Madison, NJ Motorcycle Accident Lawyer
Many Americans ride motorcycles either as their main method of transportation or for the fun of it. Many people find riding a motorcycle an incredibly thrilling, fun, and rewarding experience. Motorcycle enthusiasts take pleasure in the more visceral transportation experience motorcycles provide. Some even spend hours tinkering with their rides to improve their performance. Moreover, motorcycles have many practical benefits over cars, such as better fuel economy and compactness. Unfortunately, motorcyclists do get into accidents just like ordinary motorists, and motorcycle riders are often very badly injured when collisions happen.
Our law office is dedicated to representing motorcyclists in court. We love to ride motorcycles ourselves, so we know how important these cases are to the people we represent. Our team can collect evidence, talk to adverse parties, and fight hard for you so that you get the compensation you deserve and can get back out on the road as soon as possible.
Talk to Jerry Friedman and the motorcycle accident legal team at Law 4 Hogs about your case when you call 1-800-529-4464.
Why Do Motorcycle Accidents Happen in Madison, NJ?
There are a lot of different reasons that motorcycle crashes, collisions, and other accidents happen. Finding out why exactly your crash took place is critical to your case because it determines who you sue and other strategies you may employ in court.
There are, of course, quite a few motorcycle crashes where a negligent driver hits a motorcycle rider directly and seriously hurts them. However, there are many other motorcycle accidents that initially appear to be “single-vehicle” accidents caused by the rider’s inexperience. However, these accidents are more likely the result of another driver’s negligence. For example, if an aggressive driver causes a motorcyclist to take evasive action and crash, that driver can still be liable for the motorcyclist’s injuries in court.
Other motorcycle accidents are caused by mechanical failure in the bike itself. Faulty brakes, shoddy electrical wiring, and other defects can cause crashes without any contribution from another vehicle. In these kinds of cases, you look to sue the motorcycle’s designer or manufacturer or the designer/manufacturer of a defective third-party component in the bike.
Damages in Madison, NJ Motorcycle Accident Lawsuits
When you go to court after you are injured, your ultimate goal is to get financial compensation in the form of damages. Damages are the way that the legal system attempts to restore the plaintiff to the condition they were in before the accident happened. Of course, the extent of a plaintiff’s injuries may make it impossible to literally ” undo” the effects of the accident. Therefore, damages are almost always in the form of financial compensation.
Economic Damages
Economic damages come from things that can have their value easily displayed in court through bills, receipts, pay stubs, and more. Your medical bills, repair costs or replacement costs for your bike, and other tangible expenses factor into the economic damages you request in your claim.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages are different from economic damages in that they are not based on things that are as immediately tangible as economic damages. One item that very commonly constitutes non-economic damages is “pain and suffering.” This refers to the actual pain and discomfort you experience because of your accident. So, while you request economic damages for things like pain medication, you can get non-economic damages for the pain itself.
“Pain and suffering” also refers to more than just the physical effects of your motorcycle crash. It can also cover the emotional and psychological effects of your crash. So, if you are upset, depressed, or diagnosed with something like PTSD after your crash, that can factor into your non-economic damages as well.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are different from the other two “compensatory” damages because they do not directly stem from your condition after the accident. Instead, punitive damages are based on the defendant’s conduct. Whereas you have to prove that the defendant was negligent to get economic or non-economic damages, there is a higher standard you need to meet for punitive damages. Under N.J.S.A. § 2A:15-5.12(4)(a), you must prove that you were injured due to “actual malice” or gross negligence. That can be tricky to prove, so you should start discussing your case with our motorcycle accident lawyers if you intend to seek punitive damages in your claim.
Calculating Damages in Madison, NJ Motorcycle Accident Cases
In addition to explaining what you are seeking damages for, you also have to specify the amount you are requesting in damages. While there is no mandated way for calculating damages, there are two very frequently used methods: the multiplier method and the “per diem” method.
The multiplier method simply takes your economic damages and multiplies them by a given factor. For example, if you had $100,000 in economic damages and, in consultation with our motorcycle accident legal team, we come to the conclusion that multiplying it by 4 makes sense, you would ask for $400,000 in non-economic damages for a total of $500,000 in compensatory damages. The per diem method, on the other hand, comes up with a reasonable amount to value the daily experience of dealing with your injuries and then adds up the amount for each day you have to deal with those injuries.
Which method makes sense for you will entirely depend on the nature of your case. For example, the multiplier method is most often used when a plaintiff has permanent injuries, while the per diem method is generally employed when the plaintiff is expected to fully recover at some point in the future.
Call Our Office and Discuss Your Madison, NJ Motorcycle Accident Lawsuit Today
Law 4 Hog’s motorcycle accident legal team is ready to provide free case analyses when you contact us at 1-800-529-4464.
