What Kind of Compensation Can I Seek After a Motorcycle Accident?
Injury victims and survivors are entitled to substantial compensation.
Motorcycle crash victims are usually entitled to substantial compensation, mostly because the injuries in these crashes are so severe. In 2022, the motorcycle rider fatality rate, which is significantly higher than the vehicle occupant fatality rate, hit a 50-year high. Even if victims survive, they usually sustain head injuries, back injuries, and other wounds that are normally permanent and debilitating.
Quite frankly, these victims and families need money to put their lives back together. Ordinary principles of responsibility dictate that the person who caused the crash should pay this money.
So, to obtain compensation, a Sarasota personal injury lawyer must prove negligence, or a lack of care, by a preponderance of the evidence, or more likely than not. Driver negligence is usually ordinary negligence (lack of reasonable care) or negligence per se (a safety law violation that causes a wreck). Several defenses are available as well, and a lawyer must refute them to obtain maximum compensation for victims.
Fatal Accident
Compensation is different in fatal and injury cases. Since the motorcycle crash fatality rate is so high, we will start with wrongful death compensation.
Usually, survivors in Florida are entitled to financial compensation for their pecuniary losses, which include:
- Funeral, burial, and other final expenses,
- Survivors’ lost future emotional support,
- Decedent’s pain and suffering,
- Survivors’ lost future financial support, and
- Decedent’s final medical bills.
In some cases, a Brandon personal injury lawyer can obtain compensation for survivors’ pain and suffering, usually via a bystander claim (parents who see their children in pain are usually entitled to compensation).
These items are difficult to calculate, especially lost future support. So, attorneys often partner with accountants, psychologists, and other outside professionals.
Depending on the severity of the wreck and a few other factors, additional punitive damages may be available as well. Courts award these damages if plaintiffs prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that the tortfeasor (negligent driver) deliberately ignored a known risk.
Punitive damages are usually limited to extreme cases, such as an extremely high BAC level or a tortfeasor who literally fell asleep at the wheel.
Injury Accident
Punitive damages are sometimes available in an injury accident claim. Usually, however, these victims are entitled to compensation for economic and noneconomic losses.
Medical bills, which usually exceed $40,000 in an injury case, are usually the largest component of economic damages in a motorcycle accident case. This category includes compensation for previous treatment as well as money for likely future medical expenses.
Other categories of economic (tangible) losses include property damage and lost wages. Property damage usually includes an emotional element. A valued motorcycle has an emotional value that usually exceeds its financial value. Similar to medical bills, lost wage compensation includes money for prior and probable future lost wages.
Noneconomic (intangible) losses usually include money for pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment in life, emotional distress, and loss of consortium (companionship). To determine noneconomic losses, most attorneys multiply the economic damages by two, three, or four, depending on the strength of the case and a few other factors.
Generally, motorcycle crash claims are settled out of court. These final resolutions significantly benefit victims/plaintiffs. Defendants can tie court judgments up in appeals courts for years. But when they settle cases, they immediately write checks.
Work With a Savvy Sarasota County Attorney
Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a confidential consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Sarasota, contact Carman & Finegan, P.A. The sooner you reach out to us, the sooner we start working for you.