Steven Montag – Your Lincoln Motorcycle Accident Injury Attorney
An enjoyable motorcycle ride will end quickly if a negligent driver crashes with you. Don’t let a motorcycle accident ruin your health or your finances. A Lincoln motorcycle accident lawyer can solve many of the problems caused by your accident.
Riding a motorcycle in Lincoln or anywhere else in Nebraska should be fun. Unfortunately, no matter how careful you are another driver can cause you to have an accident through no fault of your own. All motorcycle riders are concerned about crashes. It isn’t hard to imagine the many devastating consequences of a serious motorcycle accident. If you have an accident caused by someone else’s negligence, it is reassuring to know that Nebraska law allows you to seek financial compensation for accident-related injuries. The Motorcycle Accident Injury Attorney at the Montag Law Office can help you get all the money to which you are entitled. Mr. Montag knows Nebraska motorcycle injury law thoroughly and he will strive to get you the best possible outcome for your injury claim.
Beware of Stereotypes
A majority of motorcycle riders are safe drivers who follow traffic and safety laws. However, we all have heard of the stereotype that motorcyclists drive aggressively and unsafely. Insurance companies try to bully motorcycle accident victims into taking small settlements. They do their best to minimize all claims, including legitimate motorcycle crash claims like yours. The insurance company may accuse you of being a reckless motorcyclist to imply that you are partly to blame for your accident. Fortunately, Motorcycle Accident Injury Attorney Steven Montag isn’t intimidated by such games.
Importance of Avoiding Contributory Negligence
The at-fault driver is the party whose negligence causes a crash. In Nebraska, the at-fault driver and their insurance company have significant motivation to try to get the non-fault driver to be considered partly to blame for the accident. The reason they try to shift the blame is that Nebraska allows contributory negligence as a defense in civil actions. The amount awarded to the claimant (in this case, you) is diminished proportionately to the amount of negligence. If the claimant is 50 percent or more negligent (to blame) they cannot make a recovery.
The following example calculations illustrate how even a small amount of contributory negligence can have a big effect on how much money you get from an accident claim. You will probably find the example a bit tedious, but it is instructive.
Assume you had $10,000 of accident-related medical bills and a $10,000 car that was totaled. Also, assume that the full settlement would be $35,000 for the injury claim and $10,000 for the car and that the attorney has $300 of out-of-pocket expenses to get medical records or doctor’s opinion letters.
The amount of money going to the client from a full injury settlement is calculated as follows:
$35,000.00 (injury total) – $10,000.00 (medical bills) – $11,666.67 (lawyer’s fee) – $300.00 (lawyer’s expenses) = $13,033.33 (amount paid to Client)
The amount of money going to the client from the same injury settlement with 10% contributory negligence is calculated as follows:
$31,500.00 (90% of $35,000) – $10,000.00 (100 % of 10,000) – $10,500.00 (90% of $11,666.67) – $300.00 (100% of $300) = $10,700.00 (injury settlement paid to Client)
In this example, you would also lose $1,000.00 on the car due to only getting reimbursed for 90% of its value.
Call Steven Montag – Your Lincoln Motorcycle Accident Injury Attorney
If the at-fault negligent driver or their insurance company get away with making you to accept any responsibility for your motorcycle accident you will not get as large a settlement or court judgment. Our Motorcycle Accident Injury Attorney makes sure that contributory negligence is not misapplied to your claim.