When you have been involved in a serious accident, it is crucial to not only understand your rights, but to exercise caution when you talk with anyone. You should be able to work with a professional attorney to move forward with getting the settlement you need to heal and recover, although many people don't see it that way.
Choosing a new attorney could be the difference between getting a great settlement and watching possibilities slip out of your fingers. On this blog, learn more about what it means to work with a new lawyer, and how they could help you to start on the road to recovery.
What Determines The Value Of Your Motorcycle Accident Injury?
Being involved in a motorcycle accident can lead to major injuries that you need to recover from and will also rack up quite a bit of medical bills. That's why it helps to know what determines the value of a motorcycle injury so you can be prepared for what your compensation could potentially be.
The Nature Of The Injury
There are some injuries that are hard to receive compensation for, which are generally those that are hard to see and don't require much medical treatment. If you only suffered whiplash and lower back pain as a result of your motorcycle accident, you need the medical bills to back up how serious your injury was.
If you only visited the doctor once and have been treating it with over-the-counter pain medications, then a judge or jury is not going to award you with a lot of compensation for your injuries. However, if you frequently visit your doctor and a chiropractor to treat this injury, you have medical bills that back up the severity of your injury and make it appear serious. That consistent treatment will lead to the proof you need.
The Need For Surgery
If the injury was serious enough to require surgery, you'll be much more likely to receive higher compensation for your injury than if you didn't require surgery. While surgery does not always guarantee a larger payout from a motorcycle injury, it is something that shows the severity of how bad you were injured. While a judge or jury may not always believe that you are experiencing pain, surgery will show that the injury was so serious that you needed serious medical attention to completely recover from it. You can then receive more pain and suffering damages due to needing to go through surgery as well.
The Assignment Of Fault
Know that state laws are different when it comes to how fault affects an injury case. There are some states that require someone to have at least 51% of the fault regarding an accident in order to receive compensation. Your compensation will then be reduced by the percentage of fault that you owe. For example, a $100,000 settlement will be reduced to $75,000 if you are found to be 25% at fault.
However, there are states that will not award any compensation if you are found to have any fault in your motorcycle accident. This makes litigation tough since juries could place blame on motorcycle riders simply because they were riding a motorcycle. You may be better off settling in mediation or having a judge decide on your case that will remove that motorcycle rider bias when determining liability.
For more information, contact a local motorcycle accident lawyer.