The open road. Nothing comes close to the freedom experienced on a motorcycle—the wind, the bond with everything around you, the experience of riding. It just washes over you and stays with you forever. The very thing that has made the ride so exhilarating is the same reason for devastation after an accident.

In one uncomfortable moment, a crash can change everything. If you are reading this, you've probably experienced that moment or know someone who has. The physical hurt is one thing but copious confusion, medical bills, time away from work, insurance stress, could all seem impossible. It is the only thing you need to think about at the time when you really should be focused on healing.

Equally important to everything around you, the most weighty decision will be your advocate in this situation. An advocate is not a lawyer merely; it is a specific lawyer who not only knows the legal clues pertaining to motorcycle crashes but the idiosyncrasies of a motorcycle crash specifically, the biases that exist against motorcycle riders, and the destruction a crash can cause in a person's life.

How can so many people seem to know what a "best motorcycle accident lawyer" is? Just someone whose name is on a billboard somewhere is a thing to think - a long think. The "best" attorney for you is simply the one who is the right fit for your specific issue, locale, and needs.

This guide will assist you in that process. We will go beyond lists and surface-level recommendations. We will discuss what truly distinguishes an accomplished lawyer from an average lawyer, how to determine the meaningful elements, and what you can realistically expect from a quality attorney-client relationship. Our focus is access to the information you need during a difficult and often humiliating experience, so you can find an advocate who will advocate for you persistently, for your future.

Understanding the Stakes: Why a Motorcycle Specialist is Required

Many personal injury lawyers take a wide variety of cases, including slip and falls, car crashes, or workplace injuries. While a good generalist can prove helpful, motorcycle accident claims are unique. They are associated with certain and specific expertise.

The reason is one word: bias. There is an observable and often unspoken bias against motorcyclists. It is an unyielding prejudice that can emerge at every step of the claims process. Insurance adjusters, and jurors can all have an implicit belief that motorcyclists are reckless and that they were somehow "asking for it" simply by riding a motorcycle. This is called "motorcycle bias." A lawyer that is unaware of it cannot help you fight it.

A lawyer that has experience in motorcycle law will fight bias from the start. They know that the initial investigation is the most important investigation. They understand how to retrieve evidence that a less experienced attorney might miss: reports from accident reconstructionists looking at skid marks and debris, testimony from motorcycle safety experts explaining evasive maneuvers, and data from the motorcycle itself if it had any recording apparatus in it. They know to create a story not as a "motorcycle accident," but as a collision caused by a negligent driver, who did not see a lawful vehicle on the road.

Also, the injuries in motorcycle accidents tend to be much more severe than regularly with vehicles. I'm talking about traumatic brain injuries (even while wearing a helmet), spinal-cord injuries, complex fractures, and debilitating road rash. A professional understands the long-term impacts of these injuries. Those that work with an extensive network of medical professionals, life planners, and economists can help present a case that covers more than just current medical bills to project a case for future medical needs, loss of earning capacity, and the significant cost of pain and suffering. They advocate for a settlement or verdict that accurately compensates for the life altering impact of your injuries, and not merely the quick, low-ball offer to close the file.

What many don't realize is that motorcycle accident law is not simply personal injury law with two less wheels. Motorcycle accident law is its travel and is unique in challenges, precedents, and nuances specific to motorcycle accident law, that can help or hurt a case.

Consider the issue of protective gear. In states that do not have a requirement to wear a helmet while riding a motorcycle, the defense will most likely argue that the choice to not wear a helmet contributed to your harm. In states that have helmet laws, the defense might instead argue that your helmet was not fastened properly or that it was not DOT approved. An experienced motorcycle lawyer knows just how to respond to these kinds of liability arguments because they know that in the majority of jurisdictions, failing to wear protective gear only impacts damages and can not be used to completely preclude liability for the accident. If the lawyer is knowledgeable about motorcycle accidents, they will also use evidence to ensure that the facts surrounding the severity of the accident renders the helmet argument irrelevant.

