If you’ve been involved in a motorbike accident which wasn’t your fault then you may well be in a position to make a claim for compensation. If you’ve been injured due to the negligence of another road user, then it’s only fair that someone else should have to foot the bill for any expenses arising from this injury, as well as paying an amount to compensate you for the pain, distress and detrimental effect upon your social and working life.
Official statistics show that a large percentage of the accidents involving motorbikes are in fact caused by the drivers of cars failing to notice the motorbike in question. Despite this, however, there tends to be a generalised assumption that motorbike riders are more reckless and have therefore probably brought the accident upon themselves. This is why it’s more important than ever, if you’ve been involved in a motorbike accident, to take the right steps in the immediate aftermath, as this is the first phase of any successful compensation claim. Amongst the things you should do immediately following a motorbike accident are the following:
- Ask any witnesses for their contact details
- Ask everyone involved for their contact and insurance details
- There’s a chance that people may give false contact or insurance details, so note the number plates of any vehicles involved
- Contact the police and report the accident. This is a legal requirement and will also create a ‘paper trail’ to be used when building the case for your claim
- Receive medical attention. Some injuries may not be immediately apparent, so it’s vital that you have yourself looked at by a doctor to ascertain exactly how badly hurt you are. As with speaking to the police, this will also help to create an official record of the accident.
The more information you can set down about the accident while it’s fresh in your mind, the better. To this end, if it’s possible, take a photograph of the scene or do a sketch of the accident, detailing the position of vehicles, direction of travel and placement of any witnesses.
When making a compensation claim following a motorbike accident, you’ll be fighting against the assumption that motorbike riders are reckless and prone to taking risks. The more information you can present to your road accident lawyer to counter this idea, the stronger the case they’ll be able to build.
