Fort Worth Motorcycle Accident Lawyer
Motorcycles are notoriously dangerous vehicles, but it is often the case that accidents involving motorcycles are the fault of the other driver. Since motorcycles offer little protection to drivers, any accident that involves a motorcycle can result in serious, life-threatening injuries as well as fatalities. When this happens, no amount of money can truly make a person whole again. However, our Fort Worth motorcycle accident attorneys are willing to represent motorcyclists and their families in their pursuit of justice.
Damages in Motorcycle Accident Cases
One goal of the Texas justice system is to provide compensation to victims of accidents. If you have been injured in a motorcycle accident, our Fort Worth accident lawyers can help you sue for compensation for both economic damages and non-economic damages. Economic damages are more easily quantified and can include expenses like the following examples:
- Hospital bills
- The expense of necessary medical equipment as a result of your injuries
- Lost wages
On the other hand, non-economic damages are often more ethereal in nature and are more difficult to quantify, which can lead to intense debate between the defendant and the injured party in court. Examples of non-economic damages include:
- Physical pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Loss of enjoyment in life
- Loss of consortium with a spouse
Since these kinds of damages do not come with clear bills or expense reports, it is often necessary to enlist the services of an expert witness who can attest to their values. Experienced motorcycle accident lawyers in Fort Worth may have connections to such experts who can testify in your case.
Typical Causes of Motorcycle Accidents in Fort Worth
Motorcycle accidents can be caused by numerous factors, and the exact cause of a specific accident can influence the way that the court assigns fault. In turn, this can influence the amount of compensation that an injured party can receive, so it is vitally important to figure out the cause of the accident and show that it was not the fault of the injured client. At our firm, a Dallas car accident law firm, , our Fort Worth motorcycle accident attorneys have experience doing just that.
Common causes of motorcycle accidents include:
- Poorly maintained roads
- Inclement weather
- Drunk driving
- Distracted driving
- Driver fatigue
- Speeding
- Failure to yield
Texas courts use a modified comparative negligence standard in their Civil Practice and Remedies Code, which means that they assess the details of each case and assign percentages of fault to each party. Different causes can result in different percentages of blame being assigned to the injured party and the defendant. The job of a skilled Fort Worth motorcycle accident lawyer is to decrease the amount of fault assigned to their client and increase the amount of fault assigned to the other driver.
How Fault Affects Compensation
When courts have heard the arguments in a case, they will assign percentages of blame to each party based on the cause or causes of the accident. This affects compensation in a few important ways.
- A driver who is more than 50% at fault for an accident cannot recover compensation at all.
- The amount of total compensation awarded to an injured party will be reduced by their percentage of fault.
As an example, imagine that a motorcycle driver has been injured in an accident and their total damages amount to $250,000. If the court finds that they are 10% at fault for the accident, their total compensation also will be reduced by 10%, which in this case is $25,000. The amount they can be awarded, then, is $225,000 rather than the initial assessment of $250,000. By presenting evidence of the other driver’s fault, our Fort Worth motorcycle accident lawyers help ensure that injured clients receive the fullest compensation possible.
Motorcycle Fatalities
In some tragic cases, motorcycle accidents can lead to the death of the driver. For those situations, the case normally proceeds as a wrongful death case. This works in essentially the same way as a regular personal injury motorcycle accident case, except that the party bringing the lawsuit is the family or legal representative of the deceased driver rather than the driver.
Fault is determined in the same manner, and a modified comparative negligence standard is still used. One major difference, however, may be that the court has to divide the compensation between surviving family members. This is a special case that requires experience and specific legal knowledge, so it is best to hire one of our skilled Fort Worth motorcycle accident lawyers who can help families resolve the case in a fair and appropriate way.
Contact Us for a FREE Consultation
If you are injured in a motorcycle accident in the Fort Worth area, our skilled Fort Worth motorcycle accident attorneys can help you win your case. We offer a no-compensation, no-pay method that means you do not pay us until you have won compensation in your case. For your FREE initial consultation, fill out the form on our contact page or call us today at (469) 998-4069.
Frequently Asked Questions
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