Accidents are never planned for, but you must be prepared to do everything right when they happen. Failing to do one thing right can complicate your situation and jeopardize your chances of claiming damages.
Our motorcycle accident lawyer has highlighted the important things to do if you’re ever involved in a motorcycle accident.
Get to Safety but Leave Your Damaged Bike Untouched
If you’re ever involved in a motorcycle accident, ensure that you do not move your damaged bike from where it is after the accident. The chances are high that it’ll be sprawled on the road or by the side of the road. Leave it in place while you check for any physical injuries. If injured, contact emergency response teams with a description of your injury. If not injured, we recommend getting to safety while you await the police or emergency response.
Leaving the crash site and getting to safety is important for three reasons;
- You remove yourself from a direct collision path, especially if there’s an oncoming speeding vehicle.
- Trying to move your motorbike can further aggravate your conditions and can worsen your injury.
- Moving the bike after your accident will compromise evidence on the accident scene. Leaving the bike in place allows you to get a full picture of the crash and also gives law enforcement officers a clear picture of the accident scene.
Keep Your Safety Gear On
Motorcycle riders may commonly try to remove their safety gear after a crash for some air. This can be dangerous, especially as the other party may have claimed you didn’t have the appropriate safety gear on during the accident. We recommend leaving your safety gear, including your helmet, in place.
Removing your safety gear can also have some health and safety implications. For example, the moment in the aftermath of the accident can cause a release of adrenaline in your body. This chemical compound powers you and numbs pain, meaning you may end up aggravating head, neck, and spine conditions caused by the accident and masked by the hormone. Leaving your gear on helps to prevent those complications.
Call Emergency Services
Accidents, especially motorcycle accidents, can be deadly and dangerous. They can leave you with internal or external bruises and injuries. We recommend seeking medical attention, even if you haven’t sustained any physical injuries.
Contacting emergency services like BikerSOS, Collision Call, 911, Silent Beacon, etc., can help diagnose the extent of the accident injury. Seeking medical help also forms a part of your preliminary evidence of how the accident affected your health.
Not seeking medical help can put you in a bad situation, especially if you’ve suffered delayed symptoms from the accident.
Gather Evidence
Evidence gathering is a huge part of a personal injury case. Insurance companies are more interested in the evidence you’ve gathered to prove the at-fault party as well as how their actions have negatively affected your life and property.
We recommend gathering as much evidence as you can. Evidence can include pictures from the accident scene, including your bruises, injuries, and motorcycle damage. You should also take videos of the accident scene to capture the other party’s vehicle and yours. Doing this can give more context to the accident and beef up your claim. You can also speak to eyewitnesses and collect their names and contact information for documentation.
As part of evidence collection, we recommend taking down a note of how the accident played out. Ensure that you write down every important detail you can remember, from the date and time of the accident to the location, the weather condition, injuries, and more. These can help further buttress your point when you eventually file a claim.
Cooperate with the Police
Leaving the accident scene after a motorcycle accident isn’t an option, except if you’re unconscious and have been taken away by the emergency team. Law enforcement officers will arrive at the accident scene to take stock and prepare a statement. Ensure that you tell the officers exactly what happened without adding or subtracting. You should also ensure to take a copy of the police report as this also forms a part of your evidence against the other party.
Consider Legal Support
Motorcycle accident cases can be complex. In most cases, dealing with insurance companies while recuperating can also be tedious. You can speak to a motorcycle accident lawyer to consider your options as well as how to proceed.
The injury lawyer can recommend the appropriate steps to take as well as represent you during negotiations to ensure you get the right amount for your damages.
If not working with an attorney, you may need to further gather additional evidence, calculate your losses in monetary value, and send a demand letter to the at-fault driver’s insurance provider.
