Highways can sometimes be dangerous places to drive, especially if you ride a motorcycle. Nationwide, there were more than 4,500 motorcycle deaths (about 14% of all traffic deaths) in 2014. An average of more than 160 motorcyclists die in accidents in New York state every year. The death rate in New York City is about twice as high. About 1,600 people are injured every year, resulting in nearly $250 million in hospital expenses. This can be a traumatic, and costly, event if you are a regular motorcycle driver.
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The Law Offices of Yuriy Moshes PC stands out among its competitors in how it handles personal injury cases, especially when it comes to involving motorcycle accident victims. We represent any type of accident, no matter the size. The best motorcycle accident lawyer will give a case one on one attention, no matter how long the case may take. They will not rush things along, for the sake of meeting the bottom line. And our attorneys will not skimp on finding the expertise needed to get what you are due, in way of compensation and medical care, after an accident.
Why do you need a motorcycle crash attorney? There are many moving elements to a motorcycle accident, before and after, especially if you are the victim. There are witness statements to obtain if anyone saw what happened. Experts may be needed to evaluate and provide expert statements at any arbitrations or court proceedings. If any party was injured, people knowledgeable in medical treatment and costs may be needed to negotiate down the price of medical care if any is needed. Also, New York is a “no fault” insurance state (more on that in below sections of this article). If you need help with a motorcycle personal injury case, please fill the form on our website for a free consultation with one of our motorcycle crash lawyers.
Many drivers of motorcycles are at times improperly licensed and improperly insured or not insured at all. There can also sometimes be confusion over whose insurance is liable to cover injuries and damages.
Common causes of motorcycle accidents are:
New York is a “no fault” insurance state. In a nutshell, it concerns medical insurance coverage in an accident. If you’re in an accident that is determined not to be your fault, your own insurance company will not pay for your medical coverage if you are a motorcyclist, unlike a person who drives a car. There are also hard deadlines for a no-fault accident in New York.
A no-fault claim must be filed within 30 days of an accident, as well as 45 days for filing all medical expenses. Out of pocket expenses must be submitted within three months. However, medical care may often be needed beyond the 45-day window or 90-day window. A motorcycle accident injury lawyer can also help sort through the different types of potential coverage in a motorcycle accident, including but not limited to liability motorcycle insurance, collision, comprehensive, and un-/under-insured.
The issue and laws surrounding no-fault accidents are not the only things that can complicate a motorcycle injury case. Unlike places where pedestrian and vehicle accidents occur, motorcycle accidents don’t often highlight clear cut areas where accidents happen. While on average, most motorcycle accidents are concentrated on city streets, they can happen just about anywhere, and sometimes the most unexpected places. They are also more likely to involve another vehicle rather than involving only one person. Motorcycle drivers also have fewer protections (i.e. airbags and seatbelts and enclosed spaces like car/truck cabins) than other drivers and passengers. Visibility was mentioned as one of, if not the, most common factors in accidents. Another common factor: many motorcycle riders are improperly licensed and often do not have any insurance.
Our motorcycle injury attorneys can help your case in a number of ways:
It is important to establish a paper trail to document the accident. A timeline of events can be critical to establishing who may be at fault, and thereby helping to determine who should ultimately pay for your injuries. One of the most important things to gather is a statement or statements from any witnesses to the accident. Either through depositions or written statements, these details are crucial to establishing what happened, so the case is more than just a matter of one person’s word against another. Police reports, insurance policies, medical bills, and medical insurance information, among other things also constitute documentation critical to a case. They will help the motorcycle accident injury lawyer determine the extent of property and medical damage, in order to maximize your settlement in a personal injury case.
Your experienced motorcycle accidents lawyer can investigate details of a motorcycle accident independent of any police or insurance investigation. This ensures an investigation favorable to you, since insurance investigators work for the benefit of the other party or the insurance company itself. Your attorney can issue any needed subpoenas for witness statements, police and insurance reports, and other needed evidence like accident site photos, traffic camera footage, dash cam video, and other speciality info like GPS data and phone records, where applicable. They will also review medical records and consult with any needed experts to establish your strongest case possible regarding negligence and liability on part of the other side.
Your attorney will first negotiate with the insurance company or the opposing side’s attorney, if not covered by insurance, to recover as much for you as possible. If not, our New York motorcycle accident lawyers are prepared to go to trial for you, to let a jury decide your case.