Now consider motorcycle modifications which at some point may have made a rider's motorcycle louder simply because of the pipes used; or the rider made their own handle bars to personalize their style of riding; or modified or changed their turn signals and lights to LED for visibility. All those modifications depending on which side of the case you are on become an argument and weapon outside of the aspect of motorcycle injuries. Insurance companies actually love to characterize, and paint, riders in their accident as reckless speed demons that made their motorcycle more dangerous for one of the above modifications. A specialized motorcycle attorney understands how to reframe those modifications it into a conversation about rider safety or personal preferences and the modifications had nothing to do with the accident or the cause of the accident.

The physics of motorcycle accidents create additional challenges, in comparison to a car crash, where a rider of a motorcycle bears the full force of the impact they have on a body and unlike a car driver there is not a seatbelt or airbag to help protect them in a crash. Generally any medical expert who understands car crash injuries may not understand or appreciate the nuances of a motorcycle crash. The way a motorcycle rider separates from an impact can dramatically change the mechanism of injury pattern.

An individual who "drops the motorcycle" will sustain different injuries than another individual who "goes over the handlebars." These differences matter immensely in proving the cause and extent of your injuries, and only an attorney who regularly handles these cases will know to look for these differences.

The Insurance Playbook: What You're Up Against

Knowing what to expect can help you understand why choosing the right attorney is so important. Insurance companies are businesses, and they get paid to investigate and pay out less. When it comes to motorcycle accidents, insurance companies have a playbook as old as the industry which is specifically meant to exploit these biases and misconceptions about riders.

Their first approach is almost always speed. Insurance companies want to settle as quickly as possible, probably before you even fully understand the extent of your injuries or have consulted with an attorney. They'll dispatch an adjuster to your hospital bed with flowers and a check, making themselves out to be the nice guy who just wants to "get it all behind you." What you do not know is that if you sign that settlement agreement, it's done. Forever. You cannot later come back for complications or surgeries, lost wages or injury-related pain and suffering.

Furthermore, their second approach is victim-blaming. They'll start looking at the accident scene for anything that implies that you may have been speeding, or that you weren't in proper gear, or that because of you, it was your fault. They hire teams of investigators whose sole purpose is to find anything—literally anything—that can put some of the blame on you. In a state that has comparative negligence laws, even being found 10% at fault can reduce your recovery by thousands of dollars.

The third weapon they have available to them is delay. If they cannot settle quickly or shift all the blame onto you, then as long as possible, they will delay the case in the hopes that you will be forced to accept an insufficient settlement based on financial pressure, medical expenses mounting, and probable loss of income. They will request endless documentation, they will schedule multiple medical examinations with their own physicians, and will look for excess justification to question every single detail of your case.

A truly great motorcycle accident attorney knows their play book. A skilled motorcycle accident injury attorney has seen all the tricks, all the delay tactics, and every means of reducing your injuries. More importantly, they know how to refute those actions. They will warn you against ever speaking with the insurance company without them present. They will have a team of investigators that will be working for you to help preserve evidence and prove fault. They will make sure your case is built up to such an extent that the insurance company realizes they will be better off negotiating rather than risking going in front of a jury.

The Medical Maze: The Diligence in Motorcycle Injury Documentation

One area where a motorcycle accident attorney becomes vital is when it comes to understanding and documenting the medical specifics of motorcycle crash claims. The injuries and types of injuries that arise from these types of crash happened for different reasons than those injuries that are experienced in an automobile crash or other type of personal injury accident.

Road rash, for example, may seem like a minor injury to those unfamiliar with them, but they often require several surgical procedures, skin grafts, and months of rehabilitation. The scarring can be permanent and disfiguring, impacting not only appearance, but mental well-being too. A general personal injury attorney may skim a medical record where it reads "abrades" and think little of it, while an attorney who handles motorcycle accidents understands that road rash, regardless of the girding or in the absence of a girding, can lead to hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of medical care as well as permanent effects.

