Minnesota's weather can make for a short motorcycle riding season in Woodbury, but one that motorcycle enthusiasts enjoy nonetheless: Woodbury provides an opportunity to truly enjoy the beauty of the state and the freedom of the open road.
However, for all of that enjoyment, motorcyclists in Woodbury and beyond face very real hazards. Motorcycle accidents in the state result in more than 40 deaths per year and more than 700 injuries, many of them serious.
If you or a loved one suffered injuries in a motorcycle accident, you may be eligible for compensation for your medical bills and other losses. Contact a Woodbury motorcycle accident lawyer at Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers to discuss your case in a free consultation.
Injured in Woodbury? Get Nicolet.
You Can Trust Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers with Your Motorcycle Accident Claim
Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers is proud to serve Woodbury motorcyclists. Whether your injuries resulted from a distracted driver or an errant pothole, you need a skilled and compassionate motorcycle accident law firm by your side—you need the firm Woodbury motorcyclists turn to when they need help.
Our motorcycle accident attorneys are dedicated to helping our Woodbury clients recover financial compensation for pain and suffering, medical treatment, lost wages, and car repair. With over 100 years of combined legal experience and thousands of satisfied clients, we know how to get results.
More than that, we know that you aren't just another case: you're our neighbor, and we fight for you like you were family.
Motorcycle Accidents in Woodbury
While a great place to live, work, and ride, Woodbury is also full of opportunities for a potential motorcycle accident. Careless drivers pose a huge risk to motorcyclists, particularly in areas without the aid of signs or stoplights.
The intersection of Valley Creek Road and Radio Drive is commonly known as the busiest intersection in Washington County, with almost 50,000 vehicles using the intersection per day. Where Woodbury Drive (a.k.a. County Road 19) and Hudson Road cross is another intersection with substantial traffic. It's often filled with commuters during peak hours.
Intersections like these, with high speeds, close vehicles, and many big trucks or other commercial vehicles, pose a serious risk to Woodbury motorcyclists.
As long as careless drivers use the roads, Woodbury motorcyclists are always at risk. While difficult to spot, it's nonetheless important to always look out for a distracted or reckless driver, particularly in high-traffic areas like these.
What Makes Motorcycle Accidents So Dangerous?
The structure of the motorcycle increases the risk of an accident for several reasons:
Less visibility
Motorcycles are hard for the human mind to recognize and perceive as a potential hazard for other drivers, even in the daytime, due to a condition known as inattentional blindness. Inattentional blindness involves the way our brains process information. Research indicates that the brain can only handle so much sensory information at a time, so it prioritizes the information it needs to deal with first. In a driving situation, this can result in the brain dropping information indicating a small motorcycle is approaching the intersection in favor of processing the information that a larger, more dangerous taxi stopped in the turn lane on the other side of the intersection.
Less stability
Motorcycles operate on two wheels rather than four. While this can be useful in certain situations, it also makes the motorcycle more likely to crash due to road damage such as potholes, debris on the roads, or even evasive maneuvers.
No protection for the rider
Passenger vehicles have protective features to help the vehicle's occupants survive a serious car accident, such as airbags, seat belts, and a steel frame. Motorcyclists do not have that luxury. Because there is nothing to restrain the rider, the crash will almost certainly eject him or her from the vehicle, leaving his or her body vulnerable to injuries when it strikes the roadway or other objects.
Causes of Woodbury Motorcycle Accidents
The NHTSA notes that among the most likely causes of a motorcycle crash, alcohol impairment is one of the most common. The deficits created by alcohol to the skills needed for the safe operation of a car place motorcyclists at a tremendous risk of injury or death. Those deficits include the inability to track a moving target, control one's speed and maintain a single lane of travel, brake effectively, or use good judgment.
Speeding motorists increase the risk for motorcyclists because of the longer distance needed to bring the vehicle to a safe stop, less time to react by braking for a hazard on the roadway ahead, and an increase in the severity of the crash.
