What Are Motorcycle Accidents?
Motorcycle crashes are traffic accidents that are often caused by negligent motorists who fail to see, fail to look for, or fail to safely accommodate motorcyclists with whom they share the road. Because you don’t have the protective shell of a car when you’re on your bike, you’re far more vulnerable to the immense impact of an accident and to more severe injuries.
When you ride, you face unique risk factors like the following:
- You’re more likely to get lost in the blind spots that other drivers experience.
- You’re more susceptible to risk factors on the road.
- You require much shorter stopping distances than all the larger vehicles that you share the road with, which can contribute to rear-end accidents.
- In an accident, you’re very likely to be thrown from your bike, and road rash is a serious concern.
- When you’re on your motorcycle, it’s more difficult for other drivers to gauge your speed and the distance you are from them, which puts you at even greater risk in intersections.
While you face a variety of threats when you’re on your motorcycle, the drivers with whom you share the road owe you a duty of care that includes taking the necessary precautions to protect your safety.
Common Causes of Motor Crashes
Most motorcycle accidents are the direct result of negligence on the part of other drivers, and this negligence can come in many different forms.
Distraction
Distracted drivers fail to focus their attention solely on their primary task, which is navigating safely through traffic. One of the most dangerous distractions of all the distractions out there is texting. It takes about five seconds to read or type out a text, and in the course of that five seconds, a motorist can travel about 360 feet at highway speeds. This level of distraction puts everyone else on the road at serious risk – including motorcyclists.
Excess Speed
When a motorist refuses to maintain a safe speed, they make the road far more dangerous for everyone on it. A safe speed in this context not only means obeying the speed limit but also adjusting one’s speed downward in response to road hazards, including:
- Heavy traffic
- Roads made slippery by wet or icy weather
- Low visibility
- Debris on the road
- Poorly maintained roads
- High winds
- Road construction and workers on the road
Excess speed makes accidents more likely, and it increases the risk that there will be fatalities.
Impairment
The Government of Canada reports that impaired driving is the leading criminal cause of injury and death in the country. In a recent year, there were 69,000 incidents of impaired driving throughout Canada. When motorists are impaired by alcohol, they experience dangerous effects like the following:
- Loss of judgement
- Exaggerated behaviours and loss of muscle control
- Poor muscle coordination
- Decreased ability to detect danger
- Impaired memory, self-control, and reasoning
- Slowed reaction times
All of these are bad news for others on the road, and motorcyclists can pay the ultimate price.
Exhaustion
Drowsy drivers are known to experience some of the same kinds of impairment that drunk drivers do, which makes them especially dangerous drivers who put motorcyclists at extreme risk.
Aggression
Aggressive drivers are particularly dangerous drivers who are often responsible for very serious accidents. The hallmarks of aggressive driving are tailgating, speeding recklessly, and putting others on the road in immense danger in the process.
Failure to Follow the Rules of the Road
Serious motorcycle accidents are often caused by other drivers who simply refuse to take the rules of the road seriously enough. This can include failing to stop for red lights and stop signs, ignoring traffic lights and signals, failing to yield the right-of-way, and much more. Motorcyclists are especially vulnerable to drivers who don’t put safety first.
Common Injuries in a Motorcycle Accident
When you ride, the risk of being injured in an accident is high, and while you can suffer virtually any kind of serious injury, some of the most common motorcycle accident injuries include the following:
- Head injuries, such as traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), which can lead to life-altering emotional and psychological consequences
- Spinal cord injuries, which – even when relatively minor – can significantly decrease your range of motion and lead to chronic pain and, when catastrophic, can leave you partially or completely paralyzed
- Serious burns that are not only exceptionally painful and highly susceptible to dangerous infections but can also be permanently disfiguring when on or near the face
- Road rash, which refers to the scrapes, abrasions, and cuts that motorcyclists often experience when they’re dragged across the roadway and which are prone to infections and scarring
- Other catastrophic injuries, such as limb loss or injuries that require amputation
- Internal injuries, which can take longer to diagnose and become more serious in the process
- Broken bones, which are as painful as they are slow to heal
- Soft tissue injuries, such as whiplash
Regardless of the kind of injuries you’ve sustained, an experienced motorcycle accident lawyer is standing by to help.
Devastating Consequences of Motorcycle Collisions
Being injured in a violent motorcycle accident as a result of another driver’s negligence can lead to devastating effects. To begin, you will likely face a long and difficult recovery, and in the meantime, you may be off the job, which translates to lost earnings. Additionally, if the course of your career is affected, it can have serious financial and emotional consequences due to the primary role our careers often play in our lives.
There is also, however, the matter of your physical and emotional pain and suffering – which can overshadow your financial losses – to consider. As a motorcycle accident victim, you are vulnerable to serious emotional consequences that are often compared to those suffered by victims of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), including:
- Serious mood swings
- Increased irritability
- Anxiety and depression
- Sleep disturbances
- Memory issues
- Difficulty concentrating
- A tendency to self-isolate
- Terrifying accident flashbacks
- Fear of getting back on your motorcycle
An additional challenge is that these effects can push those in your support system away – just when you could use their help the most.
