Dallas Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

Cruising down the open road on your Harley is a fun, relaxing way to spend a summer afternoon enjoying nature and exploring the rugged Texan countryside. Unfortunately, careless drivers can make riding a motorcycle highly dangerous, even for the most cautious and experienced of motorcyclists.  When a car, truck, SUV or other vehicle strikes a motorcyclist on the highways or back roads of Texas, the motorcyclist often suffers disabling or, tragically, fatal injuries.

If one of your family members was injured or became the victim of wrongful death after a motorcycle accident in Dallas, he or she may be able to get compensated for medical bills, lost earnings, and other hardships and losses caused by the accident. The Texas motorcycle injury lawyers of Queenan Law can help. With more than 20 years of experience handling motorcycle accident claims, our skilled legal team of Dallas, TX motorcycle accident attorneys is dedicated to helping crash victims fight for maximum compensation.

Common Causes of Motorcycle Crashes in Dallas, TX

Many collisions are preventable, and occur because of other drivers’ careless mistakes. However, while driving errors are a common source of avoidable crashes, recklessness and negligence can also take other forms.  For example, accidents can occur when a manufacturing error or design flaw causes a motorcycle part to be defective, giving rise to a product liability claim.  Similarly, some accidents are caused by a flaw or defect in the road itself.

In situations where a collision or other type of accident occurs because of recklessness or negligence, the victim may be entitled to compensation from the party who was at fault for causing the crash or collision, including compensation for medical bills.  Some examples of ways negligent drivers cause avoidable accidents in Texas include:

• Driving faster than the posted speed limit (speeding).
• Driving while drowsy or fatigued.
• Driving while intoxicated by drugs and/or alcohol, including prescription medications.
• Failing to check side mirrors or rearview mirrors for motorcyclists.
• Failing to come to a complete stop at stop signs.
• Getting distracted by text messages, radio stations, smartphone apps, food, beverages, makeup, road construction, or other distractions.
• Making improper left turns.
• Running red lights instead of coming to a complete stop.
• Tailgating, or following other vehicles too closely. A driver who tailgates can strike a motorcycle directly, or cause a chain reaction accident by propelling another vehicle into a motorcycle ahead.

Were You or a Family Member Injured While Motorcycling in Dallas?

As TxDOT statistics indicate, many motorcycling accidents produce serious, disabling, and sometimes lethal injuries. With over 20 years of experience handling a wide range of personal injury claims in Texas, the Dallas motorcycle crash lawyers of Queenan Law are thoroughly prepared to investigate, and aggressively pursue compensation for, a broad spectrum of internal, external, catastrophic, and fatal injuries.

Types of motorcycle injuries our legal team handles include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Ankle Injuries – Medial malleolar fractures, injured ankle ligaments
• Back Injuries – Vertebral fractures (fractured spine), bulging disc, herniated disc
• Broken Bones – Fractured collarbones, fractured ribs, pelvic fractures (broken hip)
• Facial Injuries – Permanent scars, mouth injuries, vision loss, fractured cheekbone
• Hand and Wrist Injuries – Broken thumbs, broken fingers, sprained wrist
• Joint Dislocations – Hip dislocation, dislocated shoulder
• Leg Injuries – Fractured tibia, fractured fibula, femur fracture, crush injuries
• Neck Injuries – Whiplash, cervical fracture (broken neck)
• Oral Injuries – Tongue injuries, lip injuries, cracked teeth, chipped teeth, broken teeth
• Paralysis – Paraplegia, quadriplegia (also known as tetraplegia)
• Road Rash – Severe skin abrasion that can occur when a rider or passenger is thrown from the motorcycle and skids against the road or other surface
• Scarring and Disfigurement – Can be caused by lacerations, burns, road rash, or other injuries
• Soft Tissue Injuries – Sprains (torn ligaments) and strains (pulled or torn muscles) are common examples of soft tissue injuries, or injuries that do not affect bone
• Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) – SCI can result in permanent paralysis of all or part of the body
• Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) – Concussions are considered mild TBI (MTBI)
• Wrongful Death – Death resulting from another person’s wrongful acts

How Much is My Dallas Motorcycle Accident Settlement or Lawsuit Worth?

It is difficult to answer this question without reviewing your claim, because every accident involves a unique set of factors and details which impact the ultimate value of a settlement or award. These factors include, but are not limited to:

• The extent and severity of your injuries.
• The extent to which your earning ability is affected by your injuries.
• Whether your injuries are of a permanently disabling nature.
• Whether your injuries have produced, or will produce, permanent scarring.
• The income you lost due to being out of work and receiving treatment after your accident.
• The amount of medical care you will require in the future.

