Motorcycle accident claims in Dallas
A motorcycle crash is not like a car crash. The rider has less around them, and the injuries are often worse.
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What to do after a motorcycle crash in Dallas
- Get medical care first, even if you feel able to ride away.
- Call the police; the Texas rule on reporting a crash is below.
- Photograph the motorcycle, the other vehicle, the road and your gear before anything is moved or repaired.
- Keep your helmet and your riding gear as they are.
- Take the names and numbers of the people who saw it.
- Do not give the other driver’s insurer a recorded statement or sign a release before you have talked to a lawyer.
Texas rules that matter in a motorcycle claim
Helmets
Texas law makes it an offense to operate or ride as a passenger on a motorcycle on a public street or highway without protective headgear that meets the state’s safety standards. There is an exception for a person who is at least 21 years old and has completed a motorcycle operator training and safety course or is covered by a health insurance plan that pays medical benefits for injuries from a motorcycle collision. Tex. Transp. Code section 661.003.
Riding between lanes
In Texas the operator of a motorcycle may not operate the motorcycle between lanes of traffic moving in the same direction, and may not pass a motor vehicle while in the same lane as the vehicle being passed. A motorcycle is entitled to full use of a lane, and two motorcycles may ride two abreast in a single lane. Tex. Transp. Code section 545.0605.
The deadline to sue
A lawsuit for personal injury in Texas must be brought not later than two years after the day the cause of action accrues. Where the injury results in death, the two years run from the death of the injured person. Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code section 16.003.
A claim against a government body
A claim against a governmental unit in Texas has an earlier step. The unit is entitled to receive notice of the claim not later than six months after the day of the incident, and the notice must reasonably describe the damage or injury claimed, the time and place of the incident, and the incident. The same section ratifies a city’s charter and ordinance provisions that require notice within a charter period permitted by law, so a city may have a period of its own. Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code section 101.101.
Shared fault
Texas reduces what an injured person recovers by that person’s own percentage of responsibility, and a person whose percentage of responsibility is greater than 50 percent may not recover damages. Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code sections 33.001 and 33.012.
Minimum liability insurance
The minimum motor vehicle liability insurance Texas requires is $30,000 for bodily injury to or death of one person in one collision, $60,000 for bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in one collision, and $25,000 for damage to or destruction of property of others in one collision. Tex. Transp. Code section 601.072.
Reporting the crash
The operator of a vehicle in a collision that injures or kills a person, or that damages a vehicle so that it cannot be normally and safely driven, must immediately give notice of the collision by the quickest means of communication, to the local police department if it happened in a municipality. An officer who investigates a collision that resulted in injury or death, or in damage to one person’s property to the apparent extent of $1,000 or more, must make a written report of it. Tex. Transp. Code sections 550.026 and 550.062.
This is general information and not legal advice. Every deadline has exceptions. Ask a lawyer about the dates and rules in your own case.
How The Ledger Law Firm handles a motorcycle accident claim
We start by listening to what happened. Then we gather the police report, the medical records, the photographs and the insurance policies, deal with the insurers so that you do not have to, and put a value on the claim only when the facts support one. If the insurer will not pay what the claim is worth, the claim can be filed in court.
The firm works on a contingency fee: the fee is a percentage of what is recovered. If there is no recovery, you owe no attorney fee, but you may still be responsible for court costs and case expenses.
Who is licensed in Texas
The firm has attorneys licensed in Texas: Emery Brett Ledger and Randall L. Meredith. The firm’s Dallas office is at 3203 McKinney Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75204.
Call (972) 888-8888. Free case evaluation.