Milwaukee Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

Getting fair compensation for a motorcycle crash is no easy task. The insurance company may try to blame you and give you the smallest settlement they can. Make sure your compensation is fair by working with a Milwaukee motorcycle accident attorney.

Motor vehicle accidents can cause much more serious injuries to someone riding a motorcycle than to someone in a passenger car or commercial truck, which means that the costs are higher, too. Many motorcycle crashes are unfairly blamed on bikers, mainly because of the untrue but popular stereotype that they are all reckless and wild.

The injuries motorcyclists can suffer in a wreck can be catastrophic—if not deadly—leaving them and their families in financial ruin and their lives forever changed for the worse. If you have been injured or a loved one has been killed in a motorcycle crash, you can hold the other driver and any other responsible parties accountable and receive a settlement to compensate you for everything you’ve experienced.

If this is your situation, you need the best Milwaukee motorcycle accident lawyer to help you recover fair and full compensation, and that attorney will come from the Law Offices of Gary S. Greenberg. Our attorneys understand how difficult motorcycle accidents are, and we’ll fight for your fair treatment. Motorcyclists shouldn’t have to suffer for their vehicle choice, so we’ll help you fight back.

Insurance Companies and Motorbike Wrecks

When you make a motorcycle accident claim, the insurance company will be looking to maximize their profit margins by minimizing your payout. This includes all of the insurance companies you will have to deal with, including your own.

Typically, when you’ve been injured in an accident, you’ll need to simply give your insurance company a call. They’ll review your claim, calculate your losses, and offer you a settlement for your suffering.

Unfortunately, insurance companies are often more focused on their profits than they are on your health. On top of that, motorcycle crashes are often expensive, so they’ll try to protect themselves from paying out.

The negative stereotype held against bikers is often taken advantage of in the insurance world, where even the color red deserves a higher premium. They may do whatever they can, including using your own words out of context, to put the blame for the crash on you. In some cases, that may mean that part or all your settlement will be lost, leaving you unable to recover.

It’s unfortunate, but sometimes, insurance companies will act in bad faith. You need compensation, but they’re simply unwilling to part with their own profits. Sadly, that means they may try to leave you to suffer for it. This is why retaining an experienced Milwaukee motorcycle crash attorney is imperative: You can’t allow an insurer to give you less than what you deserve.

When They Blame You for the Motorcycle Crash

While you should be focused on your recovery, motorcycle accidents are rarely so simple. Chances are good that you’ll have to fight back to get your compensation. Worse, if you don’t, your compensation could be reduced or dismissed, just because you’re a motorcyclist.

In Wisconsin, you’ll need to be prepared to defend your claim. Wisconsin is one of the states that recognizes comparative negligence, which may reduce your claim by the percent of fault you’re found responsible for.

For example, let’s say you were on the highway and another car tried to pass you. In the process, they hit you, causing you to lose control and crash. However, you were speeding at the time, and the defense argues that because you weren’t driving carefully, you were partially responsible.

If you don’t fight this claim, your compensation may be reduced by 10 percent, for example. That doesn’t seem like much at first, but let’s say your claim was worth $1 million. That leaves you with $900,000, with a loss of $100,000. That’s significant when you’re replacing your bike and covering your bills, so reach out to a motorcycle crash attorney if you’re struggling to prove you weren’t at fault.

Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Claims in Wisconsin

Wisconsin’s statute of limitations for personal injury claims is only three years, which may seem like enough time to figure out who the at-fault parties are, calculate the medical and property repair costs, and file your claim.

This can be deceptive, however, as it takes time to not only contact witnesses and gather the necessary evidence but also to negotiate with the insurance company and their attorneys. After a motorbike wreck, you should contact a Milwaukee motorcycle crash lawyer from our firm immediately. Doing so doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll end up in court, but it does preserve all of your options and give us the time needed to build the strongest case possible.

