Motorcycle accidents involving reckless drivers often cause severe and devastating injuries to anyone involved in the accident. You have the right to seek compensation from the liable parties if you are injured or incurred any damages. Get in touch with us at the Las Vegas Personal Injury Attorney Law Firm for legal help and guidance throughout the process of seeking compensation.

What You Need to Know About Reckless Driving Motorcycle Accident

The number of motorcycle accidents leading to injuries and property damage in Nevada continues to grow every year due to motorists’ reckless acts. Reckless driving involves the willful or wanton operation of an automobile with noticeable disregard for safety and the consequences of your reckless actions. Reckless driving is a traffic offense in every state in the US. Violators of this traffic rule will receive misdemeanor charges if there aren’t any damages or injuries; however, if any damages or injuries are resulting from the traffic offense, the defendant will receive felony charges.

Regardless of how careful or cautious you’re on the road while enjoying a motorcycle ride, you might not be able to control the other motorist behaviors on the road. Reckless driving is the leading cause of most motorcycle accidents in Las Vegas. Because of the difference in weight between a motorcycle and a vehicle, motorcyclists are more prone to catastrophic injuries due to the accident’s impact. A motorcycle accident can lead to injuries on the neck, elbow, knee, head, or spinal cord, depending on the severity of the accident impact. Damages and injuries resulting from a reckless driving motorcycle accident depend on a variety of factors such as:

  • Age and sex of the victims
  • Type of collision, for instance, car collision.
  • Weather conditions
  • Engine size
  • Availability of proper personal protective equipment such as helmet

Nevada personal injury laws: Any person involved in a reckless driving motorcycle accident can file a civil lawsuit against the defendant to compensate for the accident damages. As you focus on your medical treatment after a reckless driving motorcycle accident, it is wise to hire a personal injury attorney to review and evaluate the details of the reckless driving motorcycle accident case.

Pieces of evidence the injury attorney will gather on the case will be vital when seeking compensation for damages from the offender and insurance providers. There are several damages a claimant in a reckless driving motorcycle accident can receive after a civil lawsuit, which depends on the viability of the evidence both the defendant and the plaintiff establish to the tribunal.

Essentials Steps to Take After a Reckless Driving Motorcycle Accident in Las Vegas

Your immediate actions you take after a reckless driving motorcycle accident will have a positive impact on the success of your compensation claim. To protect your interests and legal rights after a reckless driving motorcycle accident, below are essential steps you should take immediately after the motorcycle accident occurs apart from moving your motorcycle out of traffic:

Call the Police

The importance of police involvement in a reckless driving motorcycle accident is many, especially if damages and injuries are resulting from someone's careless and reckless acts. The police will access the accident details to create a comprehensive report of the motorcycle accident. A police report after a motorcycle accident contains all the information you will need when filing a lawsuit against the defendant or when making an insurance claim.

Therefore, when the police officer finishes compiling the accident report, you must get a copy of the report as it will help you much when seeking compensation for the accident damages. A police accident report contains crucial information, such as:

  • The names and contact address of all the motorcycle accident victims
  • Vehicle number plates of all the victims on the motorcycle accident scene
  • Eyewitnesses information
  • Current weather and road conditions
  • Type, color and model of the vehicle involved in the motorcycle accident

Before the arrival of the police, leaving an accident scene might affect the success of any personal injury lawsuit after a reckless driving motorcycle accident.

Gather Information

Apart from retaining the police accident report after a reckless driving motorcycle accident, you should also try to gather crucial information and pieces of evidence surrounding the case. Get to know the insurance information of other motorists involved in the motorcycle accident.

Since this is an era of smartphones, you should also consider recording and capturing pictures of the accident scene and injuries sustained. If there are eyewitnesses who saw the accident’s occurrence, you should ask a few to provide you with their contact information since you might need them to testify in court when you file a civil lawsuit.

Watch Out What You Speak After the Motorcycle Accident

Other drivers involved in the motorcycle accident might come yelling at you so that you can admit the accident responsibility even if the accident fault was entirely theirs. There are possibilities of confusion immediately after a motorcycle accident; hence you should watch out every word you speak when conversing with other accident victims.

At first, you might think you are responsible for the accident, but in fact, it might be the other motorist who was driving recklessly due to intoxication. The liability of the motorcycle accident is a question that you should let the judge decide after a civil lawsuit; hence, you might need to hire a personal injury attorney for legal assistance.

Seek Medical Attention

You should never undermine any type of injury after a motorcycle accident. Even the minor injuries which do not feel pain immediately after a motorcycle accident can turn out severe later if there is no medical attention. Your doctor will access the injuries and offer the best medication for quicker recovery. You might incur a lot of unplanned damages due to the medical bills; however, it is possible to get compensation later with the help of a personal injury attorney. Therefore, you might want to record all the bills you incur during treatment after a reckless driving motorcycle accident to act as evidence during a personal injury lawsuit.

