Dwyer Williams Cherkoss PC was recently contacted by a man who was seriously injured while riding his motorcycle. This man was lawfully riding through a quiet neighborhood when he was abruptly struck by a motorist who backed out of a driveway without inspecting oncoming traffic. He was knocked clear off of his motorcycle and he ended up in the hospital because of the injuries he sustained.
Motorcycle accidents have the potential to be especially destructive. Motorcyclists wear very little protective gear and move at such high speeds that serious injury and death are virtually guaranteed when motorcycles collide with other moving vehicles. Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in the number of Oregon traffic crashes that involve motorcycles. According to the Oregon Department of Transportation’s Traffic Crash data, of a total 49,000 motor vehicle crashes in the State of Oregon in 2011, one in fifty involved motorcycles. This number represents a year-on-year increase of 17% from 2010. As in this case, driver inattention was one of the ten most common errors that resulted in accidents.
The injured motorcyclist in this case called our law firm after learning that the inattentive at-fault driver’s insurance policy was not large enough to cover all of his accident-related medical expenses, which totaled close to $200,000. Furthermore, an asset search of the at-fault driver revealed that he had virtually no collectible assets. As a result, the injured rider owed far more than the amount he could potentially recover from the insurance provider and he needed an expert motorcycle injury attorney to advise and advocate on his behalf.
Once Dwyer Williams Cherkoss PC had been retained as this motorcyclist’s counsel, we immediately sent detailed letters to all of our client’s treatment providers as well as to his insurance carriers, requesting a substantial reduction of his medical bills. Both the health and insurance providers had issued liens in this matter, but they would not have been able to collect on those liens. Using the potential settlement as leverage, we were eventually able to convince most of the providers to agree to our proposed reductions and these providers were promptly paid. Neither our client nor the at-fault driver were bankrupted by this accident and all parties involved were satisfied with the outcome.