What Should You Do After a Motorcycle Accident?

Since the year 2000, the United States has experienced an increased number of motorcycle accidents. With over 8.5 million active motorcycle riders in the country, the prospects of motorcycle accidents nearly equal that of cars.

Whenever they occur, motorcycle accidents are often either fatal or cause serious injuries and damages. Most motorcycle accidents in the country often involve motorcycle riders and cars. The damages suffered, in such cases, incur costs in excess of $16 billion each year.

The prospects of getting involved in a motorcycle accident as a rider or another road user can be quite high.

Experts advise that you should know the appropriate measures to take after involvement in such an accident to ensure a speedy recovery process for the damages, injuries, and losses suffered. Here are some important steps to take in the event of involvement in an accident while driving your motorbike.

Check for injuries

The first thing you should always remember to do after a motorcycle accident is to check yourself for possible injuries that you may have suffered. Research has shown that common motorcycle accident injuries such as broken bones, bruised skin, and even cracked skulls as a result of being tossed on the tarmac after the crash.

The prospects of suffering an internal injury leading to internal bleeding are also significantly high, especially as a result of the crash impact.

In case you feel pain in any part of your body, you should endeavor to call for immediate medical help from relevant authorities including the police or ambulance services. Other motorists may also come in handy in helping you to seek appropriate medical attention.

After self-assessment, you may also want to check other parties involved in the accident for injuries to ensure they are also given emergency medical care.

Take accident scene photos

After the accident, you may want to preserve the accident scene by taking photographs using readily available tools such as your cell phone or camera. When taking the images, it is important to use different angles to ensure that the resultant images come in handy in helping resolve and process the accident scene.

Such images come in handy in cases where other motorists crash into the accident scene causing a secondary accident. In such a case, the police would find your images resourceful in helping resolve who was at fault in causing the first accident.

You may also want to take images of the extent of damage suffered on your motorcycle and the other motor vehicle involved in the accident.

Secure the accident scene

It is also advisable to appropriately secure the accident scene by placing hazard warning signs on the road to warn other road users. The hazard signs and warnings come in handy in diverting traffic from the part of the road where the wreckage lies.

Leaving the accident scene unsecured may prove a major hazard to oncoming traffic. When securing the accident scene, you may also want to take note of debris scattered across the road to ensure it is appropriately removed or secured with warning signs to prevent additional accidents involving other motorists for which you will be held responsible.

Inform a motorcycle accident attorney

You may also need to immediately inform a qualified motorcycle accident attorney who, in this case, would come in handy in helping you with the legal advice on the steps that may be required.

The services of a motorcycle injury lawyer are vital in cases where the other party involved in the accident flees the accident scene before the police arrive.

The lawyer or attorney, in such cases, provides you with legal advice on the necessary steps to take to ensure justice is served and that the hit-and-run motorists’ insurance company is notified.

The motorcycle accident attorney may also provide additional services such as helping you file a statement with the police relating to the occurrence of the accident. In some cases, after the accident, you may suffer some trauma that may impact the relevance and accuracy of your statements to the police.

Filing such statements in the absence of your motorcycle accident lawyer may lead to self-incrimination, thereby affecting the outcome of the accident report. This may consequently influence the insurance company’s decision on whether to issue injury and damage compensation or not.

In some cases, insurance companies may fail to disseminate compensation for damage and injuries suffered. In such unfortunate situations, a motorcycle personal injury attorney would help file and pursue a possible court case to compel the insurance company to take responsibility and disseminate such compensation.

The motorcycle injury lawyer may also help you with ensuring that such payment made by the insurance company does not unnecessarily delay as in some cases.

When seeking the services of a motorcycle personal injury attorney to help with such cases, it is highly advisable to work with qualified and experienced lawyers who will guarantee a favorable outcome.

Call in the police

In case the police on patrol do not arrive at the accident scene in good time, calling them would ensure that the accident scene is appropriately processed before important evidence for accident liability is tampered with.

The police are required by the law to process the accident scene and determine the motorist at fault in causing the accident by using crucial evidence such as the relative location of the wreckage and the verbal explanations and evidence provided.

Gather relevant information

As you wait for the police to arrive, you may want to collect relevant information relating to the parties involved in the accident.

When taking information from the other motorists, it is crucial to ensure that you use a polite language and tone to avoid raising tempers and escalating the situation. Important details that you need to gather in such cases include:

• The motorists’ contact information, especially names, phone numbers, and residential addresses
• Vehicle information including the license plate numbers, vehicle make, model and physical description
• Details of the insurance company that has ensured both your motorcycle and the other motor vehicle
• The police accident report number and a possible photocopy of the same
• Name and badge number of the police officer who processed the accident scene and signed the accident report

Such details may come in handy in helping pursue compensation from insurance companies for personal injuries and damages suffered.

Notify the insurance company

As soon as your motorcycle is involved in a road accident, you should endeavor to call and notify your insurance company.

The notification should be accompanied by serving your insurance agent with the necessary and relevant information relating to the accident. When notifying the company, you should be cautious of the kind and accuracy of the information you relay.

Motorcycle accident attorneys often advice motorcyclists to ensure that the information relayed is as accurate as possible as insurance companies may be reluctant to issue compensation in cases where falsified or inaccurate information is served.

During the notification, you should be careful to avoid self-incrimination such as taking responsibility for the accident before the police issue a comprehensive and accurate report.

In general, motorcycle accidents often lead to injuries and damages which may require the involvement of your insurance company in the issuance of compensation.

The set of steps you take in the aftermath of such an accident determine whether or not the insurance company would take the necessary compensatory steps to cover you for injuries and damages suffered.

Working with a reputable motorcycle accident law firm ensures that you get the necessary legal assistance required to expedite the entire compensation process.