How Much Is Pain and Suffering Worth for a Motorcycle Accident?
Gregg Hollander | September 25, 2024 | Motorcycle Accidents
The value of pain and suffering from a motorcycle accident varies from one case to the next. Injury severity, the rider’s unique emotional and psychological response, and other factors can dictate how much compensation one deserves for pain and suffering. Attorneys use legally accepted methods to calculate pain and suffering, so allow a lawyer to determine how much compensation you deserve for yours.
Pain and suffering is one of many damages injured riders often suffer. Those who lose a loved one because of a fatal motorcycle accident also endure pain and suffering. If you face either of these circumstances, hire a Boca Raton motorcycle accident attorney to pursue the compensation you deserve.
What Does Pain and Suffering Mean for Motorcycle Accident Victims
While any traffic accident can be traumatic, riders often face more direct, intense experiences when they’re in an accident. Motorcyclists’ disproportionately high fatality rate illustrates the severity of their collisions.
Some of the many types of pain and suffering riders face include:
- Post-traumatic stress disorder, which affects victims of auto accidents of all kinds but may be especially likely among riders
- Acute pain (which may happen at the time of the accident and in the minutes, hours, days, and weeks following)
- Chronic pain
- Depression
- Lost quality of life
- Lost sleep
If you lose physical abilities, experience mood or personality changes, have scarring or other types of disfigurement, or suffer any type of pain and suffering, an attorney will seek compensation for these damages.
How Your Motorcycle Accident Lawyer May Document Your Pain and Suffering
Pain and suffering can account for a significant portion of your damages. While this loss category does not always have an obvious monetary value, you may be entitled to a large sum of money for your pain and suffering.
If you are going to obtain a fair financial recovery, your lawyer will need to document the pain and suffering you’ve experienced. They may document your pain and suffering using:
- Testimony from mental health experts (who can diagnose all the conditions and symptoms you’ve suffered because of the motorcycle accident)
- Your account of how the motorcycle accident has caused you pain and suffering
- Bills for any mental health treatment you undergo after the accident
If any other documentation speaks to your pain and suffering, your motorcycle accident attorney will include that documentation in your case.
What Affects the Financial Value of Pain and Suffering?
The concept of seeking compensation for pain and suffering is a cloudy, little-understood idea for non-lawyers. Two motorcycle accident victims may be injured in similar circumstances yet may receive different amounts of money for their pain and suffering—you should know why this is the case.
Your attorney will consider all relevant factors when valuing your pain and suffering, which likely include:
Specific Conditions You Are Diagnosed With
Your attorney will consider any specific conditions you experience because of your accident, such as:
- PTSD
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Mood disorder
Such conditions come with specific symptoms and implications and may require specific treatments. Your motorcycle accident attorney will consider such details as they value your case.
The Duration of Your Pain and Suffering
One method for calculating pain and suffering multiplies the daily cost of your suffering times the number of days you experience that suffering. This is one example of how the sheer time period you face pain and suffering is relevant to the value of your case.
The Intensity of Your Suffering
While every form of pain and suffering demands justice, some injured riders (and loved ones of deceased riders) face particularly severe pain and suffering. It is, therefore, relevant if:
- You suffer a particularly painful injury
- You have a uniquely difficult psychological or emotional response to the accident
- You suffer with substance use, thoughts of self harm, or other secondary responses to pain and suffering
- You have lost a loved one, which can cause grief and other severe forms of pain and suffering
The degree of your pain and suffering is highly relevant when your attorney is calculating the financial value of that pain and suffering.
The Presence or Absence of a Disabling Injury
Disabling injuries often means worsened, prolonged pain and suffering. Physical symptoms can be permanent, while the challenges of being disabled can cause long-term emotional distress.
Because motorcycle riders have little physical protection during an accident, they are at an exaggerated risk of suffering disabling injuries.
Your Unique Post-Accident Experience
There will be other details for your motorcycle accident lawyer to consider when valuing your pain and suffering. Every rider endures a different experience, and your lawyer may uncover details that are directly relevant to your case value.
Motorcycle accidents are preventable, which means your pain and suffering was preventable. Allow a lawyer to hold liable parties accountable for the pain and suffering they’ve caused you.
More Damages That Result from Motorcycle Accidents
Your pain and suffering is just one of many damages you may face because of the negligence of a motorist, vehicle manufacturer, or other liable party. Some of the other common damages injured riders experience are:
- Healthcare costs: Medical bills can be immediate, abundant, and overwhelming for riders injured in motorcycle accidents. The only relief you may get from these bills is a settlement or verdict covering their cost. Riders often need emergency transport, diagnostic imaging, and many other services until they reach maximum medical improvement (MMI).
- Lost income: Riders who miss work temporarily or permanently may lose income, have to reduce their hours or change their role (losing earning power as a consequence), miss chances for bonuses, and suffer other professional damages. Your attorney will seek compensation for any such damages.
- Property costs (including motorcycle repairs): Your lawyer will work with a mechanic to determine the cost of replacing your motorcycle. If your bike is a total loss, your lawyer will seek compensation for its financial value.
- Expenses related to a disability: If you have a disabling injury, you may face the cost of medical equipment, lifelong pain and suffering, extensive rehabilitation, ramps and other updates to your home, a disability-friendly vehicle, and other economic damages and non-economic damages.
