Helmet Defects and Motorcycle Accidents – What Your Lawyer Should Know

Motorcycle accidents can be devastating. Most personal injury attorneys who handle these cases only look for the low hanging fruit and want to settle for the insurance limits. Many fail to look into the actual helmet to determine whether an actual defect exists. Often times if the helmet is defective it can amplify the injuries sustained by the motorcyclist. In most cases attorneys will look at the insurance claim against the driver only and neglect the helmet defect case entirely. If you were hurt in a motorcycle accident contact us today in order to have a free confidential case review. Even if you are currently represented we can still help and offer a second opinion.

How Motorcycle Accident Cases Work

Motorcycle helmet’s are not always defective, however in certain situations the helmet can fail to perform. It is difficult to determine the whether a helmet is in fact defective unless you have an expert conduct an independent test on the helmets strength. While in most cases the helmet will perform as intended, you will have certain situations where the helmet resulted in greater harm to the rider.

In such cases it is important that you have the helmet properly inspected to ensure that the defect can be identified. Most of the time a defective helmet will amplify the injury by failing to protect the rider. In these cases the defective helmet will fail to protect against the blunt force trauma to the brain caused in most motorcycle accidents. Often times if the helmet operates or works as intended it will greatly reduce or diminish the potential brain injury element of the case. However, the exact opposite can occur should the helmet fail to work.

In most cases attorneys will not look into the motorcycle helmet defect element of your case. Primarily because most are not versed or aware that the helmet could have impact contributed to the injury. Additionally, the cost of pursuing the case may not make sense for a lot of attorneys. Finally, helmet defect cases are far more complex. In order to pursue a claim you need to file a lawsuit or claim against the helmet manufacturer. This is far more complicated in comparison to filing a claim against the insurance company for your injuries. That is why many attorneys fail to pursue this element of the claim. Many times they will settle the bodily injury component of the claim and release the plaintiff or injured party to pursue the helmet case independently. This is a mistake. You must make sure to pursue the claim prior to settling our the bodily injury element of the claim.

Should you have already settled your bodily injury claim, you may have unknowingly settled your helmet defect claim as well. Always, make sure to read the fine print and never release the helmet company until you are aware that the

Why it’s Important to Pursue a Helmet Defect Claim

In many cases the at fault party fails to carry sufficient insurance information to satisfy your claim. In fact a lot cases involve parties who have either a very low insurance policy or little to no assets. This makes recovery for the injured motorcycle rider difficult. That is why you need to make sure that you get the highest level of recovery for your case. It is important that the helmet company be properly looked into. Often times if the helmet is tampered with in any way it can change your ability to seek recovery against the manufacturer.

If you have been involved in a motorcycle accident and feel that the helmet you were wearing failed, give us a call for a free consultation. We also provide second opinions of existing cases regardless of whether you have an attorney or not.