Pittsburgh Motorcycle Accident Lawyer
Motor Vehicle Accident Attorney Advocates for Clients Injured in Motorcycle Accidents in Pittsburgh and Throughout Pennsylvania
If you ride a motorcycle, you understand how to share the road. It’s something the motorcyclists become sensitized to from the day of their first ride. Be aware, share the road, always be prepared for the other person to make the wrong move at the worst possible time.
But sometimes being prepared isn’t enough. When a motorcycle and a car are in an accident, the results are often tragic. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported in 2017 that motorcyclists were 27 times more likely than passenger car occupants to die in a crash per vehicle mile traveled. Faced with these grim statistics, you need the right motorcycle accident lawyer to protect your rights and help you get back to how you were before the accident. If you live in Pittsburgh or Homestead, Pennsylvania, Attorney Mark A. Smith will fight for you just as hard as you are fighting in your recovery.
We understand why you ride and we appreciate the time, training, and preparation you put in to ride safely while still enjoying the same rush that you’ve felt since the first time you got on a motorcycle. Just as you know that there is a balance between riding safely and riding with passion, we know that after an accident, your rights need to be defended with that same intensity and focus. The goal of Attorney Mark A. Smith is to help you regain your freedom to ride and live as you did before your accident. If you have sustained injuries or lost a loved one in a motorcycle accident, contact our experienced Pittsburgh motorcycle accident attorneys today so that we can put our skills to work for you in developing a personal injury or wrongful death claim against the negligent party.
Attorney Mark A. Smith Safeguard Rights of Clients Involved in Motorcycle Accidents and Fatal Motorcycle Accidents in Pittsburgh, PA
Having seen a lot of motorcycle accidents over the years, we know that there are no typical ones. What we do know is that according to the NHTSA, over 80 percent of all motorcycle crashes result in injury or death to the motorcyclist. Your motorcycle provides no head injury protection to you or your passenger, if you have one. One of the most common ways motorcyclists are injured is by being ejected from the motorcycle. Many riders after they are forced to make a necessary sudden stop, are then ejected from the motorcycle, and strike objects on the ground in their path.
Unlike automobiles – which are very frequently what strikes a motorcycle in an accident, a motorcycle lacks the crashworthiness and occupant protection characteristics of that automobile. Because an automobile is much larger and heavier than a motorcycle, it becomes a dangerous weapon when it makes contact with a rider and the motorcycle. Everything on the outside of the car is one more thing that can potentially injure or kill a motorcycle rider, while everything on the inside of the car, such as airbags, door beams, the roof, and even the engine, protects the driver and makes this a very uneven matchup. Automobile drivers also fail to understand how a motorcycle handles and how it can respond to a car at a fair speed. While motorcycles can maneuver more quickly than cars and are more agile, they cannot stop and swerve as quickly as most automobile drivers believe they can. This misjudgement is often a factor in many of the worst accidents.
Common Injuries Sustained in Motorcycle Accidents
From the time motorcycles and cars began to try to share the road, the accident injuries motorcycle riders have endured have been horrible. A study overseen by the Consumer Product Safety Commission examined over 500,000 motorcycle accidents per year. They found that the most frequently injured body part is legs and feet. This is followed by the arms, and then the head and neck which make up 16.8% of all injuries. Fractures and broken bones are the most common, followed closely by less serious injuries such as lacerations, contusions and sprains. Catastrophic motorcycle injuries also occur each day in the United States. In the experience of Attorney Mark A. Smith, these injuries all too frequently involve paralysis and death, especially among younger, less experienced motorcycle riders.
What to do After a Motorcycle Accident
If you are in a motorcycle accident, it’s natural that you will be confused and potentially in shock. What happens immediately after the accident and in the following days is critically important to protecting your rights.
The first thing you need to do after an accident is to get medical care as soon as possible. The severity of motorcycle injuries are almost always underestimated by the injured rider, so getting immediate medical care needs to be your number one concern.
Law enforcement should always be contacted. They are in the best position to secure the scene to ensure that everyone remains safe. They can also often begin to investigate the accident immediately. As the injured party, you want to gather as much information as humanly possible.The law enforcement accident report is the first fundamentally important piece of this set of information and one that is always s key piece of the legal claim puzzle.
You also need to get the other driver’s information. If you are injured to the point where it is impossible for you to do this yourself, someone else at the scene needs to. If you are not able to yourself, get this important information from law enforcement or anyone who witnessed the accident.
Finally, never ever talk to the other party’s insurance company. One of the most important pieces of advice Attorney Mark A. Smith gives anyone injured in a motorcycle accident is that you should never deal with the other side’s insurance company by yourself. This should always be done by an experienced motorcycle accident injury lawyer, which is exactly what we do for our clients in Pittsburgh and Homestead, Pennsylvania.
Contact an Aggressive and Trustworthy Motorcycle Accident Lawyer in Pittsburgh to Discuss Your Case Today
If you think back to your best days riding a motorcycle, you were always in control. You took the weather and road conditions into account, you knew your motorcycle better than anyone else in the world. The sensation of being free as you rode through the streets and highways was what always attracted you to motorcycles from the time you were young. After an accident, everyone else is in control. We understand how it feels to be in such a vulnerable position and Attorney Mark A. Smith is here to help.
Why should you have to pay expensive medical bills when you’ve been injured in a motorcycle accident caused by another driver? Why should that driver just go along with their life as usual when you are hurt and have suffered a loss of income? Where the other drive is at fault, they need to be held liable for your losses and forced to make restitution. But if you wait for the other parties involved to just do the right thing, it may be an eternal wait. The driver that injured you, their legal counsel, and their insurance company are all working together. In our experience, they are never concerned with your injuries and helping you put your life back together. They are all concerned with not being held liable and not paying you what you deserve even when it’s very clear that their side was in the wrong. Attorney Mark A. Smith will always work as hard as possible to make sure that you get the compensation you deserve. Contact our office today for a free consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions About Motorcycle Accidents in Pittsburgh
You have the same rights in theory as anyone else injured in an automobile accident. In practice, you are far more vulnerable to injury and death if you are riding a motorcycle, so do not hesitate to contact Attorney Mark A. Smith to discuss your specific rights.
No. Motorcycles have the legal right to share the road with cars, trucks, and other authorized vehicles. WHere you are injured in a motorcycle accident that was the fault of another party, you absolutely have rights and should contact an experienced motorcycle attorney to discuss a claim.
Yes. You may be able to file a claim to address the loss of financial support your family has endured as a result of the accident.