The Role of Expert Witnesses in Motorcycle Injury Cases

When you’re involved in a motorcycle accident, life changes in an instant. While occupants of larger passenger vehicles often walk away from motorcycle accidents with little more than property damage, motorcyclists are at risk of serious and fatal injuries. To make it worse, motorcyclists often struggle to get full and fair compensation after a collision. The bias against motorcyclists often means that they are blamed for every accident that happens, even if the other driver is at fault.

That’s one reason your attorney may recommend the use of expert witnesses in your motorcycle injury claim. They can make complex topics easier to understand and strengthen your claim. Ready to start your case? Call McPhillips Shinbaum at 334-262-1911.

Accident Reconstruction Experts

Your attorney may turn to accident reconstruction experts if your crash is complex or involves multiple vehicles. Some collisions are cut and dry—it’s easy to see what happened, what went wrong, and who’s to blame. Outside of those crashes, it gets a little murkier. Figuring out who is to blame is critical if you want to recoup your losses, and an accident reconstruction expert can analyze the evidence to figure out precisely what happened, when, and how fast both parties were going.

If your case goes to court, the accident reconstruction expert may strive to make your accident more understandable to a jury of laypeople. This may involve making diagrams or videos showing how the crash happened in slow motion.

Motorcycle-Specific Expert Witnesses

Motorcycles are complex vehicles that are different from cars in many crucial ways. For this reason, insurance adjusters and others who work in this sphere often misunderstand how they work and how they behave in a collision. These types of errors can lead to huge misunderstandings about how the accident occurred and who was negligent.

A motorcycle expert can provide in-depth insight into how the motorcycle functions, its maneuverability and handling, and how it may act in a crash. This can also be used to explain how you suffered certain injuries.

To go one step further, your attorney may also seek out an expert in protective gear. When a rider isn’t wearing protective gear at the time of a crash, it’s common for the other side to claim that their injuries are entirely due to the lack of safety gear. An expert in this area can look at the facts of the crash and determine whether or not that’s true.

Economic and Vocational Experts

You may suffer profound economic losses as a result of your motorcycle accident. Those who suffer catastrophic or disfiguring injuries may find themselves permanently unable to work. Others aren’t able to continue in their current line of work and are forced to take a pay cut to work in a different position. It’s difficult for the average person to calculate exactly how those losses will affect you. 

An economic expert may be able to provide additional information. They can fully explore the economic consequences of your accident, such as lost wages, lost future career growth opportunities, the loss of health insurance and retirement contributions, and more. When you consider everything you truly lose when you have to give up your career, it is far more than just your annual salary.

Vocational experts are well-versed in how complex injuries can affect an individual’s ability to work. Your attorney may hire them to show how your specific line of work is impacted by your injuries.

Medical Experts

If you suffered complex or multifaceted injuries in the crash, figuring out the care you’ll need moving forward can be a challenge. Doctors and other medical specialists can be a great source of information and commentary on this topic. They may also be able to comment on the injuries you sustained, what likely caused them, and how they line up with other motorcycle injuries they’ve seen in the past.

Injured in a Motorcycle Crash? Call McPhillips Shinbaum Today

The team at McPhillips Shinbaum is committed to helping you fight for the compensation you’re owed after a motorcycle accident. Take the first step in your claim now—just call us at 334-262-1911 or contact us online.