Furthermore, the mechanism of the traumatic brain injury in motorcycle accidents is different from that in car accidents, as sometimes riders suffer concussions even while wearing helmets, because of the rotational forces involved with the motorcycle tipping over. Some may develop symptoms days or weeks later even though they had a "normal" computerized tomography scan of their head on the scene of the accident. There is no reason for attorneys to assume anything about injury as they relate to judgments without understanding the timing of the presentation of the injuries. This is very important because an attorney needs to know the ramifications of dealing with present day medical needs associated with their case, as well as how the injuries will affect a person in the future as a result of complications, pain, discomfort, etc.

Orthopedic injuries are complicated too. The fractured bone injury is often much more complicated than generalized statement about "broken bones" in motorcycle accidents, which also require significant medical care in terms of surgeries, hardware implantation, and therapy. Some riders will have to cope with amputation or limited mobility. Your attorney will want to handle damage claims based on the long-term prognosis from orthopedic specialists who understand how orthopedic injuries affect daily living and a career for their patients.

State-by-State Differences: Why Local Knowledge is Important

One of the most compelling reasons to look for a local attorney instead of a national company is the very important difference in the laws from state to state. What's legal in California might be illegal in Texas, and what's mandatory in New York might be suggested in Florida or prohibited entirely. The difference can matter a great deal to your case.

Take lane splitting, for example. In California, it is legal for motorcycles to travel between congested lanes of traffic, with certain conditions, an attorney from California knows the rules about when and where to lane split and is able to argue that a rider who was lane splitting legally is not at fault if an accident occurs. An attorney from out of state will not know those details and might unknowingly concede to a finding of fault when the rider/a motorcyclist is not at fault.

A discussion about helmets quickly leads to important variables even in the same state. As you have likely read or heard, some states require all riders to wear helmets, some states require younger riders to wear helmets, and some states don't require riders to wear helmets at all, and other states have laws that are not clear. The potential for a case to rely on whether or not the rider was wearing a helmet depends not only on state helmet laws, but also on how the courts in your state have addressed comparative negligence in cases to helmet laws. An attorney who practices regularly in your jurisdiction knows what cases have been tried and have resulted in mitigating roles in helmet cases and if those cases would affect your case if they were to be followed as precedent.

Even something seemingly simple such as statute of limitations could be state dependent. In the majority of states, you have 2-3 years from the date of the accident in which to file a lawsuit, but some states have shorter deadlines, and some situations have even greater exceptions, such as against government entities or in cases of an uninsured motorist. If you miss one of these deadlines, you can severely cripple your case. No matter how meritorious your case is, if you wait too long to file a lawsuit, you are out of luck.

Local attorneys will have an established working relationship that may be helpful to your case, they will know which doctors are most credible and reliable with local juries. They will also know how to best address different judges, and present arguments in the most likely persuasive way in a given courtroom. They will also have established relationships with opposing counsel that could result in a reasonably productive negotiation settlement process for you. This may seem of little importance or even unusual, but in close cases, these sort of advantages can make all the difference between a win and a loss.

The Investigation Phase: Build Your Case from the Ground Up

The period right after a motorcycle accident is absolutely crucial to a future case, and this is where the value of a certified attorney becomes most relevant. While you are focused on healing, your attorney needs to be working tirelessly to build the foundation of your future case.

The accident scene investigation is a number one priority, as physical evidence often deteriorates quickly in these situations—skid marks fade, debris gets moved, and witnesses will usually not remember the accident accurately, the more time that passes after the accident. A good attorney will send investigators to the accident scene within hours of being retained. They will photograph everything: the roadway, any traffic control devices, any sight obstructions, and the vehicles involved. They will measure skid marks and where any debris lands. They will even seek to find security cameras from businesses nearby that may have captured the accident.

