Perth Amboy, NJ Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

Filing an insurance claim or a lawsuit for damages from a motorcycle accident can be difficult without a lawyer.  You may not be aware of all of the procedural requirements and deadlines in your case.  You also might not be aware of all of the damages you can claim in your case.

When you work with an experienced Perth Amboy motorcycle accident attorney, your lawyer can handle your case for you.  This means meeting all deadlines, collecting evidence, dealing with court filings, and standing up to protect your interests.  All the while, you can focus on what’s really important: recovering and getting back to the things you enjoy.

If you were injured in a motorcycle accident in Perth Amboy, call Perth Amboy motorcycle accident and injury lawyer Jerry Friedman today for a free case review.  Our phone number is 1-800-529-4464.

When to File a Motorcycle Lawsuit in Perth Amboy, NJ

New Jersey law gives motorcycle accident victims 2 years from the date of the accident to file an injury case.  However, waiting this long to talk to a lawyer and file your injury case can be disadvantageous for a few reasons.

First, waiting this long to talk to a lawyer can mean that your attorney has almost no time to put the case together.  Talking to an attorney early on means that your Perth Amboy motorcycle accident lawyer can collect evidence, build the case, draft up legal documents, and file the case without having to rush things.  If you wait until 2 years are almost up, it may be impossible to get the case filed in time, and your case could be barred entirely.

Second, building your case earlier is better for evidence preservation.  Witnesses forget what happened if too much time passes between the accident and their testimony or depositions in the case.  Other evidence, such as footage from security cameras, traffic cameras, or dashboard cameras, might be lost or overwritten within only a few days after the accident.  Debris at the scene of the crash, weather conditions depicting how the scene looked, and other evidence you could photograph will also go away quickly.  Talking to a lawyer soon after the accident is important for locking down this evidence.

As far as an actual deadline by which you should call a lawyer goes, sooner is always better.  If you are able to call us the day of your accident, our Perth Amboy motorcycle accident lawyer can jump in to help right away.  Waiting a few days is also reasonable – but avoid waiting too long.  If your case is not filed by the 2-year deadline, you may lose your right to sue altogether.

Filing an Insurance Claim or Injury Lawsuit for a Perth Amboy Motorcycle Accident

Motorcycle accident victims often have the choice of filing a lawsuit or an insurance claim for their injuries.  The law in New Jersey typically restricts auto accident victims from filing a lawsuit and requires them to use their insurance’s PIP (personal injury protection) coverage unless their injury includes “significant” or “permanent” injuries.

When you file an insurance claim, your damages might not get paid in full.  Insurance companies love to settle for low values.  This makes sense since insurance companies only make money by taking in more money and paying out less.  If you have to pay deductibles or only get a percentage of certain damages, your insurance claim might not fully satisfy your damages.  PIP coverage also excludes damages for pain and suffering in many cases, further reducing what’s covered.

When you sue, you can claim all damages you faced in your case.  This means claiming compensation from the other driver for any harms related to the accident, including pain and suffering.  This could potentially mean higher payouts.

However, you should always speak with a Perth Amboy motorcycle accident lawyer about the pros and cons of an insurance settlement compared to a lawsuit.  Sometimes filing through insurance gets you your payments quicker, and not everyone can wait months or years for a lawsuit to resolve.

Proving Who’s at Fault in a Perth Amboy Motorcycle Accident Case

To get the damages you deserve in a lawsuit for a motorcycle crash in Perth Amboy, you need to prove that the other driver was at fault.  You can typically prove fault by proving the other driver was negligent.

Proving negligence is easier than proving intentional acts in court.  While you can certainly sue another driver for intentionally hitting you with their car, that isn’t what happens in most motorcycle crashes.  Instead, by pursuing a negligence claim, you can hold the driver responsible for rule violations rather than needing to prove they intended to hurt you.

Motorcycle accident cases based on negligence are usually proven by showing that the other driver caused your crash through one of two types of rule violations:

• Violations of actual traffic laws
• Violations of unwritten safety standards and safe-driving techniques that are considered “reasonable.”

For example, a driver can be held liable if they hit you while…

• Speeding
• Driving under the influence
• Texting and driving
• Driving tired
• Racing or
• Driving recklessly.

They can also be held liable if they did not violate any traffic laws but were still doing something dangerous behind the wheel, such as any of the following:

• Driving faster than weather conditions reasonably allowed
• Unreasonably distracting themselves with a conversation
• Unreasonably focusing on a billboard instead of the brake lights in front of them.

Call Our Perth Amboy Motorcycle Accident Attorney Today

If you were hurt in a motorcycle accident, Jerry Friedman may be able to help.  Jerry is a Perth Amboy motorcycle accident lawyer with decades of experience helping injured motorcycle accident victims and their families.  For a free case review, call 1-800-529-4464 today.