Motorcycle Accident Lawyers
The Road to Recovery After a Motorcycle Wreck: How an Experienced Lawyer Can Help
What is a Motorcycle Accident Lawyer?
- Health care
- Prescription meds
- Potential income loss
- Damage to the vehicle and emotional distress
Types of Motorcycle Accidents | Common Causes
- Motorcycle Accident Occurring at High Speed When you’re going too fast, you can’t react quickly enough to manage or avoid an unexpected hazard, increasing the risk of a collision. Be mindful that motorcycles are lightweight and that excessive speed makes them extremely hazardous on the road.
- Accidents Involving Motorcycles on the Turn Motorcycle rider(s) should be especially cautious around corners. When handling a turn, keeping your balance is important, which can be difficult if you come across a patch of sand, water, gravel, or other obstacles. If the front tire hits something and loses traction, the vehicle can easily veer off the road and crash.
- Head-on Collisions Head-on collisions between cars and motorcycles are among the most dangerous crashes for riders. Records indicate that these collisions cause 58 percent of fatal motorcycle accidents. There is a good chance that both vehicles involved in a head-on collision with a motorcycle are moving quickly, which raises the risk of serious or fatal injury for the rider.
- Accidents Involving Motorcycles and Left-Turning Vehicles A left-turning automobile that fails to see a motorcycle or incorrectly estimates its speed can cause a serious collision. In this case, the turning vehicle hits the motorcycle when the rider passes the car, goes through an intersection, or overtakes the vehicle. Motorcycle riders are particularly vulnerable to left-hand turn accidents because they have so little protection compared to drivers of other vehicles.
- Motorcycle Accidents Caused by Drivers Changing Lanes Drivers who change lanes without checking mirrors and blind spots can move directly into a rider’s path. Since September 2022, Arizona allows lane filtering only in limited conditions — a two-wheeled motorcycle passing stopped vehicles on a street with at least two same-direction lanes and a speed limit of 45 mph or less, at no more than 15 mph, when safe. Riding between lanes of moving traffic is still not allowed.
- Motorcycle Crashes Caused by Intoxication Impaired driving is a major cause of serious crashes in the United States, whether the impaired person is driving a car or riding a motorcycle. In Arizona, it is illegal to drive or ride while impaired to the slightest degree by alcohol or drugs, or with an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more within two hours of driving (A.R.S. 28-1381).
A Motorcycle Injury and Your Legal Rights
- Your Suffering and Pain You may be able to easily put a price tag on the money you spend on medical care and time away from work after an accident caused by another driver’s carelessness, but putting a price tag on the mental anguish you’ve had to endure is another story.
- Total Cost of Your Medical Treatment The costs associated with treating injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident are likely to be substantial and ongoing, especially if complications and subsequent health issues arise. Your dedicated motorcycle accident attorney will assist you in accurately representing your total medical expenses, both current and future, as part of your claim following a motorcycle accident.
- Reimbursement for Your Lost Income Depending on the severity of your injuries, you may need to take time off work after a motorcycle accident to focus on your recovery. If you can’t keep making as much money as before, or if your career path is altered, you can expect your financial losses to be even greater.
Tips for Choosing the Right Motorcycle Accident Lawyer
- Checking the credentials and licenses of each candidate
- Interviewing your options
- Examining their work practices
- Compassion While they are assisting you through the process of your lawsuit, attorneys should also demonstrate sympathy toward their clients. If you sustained major injuries in the motorbike accident, you are most likely emotionally going through a difficult period. A sympathetic lawyer can help guide you through the legal process without adding to the tension you already feel.
- Attention to detail Accident claims are often won or lost based on the details provided. During the interview, if an attorney does not pay careful attention to the details, they risk missing vital evidence that could benefit your case.
- Professionalism The attorney you hire to represent you in your motorcycle accident should take the matter as seriously as you do. When attorneys treat you professionally and respectfully, it demonstrates that they take you and your case seriously.
- Commitment Last but not least, you must be sure that your attorney is dedicated to serving as your representative. If it appears that an attorney has several other cases to handle, there is a chance that they will not be able to devote their whole attention to your case.
Dealing with the Aftermath of a Motorcycle Accident
Have you been injured in a Motorcycle Accident?
Areas of Practice
Motorcycle Accident Lawyers: Protecting Your Rights and Seeking Compensation
Motorcycle Accident FAQ
Here are plain answers about motorcycle accident claims in Arizona, how insurance often works, and when it may help to talk with an Accident Law Group attorney.
