Motorcycle injuries are rarely minor. While car drivers are offered the safety of an enclosed vehicle in a car accident, motorcycle riders don’t have that protection. Bikers are at high risk of serious injuries or death in a motorcycle crash.
Injured motorcycle accident victims often face years of medical procedures. Many never fully recover from their injuries after a crash. Injured riders may experience decreased physical or cognitive function after these incidents.
This can result in steep medical bills. On top of these expenses, you may have lost the ability to perform your former job. This is when securing the help of a Chicago motorcycle accident lawyer can be invaluable.
Thomas Law Offices is ready to assist with your claim and get you the compensation you deserve.
What Causes Chicago Motorcycle Accidents?
When our Chicago motorcycle accident attorneys investigate your case, we’ll look into why and how the accident happened. A bike collision is usually caused by negligence, but many different types exist. Let’s look at some common ways auto accidents involving motorcycles occur.
Motorist Negligence
Driver error is one of the top causes of motorcycle crashes. Usually, this means that a motorist wasn’t operating their vehicle in the safest manner possible. Motorist negligence leads to fatal crashes every day in the United States.
Distracted Driving
Motorcyclists are much more difficult to spot on the road than cars. If a car driver is not paying attention, colliding with a motorcycle rider is easy. Distracted driving most commonly involves one or more of the following:
- Mobile device use (especially texting and driving)
- Talking on the phone
- Eating or drinking
- Paying too much attention to GPS, music, radio, or temperature controls
- Holding conversations with others in the car
Unsafe Passing, Turning, or Merging
A failure to check blind spots when passing, turning, or merging results in a high number of bike crash injuries. Drivers of all vehicles, especially large trucks or SUVs, have a duty to look out for more vulnerable vehicles like motorcycles.
Aggressive Driving
Unfortunately, some drivers feel they have more right to use the road than a motorcycle rider.
Aggressive driving may involve speeding, tailgating, or failing to yield the right of way. When an aggressive driver follows too closely, the back of the motorcycle could be bumped, causing the rider to lose control and fall. This is just one example of how aggressive driving behavior affects motorcyclists in Chicago.
Reckless Driving
Unsafe driving behaviors like speeding, distraction, multitasking, breaking traffic laws, and failure to use turn signals can cause serious harm—even when aggressive intent is not involved. These behaviors can make it easy to strike a motorcycle on the road. Young and inexperienced drivers may be more likely to drive recklessly than older motorists.
Drunk Driving
Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol is never acceptable under any circumstances. Yet, as motorcycle accident lawyers, we have seen alcohol consistently rank as a top factor in Chicago bike crashes. Our legal efforts work to prevent drivers from ever getting behind the wheel of a vehicle while intoxicated.
Other Reasons Motorcycle Accidents Occur
In some cases, a factor other than driver negligence (or in combination with driver negligence) may be at play.
Defective Auto Parts
If a defective auto part fails on the road, a manufacturing company may be the at-fault party in your motorcycle accident case. Whether you or the other driver experienced a vehicle malfunction, we will conduct a thorough investigation to accurately determine liability. Our law group has experience in product liability cases involving motorcycle components.
Holding the at-fault party liable in these cases is not always easy. Only the most experienced motorcycle accident lawyers will be able to successfully handle a personal injury lawsuit or wrongful death claim involving roadway negligence.
Your Chicago motorcycle accident lawyer will know how to examine accident reports, consult with experts, gather medical records, analyze video footage, and search for other pertinent information to prove who is at fault and how they acted negligently. Then, they can start fighting to recover the compensation you need for medical bills and other losses.
Why Are Motorcycle Accidents So Dangerous?
According to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were 6,218 motorcyclists killed in 2022, and that represents 15% of all traffic fatalities. That is the highest number of motorcyclists killed since at least 1975.
Motorcyclists have significantly less protection than a person in a car or truck. At best, a helmet and thick, long-sleeved clothing can shield the body from some injuries. But even protective gear can’t guarantee safety from many catastrophic motorcycle injuries.
A catastrophic injury prevents a person from living the life they once lived. This causes major life changes and often prevents the injured victim from holding gainful employment. Permanent disability is a very likely reality for motorcycle riders who sustain catastrophic injuries.
These motorcycle injuries often include:
- Traumatic Brain Injuries: When something penetrates the skull or harms the brain in any way, a traumatic brain injury (TBI) may occur. These can affect how the brain functions, affecting cognition or mobility.
- Spinal Cord Injuries: Motorcyclists can also sustain a spinal cord injury. If the force is severe enough, the injury could result in paralysis. The injury site determines the type of paralysis. Paraplegia affects the use of one’s legs, while tetraplegia affects the arms, torso, and legs.
- Loss of Limb: A severe motorcycle accident has the potential to sever a limb upon impact. In other cases, the limb may be beyond repair, leaving doctors forced to amputate.
- Burn Injuries: Motorcyclists risk suffering road rash—a type of burn injury. When contact is made with the ground, the friction between the skin and the ground can cause burns. Severe burn injuries can reach through the layers of skin to the muscle and bone. Permanent nerve damage may prevent feeling or function at the injury site.
Catastrophic injuries require intense medical care immediately. However, even with care, the patient may suffer long-lasting consequences from the injury. Continued care in the future may involve physical therapy, medication, and other forms of treatment.
Injured victims may require medical equipment to help maintain a high quality of life—such as a wheelchair or a prosthetic limb.
Making this adjustment can be difficult. The frustration of relearning everyday tasks can take a physical and emotional toll. These injuries shouldn’t have happened; your entire life has changed because of someone else’s mistake.
While your motorcycle accident injury lawyer can’t undo the accident, they can provide you with legal guidance so you can get the financial security you need to focus on your healing.
Non-Catastrophic Injuries
Injuries don’t have to be catastrophic to be severe. Motorcycle accidents can cause a wide range of injuries that are severe and require medical attention.
Some examples of non-catastrophic injuries include:
- Broken Bones: If thrown from your motorcycle, you may land on a limb and break a bone. Broken arms and legs are painful injuries that will most likely need months of recovery.
- Lacerations, Scrapes, and Bruises: Falling and hitting the ground after a crash can cause deep cuts, scrapes, and bruising. Even if the motorcyclist has protective gear, the fabric can tear or rip, exposing the skin to the environment. Debris from the road, like gravel and dirt, can also get into these cuts and scrapes. These injuries could get infected if they’re not cleaned and dressed properly.
- Soft Tissue Injuries: Sprains and strains may not be catastrophic, but they are also difficult to identify. These injuries may not have visible indicators that something is wrong. If symptoms take a few days until they are present, then you may not discover these injuries until you start to feel pain.
Our Chicago Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Is Ready to Fight for You
If a motorcycle accident caused you to lose your job, your health, and other important aspects of your life, a personal injury attorney is ready to help you move toward recovery. Motorcycle accident injuries shouldn’t take away your financial freedom. Illinois law allows injured victims to take legal action against those whose negligence caused them personal injury.
At Thomas Law Offices, we are ready to hear your side of the incident. Our Chicago motorcycle accident lawyer can help you recover compensation after a crash and start putting your life back on track.
Contact us to schedule a free consultation today.
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