Witnesses are also a very important early step in this case investigation process; most people do not want to get involved in a case—and their willingness to help will decrease after time. A good attorney will have investigators contact the witnesses while the events are still fresh in their minds.

These investigators know how to ask the right questions to elicit helpful information and how to get witnesses to commit to written statements that can be used later in court.

The police report, while important, is just one piece of the puzzle. Officers who respond to motorcycle accidents aren't always familiar with the unique dynamics involved. They might miss critical evidence or draw incorrect conclusions about fault. An experienced motorcycle attorney will know how to supplement the police investigation with their own findings, and they'll understand how to challenge aspects of the police report that are inaccurate or incomplete.

Vehicle examination is particularly important in motorcycle cases. The damage patterns on both the motorcycle and the other vehicle can tell a story about how the accident occurred. Was the car driver making a left turn when they struck the motorcycle? The impact damage will show this. Did the motorcyclist attempt to brake or swerve to avoid the impact? The evidence at the site will provide these answers. Accident reconstruction experts are able to analyze physical evidence in a way that makes the relevant visual evidence easy for juries to understand.

The Cost of Recovery: A Full Accounting of Your Damages

One common mistake people make following a motorcycle accident is underestimating the real economic impact of their injuries. They only consider their upfront medical bills and a few weeks of lost wages without fully realizing that losing money from a serious accident can last for decades into the future.

Lost earning capacity is often the most significant single form of damages from a serious motorcycle accident case. This is not just about the amount of wages lost since the accident; it is about the ongoing impact of that injury on the injured person's ability to earn money over the course of their career. If you are a construction worker who can no longer work physically, or a surgeon with hand injuries that keep you from being able to operate on a patient, the economic loss can be in millions of dollars.

Lost earning capacity is complicated to calculate and often requires the expertise of an economist and vocational rehabilitation specialist. These professionals will analyze the injured person's education, their overall work and income history, and their anticipated career to develop a lost earning capacity, or amounts of assumed income that will not be earned as a result of the injury. They will account for any anticipated promotions, raises, and career advancement. The professionals will also determine what types of opportunities for work the injured person can engage in considering the limitations the injury has on employment. They will be able to evaluate the difference between the pre-injury earning potential versus the options available post-injury work restrictions.

Medical expenses are another area where the real costs are not visible right away. You may incur a cost of $100,000 for the hospital stay alone. This is only the beginning. You may have months or years of physical therapy. You may have additional surgeries, the visit of medical aides, perhaps needed medical equipment, and modifications to your home. You will also have pain medications, follow-ups, and any needed psychological counseling. An experienced life care planner can develop a thorough life care plan where medical professionals can project medical and non-medical expenses throughout your entire lifetime, to ensure that the settlement or verdict will cover your immediate and future needs.

Pain and suffering damages may be the most subjective element in a personal injury case, but the damages are very real. Chronic pain, depression, anxiety, and the loss of enjoyment of life are all reasonable outcomes of a serious motorcycle accident. These damages cannot be accurately calculated using a math formula. A skilled lawyer knows how to reveal the impact you have suffered in damages by utilizing the testimony of medical professionals, your personal journals, and the testimony of family and friends.

The Art of Negotiation: Getting Insurance Companies to Make Fair Value

Negotiation of your settlement, or as much as settlement negotiations in motorcycle accident cases can be viewed as art not science. Insurance companies start with the belief that you are at least partially liable for your injuries and they will base their first offers on that assumption. Getting beyond that belief takes experience, work, and an understanding of the motivation of the insurance adjuster for their supervisor.

The first step of a successful ability to negotiate is building up a wealth of evidence to the fault and liability of the other party. Insurance companies tend to be more amenable to good-faith negotiation when they recognize that bringing the case is a significant litigation risk. That means the liability position against their insured is clear from the evidence, they have experts willing to testify credibly, and the damages substantiation is compelling with documentation suffering from little room for argument.

