Roseville Motorcycle Accident Attorney

The State of California is almost synonymous with motorcycle riding: long stretches of open freeway and (generally) fair and temperate weather make California an ideal place to own and ride a motorcycle. Even in the more northern reaches of the state around Roseville, motorcyclists can be seen cruising around town or traveling up and down Interstate 80.

While California's climate may be hospitable to motorcyclists,  the state’s roadways and highways are not. Motorcycle crashes have the potential to cause catastrophic injuries to motorcyclists, leaving them unable to work or engage in the same work or activities as before and (potentially) unable to walk or live independently. This makes motorcycle crashes extremely expensive for injured motorcyclists and their families. An experienced Roseville motorcycle accident injury lawyer can bring a lawsuit on behalf of a motorcyclist injured in a crash caused by a negligent driver or entity.

Motorcycle accidents often occur because the motorcyclist and/or another driver made a poor decision or acted carelessly. This means that many motorcycle accidents could have been avoided had one or more parties acted more carefully. Some of the reasons motorcycle accidents occur include:

• Driving while distracted (such as texting while driving, adjusting the radio, or otherwise not paying attention to the road)
• Driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs (whether prescription, over-the-counter or illegal drugs)
• Disobeying traffic laws and ordinances
• Failing to properly signal before changing lanes
• Stopping or accelerating suddenly
• Speeding or traveling too fast considering the road and traffic conditions
• Failing to check one’s “blind spots” before switching lanes, turning, or opening one’s car door

A motorcyclist’s own behavior and conduct can contribute to his or her injuries. For example, riding without a properly fitted and approved helmet can increase the chances of the motorcyclist suffering a traumatic brain injury or spine and neck injury. Failing to wear proper protective clothing can likewise increase the chances of the motorcyclist suffering severe “road rash” – scrapes, cuts, and lacerations attributable to the motorcyclist skidding or sliding across the pavement after having been thrown from his or her motorcycle.

Even where a motorcyclist’s own behavior is potentially negligent, California law may still allow the motorcyclist to recover some compensation from another driver or motorcyclist who also contributed to the crash motorcyclist’s injuries. It is best to discuss your case with a top-rated Roseville motorcycle accident injury attorney who can determine whether you have a viable claim and what facts or circumstances may affect the value of your financial compensation.

In a typical car crash, both the drivers and occupants of each car are protected from some of the forces and dangers of the impact because of the cars’ bumpers, airbags, and frames. These safety features (and others) are designed to work together so that as little force as possible impacts the occupants of the car and that the occupants are kept as safe as possible. Motorcyclists do not enjoy any of these protections. In fact, in most cases, the motorcyclist’s only protection from the effects of a crash is his or her helmet and whatever protective clothing he or she is wearing. Motorcyclists can suffer:

• Severe cuts and lacerations or abrasions from sliding across concrete or pavement
• Broken bones and internal injuries
• Spine and neck injuries
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Amputations/loss of limbs
• Pelvic/hip and groin injuries (attributable to straddling the motorcycle)

The severity of a motorcyclist’s injuries will depend on several factors, including the speed of the vehicle and/or motorcycle at the time of the collision, what protective equipment the motorcyclist was using, whether the motorcyclist was tossed from his or her bike, what objects the motorcyclist collided with after being thrown from his or her motorcycle, and other similar factors.

Our Roseville motorcycle accident lawyers created the video below to discuss some of the most common causes of traffic collisions involving bikers.

If you are a motorcyclist and have just been involved in a motorcycle accident, your first concern should be to seek immediate medical evaluation and treatment. Prompt medical treatment is essential to preventing any injuries you sustained from worsening or becoming more problematic to treat. Even if you feel fine or do not believe you have been seriously injured, you should still seek medical evaluation to ensure that you do not have any internal injuries that have simply not yet manifested symptoms.

Once you have summoned medical help and if you are physically capable of doing so, you should try to accomplish the following tasks while at the scene of the crash:

• Obtain the name, contact information, and insurance information of any other driver involved. If the driver who caused your accident flees the scene, try to write down as good a description as possible of what the driver looked like and his or her car. Make sure to deliver this information to the police and keep a copy for your own records.
• Obtain the name and contact information of any witness present at the scene who says he or she observed the accident occur. You may need the testimony of these individuals to help you succeed in your motorcycle accident lawsuit.
• Take photographs of the accident scene with a smartphone. Try to take as many pictures as possible of the entire accident scene, the vehicles involved, the debris created by the accident, your injuries, and road signs and road markings that may be present around the scene of the crash. It is better to take too many pictures than to take too few.
• Get the name of the officer, his or her department, and his or her badge number who investigates the accident so that you can later obtain his or her police report and any accompanying pictures or diagrams. This may provide you with additional evidence to support your bodily injury claim for financial compensation.

In addition, as soon as possible following the accident, you should write down how you remember the accident occurring in detail. Try to retain as many facts as you can and make your writing legible. This will prove useful when you need to describe the accident as you will not have to rely upon your memory to fill in important details.

If you have been injured in a Roseville motorcycle crash, you are probably focused (and rightly so) on your recovery and rehabilitation. The best motorcycle accident lawyer in Roseville can help protect and assert your legal rights during this difficult time.

The motorcycle accident attorneys of AutoAccident.com have represented bikers seriously hurt in crashes throughout Roseville and other areas of Placer County, CA, since 1982. Today, to speak with one of our injury lawyers, call (916) 921-6400 or (800) 404-5400 for free, friendly legal advice.

Learn more about us. See our past verdicts and settlements and client reviews on Avvo, Yelp, Google. 

We are members of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the National Association of Distinguished Counsel.

Editor’s Note: This page has been updated for accuracy and relevancy [cha 5.3.21]

Photos by DaKub on pixabay