident. For example, if a pizza delivery person hits your motorcycle on the way to deliver an order, you can sue the pizza place because delivering pizza is related to their job. On the other hand, if that pizza delivery driver was clocked out for the day and driving home, liability would probably not attach to the employer because that activity is not related to work.
You can also sue employers for negligent hiring practices, especially for jobs where specialized training is required. For example, if a truck company hires untrained drivers, and one of those drivers then hits your motorcycle, you can sue the company for negligent hiring practices.
Government Entities
Under some circumstances, you may be able to sue government entities for injuries you sustained in a motorcycle crash. One of the more common reasons this happens is when poor road conditions lead to a motorcycle accident. In those circumstances, you can sue the state or local government responsible for maintaining that road. There are some special rules for suing government entities, so be sure to bring up the prospect of suing the government early on in discussions with our attorneys.
Damages in Belmont, MA Motorcycle Accident Lawsuits
If you prove that the defendant was negligent, the jury will award you damages. The damages you get will be based on your unique situation, so no two cases will have exactly the same award. You can get damages based on your medical expenses, damage to your vehicle, and lost opportunity to earn income when you were recovering from your injuries instead of working. Additionally, you can get compensation for less immediately tangible things, such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, and mental anguish. While something like a hospital bill can have its value demonstrated by admitting invoices and other paperwork into evidence, it can be tougher to convey the value of something like mental anguish. To do that, our lawyers will need to persuade the jury of its work. This can be done through testimony on your part or from other people as well as tangible evidence like pictures of your injuries.
Contact Our Motorcycle Accident Attorneys from Belmont, MA Today
Call (617) 925-6407 and speak to the Law Office of John J. Sheehan’s motorcycle accident attorneys about your claim today.