Contact Your Insurance Provider

You will rely on your insurance provider for compensation on motorcycle accident damages if the other motorist is uninsured or underinsured. Therefore, you should contact your insurer immediately after a motorcycle accident to protect your interests when filing a compensation claim. Insurance providers have a legal obligation to respond to all their client compensation claims promptly and fairly.

Avoid giving any statement to the insurance adjusters who will report at the accident scene because they are always trying to find out something to dismiss your insurance claim. Suppose you think your insurance provider is acting in “bad faith” on their response after a compensation claim. In that case, you should consider involving a personal injury attorney for legal assistance to achieve the justice you deserve.

Contact a Reliable Personal Injury Attorney

Take your time before choosing a personal injury attorney for legal representation after a personal injury. Schedule a consultation with your prospective injury attorney and discuss with him/her your interests and details of the motorcycle accident that led to your injuries and damages. The injury attorney you decide to choose will determine the success of your injury lawsuit against the reckless driver who led to the motorcycle accident damages and injuries.

You should also take into account the injury attorney work experience and reputation. Use the internet to check your prospective injury attorney reviews on his/her website and pay attention to any comment from past clients, which raises a red flag about the expert’s services.

Personal Injury Claim Settlement After a Reckless Driving Motorcycle Accident

If there is a relationship between the defendant and your motorcycle accident damages and injuries, you have an option to pursue compensation for your damages and injuries through settlement. You can file a compensation claim from your insurance provider, who might then turn around to pursue reimbursement from the at-fault party insurer. Most insurance providers of victims involved in a motorcycle accident prefer to settle the compensation claims outside the court because no one can predict the trial results.

After an insurance claim settlement, the plaintiff cannot file a civil lawsuit against the offender in the future. An insurance claim settlement outside the court is also beneficial to the plaintiff because he/she does have to wait for the court to resolve the motorcycle accident case. A settlement of a compensation claim also reduces the costs you would incur when trying to defend a personal injury compensation claim in court.

Before a compensation claim settlement, you should send a demand letter to your insurance provider, indicating the amount you need from them for the motorcycle accident damages. A demand letter should have an attachment to all the pieces of evidence that can prove the existence of those medical bills. After that, there will be some negotiation to reduce the claim amount, which you have a right to reduce or not. Insurance providers should act in “good faith” on every client reimbursement claim by offering fair compensation to claimants, depending on the severity of their injuries and damages.

Suppose you’ve got a reasonable belief that your insurance providers are acting in “bad faith” because there is no eligible reason to deny you sufficient compensation. In that case, you should consider filing a lawsuit to let the court decide the verdict of the case. When it becomes a court case, it would be in your best interest if you retain a reliable and knowledgeable personal injury attorney to help you with everything you need for a civil lawsuit.

Personal Injury Civil Lawsuit After A Reckless Driving Motorcycle Accident

If the compensation claim settlement doesn’t turn out in your favor, you’ll have to file a civil lawsuit to let the judge decide who is at fault and the amount of compensation to get. Opting for this decision, you’ve to be ready for any outcome from the trial. Look out for a personal injury attorney with an unbeaten success record in helping victims of personal injury seek adequate compensation on a reckless driving motorcycle accident.

Negligence is the ground of any personal injury lawsuit. A motorist is negligent in an accident when he/she fails to exercise a reasonable duty of care. Motorists who fail to observe the responsibility of duty of care towards another he/she might be legally liable for the plaintiff’s injuries and damages due to his/her lack of reasonable care. Nevada comparative negligence laws allow a claimant to get partial compensation when he/she is partially at fault, depending on his/her degree of contribution or negligence.

A negligent claim is the best way to blame damages and injuries in a reckless driving motorcycle accident to the careless or negligent driver. To hold another motorist responsible for your damages and injuries after a motorcycle accident, you must demonstrate some elements of negligence on the case. The judge compares pieces of evidence and facts on each element of negligence to give the to give a verdict of a personal injury lawsuit. Below are various elements of negligence in a reckless driving motorcycle accident civil lawsuit.

Duty of Care

Duty of care is the legal responsibility that every driver has to protect other motorists from a foreseeable accident by exercising reasonable care when operating a vehicle. Duty of care responsibility exists when there is a relationship between the claimant and the defendant on the road, which requires the defendant to exercise a reasonable duty of care to prevent possible injuries or damages. Suppose an ordinary average person under similar circumstances would find the legal responsibility of care towards the plaintiff. In that case, it means the defendant was negligent in observing his/her reasonable duty of care.

Breach of Duty

When the defendant fails to pay attention to his/her duty of care hence causing injuries in an accident, he/she will be accountable for the accident damages. The defendant breaches his/her duty of care by doing reckless and risky actions that a reasonable average person wouldn’t do in a similar situation and circumstances.

Texting and driving or DUI are factors that can make a defendant breach the duty of care hence causing a motorcycle accident. These pieces of evidence will be essential during a trial to hold the defendant accountable for your motorcycle accident damages. If a defendant is guilty of DUI, it will increase your chances of receiving adequate compensation because DUI is a traffic offense. Surveillance videos, maintenance records, and eyewitnesses’ testimonies will help you prove to the judge this element of negligence.