Other common causes of motorcycle accidents include:
- Dooring: This is a motorcycle hazard that occurs when the occupant of a car parked on the side of the roadway opens the door to exit the vehicle into the path of an oncoming motorcycle. In this circumstance, the motorcycle will often either collide with the door or with another vehicle as the motorcyclist attempts to swerve to avoid the door.
- Left-turning cars: This is where you can see the danger of inattentional blindness, as left-turning cars are a factor in about 42 percent of accidents involving a motorcycle and a car. This type of accident usually occurs when the motorcycle is traveling straight through the intersection. The left-turning driver fails to see the motorcycle in the intersection and turns into its path.
Factors that often cause accidents with other vehicle types, like driver fatigue, distracted driving, tailgating, and failure to yield, can also cause motorcycle accidents.
Injuries From Woodbury Motorcycle Accidents
The majority of motorcycle riders in accidents will suffer at least a minor injury due to the lack of protection the vehicle provides. Some of the injuries experienced from motorcycle accidents are among the most serious, such as traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries.
Both of these injury types have a high likelihood of permanent disability, loss of independence, and complications that will result in the need for continued medical treatment throughout the injured person's life.
Other injuries, while not as completely life-changing, can result in a long and painful recovery, as well as extraordinary expenses.
Some of the other injuries Woodbury motorcycle accident victims experience include:
- Road rash
- Broken wrists or arms
- Lower extremity injuries
- Internal injuries
- Burns from contact with sources of heat and chemicals used in vehicles
What Compensation is Available in a Minnesota Motorcycle Accident?
Compensation available in a motorcycle accident can vary widely depending on several factors, including the specific circumstances of the accident, the extent of injuries or damages, insurance coverage, and local laws. Compensation may be sought through various avenues, such as insurance claims, personal injury lawsuits, or both. Here are some common types of compensation that may be available:
- Medical Expenses: This includes compensation for past and future medical bills related to injuries sustained in the accident, such as hospitalization, surgeries, doctor visits, prescription medications, rehabilitation, and therapy.
- Property Damage: Compensation for the repair or replacement of your motorcycle and any other damaged property, such as protective gear, helmets, or personal belongings.
- Lost Wages: If you've missed work due to injuries from the motorcycle accident, you may be entitled to compensation for your lost income. This can include both past and future lost earnings.
- Pain and Suffering: Non-economic damages such as physical pain, emotional distress, and mental anguish may be compensated. The amount can be more challenging to quantify and may vary depending on the jurisdiction.
- Loss of Enjoyment of Life: Compensation for the loss of the ability to engage in activities or hobbies you enjoyed before the accident due to injuries or disabilities.
- Wrongful Death Damages: In cases where a motorcycle accident results in a fatality, surviving family members may be entitled to compensation for the loss of their loved one. This can include funeral expenses, loss of financial support, and emotional distress.
- Property Damage: Compensation for the repair or replacement of your motorcycle and any other damaged property, such as protective gear, helmets, or personal belongings.
- Other Out-of-Pocket Expenses: This can include reimbursement for expenses related to transportation, home modifications, and other costs incurred as a result of the accident and injuries.
To pursue compensation after a motorcycle accident, you may need to work with your insurance company, the at-fault party's insurance company, or file a personal injury lawsuit, depending on the circumstances. The experienced motorcycle accident attorneys from Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers understand your rights and the specific compensation options available in your case and can help you get the maximum compensation in your case.
Contact the Woodbury Motorcycle Accident Attorneys at Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers Today
If you or a loved one suffered injuries in a motorcycle accident in Woodbury, you may be entitled to compensation. You need a motorcycle accident attorney who will fight to protect your rights.
Contact the personal injury lawyers at Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers today. Let us put our resources to work for you. Contact Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers online or by calling (651) 358-2531 for your free, no-obligation consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions About Woodbury Motorcycle Accidents
If you were injured in a motorcycle accident, you likely have questions about your legal options for obtaining compensation. An experienced Woodbury motorcycle accident lawyer is your best resource for obtaining answers about your specific case. Here are some answers to general questions about the subject that our clients often ask us.
