What If a Car Runs My Motorcycle Off of the Road?

October 27, 2017

If you ride a motorcycle, you know you have to be twice as careful as a normal driver. Because your bike leaves you so exposed, it makes any accident more likely to result in serious injuries.

If a driver chooses to be careless, there’s a chance they might come away from the accident without much more than a scratch. It’s less likely that you’ll be left unscathed if you’re hit while on your motorcycle.

Because of the risks, many motorcyclists will swerve to avoid a car that comes into their lane rather than risk a collision. This strategy still may result in the motorcycle crashing into someone else or something stationary like a tree or a telephone pole.

If the motorcycle rider swerved to avoid a crash but still got injured, who is responsible for their injuries? Can the person who was driving recklessly and ran the motorcyclist off the road be held responsible?

No-Contact Motorcycle Accident

A no-contact motorcycle accident occurs when a motorcycle crashes into someone or something else due to the negligence of another vehicle.

Typically, you can seek compensation from the other driver’s insurance company if you can prove that the driver’s negligence directly caused the crash.

That’s a tall order for a number of reasons. First, if you crash your bike, you likely won’t be able to flag down the driver of the vehicle that caused you to crash. If they don’t see your crash or don’t recognize that they caused it, they might speed away without a care in the world. Unless you memorize their license plate as they zoom away, you may have no way of identifying who caused your accident.

Second, even if you are able to identify the other driver, you may not be able to prove that they caused your accident. Unless you have an eyewitness, the insurance company may not believe you.

Finally, you likely won’t be able to recover from the other driver’s insurance company if you’re at fault for the accident. For example, if you weren’t paying attention to the car in front of you and had to swerve last minute to avoid rear-ending them, you wouldn’t be able to say the other driver caused your accident. However, if you’re just partially at fault for the accident, you may still be able to recover.

Going Through Your Own Insurance

If you don’t know who caused your accident, don’t worry. Insurance companies have a term for an unidentified driver who causes you to crash into something else: a phantom driver. Typically, you’ll be able to recover under your own insurance as long as you have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.

Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage typically protects you in case you get into an accident with someone without insurance or without enough insurance to cover your damages. Your insurance company may still ask for proof that someone else caused your accident, or else they might penalize you as if the accident was your fault. Any witnesses you can get should greatly help your case.

Help from an Indiana Motorcycle Accident Attorney

It’s hard enough to get the compensation you deserve in a regular motorcycle accident, but if you’ve been injured in a no-contact accident, an Indiana motorcycle accident attorney can help. Call Hensley Legal Group today or contact us online for a free consultation.