A devastating motorcycle accident can bring tremendous physical pain and financial strain on you and your family. If injured in a motorcycle accident through no fault of your own, the Law Offices of Ogle, Elrod & Baril PLLC can assess your accident and determine whether you have a viable claim.

We can help you build a solid case so that you can pursue compensation for your medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages, and other damages legally available to you. We offer a free, no-obligation case evaluation with a motorcycle accident lawyer in Oak Ridge. Call us today at 865-546-1111 to schedule an appointment.

Investigating Your Motorcycle Accident

To build a strong case requires a thorough investigation of your motorcycle accident. Part of our probe will include gathering facts about your motor vehicle accident. We will ask you to about how your accident happened and gather information to support your claim.

Driver Error

In investigating motorcycle accidents, we have discovered that, in many cases, the driver at-fault for the crash committed errors, including the following:

Failed to yield the right of way to a motorcycle
Failed to see a motorcycle approaching
Failed to follow traffic signals or signs
Inattentive driving
Driving while distracted (talking on the phone, texting, eating)
Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs
Engaged in road rage

Road Conditions

Besides driver error, potholes, loose gravel, or other bad road conditions contribute to motorcycle wrecks. These cases involve confronting government agencies responsible for maintaining local roads and holding them liable for accidents.

Manufacturing Defect or Design

Any type of defectively designed or malfunctioning motorcycle part poses a crash risk to the driver. This type of accident requires filing a claim against the motorcycle’s manufacturer.

Whether a private motorist, a motorcycle manufacturer, or government entity that caused your motorcycle accident, we can hold the at-fault party liable for your injuries and damages.

Proving Negligence in Your Motorcycle Accident

Bikers have the same rights to the road as other motorists. Negligence violates these rights. When this happens, motorcycle riders have the right to hold the at-fault party liable for their damages. However, this requires proving four elements of negligence:

Duty of care: The at-fault party owed you a duty of reasonable care not to cause you harm.

Breach: The at-fault party breached this duty.

Causation: The at-fault party’s negligent action caused an accident.

Damages: You suffered damages because of the accident.

We can prove negligence by collecting evidence such as police reports, surveillance video of the accident, eyewitness testimony, your medical records, and photographs of the accident scene.

Filing an Insurance Claim or Personal Injury Lawsuit

Once we establish fault through our investigation and provide proof of evidence, we can pursue compensation through an insurance claim or personal injury lawsuit.

Tennessee is a fault state when it comes to auto accidents. This means that the party responsible for causing a crash must pay for damages resulting from the accident. The at-fault party’s auto insurance pays most of the damages.

Our firm’s attorneys have years of experience handling all aspects of an insurance claim, including filing and negotiating claims. We usually settle cases out of court, but we do not hesitate to file a lawsuit if the insurance company refuses to offer a fair settlement.

Compensation You Can Pursue for Your Motorcycle Accident

Motorcyclists do not have the protection that motorists in passenger vehicles have, so bikers are more likely to suffer serious or fatal injuries. As a result, you may pursue compensation for your:

Medical expenses
Ambulance transportation
Hospital bills
Rehabilitation treatment
Lost wages (current and future)
Loss of earning capacity

You may also seek non-economic damages such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, and mental anguish.

Compensation for Catastrophic Injuries

Serious injuries add a higher value to your claim. You may be entitled to seek a higher amount of non-economic damages because of catastrophic injuries under TN Code § 29-39-102 (2014). Tennessee caps non-economic damages at $750,000. However, the amount increases to $1 million if you suffered catastrophic loss or injury which Tennessee defines as:

Spinal cord injury resulting in paraplegia or quadriplegia.
Amputation of two hands, two feet or one of each.
Third-degree burns over 40% or more of the body as a whole or third degree burns up to 40% or more of the face.
Wrongful death of a parent leaving a surviving minor child or children for whom the deceased parent had lawful rights of custody or visitation.

Our goal is to help you obtain as much compensation as possible so that you can recover from your traumatic injury accident.

Wrongful Death Claim

While all vehicle accidents involve a risk of injury, bikers face a higher risk of sustaining a fatal injury. If your loved one died in a motorcycle accident caused by someone else’s negligence, we can help you file a wrongful death claim.

Tennessee defines a wrongful death as a death “caused by the wrongful act, omission, or killing by another.” And, a surviving family member or personal representative of the deceased has a legal right to file a claim for such damages as:

Funeral and burial costs
Medical bills related to the accident
The wages or benefits your loved one would have earned had he or she lived
Loss of future income
Your loved one’s pain and suffering
Loss of companionship

We Offer Free Legal Consultations

You can rely on The Law Offices of Ogle, Elrod & Baril PLLC to protect your rights as you pursue compensation for your damages from your motorcycle accident.

We work on contingency, and this means that you do not pay for our services unless we win your case. Call us today at 865-546-1111 to schedule an appointment with a motorcycle accident lawyer in Oak Ridge.