It’s a simple, straight forward question: what would you do if you were injured while being a passenger on a friends motorcycle? No one sets out one day to file a lawsuit against a friend or relative. It’s just not something most people aspire to do. However, if you have been injured when you were a passenger on a motorcycle, exploring your legal rights and finding out what a lawsuit would entail might be the healthiest thing to do. The reason that motorcycle owners – and car, home, business & property owners – have insurance is exactly for situations like when someone gets injured. Don’t you think your friend would want your medical needs to be covered?
Just this summer a 52-year old woman died when the motorcycle she was a passenger on collided with a car. And, the president and CEO of a medical center died from injuries in a two-vehicle crash on a rural road. The victims wife was a passenger. What happens when passengers on motorcycles get injured, or even killed?
WIVES AND GIRLFRIENDS GET INJURED THE MOST
According to the Centers For Disease Control (CDC): while only 10% of riders killed in motorcycle crashes in 2010 were women, almost all passengers (89%) killed in motorcycle crashes were women. We all see wives and girlfriends riding as passengers behind their boyfriends and husbands. What happens when a wife or a girlfriend gets injured? What would you do? These are all tough questions, to be sure. Most importantly, they are not questions that need to be answered alone, or without good, healthy legal counsel.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE PASSENGER IS INJURED?
Many times, motorcycle accidents leave the rider unable to work, in need of various forms of medical attention, unable to perform duties around the house or in some kind of altered mental state. Would you incur all of the potential medical costs to save the friendship? Would you “wing it” and hoped it just went away? Serious questions. This is something that has plagued not only motorcycle riders, but people in general, for years. What do you do if you get injured and it’s a friend or family members fault? Would you sue?
If you find yourself in a situation like this – exploring a lawsuit against a friend or family member – the best thing to do is to get as much information as possible. To know your rights. To know your options. For a free, confidential, detailed evaluation with a motorcycle lawyer, please call Ledger & Associates @ 1-800-300-0001 or visit the firm’s website for more information @ www.ledgerlaw.com.