If the victim of a Dallas motorcycle crash can prove that his or her injuries resulted from the other driver’s actions, or the other driver’s failures to act, compensation may be awarded for both financial and non-financial losses, including losses expected to arise in the future. Compensation is sometimes referred to as “damages.”  Types of damages include:

• Economic Damages – Economic damages compensate an injury victim’s financial losses, such as medical bills and lost income.  Examples of economic damages could include costs related to or arising from:
  • Ambulance transportation
  • Crutches, canes, walkers, wheelchairs, braces, and other medical devices
  • Hospitalization
  • Loss of benefits
  • Loss of income, wages, or other earnings
  • Stiches or surgery
• Non-Economic Damages – Non-economic damages try to compensate a crash survivor’s non-financial losses, such as the pain and suffering experienced by the accident victim.  Non-economic damages include compensation for, where applicable, the following:
  • Disfigurement
  • Inconvenience
  • Loss of “companionship and society”
  • Loss of consortium
  • Loss of enjoyment of life
  • Mental anguish
  • Physical impairment or loss of function

Economic and non-economic damages are both called “compensatory damages,” because their purpose is to compensate the victim.

It is fairly uncommon for personal injury claims to go all the way to trial.  It is more typical to resolve a Texas motorcycle injury claim by negotiating a settlement outside of court, a process which may take several months or longer.  Our attorneys will analyze your claim from every angle to determine what sort of legal strategy is ideal for protecting you and your family’s financial interests.  Our goal is to help you recover as much compensation as possible for your injuries.

Proving Fault in a Dallas Motorcycle Crash Lawsuit

Like most states, Texas is a fault insurance state with regard to auto accidents.  In order to be compensated for a motorcycling injury in Dallas, a crash victim must be able to prove that the other driver acted with either of the following:

• Negligence – Most personal injury claims involve one or more defendants who acted negligently.  Negligence is a legal term that describes a failure to take the precautions that a reasonable person would take in order to reduce the risk of a foreseeable accident occurring.  “Gross negligence” describes an extreme form of negligence for which a certain type of compensation called “punitive damages” may be available.  Unlike compensatory damages, punitive damages seek to punish the other driver, while also acting as a deterrent.
• Recklessness – You may be familiar with the term “reckless driving.”  However, “recklessness” is not merely a descriptive term; it has a legal definition.  A person acts with recklessness when he or she is “aware of but consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk” – in short, when a person ignores a known risk which is not justified by the circumstances at hand.

Similar to a prosecutor in a criminal trial, the claimant or plaintiff has the “burden of proof,” which means he or she is responsible for proving that the other party acted with negligence or recklessness, and was at fault for the accident. This process of proving fault may draw on various forms of physical and non-physical evidence, including but not limited to:

• Accident footage
• Crash site photographs
• Expert testimony
• Medical records
• Statements from eyewitnesses
• Wreckage analysis

Dallas Motorcycle Accident + Injury Statistics

Sadly, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDOT) reports that 459 motorcyclists and passengers were killed in accidents in 2015. That year, Texas motorcycle crashes also resulted in:

• 1,887 incapacitating injuries
• 3,324 non-incapacitating injuries
• 1,867 possible injuries

Altogether, that adds up to a total of 5,211 injuries of varying severity, plus nearly 2,000 potential injuries.  By comparison, there were only 1,454 cases of non-injury. These statistics reflect the well-known fact that motorcycle accidents are extremely dangerous for both riders and passengers, who are protected by nothing more than a helmet and leather riding gear, at most, when a crash occurs.

Review Your Claim with Our Dallas Motorcycle Crash Attorneys

The motorcycle injury attorneys of Queenan Law have over 20 years of legal experience helping Texas accident victims fight to get compensated for their pain and suffering, medical expenses, lost wages, and other hardships that result from a serious crash or collision. Taking a proactive and strategic approach to every claim, we are firmly committed to providing our clients with aggressive yet compassionate legal representation.

After you’ve been seriously hurt in any kind of vehicular accident, you need to get plenty of rest. Let the experienced injury lawyers of Queenan Law handle the legal work and settlement negotiations, so that you can simply focus on recuperating. We will work closely with you to keep you fully informed of every detail and progression in your case. To set up a free legal consultation with a Dallas motorcycle crash lawyer Queenan Law, call our law offices at (817) 476-1797. We can help you understand whether you have a claim, and the possible legal options that may be open to you and your family at this time.