The Law Offices of Yuriy Moshes can help you with many different types of motorcycle related accidents, including but not limited to:
Compensation will vary from instance to instance. But good compensation will cover current and future expenses stemming from the accident. Many states cap what a victim can collect in a personal injury case. However the state of New York has no such personal injury damage limits. The best motorcycle accident lawyer will use critical evidence like documentation, photos, video, medical bills, motorcycle and medical insurance coverage information, determinations of liability and negligence to determine what you are entitled to if you are injured in a motorcycle accident. Their expertise can help maximize your chances since New York is also a comparative negligence state. That means damages you may be awarded can be reduced depending on the amount of fault delegated to you or the other party.
Damages fall into two categories: economic damages and non-economic damages.
Economic damages from a motorcycle personal injury matter vary from case to case. These are the easiest to calculate, though, because they involve documentable and quantifiable losses:
This is where information like property values, medical bills and averages on compensation for similar items and cases can help determine what you can get in the way of quantifiable compensation.
Non-economic damages are more qualitative than quantitative, thus harder to calculate than pure economic damages. However, as mentioned above, New York is one of a handful of states that do not limit economic or non-economic damages. In New York, a motorcycle accident must meet one of the qualifying circumstances, including but not limited to: death (either self or others), temporary loss of abilities that keep a person from performing work, or permanent injury or diminished mental capacity. Non-economic damages can be determined in settlement negotiations or taken to trial to let a jury decide. Common types of non-economic damages include pain and suffering, loss of companionship/family relations, mental impairment, permanent injury or disfigurement.
As mentioned, every case is different, but to get an idea of the value of pain and suffering, a common formula is one to two times more than the cost of economic damages in a personal injury case. That is why it’s so important to hire experienced New York motorcycle accident lawyers to handle your case and maximize the damages to which you are entitled.
What are the three main reasons to choose Moshes Law to represent you in a case involving a motorcycle accident?
Attorneys for the opposing/at fault side and attorneys for insurance companies have their best interests at heart and will do what they can to minimize any costs they may have to pay out. That is where we come in to fight for you. We fight for your rights, compensation, and best interests in a motorcycle personal injury case.
The Law Offices of Yuriy Moshes are not like other “assembly line” personal injury firms. These types of firms handle many cases at once. They will push through as many as quickly as possible, making you feel like you’re being hurried along so they can get to the next case as quickly as possible. Other firms may also pawn off a case to be handled by a legal assistant or junior/inexperienced attorney. Our attorneys, from top to bottom, will give your individual case the personalized care and attention it deserves. We will also see it through to whatever conclusion the case warrants, whether it means settling out of court or going to trial.
We have a team of associate attorneys, litigation attorneys and fully qualified legal assistants, experienced in many areas of personal injury law, especially motorcycle personal injury. To get started with Moshes Law firm, fill out a form for a free motorcycle personal injury consultation.
“I was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident in the Big Apple that wasn’t my fault. Moshes Law took my case in hand, and I felt like they were there for me personally during my recovery. They fought for my rights. Ultimately, we settled out of court, and I am happy with the outcome of my case from resolving my medical expenses to getting damages after my accident.”
— Trevor, New York, NYty
“I’ve dealt with personal injury firms before, and most of them seem more like assembly lines than law firms; keep moving things to make way for the next part, or case, coming down the assembly line belt. Get them in; get them out. My attorney at the Law Offices of Yuriy Moshes never treated me that way. He gave my case his personal attention. He never made me feel rushed toward a settlement or like I was being pushed out the door for the next high-paying case.”
— Blaine, Buffalo, NY
“Hands down the best attorneys I’ve ever worked with. They really knew their stuff when it came to an accident I was involved in. I would hire them again if I ever needed their services.”
— Mary, New York, NY
There are many moving parts to a motorcycle personal injury case: coordinating medical care and negotiating with insurance companies. There’s also negotiating with medical providers to bring down the cost of care given so you get the most settlement money possible; and making sure the other party pays up for the pain and suffering heaped on you after an accident.
That’s why it’s important to talk to an attorney who knows New York’s motorcycle personal injury laws inside and out. Moshe’s Law can do that for you. Please fill out an online form so that one of our expert attorneys at the Law Offices of Yuriy Moshes can get your case started before the statute of limitations runs out.
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