Causes of Motorcycle Crashes and Determining Fault

It’s an unfortunate truth, but the average driver engages in a number of negligent driving behaviors on a regular basis—many of which increase their odds of harming a motorcyclist. There are many causes to motorcycle accidents, and verifying the cause of your crash will indicate who should be held accountable. A few of the more common ones are as follows:

• Dangerous road conditions, such as potholes, uneven shoulders, speed bumps, obscured turns, and even debris in the road, can all be a far greater risk to bikers than to other drivers.
• Drunk drivers are far less aware of motorcyclists than sober ones, and deadly crashes are a sadly common result.
• Careless car drivers often fail to notice the smaller frames of motorcycles and change lanes into them without first checking their blind spots. Parked drivers even frequently open their doors into the way of bikers.
• Distracted drivers frequently cause accidents and are even less likely to notice a motorcycle due to its smaller size.
• Speeding is a common cause of many accidents, and the injuries motorcyclists suffer in these wrecks can be even more catastrophic than normal.

Single-Vehicle Accidents and Your Claim

In some cases, you might have been the only vehicle involved in the accident. You were taking care to drive carefully, but then you were badly injured in a one-vehicle accident. In these cases, what are your options? Fortunately, you’ll have a few choices.

First, if you hit a pothole, or if your motorcycle accident was caused by a road defect, you may need to sue the agency responsible for the roads. They should be responsible for the defects, and they should cover the costs of your recovery.

Sometimes, however, the problem isn’t the road—it’s your bike. After the accident, your motorcycle accident attorney should also review the state of the motorcycle. In some cases, the motorcycle may have malfunctioned, causing a serious accident and injuring you. In these cases, you’ll need to find the manufacturer of the defective part.

When a manufacturer releases a part or appliance, it should be tested to ensure it’s safe for you. Unfortunately, the manufacturer might not have taken this step, leaving you to deal with the aftermath.

Motorcycle Accident Injuries

As stated already, traffic accidents tend to cause much more severe injuries to motorcyclists than to other motorists. These injuries often require expensive medical facilities and equipment, and any disabilities that result will need special accommodations—possibly for the rest of your life.

These costs may only grow as the full extent of your injuries becomes more apparent over time. Your motorcycle accident lawyer in Milwaukee will work with your healthcare provider to determine what care you will need and how your quality of life will be affected.

Motorcycle crash injuries often include the following:

• Neck and spine injuries frequently result in chronic pain or paralysis.
• Brain damage may cause difficulty speaking or understanding speech and other motor and mental function degradation.
• Severely broken limbs may require surgically installed pins and plates to correct.
• Amputation is not uncommon in motorbike crashes, requiring expensive prosthetics afterward.
• Friction burns, such as severe road rash, could require skin grafts to correct.
• Nerve damage of any kind can lead to near unstoppable pain once caused.

Assessing the Value of Your Motorcycle Wreck

Viewing the impact of a motorcycle accident in dollar amounts may seem harsh, but that is how the insurance company and opposing attorneys will look at it, and they may be doing everything they can to pay you as little as possible.

Your Milwaukee motorcycle crash lawyer will help you uncover and assess the value of all of your losses and costs, while simultaneously developing a case that proves your need for monetary compensation. Listed below are just a few of the items that you might qualify for compensation for:

• Immediate and future income loss
• Current and future medical costs
• Home and vehicle modifications made to accommodate new disabilities
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Loss of society and companionship, also known as loss of consortium
• Decreased quality of life

Work with a Milwaukee Motorcycle Crash Attorney

The incredibly complex nature of insurance, motor vehicle law, and the legal system is reason enough to seek out an experienced personal injury attorney, and the money and peace of mind we can help you recover will be far greater and more comprehensive than the minimal amount the insurance company will offer you.

To arrange a time to meet with a Milwaukee motorcycle accident lawyer during a free, no-obligation consultation, call the Law Offices of Gary S. Greenberg at 414-271-7007. Alternatively, you can also fill out the form below and someone from our team will contact you at your convenience.