Timing is also critical. It is a mistake of epic proportions if you hurriedly enter into negotiations before understanding the full extent and severity of your potential injuries. Often counterintuitively, waiting too long before negotiations can increase the financial pressure on you, as the insurance company will drag their feet, and the financial burden may become unbearable. Even in the best of cases, if you have experienced coverage counsel, they will have almost certainly struck a balance of factors when collecting sufficient evidence to negotiate from a position of strength, while not unduly postponing resolution.

The structure of settlement offers will tell you a lot about how the insurance company understands the value of the case. If the insurance company offers you an artificially low offer and increases their offer, it is likely they are gauging your level of confidence in your case and testing the water because they are hopeful you will settle beneath a reasonable level. If the insurance company made a generous opening offer, they have recognized the underlying strength and risk of your case before they incur significant case costs.

You also want to understand the "level" of the individual on behalf of the insurance company. Adjusters usually have limited authority, and rarely higher than $25,000-$50,000, maybe $100,000-$200,000 for the most senior claims handlers. Once you get beyond that amount, senior insurance personnel have to approve the settlement; further, you will want to ask who has that authority. Knowing who in the process has the authority to exceed or approve your proposal will prevent you time wasted negotiating with individuals who cannot say yes.

When Litigation Becomes Necessary: The Road to Trial

Despite all efforts being exhausted, there are situations when motorcycle accident cases cannot be resolved in settlement negotiations. The insurance company may not have offered a fair amount of pay, there may be disagreements regarding liability which can only be decided by a jury, etc. When this happens, having an attorney who is comfortable and capable in a courtroom becomes critical.

The litigation process starts by filing a complaint in the court, which alleges the defendant's negligence and your damages. The complaint will act as the outline for the rest of the case, therefore it must be carefully drafted to include any and all potential theories of liability, and categories of damages. Following the filing of the complaint, the defendant (typically through their insurance company) will file an answer to the complaint, and the discovery stage begins.

Discovery is the stage of litigation where both parties share information/information and evidence. This part includes written questions (interrogatories), requests for documents and depositions, where witnesses give testimony under oath. Motorcycle accident cases involve tremendous amounts of documents being produced at the discovery stage, including documents like medical records, employment records, police reports, expert reports and accident recreation analysis.

Depositions are especially significant in motorcycle cases because they lock in witnesses' stories. The deposition of the other driver is usually the most significant, since this is the opportunity for them to have to testify under oath to what they saw, what they did and most importantly, why they didn't see a motorcycle. If their testimony doesn't match what they said at the crash scene, that will be just as devastating for their credibility.

Additionally, the testimony of experts is usually critical to motorcycle accident trials. Experts in accident reconstruction provide the jury with an explanation of how the accident happened and who was to blame. Medical experts testify about the types of injuries and extent of injuries sustained, what treatment is needed, and what their long-term prognosis is. Economic experts explain the lost wages and lost earning capacity. Life care planners provide details of ongoing medical needs and the costs associated with those needs.

The trial itself is where all the planning merges. The opening statements give each side the chance to tell their story to the jury. The plaintiff's case will go first with witness testimony and expert opinion, providing the jury with proof of liability and damages. The defendant will then present their case, usually against the plaintiff's version of events or trying to minimize an injury.

Selecting a jury in a motorcycle case requires unique skills. The goal is to identify and eliminate jurors who hold a strong bias against motorcyclists, while retaining the jurors who can weigh the evidence without bias. It is critical to understand not only what people say about their bias, but how their past and experiences might allow a bias to impact their decision making.

The Effects of PTSD: The Psychological Toll Factors After the Accident

Interestingly, what many people do not think about after a motorcycle accident, is the psychological effects of the accident. The physical injuries are evident, but mentally and emotionally those effects can be just as disabling and will sometimes last significantly longer. Surprisingly, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the most common effects after a serious motorcycle accident.