Causation

To build up concrete evidence against the defendant, you must also show the judge how the defendant's breach of duty led to your damages after the motorcycle accident. The defendant might be texting and driving, but it doesn’t always mean his/her negligent actions lead to an accident.

The judge will expect you or your defense attorney to present some evidence to prove that the defendant's reckless actions led to your injuries or damages after the motorcycle accident. Testimonies from eyewitness and the accident pictures/videos will help you demonstrate to the judge this element of negligence above a reasonable doubt.

The defendant’s actions can be the proximate or actual cause of the plaintiff’s injuries/damages. A proximate cause of the claimant’s damages is anything unforeseeable by the defendant during the duty of care breach. For instance, when a defendant driving under the influence crushes a post beside the road that falls on you, leading to injuries, the judge will consider that as the proximate cause of your injuries/damages; therefore, he/she might not be liable.

Damages

Damages are visible results of a reckless driving motorcycle accident, which is in the form of property damage or physical injuries. This element of negligence requires the court to offer the plaintiff adequate reimbursement if the defendant's negligence is the actual cause of the plaintiff’s damages.

Also, the plaintiff has a responsibility to mitigate the motorcycle accident damages to reduce the loss and the effects of the damages. The plaintiff should act in good faith when seeking medical services or another job opportunity to mitigate motorcycle accident damages. If the plaintiff willfully fails to mitigate his/her damages, the defendant might use this fact to reduce the amount of compensation to give the plaintiff for his or her negligent/reckless acts. Below are two types of damages a plaintiff can receive in a personal injury lawsuit:

  1. Economic Damages

Economic damages are losses a plaintiff incurs after a reckless driving motorcycle accident, which is usually compensable through monetary terms. Economic damages are losses the plaintiff incurs during medical treatment and motorcycle repair. The surviving family of the plaintiff can also get monetary compensation for funeral expenses if, unfortunately, the motorcycle accident victim dies. There are a variety of economic damages a plaintiff can receive in a reckless driving motorcycle accident lawsuit; they include the following:

  • Medical Bills
  • Lost wages
  • Lost earning capacity
  • Funeral expenses
  • Property damage
  1. Non-Economic Damages

On the other hand, non-economic damages are non-compensable through financial means because of their nature. Non-economic damages are suitable compensation for motorcycle accident losses such as:

  • Inconvenience
  • Bodily impairment such as loss of limbs
  • Disfigurement
  • Pain and suffering
  • Loss of the ability to enjoy life
  • Emotional distress

Further, Under Nevada's wrongful death laws, surviving family members of a motorcycle accident victim, such as a spouse, can file a civil lawsuit against the reckless driver to seek compensation for the loss of a consortium and emotional partner. The judge can also impose punitive damages to punish the defendant for his/her reckless and negligent acts when driving. The probability of the plaintiff getting sufficient compensation for motorcycle damages during the compensation claim settlement and lawsuit depends on the personal injury attorney’s skills.

Factors That Can Affect Compensation Amount a Plaintiff Receives in a Reckless Driving Motorcycle Accident Civil Lawsuit

A plaintiff is entitled to adequate compensation if the other driver was negligent in observing reasonable duty of care during the event of the motorcycle accident, which made the plaintiff incur damages. However, some factors affect the amount of compensation a plaintiff receives in a personal injury lawsuit, even if the defendant was reckless during the motorcycle accident occurrence. They include:

Strict Product Liability

As much as the defendant could be negligent during a motorcycle accident, other factors such as defective vehicle parts can also contribute to the occurrence of an accident. When a defective vehicle part contributes to the causation of the plaintiff’s injuries and damages, under “strict product liability” legal doctrine, the vehicle manufacturer should be liable for the plaintiff’s injuries and damages. Vehicles manufacturers have a legal obligation to ensure all their vehicles are roadworthy and safe to any user.

Comparative Negligence

Comparative negligence legal policy applies in personal injury lawsuits when the court finds the plaintiff partially responsible for the motorcycle accident that caused his/her damages. Comparative negligence law favors the plaintiff because he/she can still be able to receive partial compensation for damages based on his/her degree or percentage of negligence towards the motorcycle accident occurrence.

Assumption of Risk

When a driver is acting negligently or recklessly on the road, any reasonable motorist will yield and act cautiously to prevent any possibility of an accident occurrence. Suppose the plaintiff saw the defendant acting recklessly before the occurrence of the motorcycle accident and still went ahead to engage in risky acts. In that case, he/she might not succeed in the personal injury compensation claim. In that case, the plaintiff might not get compensation for the accident damages because of the accident risk assumption, which was foreseeable to any reasonable person under similar circumstances.

Contact a Reckless Driving Personal Injury Attorney Near Me

Las Vegas Personal Injury Attorney Law Firm has a credible reputation for our aggressiveness and professionalism when helping people pursue compensation for damages after a motorcycle accident. Contact us at 702-996-1224 to schedule an appointment with our experienced attorneys for a result-oriented legal representation after a reckless driving motorcycle accident.