Motorcycle Accident Attorney

Motorcycle claims are unfairly denied — we push back

There’s no such thing as a “minor” motorcycle accident. With no cage, airbags, or crumple zones, riders absorb the force of a collision directly, so crashes with larger vehicles routinely cause severe or catastrophic injuries. Worse, many drivers, adjusters, and even jurors carry an anti-rider bias — the reflexive assumption that the motorcyclist “must have been speeding” or “came out of nowhere.” Overcoming that prejudice is the core challenge of a motorcycle case, and it’s exactly what we’re built to do.

What to do after a motorcycle accident

1. Get medical attention immediately — adrenaline masks serious injuries.
2. Photograph the scene, your bike, your gear, and your injuries.
3. Preserve your helmet and gear — don’t repair or discard them (they’re evidence).
4. Get witness contact information.
5. Don’t give the other insurer a recorded statement or admit any fault.
6. Call an attorney before settling.

Why bias — not the facts — often drives the denial

The reality is that most motorcycle crashes are caused by other drivers, commonly:

• Left-turn collisions — a car turns across a rider’s path at an intersection (the single most common and deadly motorcycle crash type).
• Failure to see the motorcycle — “I looked but didn’t see it” (an inattention failure, not the rider’s fault).
• Unsafe lane changes into a rider’s lane.
• Following too closely and rear-ending a stopped rider.
• Dooring and cars pulling out from driveways or parking.
• Dangerous road conditions — potholes, gravel, poor signage (a potential government-entity claim, with a 6-month claim-presentation deadline — Gov. Code § 911.2).

Winning these cases means proving the mechanics — sight lines, conspicuity, perception-reaction time, and motorcycle dynamics — often with an accident reconstructionist and human-factors expert. That’s the evidence that flips a “denied” claim into a recovery.

California’s comparative-fault rule protects riders

Even if the insurer claims you were partly at fault — speeding, lane position — pure comparative fault (Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975) 13 Cal.3d 804) still lets you recover, reduced by your percentage. We fight to keep that percentage low with hard evidence rather than letting the adjuster’s bias set it.

Damages you can recover

• Lost wages and future earning loss
• Uncovered and future medical bills
• Rehabilitation and long-term or lifetime personal care
• Pain and suffering, and disfigurement
• Wrongful-death damages for a family who lost a loved one

Wondering what your claim might be worth? Learn how injury case value is calculated in San Diego.

Common motorcycle accident injuries

• Traumatic brain injury, even with a helmet (see Head & Brain Injuries)
• Spinal cord injuries and paralysis
• “Biker’s arm” and other nerve damage
• Road rash requiring skin grafts
• Multiple fractures and crush injuries
• Internal organ damage
• Amputations and disfigurement

San Diego riding hazards

San Diego’s year-round riding weather means heavy motorcycle traffic on I-5, I-15, I-8, SR-163, and coastal routes, plus canyon roads popular with riders. Merge points, stop-and-go freeway traffic (lane-splitting is legally recognized in California under Veh. Code § 21658.1 but still scrutinized by insurers), and distracted drivers make certain corridors especially dangerous.

In 2023, 583 motorcyclists were killed on California roads — 14% of all traffic deaths in the state. In San Diego County, 1,693 people were killed or injured in motorcycle-involved collisions that year, and the county ranked #1 of California’s 58 counties for motorcycle casualties in the OTS’s population- and mileage-weighted rankings — meaning riders here face outsized risk.

Sources: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System, 2023 (final); California Office of Traffic Safety, 2023 Crash Rankings — San Diego County.

Our results for injured riders

• A student struck on a back-country road with multiple fractures and internal injuries — $1.25 million settlement.
• A young man thrown from his motorcycle with multiple injuries — $250,000 arbitration award.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Why BKHC

We understand rider bias and how to defeat it, we work with reconstruction and medical experts, and we work purely on contingency — no fee unless we win. Se habla español.