Get to safety and get medical care first, even if you feel okay — some head, neck, and spine injuries do not show right away. Arizona law requires drivers in a crash that injures or kills someone to notify police right away, so calling 911 or local police is usually the first step. When it is safe, take photos of the scene, the vehicles, your motorcycle, and your injuries, and write down witness names. Keep your helmet, jacket, and other gear as they are; they can help show what happened. Avoid recorded statements or quick settlement papers until you understand your options. Accident Law Group offers a free consultation — call 602-333-3333 when you are ready.
Often, yes. Arizona follows a pure comparative fault rule. If a rider is found partly at fault, the damages are generally reduced by the rider’s share of fault, but the claim is not automatically barred. For example, a rider found 20 percent at fault would generally see the recovery reduced by 20 percent. Insurers sometimes raise fault arguments early, so evidence about speed, visibility, and the other driver’s actions matters. This is general information only; how fault is assigned depends on the facts of each crash.
Arizona requires motorcycle riders and passengers under 18 to wear a helmet. Adults 18 and older are not required to wear one, although the operator generally must use glasses, goggles, or a face shield unless the motorcycle has a windshield. Not wearing a helmet does not, by itself, end an injury claim. An insurer may argue that a helmet would have prevented or lessened certain injuries — usually head injuries — and ask that those damages be reduced. In Arizona, that argument generally needs supporting evidence, and it does not reach injuries a helmet would not have affected, such as a broken leg. We are glad to talk through how this may apply to you.
Not in the way many riders mean it. Since September 24, 2022, Arizona allows lane filtering only in limited conditions: a two-wheeled motorcycle may pass vehicles that are stopped in the same direction of travel, on a street with at least two lanes going the same way and a speed limit of 45 mph or less, while the rider goes no faster than 15 mph and only when it can be done safely. Riding between lanes of moving traffic is still not allowed. If a crash happened while a rider was filtering, an insurer may raise fault questions, but the other driver’s conduct still matters, and the details are worth a careful review.
Many Arizona personal injury claims must be filed within two years, generally counted from the date of the crash. Claims against a city, county, state agency, or other public entity follow different rules: a written notice of claim is generally due within 180 days, and a lawsuit within one year. Other rules, such as those for injured minors, can change the timing. Because deadlines depend on the facts, it helps to have them reviewed early. Call 602-333-3333 for a free consultation — there is no obligation to hire us.
Arizona requires drivers to carry liability insurance, but the minimum for bodily injury is $25,000 per person — often far less than the cost of a serious motorcycle injury. Uninsured motorist (UM) and underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage can help in hit-and-run, uninsured, or low-limit cases if it is on your policy. Arizona insurers must offer UM/UIM coverage, but buying it is optional, so the declarations page of your motorcycle policy — and sometimes a household auto policy — controls what may be available. Medical payments coverage may also help with bills. Bring your policy paperwork to a consultation and we can help you read it carefully.
Claims often include losses you can document, such as medical treatment, reasonably needed future care, lost income or earning ability, and damage to your motorcycle and riding gear. They can also include harms that are harder to measure, such as pain, emotional distress, scarring, and loss of enjoyment of life. When a crash is fatal, surviving family members may have separate wrongful-death questions. No web page can put a dollar value on your case; that depends on medical proof, liability, and the insurance available.
It can help to talk with us soon after you get medical care — especially if an adjuster asks for a recorded statement, the other driver says they did not see you, fault is disputed, a hit-and-run or low-limit policy is involved, or your injuries involve the head, spine, or a long recovery. Riders sometimes face unfair assumptions in insurance claims, so early, careful documentation matters. Accident Law Group offers a free consultation so you can share what happened and ask questions before deciding anything. Call 602-333-3333 — there is no fee unless we recover for you.
Related practice areas & motorcycle guides
- Car accident lawyers — when a car or SUV driver caused the crash
- Semi-truck accidents — commercial vehicle impacts
- Traumatic brain injury lawyer — head injuries, with or without a helmet
- Wrongful death attorneys — when a rider does not survive
- Scar compensation calculator — road rash and lasting scars
- Pedestrian accident lawyers — other vulnerable road users
- Bicycle accident lawyer — related two-wheel claims
- 15-step checklist after a motorcycle accident — legal, medical, and insurance steps
- Arizona guide to motorcycle accident claims — evidence, insurance, and fault
- Left-turn motorcycle accidents — the most common car–motorcycle crash pattern
- Common motorcycle accident injuries — road rash, fractures, spinal injuries
- Paralysis after a motorcycle accident — catastrophic spinal cord injuries