Motorcycle accident lawyers are well acquainted with the costs of collisions. Your attorney will determine fair compensation for all economic and non-economic harm resulting from your collision.
Damages Survivors Face When a Loved One Passes Away
Riders are more likely to lose their lives when involved in accidents. For loved ones of the riders who pass away, the emotional, financial, and psychological toll of the accident is catastrophic.
A motorcycle accident lawyer will demand a financial recovery that reflects the enormity of your loss, and a settlement or verdict should cover:
- Funeral costs
- Burial or cremation expenses
- Loss of consortium
- Loss of the decedent’s financial support
- Loss of the decedent’s household contributions
- Pain and suffering (which will certainly include grief)
Your circumstances are entirely unique, and your lawyer will build their case around your damages. Expect your legal team to take a compassionate approach, recognizing the trauma you’ve endured while urgently seeking the compensation you deserve.
How Victims Seek Fair Compensation for Pain and Suffering and Other Damages (Hire an Attorney)
The majority of riders killed in motorcycle accidents were wearing helmets. This underscores the responsibility of other motorists to avoid hitting riders, as there is only so much a rider can do to protect themselves.
If you or a loved one are the victim of another party’s negligence, hire a motorcycle accident lawyer to fight for fair compensation for you. Retaining an experienced motorcycle accident attorney is often a wise decision for injured riders (and those affected by wrongful deaths) because:
- A lawyer will waste no time leading your case: Attorneys don’t have to spend precious time learning about insurance claims or lawsuits—they’re experienced and ready to fight for you. At a time when you need compensation as soon as possible, a lawyer’s experience is priceless.
- An attorney protects you during a vulnerable time: Countless riders have been deceived, taken advantage of, and short-changed by insurance companies and other liable parties. Your motorcycle accident lawyer will ensure that nobody exposes you to these harmful outcomes.
- Your law firm will handle all case-related costs: Your law firm will likely offer a contingency fee. Such a fee structure means your firm will pay for case-related expenses, including but not limited to experts’ fees. Better yet, your attorney will only be entitled to a fee if they negotiate a settlement or obtain a judgment for you. This agreement should remove any finance-related hesitancy you have about hiring an attorney.
- Your health must come before all else: Stress can be harmful to your health, even in good times. When you’re compromised due to accident-related injuries and trauma, added stress can have catastrophic effects. Focus all your attention on recovery by letting a lawyer handle your insurance claim or lawsuit.
Attorneys are uniquely qualified to fight for motorcycle accident victims. Allow a lawyer to help you during a time in your life when such help may be priceless.
A Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Will Fight for Your Total Financial Recovery (Here Is How)
Motorcycle accident lawyers are dynamic, skilled counselors who can help you in several ways. Some of a lawyer’s most notable responsibilities include:
Establishing Liability
Your lawyer will immediately begin investigating the cause of your motorcycle accident, which will eventually tell them:
- Whose negligence caused the collision
- Who is financially liable for your losses
Accidents result from motorists’ carelessness, dangerous roads, defective vehicles, and many other hazards. Your attorney will document your collision, determine liability, and secure all evidence that is relevant to your case.
Evaluating Insurance Options
Insurance companies often pay for motorcycle accident victims’ losses. Your attorney will:
- Evaluate all insurance policies that apply to your accident (including your own)
- Determine how much compensation you deserve from each insurance company
- Help file all necessary claims (and report your injuries in the process)
- Lead all communications with insurance companies
Your lawyer will also pass along any information insurers need about your injuries and losses.
Creating a Tailor-Made Case Strategy
Once your attorney has gathered all relevant facts, evidence, documentation, and policy information, they will form a personalized strategy. This strategy may initially include filing one or more insurance claims, and it can evolve into filing a lawsuit on your behalf.
Documenting and Valuing Your Damages
Your attorney must gain a thorough understanding of your damages (also known as losses) before they can fight for the settlement you deserve. A successful motorcycle accident case may include:
- Medical records detailing your injuries and symptoms
- Mental health experts’ detailed diagnoses of pain and suffering
- Bills for all accident-related medical care
- Bills for motorcycle repairs
- An up-to-date valuation of a totaled motorcycle
- Income statements and financial records detailing professional damages
Trust your attorney to create a detailed, objective record of your accident-related losses (including their financial values).
Pursuing a Settlement for You
Once your attorney understands the damages you have suffered, they will engage insurance companies or other liable parties in settlement negotiations.
Injured riders often prefer to settle, as they want to obtain fair compensation and put their collision (and case) behind them. Your lawyer will share this goal, and they will present the strongest case they possibly can.
Leading You Through Any Legal Processes (Including a Lawsuit) Your Case Requires
If liable parties are uncooperative during settlement talks, you and your legal team may pursue a lawsuit. Your attorney will handle any lawsuit and trial that proves necessary in your case.
Why You Must Retain Your Motorcycle Accident Lawyer as Soon as Possible
Motorcycle accident cases generally have time-sensitive elements. Two of the most urgent aspects of your case are:
- Securing evidence, as important evidence can be lost, degraded, or disposed of if you wait to collect it
- Filing a lawsuit, as states have statutes of limitations that limit your time to file
The good news is that personal injury attorneys are always available to speak with you. Don’t wait to find your attorney and give them the green light to fight for the money you deserve.