Motorcycle Accidents

12 Steps to follow at a motorcycle accident scene

Now that you’ve been involved in a motor vehicle accident you need to take certain steps in order to make sure you have the best chance at recovery. Here are some important steps to follow:

Assess the situation. Given the nature of a motorcycle accident chances are that you may end up on the road. You may have severe injuries and need to stay where you are if safe to do so. Every situation is different and you need to assess the situation so that you can keep yourself from further harm.

Call 911. You want to have police and emergency medical services (EMS) come to the scene to make a record of the accident and more importantly to provide you medical assistance. After your accident you may not immediately feel your injuries as your adrenaline has kicked in. 

Between that and the shock of the situation you want to make sure a trained medical professional examines you. You may not know it but you may require a hospital visit to rule out any immediate life threatening injuries such as head trauma, internal bleeding, spinal injuries, etc.

Obtain the information for all the vehicles involved including:

• License plate number
• Driver’s license of the operator
• Vehicle registration

• Insurance information
• Year, make, model, and color of the vehicles involved

Take photographs of the accident scene and the vehicles involved in the accident.

Report the accident to your insurance company.

Who will pay for my medical treatment?

Unlike cars, motorcycles do not carry PIP (Personal Injury Protection) or No-Fault coverage. In car accidents No-Fault coverage is what would be used to pay for your medical bills. However, with motorcycles being deemed as inherently dangerous there is no No-Fault provision. This can be especially devastating to an injured rider as now they have to worry about their medical costs. Between hospital visits, doctor appointments, diagnostic testing, physical therapy and more, a rider can be looking at astronomical figures in medical bills. You need an attorney that knows how to navigate the pitfalls of medical debt when dealing with a motorcycle accident.

Since motorcycles do not carry No-Fault they are subject to the “serious injury threshold”?

In New York the “serious injury threshold” law categorizes injuries to ensure that people involved in motor vehicle accidents only bring a claim if they are seriously injured. These categories include:

• Death;
• Dismemberment;
• Significant disfigurement;
• Fracture;
• Loss of a fetus;
• Permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function or system;
• Permanent consequential limitation of a body organ or member;
• Significant limitation of use of a body function or system;
• Medically determined injury or impairment of a non-permanent nature which prevents the injured person from performing substantially all of the material acts which constitute such person’s usual and customary daily activities for not less than90 days during the 180 days immediately following the occurrence of the injury or impairment.

Without this threshold requirement, motorcyclists are able to bring a claim that falls outside of the scope of these categories. Motorcycle accidents can be especially devastating and the effects can last both physically, mentally, emotionally and monetarily. It is important to retain an attorney that can provide you the right representation for all of these aspects.