How do I obtain compensation for the injuries I sustained in a Woodbury motorcycle accident?
Start by calling us. If your accident resulted from someone else’s reckless or careless actions, you can pursue compensation for the expenses and impacts of your injury through a motorcycle injury lawsuit. It will seek to prove who was liable for the accident and show the costs and the impacts related to the injuries sustained in the accident.
My spouse died in a Woodbury motorcycle accident. Is there compensation available for me?
Yes, but the process is slightly different. When an individual dies because of someone else’s careless or reckless actions, the family members of the deceased can seek compensation through a wrongful death lawsuit. Like a motorcycle injury claim, a wrongful death lawsuit is filed in civil court.
The spouse, children, parents, grandparents, and siblings of the deceased person may file a wrongful death claim for:
- Medical expenses relating to the treatment of the deceased’s final injury.
- Funeral and burial expenses.
- Loss of service, protection, care, or assistance that was provided by the deceased to his or her family members.
- Loss of income, wages, and benefits suffered by the family because of the death.
- Sorrow, mental anguish, and loss of society, care, companionship, and guidance.
How do I prove that someone else was liable for my Woodbury motorcycle accident?
To prove liability, you must show:
- The at-fault party owed you a duty of care. "Duty of care” refers to how a reasonable person acts in a certain circumstance. For example, the duty of care that motorists owe to other roadway users is to operate their motor vehicles safely and legally.
- There was a breach in the duty of care. The breach refers to the actions that the at-fault party took that violated the duty of care.
- The breach resulted in an accident, which caused your injuries and subsequent impacts and expenses.
How are non-economic damages calculated in a Woodbury motorcycle accident case?
"Damages” refers to a payment for harm. Economic damages, then, are payments for the expenses you incurred from your injury. Non-economic damages refer to compensation for the quality-of-life impacts of your injury, such as pain and suffering or emotional distress.
The impacts of a motorcycle accident injury are often profound. They may touch every part of the injured person’s life, including his or her ability to work, to attend to personal care tasks and maintain a household, to provide care and support for family members, and to participate in hobbies and activities in the community. Many individuals are confused by the notion of collecting damages for non-economic expenses, however, as there are no direct costs associated with these impacts.
Non-economic damages can be subjective, and expert testimony from physicians, psychologists, or economists often determines it. In general, the more severe the injuries are, the higher an expected damages award might be. Your total non-economic damages are then added to the total of the economic damages to establish the value of your case.
The experienced motorcycle accident lawyers at Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers are available to discuss your case and the compensation that you may be entitled to.
How long do I have to file a motorcycle accident lawsuit in Woodbury?
Every state has a deadline for when you can file a lawsuit, known as the statute of limitations. Failing to observe this deadline can result in you losing the right to compensation for your injuries. In Minnesota, the statute of limitations for motorcycle accident cases is usually two years from the date on which the injury occurred.
What can your Woodbury motorcycle accident lawyers do to help my case?
An experienced motorcycle accident lawyer brings the experience you need to navigate the legal process, as well as other services to get you the highest amount of compensation available.
Those services include:
- A determination of the value of your case, based on the expenses and impacts you have incurred due to your injury and those you will likely incur in the future.
- A determination of all sources of liability and all insurance resources that can be accessed to compensate you.
- Timely filing of all court-required paperwork in the proper jurisdiction, and attendance on your behalf at all pre-trial hearings and conferences.
- Skilled negotiation with the at-fault party’s insurance provider in an attempt to garner a fair settlement offer for you.
- The collection of evidence and witness testimony to help prove your case.
- Guidance as to the pros and cons of accepting a settlement offer.
- Litigation, including the delivery of opening and closing arguments as well as the presentation of evidence and the examination of witnesses.
- Assistance collecting your award or settlement.
Let the experienced Woodbury motorcycle accident lawyer at Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers help you understand your legal options. For your free case evaluation, contact Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers online or by calling (651) 815-0017.