Motorcycles: Living with the Risks
Dos and Don’ts Following a Motorcycle Accident
Portland Motorcycle Accident Attorney, Steve Smucker; He Knows the Rules of the Road
Filing a Claim, Bringing a Lawsuit, Recovering Damages
Wrongful Death Claims Arising from Highway Collisions
Common Types or Causes of Motorcycle Accidents
Don’t Expect to Be Seen; Ride Defensively
Oregon Law States

Motorcycles: Living with the Risks

Motorcycles; they are romantic, practical, exhilarating. But, more frequently than with vehicles, a motorcycle accident will cause life changing injuries, or death.

The number of registered motorcycles doubled between 1990 and 2000. Motorcycle-related deaths increased more than 25% from 2004 to 2005. Over 80% of multi-vehicle accidents involving motorcyclists are not the rider’s fault. Whether experienced or not, as a motorcyclist you are at greater risk of catastrophic and permanent injuries such as spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and death.

Dos and Don’ts Following a Motorcycle Accident

• Take pictures of the scene, motorcycle, and injuries.
• Keep all evidence, including scrapped helmets and torn leathers.
• Call police and report there has been a serious injury.
• Get the names and phone numbers of any witnesses.
• Write down the date, time, location, road conditions, weather, lighting, relative speeds, etc.
• Save medical bills. Start an electronic file of information and notes. Upload photos.
• Call a personal injury attorney specializing in motorcycle accidents.
• Do not give a statement to the other driver’s insurance company, without first calling a qualified personal injury and motorcycle accident lawyer.
• Do not sign anything without knowing your legal rights. Even signing medical releases for the other driver’s insurance company can have unexpected consequences. If you have already signed something, call a personal injury attorney to find out how you can undo the damage.

If you’re looking for an expert motorcycle accident lawyer, contact Steve Smucker for a free consultation. He can answer all your questions and help you decide what to do next.

Portland Motorcycle Accident Lawyer, Steve Smucker
He Knows the Rules of the Road

If you are a motorcycle rider who has been injured due to someone else’s mistake on the highway, you are going to want an experienced trial attorney on your side. As a motorcyclist, especially if you are a young sports bike rider, insurance companies will find you guilty by association.

As a motorcycle accident attorney, and past motorcyclist, Steve Smucker knows what you are up against on the road and in court. In representing you, Steve will see that you recover all damages allowed by law—your motorcycle and other personal property, medical expenses, wage loss, pain, suffering, and loss of quality of life.

Having helped families of those with spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury cases throughout Oregon and Washington, Smucker understands the implications for those involved when catastrophic injuries occur. He knows there is tremendous expense and sacrifice involved in caring for a permanently disabled motorcyclist. The responsible driver’s insurance company must be made to recognize the need for long-term health costs, and do the right thing. Yet, it takes legal leverage to get them to do it.

Steve Smucker can provide that leverage and help you recover the damages you are entitled to under the law. To read what Steve Smucker’s former clients have to say about their experience with him, see client case results.

Filing a Claim, Bringing a Lawsuit, Recovering Damages

Because motorcycle collisions too often result in serious injury and death, most motorcycle insurance companies won’t take the financial risk to insure you for medical coverage. Recovering those bills from the responsible driver’s insurance company, as well as non-economic damages for pain and suffering, requires experienced, knowledgeable counsel to represent and protect you.

Insurance defense lawyers and adjusters often use a cookie cutter approach to defending these types of cases. They will blame you, the motorcyclist, for the accident. They will question your character. They may claim you weren’t hurt. Don’t take it personally. To defeat the slurs and misleading accusations, you need legal muscle.

An injured motorcyclist needs to prove three things against the negligent driver to recover money for medical bills and other damages:

1. Negligence—the driver made a mistake while operating his or her automobile on a public highway.
2. Causation—the driver’s mistake lead to the collision.
3. Damages— you, the motorcyclist, suffered physical injuries and other damages as a result of the crash.

Every driver in Oregon is required to pay for insurance. Insurance company agents and adjusters have strong incentives to pay as little insurance money to you as possible. Adjusters may befriend you or intimidate you, but the goal is always the same, to pay you as little as possible, and not tell you what your full claim is worth. Leveling the playing field takes an attorney with experience and resources. Steve Smucker has successfully handled motorcycle accident and injury cases for more than 20 years.

Contact experienced motorcycle accident attorney, Steve Smucker for a free consultation.

Wrongful Death Claims arising from Highway Collisions

Wrongful death claims exist for the estates of motorcyclists who have been killed on the highways due to a driver’s negligence. If you are the personal representative of an estate seeking counsel in a wrongful death, contact Steve Smucker for a free consultation.

Common Types or Causes of Motorcycle Accidents

Various combined factors cause drivers of other vehicles to overlook motorcyclists and violate their right of way.

• Motorcycles riders constitute a small percentage of the total highway drivers and many drivers do not anticipate routine encounters with motorcyclists in traffic.
• Motorcycles are smaller and more likely to be obscured.
• Vehicles have obstructions and blind spots that can obscure or hide a motorcycle and rider.
• Driver distractions like eating, smoking, or talking on a cell phone can interfere with a driver’s ability to see and react to a motorcyclist.

Don’t Expect to Be Seen: Ride Defensively

As a rider you can’t be sure that other drivers will see you or yield the right of way. To lessen your chances of a collision:

• Be visible.
• Communicate your intentions.
• Maintain adequate space.
• Continually scan your path of travel
• Identify hazards.
• Be prepared to act.

Crash analyses show that head and neck injuries account for a majority of serious and fatal injuries to motorcyclists. Research also shows that, with few exceptions, head and neck injuries are reduced by properly wearing an approved helmet.

Oregon Law States

You must wear an approved motorcycle helmet whenever you ride a motorcycle, as either a driver or passenger, or a moped.

• All motorcycles and mopeds must be equipped with:
• At least one but not more than three white headlights.
• At least one red taillight.
• One white license plate light.
• At least one red brake light.
• Turn signal lights (for motorcycles only) if the motorcycle was built after 1972.
• A red reflector on the rear.
• At least one rear view mirror.
• One horn.
• Fenders on all wheels.
• At least one brake operated by hand or foot.
• An exhaust system in good working order

For the Oregon DMV motorcycle and moped manual, see: http://www.odot.state.or.us/forms/dmv/6367.pdf