Our Bowie motorcycle accident lawyers have practiced personal injury law in Maryland for nearly 70 years. While our primary office has always been in Washington, D.C., we recently opened a Maryland office in 2020 to focus resources on serving the people of Maryland. In Bowie, the two most prominent highways are US 50 and I-595. Through US 50, Bowie connects Washington, DC, to Annapolis and the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Anyone who rides a motorcycle knows it can be an exhilarating experience. Unfortunately, the essence that makes it so fun can also make it highly dangerous. Due to its relatively small size, it is accessible for motorcycles and their riders to get run over by most other motor vehicles on the road. Accordingly, injuries from a motorcycle accident can be catastrophic. Moreover, motorcycles can be harder to see on the road. Because they are not as long as standard cars or trucks, they fit into a blind spot more quickly. They also lack sufficiently loud horns. While revving the motorcycle’s engine may work well in a city, it does not work as well on the highway where everything is loud. Perhaps most obviously, motorcycles lack the proper safety equipment necessary to protect the rider in an impact.
Insurance premiums for motorcycle riders are higher on average. This is due to the stigma that riders are not worth insuring as much as a car driver. Insurers believe, in general, that riders are thrill-seekers who will drive less carefully than other drivers on the road. Because of this stigma, insurers may be quicker to deny the claim when we send a demand letter to the defendant’s insurer. This is why having a skilled Bowie motorcycle accident lawyer aggressively fighting for you against the insurance companies is particularly important. In the end, they are a business. If they believe they can get away with not paying you because a jury will not accept your case, they will give you a lousy settlement offer or not pay you at all.
Moreover, Maryland is a contributory negligence jurisdiction. If you, the plaintiff, are even 1% negligent, you cannot make a negligence claim against the defendant. But if you are not careless in your accident, we will gladly take your case and fight for you to obtain the compensation you deserve.
The statute of limitations for a motorcycle accident in Bowie is three years. So, you may be successful if you have a viable negligence claim against an adverse driver and it is less than three years since your accident. What makes motorcycle accidents unique is the susceptibility to catastrophic injury. Our Bowie motorcycle accident lawyers have been practicing in Bowie for 69 years and have seen nearly every possible injury. One more unique to motorcycles is road rash. While most road rash heals within two weeks, it can be excruciating. It is an abrasion from friction with the road. When you are hit on a motorcycle, you may be thrown through the air at 60 miles per hour. As one might imagine, to scrape the hard road while going that speed can cause severe and painful injury.
If your negligence claim succeeds, your recovery can include the pain and suffering of such a painful injury. In Maryland, you may obtain compensation for all reasonable medical expenses causally related to your motorcycle accident. Proving pain and suffering can be trickier, but it is still covered in the damages element of your claim.
Another element of Bowie motorcycle accidents is personal injury protection, or “PIP”. In Speakman v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 42 Md. App. 666, 402 A.2d 123 (1979), the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland held the Maryland Insurance Code permits exclusion by insurance companies in automobile insurance policies of personal injury protection benefits to persons injured on a motorcycle in an accident with another motor vehicle. Of course, mere permittance does not necessarily mean it is true for every insurance policy. If you have been injured in an accident and have questions regarding your case or insurance policy, please contact our Bowie motorcycle accident lawyers.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions about this article or your case. Our consultations are always free.