In the blink of an eye a motorcycle accident can change your life. If Mark Hamill had not been in a serious motorcycle accident after starring as Luke Skywalker in the successful Star Wars movies, actor Harrison Ford might never have become a Hollywood leading man. Director Steven Spielberg once confided that until his accident it was Hamill, not Ford, who was slated to star in the hugely popular Indiana Jones movies.
Even when helmets and protective clothing are worn, injuries to the driver and any rider can be extensive in a motorcycle accident. Unlike car collisions, there is nothing to protect your body in a motorcycle accident. Serious head trauma, broken bones, cuts, bruising and seriously abraded skin are common motorcycle accident injuries. Often cars and trucks fail to allow adequate stopping or maneuvering distance around motorcycles, crowding drivers out of lanes into the path of another vehicle or off roads into dangerous debris and gravel. Sometimes inattentive drivers simply fail to see a person on a motorcycle, but there are some drivers who appear to target motorcycles, creating dangerous situations that lead to serious accidents.
Motorcycle accident claims can be more complicated to resolve than automobile accident claims. Personal injury lawyers must be persistent in representing their clients. Because motorcycle drivers are perceived as aggressive and reckless, defense attorneys will try to prove that the cyclist was speeding or driving recklessly. Questions will be raised about the use of protective clothing and helmets and whether the driver is properly licensed. In Pennsylvania, protective headgear is not required if the motorcycle driver is 21 years old or older and has either been licensed to operate a motorcycle for at least two full years or has completed a PennDOT or Motorcycle Safety Foundation motorcycle safety course.
Rosenbaum & Associates, Philadelphia's personal injury specialists, have been very successful in recovering money for motorcyclists injured in accidents.
