Chiacchia & Fleming, LLP

Personal injury includes any injury that was caused by the negligence of another. Liability is found in personal injury claims when the wrongdoer has failed to exercise the level of care required, as determined by law; there is proof that the victim was injured; and there is proof that the victim’s injuries were caused by the wrongdoer’s carelessness. For personal injury cases, a victim may receive compensatory damages that usually cover past and future medical bills, past and future lost wages, and at times, damages for pain and suffering. Pain and suffering damages can be awarded to compensate the victim for emotional and physical suffering, embarrassment, and inconvenience.

The difference is that in a car accident situation your medical bills are paid through the car insurance of the vehicle that you occupied. The is called No Fault coverage and it pays for your injuries even if you were at fault for the accident. There is no such no-fault coverage available with motorcycle accidents. Motorcycle injuries are often serious. Having premium health insurance coverage as a motorcyclist is a must.

You should have a minimum of $500,000 in liability protection which will then enable you to obtain $500,000 in Supplemental underinsurance coverage. Supplemental underinsurance protects you when you’re struck by a vehicle that has little or no insurance. If you have serious injuries and the other vehicle only has $25,000 in coverage, you can go after your own policy for up to $475,000. Don’t cheap out on your motorcycle insurance.

Motorcycle accidents are caused by a variety of reasons but inattention and distracted behavior by other drivers seems to be a common theme when identifying a cause. We often hear other drivers say “I just didn’t see him/her.” This is especially true early in the riding season when drivers are adjusting to seeing bikes on the road again. All motorcycle riders should learn how to drive defensively to anticipate and avoid the carelessness of others.

If your motorcycle injury was caused by the negligence or carelessness of another you have the right to sue that other driver, and the owner of that vehicle for you pain, suffering and other losses. A successful lawsuit is usually the result of a successful initial investigation so getting an attorney involved immediately is critical to make sure that witness statements are secured and evidence is preserved.

Compensation for motorcycle accidents is based upon the severity of your injuries and whether you have other losses that go along with it such as lost wages and medical bills. Unfortunately awards for motorcycle accidents are many times dictated by the amount of insurance coverage on the offending vehicle. That’s why it’s important for people to make sure that they have supplemental underinsurance coverage of at least $500,000 to protect themselves in such situations. You can then get compensated from your own insurance carrier.

Employees do not have many rights when they are being disciplined. If you are an employee-at-will, your employer can fire you, suspend you, reprimand you, or write you up for misconduct. The situation becomes trickier if you and another employee are engaging in the same behavior, but only one of you is getting written up. It is further questionable if you happen to be a member of a recognized protected class and the other employee is not. If you are being treated unfairly even though you and another employee are doing the same thing, you might want to call an attorney to make sure your rights under state or federal law are not being violated.

First, be sure to gather any evidence you can, and do it sooner rather than later. Witnesses forget. Evidence is lost. The contributing condition may be repaired or replaced. Taking pictures, making sure that you get witness statements, and collecting evidence are all very important. Reach out to counsel sooner rather than later too, so that they can immediately begin their efforts toward gathering that all-important evidence for you. Especially in a slip and fall case, that evidence gathering can make or break your case.

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The short answer is no. I can tell you right now, they’re usually recording those telephone conversations and they’re going to use what you say against you down the road. Sometimes you may say something out of context, and next thing you know it’s being used against you down the road. You have insurance on your vehicle, and it’s your insurance carrier’s obligation (if there’s even a property damage claim) to make sure that they get contribution from the other carrier. If there are situations where we have to reach out directly to the other carrier, we like to do that for the client or be with them on the phone while they’re speaking with the carrier. If there is something being recorded, we want to make sure that we get a copy of that right away as a condition of speaking with them.

Many times, people that have been seriously injured in car accidents call us and want to know what the next step is. The next step is to get an investigation done and get your no-fault application done. Many times, when people are involved in accidents, police officers are on the scene. They don’t necessarily get all the witnesses names, so we want to go out to the scene, canvas the area, see if we can find witnesses. We talk to the witnesses that are on the accident report and maybe get some recorded statements, photographs of the area – skid marks, things of that nature – and maybe even get an accident investigation company involved right away to maybe do some cause-and-effect types of things. Of course, the big thing that’s prevalent now is video, whether it be from cameras that are installed by government agencies or businesses. We’ve had many cases where business cameras catch an accident and it’s very helpful down the road.

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