If you were injured in a motorcycle accident in Fort Worth, Texas, a motorcycle accident lawyer serving Fort Worth can help you pursue damages from the liable party. Since 2002, D. Miller & Associates, PLLC® has assisted people through personal injuries with personalized legal care. We can manage your case from start to finish and represent you in all legal appearances about your motorcycle accident.
Texas has complex liability and negligence statutes and a deadline for personal injury lawsuits. If you miss this deadline, you could lose your opportunity to hold a reckless driver accountable. Rather than wait and risk jeopardizing your case, you can call our law firm to get a free case evaluation from one of our team members, who will explain what legal routes you can take to potentially recover your damages.
Seeking Financial Recovery for Motorcycle Accident Injuries
First and foremost, if you were injured in a motorcycle accident, you should seek medical care and follow your doctor’s instructions for treating your injuries. This is for your best health and to prevent the insurance company from questioning the validity of your medical damages.
Having your motorcycle accident mentioned in your medical records can also serve as evidence for your case. We can request a release of your medical records with your permission and use information about your motorcycle collision injuries from your physician to assert why you may be entitled to financial recovery.
The Severity of Your Injuries Can Affect Your Case
A motorcycle accident lawyer serving Fort Worth from our firm can compile your medical bills, pay stubs, and other losses to seek financial recovery on your behalf. How much you could recover in a motorcycle accident depends on a few factors:
- Will you be disabled, disfigured, or suffer from a chronic medical issue because of your injuries?
- Will you be able to work at the same level as before the accident?
- Are your personal relationships affected because of your injuries? For example, do your injuries prevent you from having children?
- What are the circumstances of your accident? For example, were there other injured people or loss of life?
Our team will review your case and explain what you can expect. Keep in mind that each personal injury case is unique to the individual who was injured. Other factors may also affect how many damages you may qualify to recover, such as whether you incurred property damage, income loss, or other forms of pain and suffering.
What Recoverable Damages May Be Obtained from the Liable Party?
Recoverable damages are the economic and non-economic losses that you suffer because of your injury. They can range from hospital bills to emotional distress. The main difference between economic and non-economic damages generally is:
- Economic damages: These types of damages involve any form of financial loss related to your motorcycle accident or injuries. This can involve expenses you had to cover to resolve damages (e.g., motorcycle repair bills), debts you’ve incurred because you could not cover the expenses at the time (e.g., medical debt), and money you lost as a result of the accident or your injuries (e.g., income loss).
- Non-economic damages: These types of damages involve all other non-financial losses. If you suffered physical, emotional, or mental damages as a result of the motorcycle accident, they would fall under this category. Additionally, damages related to how your overall quality of life was affected can be included in your non-economic damage claim.
Types of Compensatory Damages
Many clients are unaware of what kinds of damages they may qualify to claim in their case. Our firm will carefully review your damages and seek appropriate financial recovery. You will be able to tell us about your situation in legal consultations with our team, and we will do the work to determine how much financial awards to pursue to recover your damages.
Your compensatory damages might include:
- Medical care and treatment, both current and future
- Lifecare costs, including childcare and homecare costs if affected by your injuries
- Property damage and temporary transportation
- Loss of income, including benefits
- Other related expenses, such as mileage costs to travel from your home to the doctor’s office
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Diminished quality of life
- Permanent disability, including vision or hearing loss
- Physical disfigurement, including scarring and burn markings
- Reduced earning potential
Part of the discovery phase of our investigation may involve collecting evidence to prove your damages, which may include financial documents (e.g., bills and receipts), your medical records, expert witness testimony (e.g., psychological evaluations from a licensed mental health practitioner), and photographs and videos of your physical recovery.
What Happens If the Victim did Not Survive Their Accident?
If you lost a loved one because of a motorcycle accident in Fort Worth, Texas, our firm wants to extend our deepest apologies. Handling the sudden tragedy of a loved one’s death can be overwhelming, so we understand why going through with a legal case might feel chaotic.
With personal injury cases, the victim steps forward to claim their damages. However, if the victim passes away, their survivors, such as a spouse or a child, may qualify to claim financial recovery on their behalf. Our law firm can review your relationship with the decedent (the deceased individual) and organize a wrongful death action on your behalf. Through this legal action, you may recover damages such as:
- Funeral arrangement expenses, including costs for burial or cremation
- Loss of consortium for the surviving spouse
- Loss of parental guidance for the surviving children
- Loss of inheritance if your family had to use these funds to cover damages
- Loss of financial support if your loved one was a contributor to the family net worth
- Medical debts passed down to your family after your loved one’s death
- Pain and suffering, including grief
We will update you as your case moves forward, which can give you space to process your loss in private. If you ever have further questions about your case, our team is available to answer.
