Potential Ways to Recover for Your Losses
There’s a tradeoff you accept when you take a motorcycle on the roadways in New Jersey. There’s a greater feeling of freedom, but you’re also more vulnerable to potential injury, often without any type of collision or impact with another vehicle. If you lose control of your bike, for any reason, but there’s no contact with another motorist, can you still seek compensation for your losses? Under the right circumstances, the answer is “yes.”
Phantom and No-Contact Accidents
When another motorist veers into your lane and you have to take evasive action, you can lose control of your bike. Sometimes, that motorist will stop, but it’s not uncommon for someone to run you off the road and keep on going—the so-called “phantom” accident.
If the motorist stops and you can get contact information, you can bring a lawsuit, even if there was no collision, provided you can show that the negligence or carelessness of the other motorist caused you to lose control and suffer an injury. If the other motorist fails to stop and cannot be identified, you can still seek compensation through your own insurance company. That’s because New Jersey is a “no-fault” state for the purposes of auto insurance coverage.
Accidents Caused by Roadway Conditions
If your accident resulted from potholes, gravel on the road, uneven lanes or other roadway defects, you may be able to bring a lawsuit against the municipality responsible for maintaining the streets and highways. Such a claim may have to be filed under the New Jersey Tort Claims Act, which has different rules than apply in a typical personal injury claim.
Accidents Resulting from Motorcycle Defects
You may also be able to bring a product liability claim based on design, manufacturing or marketing defects related to your motorcycle or any of its parts.
Contact Howard D. Popper, P.C.
At Howard D. Popper, P.C., we can help protect your rights. For a free initial consultation to discuss your options after any type of personal injury, contact our office online or call 973-993-8787 to set up an appointment. We have offices in Morristown and Newton.
We handle all personal injury claims on a contingent fee basis. You won’t pay any attorney fees unless we recover damages for your losses.