Motorcycle Accident Lawyer in Bentonville, AR

Bentonville, AR is a popular place for motorcyclists, offering scenic rides and welcoming accommodations. Still, accommodations do not remove motorcyclists’ status as “vulnerable road users,” a classification emphasizing their high risk for injury when involved in a crash. Injured bikers or passengers typically face devastating outcomes and need extensive financial and emotional help after an accident. The Bentonville personal injury lawyers from LeVar Law Injury & Accident Lawyers can provide that help.

Our firm is committed to serving clients as people, recognizing their particular legal needs and treating them with compassion. A motorcycle accident lawyer in Bentonville, AR is ready to give you the trustworthy legal direction and personal support necessary for putting your life back together. 

Motorcycle Accident Victims Can Sustain Physical, Financial, and Emotional Consequences

Motorcyclists are susceptible to serious and potentially life-changing injuries when involved in a crash. They have little protection when slammed by another vehicle, the pavement, or a stationary obstacle.

Though Arkansas motorcycle laws require all riders to wear eye protection, only riders under 21 have to wear helmets. Helmets provide essential protection against some head and brain injuries, but the rest of the body remains extremely vulnerable. Ultimately, the damage caused by a motorcycle accident is comprehensive, with physical injuries leading to subsequent financial and emotional pain.

Physical Injuries from Motorcycle Accidents

In some accidents, riders are dragged along the ground and sustain friction burns commonly called “road rash.” These burns can go deep beneath the surface of the skin, affecting muscle and other soft tissue. Road rash can lead to dangerous and possibly fatal infections, and leave victims with permanent scarring and tissue damage.

Broken bones and lacerations are other common injuries, and though they may heal, recovery is painful and takes time. Sometimes, only partial healing is possible, and victims have lasting pain or limited use of the affected area.

Catastrophic injuries include spinal cord injuries (SCI), traumatic brain injuries (TBI), amputations, and internal organ damage. Violent impacts or ejection from the bike can cause these injuries, sometimes leaving victims paralyzed and with diminished cognitive and physiological functioning.

Financial Consequences of Motorcycle Accident Injuries

Injuries demand costly medical treatment and keep victims out of work while healing. Bills add up as bank accounts deplete. If you experience a severe or catastrophic injury, you may never be able to work in the capacity you did before the accident. For some accident survivors, they can no longer sustain gainful employment. 

You may need to employ caregivers around the clock or depend on expensive medical apparatus to help you breathe or move. You may need to make major adjustments to your living space to accommodate your changed mobility. The financial pressures are daunting, to say the least. 

Emotional Distress After a Motorcycle Accident

Pain is both a physical and emotional stressor. As pain increases, emotional health decreases. If the injuries you have sustained are permanent, you may also experience a sense of grief for your loss of abilities and independence, and fear what your future holds. The financial consequences of your injuries only compound this emotional upheaval.

The effects of a motorcycle crash can easily overwhelm victims and their loved ones. Our Bentonville motorcycle accident attorneys recognize your distress. We are here to support you through it and to work to restore some peace of mind by fighting for fair compensation. A settlement or trial award can mitigate your financial worries, give you access to ongoing medical care, and help you achieve the highest quality of life possible. 

Compensation for a Motorcycle Accident Can Help Victims Recover

It is already unfair that you have to suffer the physical consequences of someone else’s negligence. Shouldering the financial burden adds to that injustice. A motorcycle accident attorney from our team will lead your fight for compensation, fighting for the maximum amount available.

That amount varies from one case to another and depends on multiple case factors, including:

• The Severity of Your Injuries and Their Consequences: More serious injuries typically demand increased compensation as they cause more pain and impose more limitations on victims’ lives.
• Your Income and Future Earning Capacity: Compensation recovers lost wages and can account for future lost income. Your attorney will calculate how much income you lost and how much income you could have generated if not for your injury.
• The Strength of Your Evidence: Favorable outcomes require strong and convincing evidence. Our team knows what to look for and how to find it. We also have relationships with accident reconstructionists and other experts who can provide valuable insight.
• The At-Fault Party’s Degree of Negligence (and Yours, If Any): Arkansas operates under a modified comparative negligence system for personal injury claims. Compensation amounts are affected by how much fault each party holds.
• The Quality of Your Legal Representation: Attorneys who know how to investigate, collect evidence, value claims, deal with insurance companies, negotiate, and fight aggressively in court are best equipped to secure favorable case resolutions.

How the Arkansas Comparative Negligence Structure Works

Under Arkansas negligence laws, only victims holding less than 50% of the blame for an accident can sue for damages. Those meeting this eligibility standard can see their compensation reduced in proportion to their lower percentage of fault. 

Insurance companies will look for opportunities to inflate your level of fault to lower their potential payout or deny you financial justice altogether. The Bentonville motorcycle wreck attorneys at LeVar Law Injury & Accident Lawyers can offer protection against these tactics.

Motorcycle Accident Victims May Receive Economic and Non-Economic Damages

Though there is no average settlement or trial award amount, there is consistency in the types of damages demanded in motorcycle accidents and other personal injury claims. Your attorney will fight for compensatory damages to “make you whole” or restore you, to the extent possible, to your pre-accident situation. Compensatory damages comprise economic and non-economic damages.

