No one would like to be involved in a motorcycle accident. Unfortunately, sometimes these accidents just can’t be avoided. Most motorcycle riders adore their bikes, meaning the first thing they think after an accident is to check on their bike. They usually try to move it or retrieve the broken pieces of their bike. However, this action might only put you at high risk of getting involved in other accidents and could lead to a lack of compensation for various reasons.
Thus, you should hire a qualified motorcycle accident attorney to help you with the insurance settlement. In most cases, insurance companies are likely to offer the lowest compensation fees possible. Still, an experienced accident attorney can assist in negotiating with insurance companies and get you the best deal.
Before accepting any settlement with your insurance company, ensure to consult your attorney. They can help to determine whether you’re getting a fair share of what you deserve.
To minimize injuries, further damage, and to avoid getting in legal trouble in the event of motorcycle accidents here are some of the steps to follow.
Get To Safety
First, staying at the crash point may often put you into direct collision with other road users. Most drivers are likely to focus on the object involved in the accident, in this case, the motorbike. Hence, increasing the risks of more collisions due to lack of concentration when driving.
Following a motorbike accident, the priority should be to get to safety, even if you’ll have to leave your bike behind. If the accident occurred at a corner, position yourself somewhere safe and visible so that other road users can see you. If you’re incapable of moving, ask someone to help you move to safety.
Secondly, trying to secure your bike can add to your injuries. After the accident, you’re likely to sustain life-threatening injuries, and moving something heavy like a motorcycle can only worsen your injuries.
Lastly, moving your motorcycle from the accident scene might compromise evidence. Since motorcycle scenes are viewed as crime scenes, avoid compromising the evidence. Remember that most insurers are likely to request original photos from the accident scene before compensation.
While you might think you’re safe retrieving your bike after an accident, you might still be disoriented and confused during this moment. Ensure to avoid such mistakes to prevent yourself from getting involved in other accidents with other road users.
Keep Your Protective Gear On
Another important step after a motorbike crash is keeping your safety gear on. Most motorcycle riders are likely to take their helmets off after the crash. While it might seem an obvious thing to do, it can cause fatal head, spine, or neck injuries, especially since adrenaline could be masking some of them.
Call Emergency Services
Immediate medical attention is paramount following a motorbike accident. Most people sustain injuries without even realizing it. This is due to shock and it tends to cover up the pain. Emergency services providers will assess you thoroughly and determine any injuries that you might have sustained due to the accident.
Seeking emergency services is important as these professionals will instantly put you under the right course of treatment. Ensure you disclose all information about what happened to the doctors to include it in your medical report. This report can serve as evidence in case of any future legal proceedings when seeking compensation needed to cover your treatment.
Cooperate With The Police
After the accident, the police are likely to contact you to get your statement. This can happen at the accident scene or your recovery location. During this event, ensure to cooperate with the police and narrate the events as they happened.
In some instances, the police might use a breather to determine whether participants were under alcohol’s influence during the accident. If you aren’t ready to speak to the police, you may seek your lawyer’s assistance.
Gather Evidence
It’s important to gather as much evidence as you can about the accident since it can be helpful for legal and insurance purposes. If it’s impossible for you to gather any evidence due to injuries, ask someone to take videos and pictures of the scene using your phone.
Ensure everything involved in the accident, from your bike to the car or motorcycle involved in the accident is included in your evidence.
You can also use video recordings from other vehicles or nearby surveillance cameras that might have caught the accident.
Get Repair Quotes
The quotes of motorcycle repair differ from one mechanic to another. As such, ensure that you get as many repair quotes as possible. This will help you save on your repairs and will allow you to present the repair cost in your compensation case. If the accident resulted from someone else’s negligence, you’d be able to claim the cost of repair or even the cost of replacing your motorcycle. Ensure to work with reputable mechanics and ignore quotes that are too low or high compared to others.
Learn From The Event
No matter how the accident happened, there’s always something to learn to minimize the chances of other accidents in the future. Whether you were responsible for the accident or not, you can learn how to ride cautiously and be mindful of what may happen.
The number of motorcycles involved in accidents increases each year, with truck and car drivers paying little attention to motorcycles. Therefore, motorcyclists need to learn preventive measures to avoid more accidents from happening.
Conclusion
Being involved in a motorcycle accident is a terrible experience. However, if you follow the proper steps, the situation might not be as bad as it could be. Following an accident, your health and safety must be your priority. Thus, it’s important to seek medical attention to prevent your condition from worsening. Also, hire a qualified accident attorney to help with your compensation.
With the steps mentioned above, you’ll be able to protect yourself and safely move on from the incident.
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