Riding a motorcycle in and around Miramar Beach can be a thrilling experience as either a driver or a passenger, and motorcycles can be economical vehicles for a commuter. The great weather that we enjoy year-round in Florida is one of the many reasons that people flock to our state for events like Daytona Bike Week or just sightseeing with friends. These are just a few of the many benefits that motorcyclists enjoy while riding in Florida. However, a Miramar Beach personal injury lawyer knows that there are downsides to this form of transportation that must not be overlooked.
For one, Florida is routinely found to be the most dangerous state in the country when it comes to fatal motorcycle accidents, which may be due to many factors such as consistently lovely weather year-round, as well as the fact that Florida riders over the age of 21 are not required to wear helmets. Since this law was repealed on July 1, 2000, death rates have increased due to a lack of proper head protection. This is just one of many factors that a rider must be aware of each time they head out onto the open road.
Source: https://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/motorcycles/pdf/809849.pdf
If you are a motorcycle rider, you probably already know about the risks posed to you while on the road, which are generally attributed to other people. Inexperienced or inattentive drivers may forget to check their blind spots or might fail to notice a motorcycle before committing to a turn. These are just a few of the many examples of how drivers inadvertently collide with motorcycles after thinking that they are making a safe maneuver. It is, unfortunately, up to motorcycle riders to anticipate what other drivers do to stay safe, and even the most defensive motorcycle driver is still at risk of an accident that they can’t avoid.
Contact Fasig | Brooks To Speak With an Attorney About Your Motorcycle Crash Today
If you have been hurt in an accident that someone else caused, or if you have lost a loved one in a motorcycle crash, contact our law firm as soon as possible to schedule a free initial consultation with our team of award-winning personal injury lawyers. Knowing the proper legal steps to take after a severe accident can feel nearly impossible, which is a feeling the insurance company relies on as they attempt to settle your case as cheaply as possible. However, when a motorcycle accident attorney represents you, you can focus on your recovery without worrying about the administrative and procedural work that your lawyer will handle on your behalf.
The award-winning legal team at Fasig | Brooks is here to help after a motorcycle crash in Miramar Beach.
Read more below to get a better idea of what you can expect during a personal injury claim following a motorcycle accident in Miramar Beach, and contact our firm as soon as possible to get started on your case today.
Start Your Free Case Evaluation
Determining Compensation Following a Miramar Beach Motorcycle Accident
When someone else causes the accident, their liability insurance is responsible for paying you a fair amount to cover a wide range of impacts from the crash, including both economic and non-economic damages (each of which is discussed below). An insurance company protects its policyholder from personal financial liability after an accident they caused.
Still, insurers leverage their extensive legal departments and decades-old best practices to settle claims as quickly and cheaply as possible. When handling a claim on your own, you can count on the adjuster handling your case to gloss over many real repercussions and come back to you with a one-time offer for a settlement that falls far below the amount that an attorney would calculate on your behalf.
Economic Damages
Economic damages are the primary impacts that a victim recognizes and can readily calculate because these damages have measurable dollar values associated with them. The most recognizable economic damages that a motorcycle rider will likely incur are the costs of medical care and recovery, as well as their lost wages and impacts on their earnings. While these are two very major economic damages, there are many more that an experienced and detail-oriented attorney will be able to include in your final damages. Those damages include the cost of services like grocery shopping, cleaning, and other chores you would otherwise be able to handle on your own.
Many economic damages are skipped over because they are deemed “too small” or insignificant to include, but this is never the case. When you consider that non-economic damages often involve multiple of your economic damages, each dollar that is not included in your monetary damages may ultimately translate to anywhere between 1.5 and 5x of that number being left out of your settlement. This is why it is essential to work with an experienced and diligent attorney.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages are more complicated than economic damages because they assign a dollar amount to impacts that otherwise have no intrinsic financial value. These types of damages include things like the pain and suffering a victim endures after an accident, as well as the loss of enjoyment and the resulting depression, fear, or anxiety that come with life-changing injuries. Insurance companies take advantage of the fact that victims are often not confident in their calculations and shoot down these figures aggressively. Your lawyer, however, has years of experience both calculating and defending non-economic damages on behalf of their clients.
There are many ways that your attorney may quantify your non-economic damages. One standard method uses a scale between 1-5 that indicates the severity of the economic damages. Once a fair and reasonable number has been selected, it is applied to the total economic damages in order to reach a total. For example, suppose your attorney has compiled $20,000 in economic damages and a multiplier of 2x for your non-economic damages. In that case, the total amount you will be seeking will be $60,000, or $20,000 in economic damages and 2 * $20,000 = $40,000 in non-economic damages.
Start Your Free Case Evaluation
Contact a Miramar Beach Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Now To Get Started On Your Case
Many people make the mistake of initiating an insurance claim before contacting an attorney, believing that they will only benefit from legal representation if they plan to file a lawsuit in the Florida courts. However, the reality is that you will help most by partnering with a lawyer before making initial contact with the other driver’s insurer. When an attorney initiates a claim on your behalf, the adjuster on your case knows that you mean business. When one of the award-winning attorneys from Fasig | Brooks is fighting for the money you deserve, the insurance companies know they are in for a fight.
Start Your Free Case Evaluation