Riders may relive the moment of impact in flashbacks, have nightmares that wake them, or experience panic attacks when they hear squealing brakes or see motorcycles on the road. Some develop a fear of riding that takes away something that once brought them joy and freedom. Others develop anxiety or depression that affects their relationships, their ability to perform at work, and/or their quality of life.

These psychological injuries are real damages that deserve compensation and are often devalued by insurance companies. They would rather focus on the loss of wages (a number), or medical bills (another number), the pain and suffering that accompanies psychological injuries are not well understood and rarely valued.

Proving psychological damages will take specific documentation from mental health providers, but it will also require you to shed light on how those injuries impact your life on a daily basis.

The family members of someone who is seriously injured in a motorcycle accident suffer as well. A spouse has to assume the role of the caregiver for their injured loved one, taking on responsibilities they never thought they would have to while viewing their partner struggle with pain and disabilities. A child does not understand why their parent can't ride a motorcycle with them, or play with them, or participate in family activities that were once a part of their enjoyment as a family. These impacts are referred to as loss of consortium damages. In many states, those damages are available to recover, but they must be plainly documented and/or brought to the jury's attention in a manner they can appreciate.

The financial stress that accompanies a serious accident can heighten an injury victim's psychological condition. When bills are adding up, wages lost, and the future is uncertain there are reasonable causes for anxiety. A skilled attorney is aware of this dynamic and will attempt to resolve cases quickly, while still obtaining you full compensation. In some situations, your attorney may be able to help coordinate medical treatment for your injury, on a lien basis, allowing you to receive treatment without paying anything upfront.

Special Circumstances: Complicated Cases That Need Real Experience

While every motorcycle collision case is unique, there are certain types of cases that present unique challenges requiring some special expertise and experience. Identifying these complicated circumstances early on can help ensure that you select an attorney that is prepared to handle your specific situation.

Hit-and-run accidents are all too common when it comes to motorcycle collision cases. Once the at-fault driver leaves the scene of the accident, it may seem like there is no way to recover compensation. A good attorney knows how to look into these cases carefully. Traffic cameras, surveillance video from nearby businesses, and possible witnesses sometimes lead to identifying the driver that fled. Even if the driver is never identified, you may be able to utilize your uninsured motorist coverage for compensation, although those claims can require litigation against your insurance company.

Government entity liability cases involve issues when road conditions, traffic control devices, or the operation of a government vehicle, contributes to the accident. Government liability cases often carry special notice requirements, a shortened statute of limitations, and often involve sovereign immunity issues that may limit recovery in some circumstances. Attorneys involved in these types of cases must not only know the area of law related to personal injury but also a myriad of factors regarding claims against governmental entities.

Commercial vehicle accidents that include motorcycles typically result in catastrophic injuries because of the disparity in size between motorcycles and trucks and buses. Also, commercial vehicle accidents can complicate an analysis of fault due to federal regulations applicable to commercial drivers, the employee's scope of employment behavior, and whether there are multiple insurance policies involved. Furthermore, commercial vehicle accidents can end with large recoveries for injuries, which means that large resources will be expended in fighting the claims.

The number of vehicles involved in the accident can be problematic concerning fault and apportioning damages. A multi-passenger vehicle accident involving a motorcycle may enjoy multiple insurance companies representing the involved parties, which may work cooperatively and aggressively to shift the blame from one party to another and seek reimbursement from others. Because of the above complexities, an attorney handling motorcycle accidents or injuries will require a specific skillset in coordination of discovery, defense teams, and a cohesive theory of liability.

Product liability injuries might also complicate the analysis because some of the damages may involve a defective motorcycle part. If the defective part contributes to the accident or exacerbates injuries, litigation will involve product design, which can include regulatory mandates from federal agencies, the manufacturing process, and possibly warnings required (or not required) by the manufacturer. Product liability usually includes complex expert testimony about design and warnings and requires an attorney to understand how the product should have been designed and evidence related to warnings (if applicable).

