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Motorcyclists are four times as likely to get injured in an accident than would be car occupants. That is perhaps because motorcycles lack the same safety features that cars enjoy.
If you are a motorcyclist and have suffered injuries in an accident that was someone else’s fault, you may be wondering what fair compensation could be. The truth is that the compensation you recoup may vary depending on your case. Some factors that may affect your settlement include the extent of your injuries, cost of treatment, percentage of fault, your age, and other circumstances surrounding the accident.
Recoverable Benefits in A Motorcycle Accident
Navigating a claim for a motorcycle accident can be very challenging. The odds are often against the motorcyclist, with most people having a subtle bias against bikers. “You only get one shot at it,” said Harry Brown Jr of Brown Firm – an Atlanta-based law firm, while addressing the need to work with an attorney when filing a motorcycle accident claim.
A fair settlement in a motorcycle accident, like other accidents, should adequately cover three types of damages; economic, non-economic, and punitive damages.
Economic, Non-Economic, and Punitive Damages
Economic damages are damages that result in a direct monetary cost to the claimant. They include current and future medical expenses, current and future lost wages, property damage, cost of prescription medicine, cost of living aids, and home modifications necessitated by your injuries.
Non-economic damages are not quantifiable in monetary terms. These include pain and suffering, disfigurement, loss of companionship, loss of consortium, psychological distress, and loss of life’s enjoyment.
Under rare circumstances, a court may award punitive damages. Punitive damages apply if you can prove in court through evidence that the accident that resulted in your injuries was a direct result of the defendant’s willful conduct or gross negligence.
Other Factors Also Come into Play
Besides the three levels of damages, other factors may also come to play in determining the value of your compensation. One of these factors is the amount of coverage available.
Motorcycle accidents most often cause catastrophic injuries resulting in damages beyond the defendant’s insurance liability coverage. In such cases, the recoverable damages may be limited, especially if the defendant can’t afford to foot the difference from their pocket. That is why motorcyclists should carry an insurance cover to help cover the difference in the event of an accident.
Another factor that could affect your amount of compensation is your percentage of fault. If you live in a shared fault state, the court will use your percentage of fault to determine the value of your payout. There are two broad categories of comparative fault; pure and modified comparative.
In pure comparative law states, you can still recover one percent of the value of your damages if you are 99 percent to blame for the accident. However, in modified fault states, you cannot recover your damages if your percentage of fault exceeds 50 percent.
Average Compensation
While the compensation value may differ from one case to another, If you have suffered injuries in a motorcycle crash, working with a skilled motorcycle accident lawyer can help you recover the rightful compensation.
[Image via Pixels]
