If you were in an accident on your motorcycle, you may pursue damages to cover your injuries, lost wages, and damages to your vehicle. Should a loved one have passed in a motorcycle accident, you may seek compensation for wrongful death.
It helps to know that a San Mateo motorcycle accident attorney at Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos, LLP, can negotiate on your behalf to help you fully recover from your accident so that you can move on with your life.
Fighting for Motorcycle Accident Victims
The law firm of Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos in San Mateo, California has a record of success in overcoming this bias to convince the insurance companies or a jury to award full compensation to our clients. We have secured favorable settlements and verdicts throughout the San Francisco Bay Area in these tough cases
Because of the massive injuries and future impact, you need experience like ours. Contact us immediately for a free case evaluation and prompt investigation by a motorcycle accident attorney in San Mateo.
Drivers Are Responsible for Seeing Motorcyclists
The increased danger associated with the lack of a metallic cage surrounding you makes driving a motorcycle more dangerous. This is an obvious fact and something that drivers are held accountable for recognizing and being aware of.
According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), drivers of other vehicles on the road are responsible for recognizing the safety challenges faced by motorcyclists. Government agencies have made efforts to increase the level of awareness on behalf of drivers related to motorcycles, and drivers must be careful around them.
When a motorcycle accident has happened, the driver that hit you may have been failing to pay sufficient attention to the road, and as a result, accidents happen. It is not your responsibility as a motorcycle rider to do more than follow the rules of the law, and sometimes this is not enough. A motorcycle accident lawyer knows when to determine that drivers failed to be responsible and are liable for your damages.
Motorcycle Crashes are Often Preventable
In a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), safety experts advise that most motorcycle accidents are preventable. Motorcycle crashes and deaths can be extremely tragic and also costly, and when they happen, you are often entitled to damages. The facts and circumstances of the accident will determine who is liable and for what, with an experienced motorcycle accident attorney being of particular value in helping to apply the relevant laws and case precedent to the facts of your accident.
Were it not for motor vehicle drivers, the majority of motorcycle accidents would not happen. Contacting the police as soon as possible after the accident helps ensure that evidence is collected to determine whether the driver had an impaired condition in any way. An attorney knows how to gain access to police reports and apply their facts in the negotiation of your settlement. A motorcycle accident attorney is helpful to collect the relevant information to ensure that the facts are analyzed to determine your best case and outcome.
Distracted Driving is a Growing Cause of Accidents and Driver Inattentiveness
When riding your motorcycle, the most common activities that drivers might engage in could cause accidents. With cell phones, smartphones, in-dash displays, and endless other variations of technology, drivers on the road today are increasingly distracted. When you are in a motorcycle accident with a distracted driver, they often broke the law and violated the rules of the road by default.
If a driver who used their cellphone hit you on your motorcycle, they must pay your damages. You could not possibly know what a driver did before they hit you. People often hold cell phones below the dashboard, and in-dash displays are right there. Determining the factors that led up to your accident is supported by the assistance of a motorcycle accident lawyer, who knows what to ask to determine why the driver failed to pay sufficient attention and hit you.
Motorcycle Riders Represent a Large Number of Fatal Traffic Crashes
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration noted that statistics disproportionately represent motorcycle riders in fatal traffic crashes of the many different motor vehicle operators on the road. In fact, in just one year, motor vehicle accidents killed some 5,014 motorcyclists.
If you lost a loved one to a motorcycle accident, you may be entitled to wrongful death damages. These damages can include the lifetime of lost wages to support your family, pain and suffering, and loss of the companionship of the person you have lost.
We can’t tell you the number of times that police reports and witness accounts were unfairly slanted against the motorcyclist. There is a strong bias against the victim in motorcycle accidents, even though the evidence usually points to a negligent auto driver. If you have been seriously injured or lost a husband, wife, brother, sister, son, daughter or any other family member in a motorcycle accident; call our San Mateo motorcycle accident lawyers at (650) 345-8484 to arrange a free case evaluation or contact us online to learn more information.
Investigating Motorcycle Accidents
Most motorcycle accidents occur because the driver of the car didn’t see the motorcycle — left turns at intersections, pulling out or backing onto a road, running a red light or stop sign.
We get investigators to the crash scene quickly and we hire experts who understand cycle crashes — human factors experts and accident reconstructionist who can find clues in the skid marks, debris and the car’s “black box” data recorder. We hunt for witnesses not listed on the police report, and we have challenged the stories of those who were only guessing when they blamed the cyclist. For immediate help from San Mateo motorcycle accident attorneys, call (650) 345-8484 or email us for more information.
In a recent case, a police department concluded that GFF’s client was 100% at fault for the accident. The lawyers at GFF hired investigators, interviewed witnesses and retained accident reconstructionist experts. The insurance company paid $3.8 million to settle the case
Documenting Injuries & Dealing With Insurance Companies
We work with other professionals to document the extensive and often catastrophic injuries: broken legs or pelvis, head trauma, back and neck injuries, knee injuries and shoulder injuries, severe “road rash” or brain damage.
Motorcycle accidents have unique insurance issues. Most riders have no MedPay coverage for the huge hospital bills; we can work with doctors to arrange later payment from the settlement. We commonly have to fight the cyclist’s own insurance company for uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage.
Do You Know Your Motorcycle Policy?
If you survived this accident with relatively minor injuries, your insurance or the negligent driver’s should cover the damages. Next time may be worse. Our San Mateo personal injury attorneys advise every client on how much insurance to carry in the future, especially high UM/UIM limits. This inexpensive extra protection is critical if you are hospitalized or need surgery
Galine, Frye, Fitting, & Frangos, LLP
411 Borel Ave #500,
San Mateo, CA 94402
Phone: 650-345-8484
Schedule Free Consultation: Contact
