When a driver makes a careless or reckless mistake behind the wheel, they can cause serious, life-altering injuries for motorcyclists involved in the crash. These injuries require medical care, rehabilitation, ongoing support, and other expenses. If this happened to you, you have the right to pursue compensation to cover these costs.
A Royal Oak, MI, personal injury lawyer from our Christensen Law team will represent your best interests and fight for the compensation you deserve while you focus on healing. We know how the complex auto liability insurance laws apply to motorcycle accidents in Michigan and can navigate this process to recover money for your catastrophic crash injuries.
Contact us today for a free consultation. We will review your case facts and discuss your options.
Our Royal Oak Motorcycle Accident Lawyers Fight for Justice
At Christensen Law, our focus is on catastrophic personal injury cases. This includes collisions that leave motorcyclists and their passengers with life-altering disabilities and lasting injuries. We have been advocates for those with serious injuries in Michigan since 1991.
When a crash victim calls our team, we listen to their side of the story. We believe hearing what happened to them and what they are facing is important to their case. We make it clear we are here to protect them and seek maximum compensation in their case. We will not settle for less than they deserve. Instead, we use our experience, knowledge, and resources to fight for justice.
We investigate every case we handle like we will need to take it to trial. This approach has allowed us to secure record-setting, multi-million-dollar awards and settlements for clients. One recent example was a $9.5 million award for a client who required the amputation of his leg at the hip in addition to many other serious injuries after a careless motorist crossed over the centerline and hit him head-on.
We provide free consultations and manage these cases based on contingency. We never ask clients to pay us upfront. Our attorney’s fees come only from the money we recover in the case.
Our Royal Oak Motorcycle Accident Attorneys Understand Your Options After a Catastrophic Injury Crash
According to the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS), motorcyclists in Michigan do not carry their own No-Fault policies for use after a crash.
However, they can recover money from the Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits of an insured driver involved in the accident. This allows them to recover some limited compensation up to the policy maximum. The financial recovery in one of these claims is limited by the policy coverage.
If there is no coverage, they can file a claim for up to $250,000 based on the Michigan Assigned Claims Plan (MACP).
For those with major injuries and costs that exceed the coverage available, it is possible to sue the at-fault driver and seek money based on their liability. Our attorneys know how to build these cases and navigate the process to recover this money for our client’s current and future medical care and other damages.
What Types of Injuries Might Qualify Me for a Fault-Based Lawsuit?
Many serious and catastrophic injuries have extensive medical care costs and other related expenses. These costs can quickly pass the limits of a PIP policy or the MACP recovery limits. Injured motorcyclists and passengers often require:
- Emergency transportation to a trauma center, either by ambulance or helicopter
- Assessment and triage at a trauma center
- Hospitalization
- Emergency medical treatment
- Surgery
- Stays in intensive care or a trauma unit
- Inpatient therapies and rehabilitation
- Continued outpatient treatment
- Follow-up care
- Medical and mobility equipment
- Future care and support
Motorcycle accidents, in particular, often cause significant, life-changing injuries. Despite a helmet and other protective gear, motorcyclists still experience the forces of a collision more intensely than someone inside a car during a crash of the same speed. This makes it more likely they could experience catastrophic injuries such as:
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)
- Spinal cord injuries
- Traumatic limb injuries and possible amputations
- Serious road rash and other burns
- Internal injuries and bleeding
When you are involved in an accident, call our number to discuss how you could hold someone responsible for their careless actions.
How Our Royal Oak Lawyers Build a Fault-Based Motorcycle Accident Case
Our Royal Oak car accident lawyers understand how to build a convincing auto accident case, including those based on collisions involving motorcycles. We represent motorcyclists and passengers with TBIs, paralysis, amputations, head trauma, and other catastrophic injuries. We know how these injuries affect all aspects of their lives and how important their financial recovery is for their future.
For this reason, we fight for justice and will not back down unless we can recover fair compensation based on the circumstances and damages they incurred. We consider all possible future costs and losses, too.
To pursue fault-based compensation after a Royal Oak, Michigan, motorcycle accident, we must show the liable driver acted with negligence and caused the crash. There are four necessary elements:
- They owed our client a duty of care
- They breached this duty
- Their breach caused the accident
- Our client was hurt
Imagine a driver crossing the centerline and hitting a motorcyclist head-on, as happened to a client we recently represented. The driver had a legal duty, based on the applicable traffic laws, to maintain their lane. They crossed the centerline, violating the traffic law. This was the immediate cause of the crash and caused numerous life-threatening injuries to our client.
Supporting Your Claim for Damages
To hold this driver legally responsible, we had to gather evidence to show each of these things occurred. As in all similar cases, we conducted a thorough investigation and gathered evidence that might include:
- Eyewitness statements
- Video of the crash
- Accident reconstruction data
- The accident report filed by the police
- Medical records relevant to the investigation
- Expert testimony about future care needs and costs
- Documents showing damages
Using this and any other available evidence, we developed a compelling argument for the insurance claim and at trial. Ultimately, the court delivered a winning verdict for our client in this case.
What Damages Can a Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Recover After a Royal Oak Collision?
When our lawyers manage a serious injury motorcycle accident case, we carefully identify the client’s related expenses and losses. We document and value them, using this list of recoverable damages to better understand and tell their story. This allows us to pursue compensation for a wide range of costs they experienced and will likely experience in the future. This often includes:
- Medical care costs and related expenses
- Lost income and diminished earning capacity if there are lasting disabilities
- Related expenses, such as travel costs to see a specialist
- Pain and suffering and other related non-economic losses
For catastrophic injuries that bring new impairments and everyday challenges, recovering the cost of future care and support is essential. Our attorneys work with specialists and experts to understand a client’s needs and estimate these costs over their lifetime.
Wrongful Death in a Motorcycle Accident Collision
When a motorcyclist dies from their injuries, their surviving family members can hold the at-fault driver liable and seek compensation. Our Royal Oak personal injury attorneys handle these wrongful death cases and fight for justice for these families.
How Important Is It to Hire a Royal Oak Motorcycle Crash Lawyer Quickly After a Collision?
Working with our Royal Oak motorcycle accident lawyer means you have someone working to build the strongest case possible for recovering fair compensation. Our attorneys protect your rights and begin gathering evidence from the first day you hire us. Calling us as soon as your injuries allow means you have our team handling your case, communicating with you, and building support for your claim quickly.
Insurance carriers are not on the victim’s side after a crash. They could make efforts to settle a case for much less than it is worth or otherwise downplay the severity of their injuries. When we take over all communication with the liable party and their insurance company, this limits their ability to use your own words against you.
We also know how time-sensitive many types of evidence can be. We act quickly to investigate what happened and gather any evidence to support your claim. This includes seeking any video of the crash and interviewing eyewitnesses. They could be crucial to your case and unavailable if we do not act quickly.
Lastly, we must ensure you meet all deadlines in your case. Under Michigan Compiled Laws § 600.5805, you usually have three years to sue for a fault-based accident. However, some circumstances could shorten how long you have to act.
Discuss Your Royal Oak Motorcycle Accident and Injuries with Our Team Today
Christensen Law provides complimentary consultations for those with serious motorcycle accident injuries and their families. We will discuss your accident and injuries—or those your loved one endured—with you for free. You can ask questions and get answers from our Royal Oak motorcycle accident lawyer, including learning about your case and how we will help you get justice.
Complete our online contact form or dial our number to get started today.