Potential Economic Damages

Economic damages recoup the financial costs and losses incurred by your accident. Typically, they cover:

• Medical Costs: These include continuing care costs for those catastrophically injured
• Income Loss: Including future earnings for those who cannot work again
• Property Value: For property requiring repair or replacement
• Other Expenses: These may include costs for hiring others to manage responsibilities you can no longer carry out, for example

Potential Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages account for non-tangible losses–those that come without a bill attached but still hold tremendous value. More specifically, they acknowledge:

• Physical and emotional suffering
• Mental anguish
• Lost enjoyment of life

Your experienced motorcycle accident lawyer will gather testimony from your loved ones, caregivers, and you to understand how your life has changed from the accident, and speak to your medical team about your prognosis when determining an amount.

Potential Punitive Damages

Claims involving egregious negligence by the at-fault party may also warrant the pursuit of punitive damages. Punitive damages are an additional monetary penalty imposed on the negligent party and payable to you, and are designed to punish the offender for their behavior and deter repeat offenses.

Causes of Motorcycle Accidents in Bentonville, AR

A recent annual report from the Arkansas Highway Safety Office (HSO) counts 161,448 registered motorcycles in Arkansas. The State saw 1,237 crashes, and all but three involved another motor vehicle. For 83 of those accidents, one of the drivers involved was impaired.

Important Motorcycle Accident Statistics

Benton County statistics show:

• 19,084 registered vehicles, the largest share of the state’s total among all counties
• 126 motorcycle crashes, with all involving another motor vehicle
• 10 crashes involving an impaired driver

Data from the National Safety Council (NSC) reports 93 motorcycle accident deaths for the same year. While impaired driving explains some motorcycle crashes, there are other common explanations for how motorcycle accidents happen.

Limited Visibility

Motorcycles are slimmer and shorter than other vehicles. These traits make them harder for other drivers to see. A driver can lose a motorcyclist in a blind spot and make a maneuver that causes a crash. Vehicles making left-hand turns are a specific danger to motorcyclists. Drivers fail to track the oncoming biker and make an unsafe turn.

Reckless or Distracted Driving

Other vehicle operators may weave in and out of lanes or demonstrate other reckless behaviors on the roads and hit a motorcyclist. Distracted driving is a growing problem and claimed 3,725 lives over recent years, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The open roads of the Ozarks and scenic areas in and around Bentonville are popular attractions for drivers and bikers. Unfortunately, those open roads can tempt speeding, and the beautiful scenery can become a distraction for drivers, putting motorcyclists in danger.

Bikers are in danger even after a driver parks a vehicle. Drivers distracted by their phones or where they need to go next may open their car doors without looking over their shoulders for an approaching biker, leaving the motorcyclist no chance of avoiding a car-door crash.

Defective Vehicles and Travel Conditions

Motorcyclists expect that their bikes will function safely. Brake or steering system failures, faulty tires, or any other type of malfunction can lead to devastating accidents. Roads damaged by unfixed potholes or covered in gravel or other debris left at a construction zone can cause tires to blow or bikes to skid off the road. Dysfunctional traffic signals or poorly lit roadways present additional dangers.

The experienced motorcycle accident lawyers from LeVar Lawyer Injury & Accident Lawyers will undertake a thorough post-accident investigation to find the cause of your accident and identify the negligent party, and hold that party accountable.

Possible Negligent Parties in a Motorcycle Accident

There is a common perception of motorcyclists as risky and rebellious, ready to defy the rules of the road or any rules, for that matter. This perception is unfair and does not bear out in accident statistics. In fact, the NHTSA states, “the majority of multi-vehicle motorcycle crashes generally are caused when other drivers simply didn’t see the motorist.”

Even so, the perception remains and leaves bikers vulnerable to unfair biases when they pursue damages for their injuries. A skilled motorcycle accident lawyer will fight against these biases and work to compile evidence showing the actual negligent party’s culpability. Among other possibilities, negligent parties may be:

• A reckless or negligent driver
• A vehicle or part manufacturer
• A safety gear equipment manufacturer
• A government entity

Every time a driver gets behind the wheel, they assume a duty of care to others on the road. They must avoid dangerous driving behaviors and demonstrate safe practices. Vehicle or equipment manufacturers have a duty to develop and distribute products that work as intended. Particular government agencies have a duty to upkeep roads, street lighting, and traffic signals. When any party breaches its duty of care, it may be liable for resulting damages.

Do I Have a Case if I Was Not Wearing a Motorcycle Helmet?

You may still have a case even if you were not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident. Even if a helmet could have mitigated some of your injuries, your decision to ride without one is not what caused the accident.

You may take on a percentage of fault for injuries a helmet could have prevented or lessened, but you may still be eligible to file a claim. Never assume justice is out of reach without having our law firm review your case for free.

How Long Will My Motorcycle Accident Case Take to Resolve?

The timeline for every case is different. Timing depends, to a significant extent, on the willingness of the other side to proceed with negotiations productively. Complicated cases, those with multiple negligent parties, for example, also take more time.

You can trust LeVar Law Injury & Accident Lawyers to work to resolve your claim as efficiently as possible while still securing the compensation you deserve.

Contact Our Bentonville Motorcycle Accident Lawyers for a Free Case Review

When you partner with a motorcycle accident attorney from our firm, you get our entire team on your side. Your part of the team effort is to focus on recovery. Our part is taking care of everything else, and we will. Connect with a call or message to schedule your free case review. Then, leave the legalities, investigating, and negotiating to us. We are on your side.