At Seraj Law, we go beyond legal representation.
Motorcyclists may face a greater risk of injury than other road users due to their small size and the lack of safety features compared to other vehicles. When the worst happens on New York’s highways, Seraj Law’s experienced Albany motorcycle accident lawyers stand ready to represent accident victims and pursue fair compensation.
It isn’t uncommon to wonder whether you even need an Albany motorcycle accident attorney after a crash. Technically speaking, after all, you have every right to handle your claim on your own.
Doing so, however, usually leaves victims at a massive disadvantage. Insurance companies have extensive resources and legal teams backing them, and they all have one goal – to protect their business’s bottom line, even if it costs clients their claim.
Working with an attorney is one way to improve your odds of fair compensation against companies whose interests go against your own.
Motorcycle accident victims can recover losses across three broad categories: economic, non-economic, and punitive damages. Each of these categories pays for a different type of damage or serves a different purpose.
Tangible, verifiable losses are called economic damages. These include anything you can prove with a receipt to be related to the accident.
Common economic damages are:
Non-economic damages are also called human damages. These cover intangible and more subjective, but nonetheless real, losses that receipts cannot account for.
In rare cases involving extreme negligence, punitive damages may also be awarded, though these are not intended to compensate the victim but rather to punish the wrongdoer. Punitive damages are more often awarded when a case reaches the court, but not all court cases result in punitive damages.
Unlike some states, New York does not impose a statutory cap on punitive damages, meaning that, in extreme cases, it is possible to have six or even seven-figure amounts. New York also does not take a portion of punitive damages via a “split-recovery” statute.
Instead, limits and constraints on punitive damages are directly overseen by judges and/or juries.
Depending on the accident, the party that bears responsibility for damages will vary. The state of New York uses a mix of personal injury protection (PIP) and comparative negligence, determined by the total amount of damages in the accident.
New York is a no-fault state. That means drivers are responsible for covering their own damages in an accident, at least up to a cap (minimum coverage of $50,000), based on your plan.
This is known as personal injury protection coverage, and is intended as a means to quickly get victims an amount without having an investigation into fault slow down the process. Note, however, that we mentioned drivers specifically are required to have personal injury protection and not riders; motorcycles are exempt from mandatory PIP coverage.
What this means is that if you are operating a car and collide with a motorcycle, you have to exhaust your PIP coverage before turning to other avenues of compensation. If you are operating a motorcycle and get into an accident, you will have to turn to New York’s pure comparative negligence system.
Pure comparative negligence means that each party involved in an accident is eligible for compensation, but the amount they may recover is reduced by their degree of fault.
If, for example, a jury finds you are owed $100,000 in damages, and you are not at fault at all, you may take the full amount. If, however, you find yourself sharing 20% of the blame, you will only be granted $80,000.
In a pure comparative negligence system, victims are allowed to pursue compensation even if they are the majority at-fault for an accident, up to 99%. You would be eligible for only 1% of the total amount in such an extreme scenario.
New York’s statute of limitations for personal cases is three years from the date of the injury. Courts treat this as a hard boundary with rare exceptions, meaning missing this window forfeits your right to compensation.
If the accident involves a government entity, however, a different set of deadlines comes into play. You have to file a notice of claim within 90 days of the accident, followed by filing suit within one year and 90 days.
Finally, wrongful death claims related to any motorcycle accidents also have their own statute of limitations. Families of the deceased muse take action for the death of their loved one within two years of the death.
Don’t face the complex legal battles and high-pressure tactics of insurance companies alone after a motorcycle accident. The dedicated Albany personal injury lawyers at Seraj Law are ready to put their experience and resources to work for you, fighting tirelessly to ensure you receive the maximum compensation you deserve for your injuries and losses.
Contact us today at (518) 941-8579 for a free, confidential consultation and take the critical first step toward securing your financial future and peace of mind.
No, motorcycles are generally exempt from New York’s mandatory PIP or no-fault insurance requirement. This means that if you are riding a motorcycle and are injured in an accident, you cannot typically file a claim under your own no-fault coverage as a car driver would.
Instead, your claim will fall under New York’s pure comparative negligence system, allowing you to seek compensation directly from the at-fault party’s liability insurance, even if you were partially to blame for the crash.
Crucial evidence in a motorcycle accident claim often includes police reports, photographs of the accident scene, your motorcycle damage, and your injuries. It is also important to gather medical records detailing your treatment and recovery, statements from witnesses, and documentation of lost wages and other economic losses, like receipts for property damage or assistive services.
The duration of a motorcycle accident claim varies significantly based on complexity. Simple claims where liability is clear and injuries are minor might resolve in a few months through negotiation.
However, more complex cases involving severe injuries, disputes over fault, or high-value damages often take much longer, sometimes exceeding a year if a lawsuit must be filed and the case proceeds through discovery and potentially to trial.