Deadline for Seeking Financial Recovery
Like other states, Texas has a statute of limitations on personal injury lawsuits. Under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003, you generally have two years from the date you were injured to file a personal injury lawsuit. Likewise, a wrongful death lawsuit also has a two-year time limit that begins on the date of your loved one’s passing.
Don’t Hesitate to Start Building Your Case Right Away
It takes time to build a case, whether you decide to file an insurance claim or proceed with a lawsuit. However, with personal injury lawsuits, once you miss your case’s filing deadline, you will no longer qualify to pursue financial recovery in the civil court system. This means:
- Your case could get dismissed upon submission by a reviewing judge.
- The defendant would have grounds to request a case dismissal because you filed late. If granted, the defendant would be absolved of liability of your damages, meaning they would not be legally obligated to compensate you.
- You would lose your legal right to financial recovery, which could jeopardize your argument against the defendant even if you try to negotiate outside of court.
Lawsuits can serve as leverage against insurance companies during negotiations. So, if you wait too long and miss your opportunity to take legal action against them, this can weaken your claim and allow insurance companies to deny you the financial rewards you need. When you work with a motorcycle accident lawyer serving Fort Worth from our team, we don’t waste any time and take the measures necessary to file your case on time.
How a Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Helps You
It is tricky to navigate an insurance claim or a personal injury lawsuit on your own, particularly if you are unwell or under a doctor’s care. If you are taking certain medication, your physician may caution you against making important legal decisions.
Our legal team can:
- Obtain evidence of the accident, including photos, videos, vehicle onboard digital information, cellphone use at the time of the accident, witness statements, and police reports
- Identify and communicate with all liable parties and related parties, such as court officials, law enforcement officers, and insurance adjustors
- Secure documentation and testimony about your injuries and projected health outcome
- File, track, and manage an insurance claim
- Negotiate a settlement for your economic and emotional damages
- Appear in all legal meetings or appearances, including trial, on your behalf to advocate for your financial recovery
A motorcycle accident lawyer from our team can be an objective advocate who navigates this process for you. Our lawyers keep you updated and treat you with the compassionate, respectful care that you deserve.
Four Elements of Liability
A motorcycle accident, like any personal injury, requires a burden of proof by the person seeking damages. You (and your lawyer) must show that it is more likely than not that the other party caused the injuries and damages through negligence or intent.
A motorcycle accident lawyer from our team can collect evidence to establish these four elements of liability, which are:
- Duty of care: The other party had an obligation to take reasonable measures and prevent the accident. For example, all road users must abide by traffic laws to keep everyone safe on the road.
- Breach of duty of care: The other party breached this duty in some way, such as changing lanes without looking or following you too closely.
- Causation: The other party caused your injuries by failing to uphold their duty of care. Using one of the above examples, we would show how failing to look into other lanes before merging put you in danger. Because you were riding a motorcycle, the other driver should have taken better precautions to ensure no one else was in the lane before merging and hitting you.
- Damages: You have damages in the form of medical bills, lost pay, and pain and suffering because of your injuries.
Legal Protection for Injured Motorcycle Riders and Passengers
Drivers in Texas must share the road with motorcycles. As a motorcycle rider, you have the legal right to:
- Drive on public roadways in Texas, including highways
- Expect drivers to exercise a duty of care to avoid harming you
- Aid and assistance after an accident
Licensed drivers in Texas are required by law to stop after any accident that results in injury and/or property damage.
Hit and Run Laws in Texas
Under Texas Transportation Code § 550.023, it is illegal to flee the scene of an accident involving another vehicle or person (hit and run). The law requires certain actions, including:
- Give first aid to the injured person and call 9-1-1.
- Exchange driver license and insurance information.
- Call the police and wait for officers to arrive.
If someone hits your motorcycle while it is parked, he or she must leave a note with contact information.
Get a Free Case Evaluation from D. Miller & Associates, PLLC®
If you are hurt in a motorcycle accident that you did not cause, call our team for a free case evaluation at (713) 850-8600. The sooner you call, the sooner our motorcycle accident lawyers can help with your Fort Worth case. Once you agree to work with our firm, we can assign a motorcycle accident lawyer serving Fort Worth to your case right away.
Additionally, if you would like to learn more about the civil litigation process, watch one of our Facebook lives. We also answer questions we receive from our viewers. Otherwise, you can speak with a member of our team in a free consultation. Start your legal journey today.
