If you’ve been involved in a motorcycle accident, one of your top priorities may be pursuing compensation and starting your personal injury claim. These accidents can be incredibly expensive, thanks to medical bills, totaled motorcycles, lost income, and other expenses. Proving another party’s negligence is key to building a claim that can help you get what you’re owed.

That’s where we step in to help. At The Dodd Law Firm, we help victims throughout the Cheshire area fight for justice after personal injuries. Call us at 203-272-1883 to set up a consultation with our team now.

What is Negligence?

Negligence refers to an individual’s failure to take reasonable steps to avoid causing harm to someone else. It’s a pretty broad definition, which makes it easier to apply to a variety of circumstances. 

Consider a motorcycle accident; in order to prove negligence, you’d need to demonstrate that either driver (or perhaps a third party) didn’t take appropriate steps to keep others safe. That might mean that a driver did not, for example, check their blind spot before changing lanes. This caused them to miss a motorcyclist in their blind spot. 

A reasonable person would have checked their blind spot. If you’re trying to determine whether or not someone was reasonable or not, you can think about what another person would have done in the same circumstances. In this example, you could expect a reasonable person to check their blind spot, as that’s taught in every driver’s education course in the country.

How Drivers or Riders Can Be Negligent

There are numerous ways that drivers or riders can be negligent and cause collisions. They include:

• Failure to yield: Failing to yield the right of way leads to a significant amount of Connecticut motorcycle accidents. Drivers are often used to yielding to other drivers, but less acclimated to yielding to riders. This causes a lot of crashes at intersections and during lane changes.

• Tailgating: Following too closely is always unsafe, but it’s particularly dangerous when the person you’re following is a motorcyclist. Following a rider too closely means that if they stop unexpectedly, there’s a very real chance of running into them, throwing them from their bike, and causing them serious harm.

• Unsafe lane changes: Drivers often fail to notice motorcyclists in their blind spot during lane changes. This results in them sideswiping riders during lane changes.

• Ignoring traffic signs and lights: This is often the result of distracted driving. Motorcyclists are at a significant disadvantage when drivers run red lights or stop signs.

• Speeding: Speeding increases the likelihood of severe and fatal accidents, particularly in dangerous weather or heavy traffic.

• Operating under the influence: Those who ride or drive under the influence are operating with limited decision-making skills, presence of mind, and reaction time.

• Lane splitting: Lane splitting is currently illegal in Connecticut; while two riders can share one lane, riders cannot ride between lanes.

Proving Negligence and Its Role in Your Claim

Proving negligence creates the foundation of your personal injury claim. Any type of evidence you can get from your accident may strengthen your claim and put you in a better position to seek compensation. Valuable pieces of evidence include:

• The police report, which may include information about who caused the crash and any citations that were given out. 

• Photos and videos of the crash scene, as this evidence can be used to reconstruct the accident scene and determine what happened.

• Eyewitness statements are especially useful when collected immediately after a crash.
• Medical reports may indicate the types of injuries sustained by victims, which can further prove what went wrong.

One of the most important things to do is talk to an attorney as soon as possible after a motorcycle accident. Your attorney can help you secure and preserve the appropriate evidence, navigate communication with the insurance company, and fight for full and fair compensation.

Start Your Motorcycle Accident Claim with The Dodd Law Firm

Ready to start your motorcycle accident claim? The team at The Dodd Law Firm is here to help you fight for justice after a crash leaves you injured. Give us a call at 203-272-1883 or send us a quick message online to schedule your free consultation.