The Role of Insurance: Understanding Your Coverage and Theirs

Insurance coverage can either contribute to full recovery or lead to financial disaster after your motorcycle accident, but understanding how the different types of coverage work requires expertise in this unique area of law.

Your own motorcycle insurance policy might have several types of coverage that are relevant. Collision coverage will pay for damage to your bike, regardless of fault. Comprehensive coverage covers theft, vandalism, weather damage, etc. Medical payments coverage may exist to pay for your initial medical bills, but the limits are usually modest. Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage is especially relevant for motorcyclists because that coverage could compensate you for damages done by the at-fault driver if the driver at fault does not have insurance to fully cover your damages or if they are underinsured to fully cover your damages.

In motorcycle accidents, liability coverage for the at-fault driver will typically be the primary form of recovery. Most drivers, however, will only carry the state minimum liability limits, which can only take you so far if you suffered serious injuries in the motorcycle accident. If you live in a state where the minimum is only $25,000, one day in the hospital could be greater than the insurance limit. This is when the uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage becomes incredibly valuable.

Umbrella policies can give you additional coverage above and beyond the limits of the regular auto policy, but accessing the coverage would need to use tactical changes in the legal strategy. Insurance adjusters may argue umbrella coverage is not applicable, or that the umbrella policy did not meet the terms and conditions in order to be applicable. A good understanding of the terms and conditions is vup important in the coverage and payment maximum recovery.

Health insurance subrogation is also quite the issue in motorcycle accidents. Health insurance will pay for the initial medical treatment, but typically has a right of reimbursement of any settlement or judgment you get; however, that right of reimbursement could be reduced or waived through agreement, especially if you did not completely compensate you for all of your damages.

Workers' compensation coverage may also apply if you were riding your motorcycle for purposes of work at the time of the motorcycle accident. In these cases there would need to be coordination of the workers' compensation benefits along with third-party liability claims involving workers' compensation benefits, since there are rules about how the two different types of recovery work together.

Technology and Evidence: Modern Tools for Building Stronger Cases

The digital age has created new opportunities for gathering evidence in motorcycle accident cases, but it's also created new challenges that require attorneys to stay current with evolving technology.

Many newer motorcycles are equipped with electronic systems that can provide valuable data about the accident. Anti-lock braking systems (ABS) and electronic stability control systems might have data recorders that capture information about speed, braking, and other factors in the seconds before impact. GPS devices may collect location and speed data. Even riding applications on smartphones can gather this type of data.

Traffic cameras and red-light cameras are becoming more ubiquitous, and whatever is captured can be an important source of evidence in motorcycle accident litigation. However, it may not be easy to obtain this footage. Many of these types of cameras delete the data after 30 days, some even less. A lawyer who is familiar with how to quickly locate and obtain these types of evidence could be the difference between having a clear demonstration of fault in a motorcycle accident case and having inconsistent witness accounts.

Social media is now both an opportunity and a potential pitfall in a personal injury case. Pre-accident balance of life photos and posts can help illustrate your active life pre-accident and the changes after the accident due to the injury. However, anything you post after the accident can potentially be used against you to demonstrate that you are not hurt or that your injury claims are inconsistent. A picture of you smiling and clearly enjoying yourself with family before you were injured could easily be misconstrued as proof that you are not hurt.

Technology dealing with accident reconstruction has also improved significantly. Accident reconstruction computers can recreate an accident with amazing accuracy, providing an opportunity to demonstrate bodily movements and collision dynamics that would be hard to explain without the use of a program. Drone photography and video can give new viewpoints of an accident scene that weren't available before. Finally, 3D laser scanning can practically archive an accident scene in incredible detail and provide analysis months or years after the accident when evidence is cleared.

