Motorcycle Accident Lawyers in Mesa, AZ

If you have sustained injuries in a motorcycle collision and are searching for a Mesa motorcycle accident lawyer to handle your claim, you should know what to look for in a qualified and competent attorney. In addition to a lawyer’s experience, credentials, and results, you should also consider the types of firsthand experience the attorney has with motorcycles.

Our Experience With Motorcycles

In addition to experience with handling motorcycle accident cases, several members of the Lamber Goodnow injury law team are avid motorcyclists. We know the feeling of freedom you can experience while riding on the open road. As attorneys, we also understand how devastating it can be when you suffer serious injuries or lose a loved one in a motorcycle crash. Our direct experience as motorcyclists and attorneys helps us to craft highly successful legal arguments on behalf of our clients and their families.

Our team of attorneys and motorcycle accident lawyers at our co-counsel firms are dedicated to protecting the rights and safety of motorcyclists. We fight for justice when our clients are seriously injured or lose their loved ones in motorcycle wrecks, striving to recover maximum financial compensation on their behalf through litigation.

We hold negligent drivers accountable and prevent them from getting away with deflecting blame when they are at fault. We are experienced, dedicated motorcycle accident lawyers who represent accident victims in Mesa, the Valley, and throughout the state and Southwest. We strive to hold negligent parties accountable for their wrongful actions while recovering damages for our clients.

Types of Compensation in a Motorcycle Accident Case

Since every motorcycle accident involves a unique set of circumstances and facts, there isn’t a single value that can be placed on motorcycle accident cases in general. Instead, the value of your claim will depend on facts that are specific to what happened, your injuries, and other factors. However, if your collision was caused by another motorist or entity, you might be entitled to recover compensation for both your economic and non-economic losses.

Compensatory damages are divided into special and general damages. Special damages refer to monetary amounts that are meant to reimburse you for your out-of-pocket or pecuniary expenses and might include the following types of damages:

• Past and future medical expenses
• Past and future rehabilitation and physical therapy costs
• Past lost wages
• Reduction in your future ability to earn an income
• Damage to your motorcycle and other property

General damages are compensatory amounts that are meant to compensate you for your non-economic losses and thus are more difficult to value. Some of the types of general damages that might be recoverable in your motorcycle accident claim include the following:

• Past and future pain and suffering
• Disability
• Emotional trauma/psychological distress
• Loss of the enjoyment of life

Punitive damages might be recoverable in a case in which the defendant’s conduct was willful, wanton, or grossly negligent. These types of damages are payable on top of your compensatory damages and are meant to punish the defendant rather than compensate you for your losses. However, they are only available in rare cases.

How We Fight for Motorcyclists

Our motorcycle accident attorneys in Mesa gather evidence as quickly as possible before it can be lost. We work to interview witnesses to get their statements before their memories falter. In any accident case, time is critical. It is especially important in motorcycle accident cases. We also partner with experts when necessary, including accident reconstruction experts, engineering experts, and medical experts to help us fully understand all of the factors involved and present them to insurance companies to convince them of the importance of fully and fairly settling our clients’ claims.

Some of the scenarios involved in the motorcycle accident cases we handle include the following:

• Other motorists suddenly changing lanes and wrecking into motorcyclists
• Motorists suddenly turning left across the path of motorcyclists
• Motorists cutting corners too close and losing control
• Following motorcycles too closely
• Sudden stops
• Motorists failing to obey traffic control devices
• Poorly maintained loads creating dangerous conditions
• Defective motorcycle parts causing accidents

Our attorneys carefully analyze the facts of every case we handle and do whatever it takes to recover full compensation for our clients.

Arizona Motorcycle Accident Statistics

According to the Arizona Department of Transportation, 2,373 motorcycle crashes occurred in 2020. Out of these collisions, 163 were fatal and 1,855 involved serious injuries. Only 355 or 15% of the motorcycle collisions that occurred in the state that year involved property damage only. By contrast, out of 129,744 car accidents that occurred during that year, almost 70% or 90,346 involved property damage only.

This difference shows that motorcyclists are much likelier to suffer serious injuries or be killed when they are involved in accidents as compared to the occupants of motor vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that motorcyclists are 29 times likelier to die in motorcycle collisions per mile traveled than the occupants of other types of vehicles.

People who have been injured in Arizona motorcycle accidents caused by someone else might be entitled to file personal injury lawsuits against the responsible parties. When a motorcycle accident lawsuit goes to trial, the jury or judge will determine whether the defendant was legally responsible. Most motorcycle accident cases do not go to court, however. Instead, the parties reach settlement agreements before a lawsuit is filed.

Important Arizona Laws

There are several important laws that you should know about motorcycle accidents. In many cases, the victims of motorcycle accidents are unable to speak to a motorcycle accident attorney Mesa right after their collisions because of the severity of their injuries. However, it is still important to understand the statute of limitations, which is a law that sets a deadline for filing a lawsuit.

Under A.R.S. § 12-542, the statute of limitations in Arizona for personal injury claims, including those involving motorcycle collisions, is two years from the date of the accident and injury. In a motorcycle wreck that resulted in a fatality, the statute of limitations is two years from the date of the victim’s death. It is important to understand the statute of limitations because if you don’t file your lawsuit on time, you will be barred from pursuing compensation through the legal system.

Another statute that is important is A.R.S. § 12-2505. Under this law, Arizona has adopted a system of pure comparative negligence, which means that every party involved in an accident is responsible for their degree of negligence. How this translates is that even if you were partially at fault, you won’t be barred from recovering compensation for your motorcycle wreck and injuries. However, your award will be reduced by the percentage of fault the jury attributes to you.

Minimum Liability Insurance Requirements in Arizona

Under A.R.S. § 28-4009, all motorists must carry auto insurance with at least the following minimum liability coverages:

• $25,000 bodily injury or death for one person
• $50,000 bodily injury or death for two or more people
• $15,000 property damage coverage

In serious accidents, these coverage amounts might not be enough to cover the victim’s losses.

At the time you are issued an insurance policy, your insurance company must provide you with the option of purchasing uninsured/underinsured motorists coverage (UM/UIM) under A.R.S. § 20-259.01. It is a good idea to purchase this additional coverage to protect you if you are involved in a motorcycle crash with an uninsured or underinsured motorist. If that occurs, you can file a claim with your insurer to recover compensation for your losses up to the policy limits.

Health Insurance Liens and Motorcycle Accidents

Under A.R.S. §§ 33-931 – 33-936, hospitals and other healthcare providers can file healthcare liens against the person who is admitted for motor vehicle accidents. In many cases, these liens are filed automatically without the hospital checking the victim’s health insurance coverage.

Healthcare liens are meant to give medical providers a method of recovering compensation for the medical care they have provided and are placed against the victims’ personal injury claims. Healthcare liens can’t be used to seize anything other than a portion of your claim if it is successful. However, the lien can only secure the customary charges for the provider and can’t be above that amount. In most cases, an experienced Mesa motorcycle accident attorney at Lamber Goodnow can negotiate these liens or have them waived by showing that the lien was not recorded properly, errors were made in calculating the lien’s amount, or showing that the treatment was not related to the accident or was unnecessary.

Health insurance companies might also seek reimbursement for the money they have paid for their insureds. However, Arizona is an anti-subrogation state, so the insurance company might not be allowed to step into your lawsuit and act on your behalf. If your insurance company is claiming that you will be required to reimburse it, talk to a Mesa motorcycle accident lawyer to find out about your rights.