Johnston Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

Motorcyclists and their passengers are seriously injured in all sorts of accidents, but victims can seek financial compensation from the person responsible. Contact Baer Law Office. Our firm has won countless settlements and other awards for badly hurt people. Our team believes that all victims should be heard and taken seriously but that insurance companies often turn a blind eye to the needs of accident victims.

Call (515) 279-2000 to schedule a free initial consultation. One of our Johnston motorcycle accident lawyers can listen to you describe your crash and how your injuries are impacting your life. If you hire us, we will do everything possible to win your case.

The Bear Law Difference

Our firm has some of the most experienced lawyers in Polk County. Our founder, Kim Baer, has received many awards in her distinguished career, as Baer Law Office was ranked as the best law firm for 9 straight years. She brings unparalleled experience and skill to every case she accepts.

Our law firm knows how to:

Reconstruct motorcycle accidents to assess fault for the crash.
Obtain relevant evidence for use in a case.
Meet all deadlines to preserve your legal rights.
Devise case-specific strategies that work.
Negotiate with insurance companies and other defendants to obtain a realistic, fair settlement.

Call our office. Accident victims often have many questions, including how much their case is worth and whether it makes sense to even file an insurance claim. We can answer your questions based on the information you provide and identify any evidence that can help us analyze your claim.

Who is to Blame for Your Motorcycle Accident?

Like car accidents, motorcycle collisions are analyzed based on fault. In most cases, a person is at fault because they were negligent, meaning they failed to act with sufficient care.

Some negligence involves driving a vehicle carelessly:

Failing to use signals before turning
Backing up without using mirrors
Making an illegal turn
Passing illegally or too closely
Refusing to share the road with motorcyclists
Driving while distracted
Driver intoxication
Fatigue or drowsy driving

Few drivers are prepared to share the road with a motorcycle. They might not even see you. Many of our clients are struck when a motorist makes a sudden turn and pulls straight into them.

But negligent motorists aren’t the only defendant to blame. Some of the accidents are caused by:

Defective roads
Malfunctioning parts on a car which crashes into you
Defective parts on the motorcycle which make it inoperable

In these cases, we might sue a manufacturer, repair shop, or the government in charge of the road. Contact us today so we can fully review the facts.

Motorcycle Accident Damages

Accident victims in Iowa have the power to seek money damages from the person who hurt them. Typically, we seek compensation for economic and non-economic damages:

Economic damages including past and present medical care, lost wages, damage to your motorcycle, and other expenses.
Future economic expenses like ongoing medical care and diminished earning capacity.
Non-economic damages, including pain, suffering, mental anguish, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

We negotiate aggressively. However, certain factors can reduce what you receive, regardless of your injuries.

One is your contributory fault. Under Iowa Code 668.3, your compensation is lowered by your share of fault for the crash. Suppose you wove in and out of traffic before a distracted driver hit you. Your own actions are partially to blame. So long as you are not more than 50% to blame, you can seek compensation—but it’s reduced by your share of fault. A claim that was worth $100,000 could be worth $50,000 because of your own fault.

How much can you receive? To answer that question, we want to learn more about your accident. Another consideration is whether the defendant has insurance or other resources to pay a settlement.

5 Mistakes to Avoid after a Motorcycle Accident

There’s no reason to undermine your legal claim. Sadly, some motorcycle accident victims make simple errors which reduce their chances of winning.

Avoid admitting fault for the crash. As mentioned above, the state’s contributory fault law will reduce the compensation you receive. If you are more than 50% to blame, you’ll receive nothing. There’s no reason to say anything which sounds like you are accepting blame for the crash.
Don’t forget to call the police. An officer should come to the accident scene and create a crash report. This is a critical step. If the driver was drunk, then an officer can ask them to take a breathalyzer or participate in a field sobriety test.
Avoid diagnosing your own injuries. You need a professional doctor’s diagnosis and treatment plan. If you try to diagnose your own injuries, you might receive less for your pain since you are partially responsible for it.
Do not accept a settlement offer without hiring an attorney. We can’t emphasize enough how likely it is that the first offer from an insurance company will be low. Let our office review.
Don’t give any recorded interview or statement after the crash. Again, the insurer is probably trying to find information to show you are at least partially at fault for the crash. We can help you tell your story in a way that’s 100% truthful and free of accidental admissions.

We can’t guarantee that you will win your case if you avoid these mistakes. But you will considerably strengthen your hand in negotiation.

Call Baer Law Office to Speak with a Johnston Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

This is probably the most critical step motorcycle accident victims should take. A lawyer provides incredible value to injured victims trying to put the pieces of their lives back together. Figuring out what happened and who is to blame is difficult. We have tackled numerous cases and can do what’s best for you. Give us a call today at (515) 279-2000.

The Baer Law Office was ranked as the top law firm for 9 consecutive years and we credit our client-centered approach to resolving cases.