Medical imaging and diagnosis technology is advancing, and provides better documentation of injuries, but it also has its own challenges with presentation in legal cases. Latest MRI technologies can visualize brain injuries that were impossible with older MRI technology. Explaining complex medical findings to a jury usually requires hiring experts who can explain complicated medical ideas in layman's terms.

Recovery: The Long Haul

Prior to serious motorbiking accident, the recovery process is often much longer and more complicated than people are initially prepared for or are aware of. Understanding what happens after your doctor dictates the next medical steps, make better choices about medical treatment, legal representation, and life-planning issues.

The first stage of medical care after the accident is only the acute medical phase of recovery. Doctors may have to perform multiple surgeries to stabilize your injuries before they can assess your long-term injuries. Complications such as infections continued treatment, etc are a normal part of recovery especially with the multi-system orthopedic injuries we see in motorcycle accidents. What may start as a simple broken leg can progress to multiple surgeries, bone grafts and months weeks of rehabilitation.

Depending on the severity of injuries, rehabilitation and physical therapy may continue for years. Walking again after a spinal cord injury, regaining function after a traumatic brain injury, or learning to use a prosthetic limb after an amputation is something that necessitates immense support and repeated professional services. These services can become extremely costly, and often insurance companies get involved to challenge subsequent or continued therapy as being medically unnecessary.

Work leave of absence or occupational changes may occur with a traumatic motorcycle accident case. While you may be able to return to work, you might not return to the same job functions you held before. You will likely need some accommodations to allow you to return to work, and may even require retraining in a career that is different than what you previously did. There are vocational rehabilitation specialists who can assist you with this transition, but their services will need to be incorporated into your claim to seek proper compensation.

You may also need to modify your home and vehicle to meet the needs of permanent disabilities. Adding a wheelchair ramp, modifying the bathroom, and adding special controls for your vehicle can cost tens of thousands of dollars. These expenses—present and future—must be anticipated, addressed and incorporated into any settlement or jury award.

Psychological adjustment after a significant accident may be the most challenging aspect of recovery. It requires tremendous psychological endurance to accept enduring limitations, chronic pain, or changes in your appearance. Although counseling and therapy are ways to ease this adjustment, they fall into a category of damages that insurance companies frequently dispute coverage.

Family dynamics are also changed when someone sustains serious injuries in a motorcycle accident. Spouses may become caregivers for their partners, while children may need to adopt increased responsibilities at home. In addition, activities that were once family outings may be limited based on the capabilities of the injured person. Each of these changes affects the entire family table, and should be compensated in your legal claim.

Conclusion: The Best Attorney is Your Attorney

The search for "the best motorcycle accident attorney in the USA," is a personal search. It really does not matter if an attorney screams from the rooftops to everyone they are the best motorcycle accident attorney. It is about finding a committed, experienced and compassionate attorney in your area who you trust to get you through one of the most difficult times of your life. It is about finding that advocate who views you as an injured individual, and not a lawyer statistic. They become the voice and someone who puts everything on hold so that you can focus on healing. They are the strategist who assembles attorneys and witnesses and builds plans for your future. They are the warrior who will stand tall and fight back against insurers, waging psychological warfare who will honor and fight for the injured individual who wants to heal.

Spend the time to research, ask the right questions, and listen with the confidence of a recipient of help to the deepest areas of your rehabilitation with whomever you engage to be your attorney. Your time and energy will be rewarded. Remember, it is time to heal to set a goal, not just for recovery from your motorcycle accident, but to find a way to reclaim your place back on the road when you are prepared to get back to your freedom of riding your motorcycle.

This is a choice that impacts you, at least financially, and your entire experience through the legal system--that you will have to do when you are navigating one of the worst periods of your life. Choose wisely, and don't ignore the possibility or your intuition. The right attorney is out there, you just have to find that combination of proven skills and heart to partner with you while living in the uncertainty of your road ahead. Your recovery and how that plays out is not just how your medical team prepares you, it is crucial to have a legal advocate who accepts and sees what the injuries, damages, and changes in your life experience.