What to Do after a Motorcycle Accident
If you’ve been injured in a motorcycle accident, you may be at an absolute loss about how best to proceed. If this is your experience, you are not alone, and while your case will be utterly unique to the specific circumstances involved, there are several important steps you can take to help safeguard your recovery and your motorcycle accident claim, including:
- Don’t wait to obtain the professional medical attention you need.
- Carefully follow your doctor’s instructions, advice, and guidance throughout the recovery process.
- Follow up on all future medical appointments for tests, procedures, and care.
- Seek the legal guidance of a seasoned personal injury lawyer who has a wealth of experience successfully handling complex motorcycle crash claims, and follow their lead throughout the legal process.
- Avoid making a statement to the involved insurance company before you’ve consulted with a resourceful motorcycle accident lawyer. The right motorcycle accident lawyer for you will help you smoothly navigate the claim process, which can include speaking to the rep handling your case on your behalf. The insurance company is invested in keeping your settlement low, and they’re very good at twisting the statements of claimants like you into meanings that diminish their claims.
- Take a break from social media for the same reason, which limits the insurance company’s ability to use your words against you.
You can count on your experienced lawyer to help guide your motorcycle accident claim effectively and efficiently forward toward a favourable outcome that supports your most complete recovery.
Compensation in a Motorcycle Accident Case
In an Ottawa motorcycle accident case, you can seek compensation for all your covered physical, financial, and emotional losses, including:
- Your medical expenses, including future health care expenses
- Your lost earnings
- Your physical and emotional pain and suffering
One of the important tasks that your experienced personal injury lawyer will ably handle is ensuring that every category of loss you suffer is well accounted for.
How to File a Motorcycle Accident Claim in Ottawa
When it comes to filing a motorcycle accident claim, the first order of business is reaching out to motorcycle accident lawyers in Ottawa in search of the right legal representation for you. From here, your lawyer will skillfully take on each of the required steps forward.
Gathering Evidence
Your lawyer will go about gathering and compiling all the available evidence in their effort to build a strong claim that proves the other driver’s negligence, that clearly outlines your losses, and that is difficult for the involved insurance company to deny. This can include all the following:
- Eyewitness testimony
- The expert testimony of professionals in fields that are related to the mechanics of the motorcycle crash that caused you to be injured and to the kind of injuries you suffered
- Pictures and videos taken prior to, during, and after the accident by the occupants of other vehicles and by other eyewitnesses
- Footage from dashcams as well as any security cameras or traffic cameras in the vicinity
- The police report and any tickets issued by the police
- Professional accident recreation models that make the accident less challenging to visualize
- Physical evidence from the accident scene, such as any skid marks as well as depictions of how the involved vehicles landed
- Your related medical records as well as your doctor’s report and their account of your injuries, prognosis, and ongoing medical needs
- Your account of how the motorcycle accident has affected your life – along with the accounts of those who know you best
- Proof of your current earnings as compared to your earnings prior to the accident
- Your related medical bills and the cost of physical therapy, rehabilitation, mental health counselling, and any additional treatments you require
The objective is obtaining maximum compensation, and your dedicated motorcycle injury lawyer will leave no stone unturned in their focused efforts to help make this happen.
Building Your Claim
Once your lawyer has gathered the necessary evidence, they will craft a solid claim that they’ll file with the insurance company of the at fault driver. Insurance companies have plenty of tactics at their disposal to help keep settlements low, but your accomplished motorcycle accident injury lawyer has the experience and legal insight to get to the heart of matter – in fierce pursuit of the compensation to which you are entitled and that you need to regain your health and well-being.
Negotiating Just Compensation
The next step in the process is negotiating just compensation that addresses your covered losses. Motorcycle accident cases tend to be challenging, but your lawyer will spare no effort in their commitment to hotly pursuing a favourable outcome that supports your brightest future. Having a focused motorcycle accident lawyer in your corner from the outset can make a significant difference in how your claim is resolved.
Preparing for Court
If the insurance company is not interested in negotiating fairly and if mediation doesn’t lead to a settlement that covers your medical treatment and other losses, you’ll likely be advised to take the matter to trial. Fortunately, your determined motorcycle accident lawyer will be well prepared to do just that. While most motorcycle accident claims are settled out of court, you shouldn’t settle for less than what’s fair, and you can count on your legal counsel to help you make the right decisions for you.
In court, your lawyer will fiercely advocate for your case’s best possible outcome. This includes proving the negligence of the at fault party as well as demonstrating the full range of losses you’ve experienced. Sometimes, it takes the court’s authority to ensure that injured motorcyclists like you are compensated fairly, and when that’s the case, going to trial can be the best path forward.
Seek Legal Advice from an Ottawa Motorcycle Accident Lawyer
You’re a motorcyclist who’s been injured in a serious accident that was caused by another driver’s negligence, and your ability to recover to the degree possible hangs in the balance. The capable personal injury lawyers at Burn Tucker Lachaîne in Ottawa harness the full force of our impressive legal skill for every client we represent, and we’re here for you, too. To learn more about what we can do to help you, please don’t put off reaching out and contacting or calling us at 613-233-6898 today.
March 6, 2025 
