Charleston Motorcycle Accident FAQs

Our experienced South Carolina injury attorneys offer support and guidance to navigate the aftermath of a serious accident. Joye Law Firm can assist you in seeking compensation for injuries, medical bills, and accident-related expenses.

We handle cases on a contingent fee basis, meaning you won’t pay lawyer fees unless we secure a settlement on your behalf. The Joye Law Firm’s “No Fee Guarantee” allows you to get the representation you need without any financial risk. Our firm will perform a thorough investigation to get to the bottom of what happened. We engage teams of inter-disciplinary experts and other professionals to gather evidence and to build a strong case for compensation.

We will handle all negotiations with the at-fault driver’s insurance carrier. If they do not agree to settle for a reasonable amount, we can file a lawsuit on your behalf. We have a strong track record of success in obtaining compensation for victims of motorcycle accidents. Our team will handle your case with the same care and dedication to ensure you receive every penny you are owed.

Contact us at (888) 324-3100 or fill out an online form for a free case review.

Hiring our South Carolina motorcycle accident lawyer is affordable because of how we arrange payment of legal fees. There are no up-front, out-of-pocket costs for the legal services of a Joye Law Firm attorney. We will seek a fee only after your case, and even then, only if we have obtained compensation for you. The Joye Law Firm’s “No Fee Guarantee” allows you to get the representation you need without any financial risk

We work on a contingency fee basis, meaning our legal fee is dependent upon the success of your case. If we think your legal claim will be successful and you want us to represent you, we will enter into an agreement specifying that we will retain a percentage of the final settlement or court award in your case as our fee.

This is especially important since you are already struggling with lost wages or huge medical bills.

We also guarantee that we will never receive an attorney fee that is larger than the amount the client receives from a case settlement. If we must reduce our legal fee percentage so the client walks away with the majority of the money, then we will.

We’ll begin by providing a free initial review and legal consultation about your case. To learn about the specifics of your fee arrangement, contact us for your free case consultation.

Accidents involving motorcycles and passenger cars or trucks often result from the motorist’s negligence. Due to motorcycles’ slim profile, they are easily overlooked, leading to incidents where drivers claim they never saw the motorcyclist.

“The Hurt Report,” a renowned study, identifies motorists’ failure to detect motorcycles as a primary cause of accidents. It reveals that 66 percent of collisions occur because drivers violate motorcyclists’ right of way, often by making unexpected left turns.

Additionally, research by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute highlights the failure to yield while turning left as a significant factor in multi-vehicle crashes at intersections. Moreover, due to motorcycles’ superior braking capabilities, rear-end accidents caused by drivers not leaving enough stopping distance are also common.

Due to the lack of protective structure in motorcycles, riders are highly susceptible to serious injuries in accidents. Very often, a biker in a collision suffers an initial impact injury from being hit by a car or truck, and a secondary impact injury from hitting the asphalt, ground, guardrail, or other surfaces. Sometimes the motorcycle lands on top of the rider, or the rider may be thrown, dragged, or run over by the car, truck, or motorcycle.

According to NHTSA, while motorcycles made up only 0.7 percent of vehicle miles traveled, motorcyclists were over 24 percent times more likely to die in a crash and four times more likely to be injured per mile traveled compared to car occupants.

In recent years, the number of fatal motorcycle wrecks has been on the rise. The NHTSA attributes this, in part, to the increasing prevalence of motorcycles on roads. The rise in motorcycle usage, coupled with increasing traffic volumes, heightens the risk of severe motorcycle accidents. In South Carolina alone, 173 motorcyclists lost their lives in crashes in 2021, as reported by SCDPS.

Yes. You should contact your insurance company within a day or two of your accident to notify it of the accident. If you eventually pursue a claim via a lawsuit, you generally have three years from the date of your accident in South Carolina. However, each case is unique and time limitations can vary greatly. An experienced motorcycle attorney can determine what time frames apply in your particular case.

If you do not report an accident to your insurance company in a timely manner, the insurer could balk at providing benefits you have been paying for, a Consumer Reports article about car insurance warns. Even if you expect to obtain benefits through the other driver’s liability insurance, you should contact your insurer.

Most cases are governed under South Carolina law (Section 15-3-520), which provides three years to file a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit.

But you should act promptly if you believe you have a legal claim for compensation. These are often complex cases, requiring the collection and analysis of information about the motorcycle accident itself as well as your injuries and prospects for recovery.

In many cases, Joye Law Firm hires experts to review technical data. We must also contact and interview the various parties involved in the accident, some of whom may not be available or cooperative.

If you have suffered a serious injury in a motorcycle accident in South Carolina, we urge you to contact Joye Law Firm today to get work on your case started.

There are no up-front, out-of-pocket costs to retain the legal services of a Joye Law Firm motorcycle accident lawyer. We will seek a fee only at the conclusion of your case, and even then only if we have obtained compensation for you.

Our motorcycle accident attorneys work on a contingency-fee basis. This means our legal fees depend on the compensation we obtain for our clients.

If we think your legal claim will be successful and you want us to represent you, we will enter into an agreement specifying that we will retain a percentage of the final settlement or court award in your case as our fee. We will also seek repayment for the expenses required to process your claim, which we will pay for you up front.

This ensures that we accept only cases that we expect to win, and it gives us an incentive to maximize your financial recovery. We’ll begin by providing an initial review and legal consultation about your case that is absolutely free, regardless of whether we can pursue a claim on your behalf.

Just Call Joye Law Firm now or fill out our online form to set up a free initial consultation today.

Possibly. You should contact your insurance company within a day or two of your accident to notify it of the accident. If you eventually pursue a claim via a lawsuit, you generally have three years from the date of your accident in South Carolina. However, each case is unique and time limitations can vary greatly. An experienced motorcycle attorney can determine what time frames apply in your particular case.

Most cases are governed under South Carolina law (Section 15-3-520), which provides three years to file a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit. This period may be extended (or “tolled”) under certain circumstances, such as when the victim is a minor or is incompetent.

You should act promptly if you believe you have a legal claim for compensation. Motorcycle accidents are often complex cases, requiring the collection and analysis of information about the crash itself, as well as the victim’s injuries and prospects for recovery. It is best if your attorney can get to work on an independent investigation as soon as possible after the accident.

In many cases, Joye Law Firm hires experts to review technical data. We must also contact and interview the various parties involved in the accident, some of whom may not be available if a long time has passed.

If you have suffered a serious injury in a motorcycle accident in South Carolina, we urge you to contact Joye Law Firm today to get work started on your case.

No. You should not accept an insurance company’s settlement offer without first consulting with a qualified personal injury attorney. The offer is most likely far less than what you deserve for your injuries. Many insurance companies make quick lowball offers in hopes of making valid cases go away.

Once you accept a settlement offer you cannot “go back for more” if your injuries prove to be more serious than you thought they were. Complications, the inability to function at work, the need for further surgeries or treatment and other unanticipated developments could increase your actual losses.

It is crucial that you do not sign any paperwork from an insurance company without discussing the settlement offer with an attorney first. It is unlikely that the offer is fair.

At Joye Law Firm, we know the insurance industry and how it operates. We are committed to helping our clients navigate this process while protecting their right to a fair settlement.

An experienced motorcycle accident attorney from Joye Law Firm can evaluate your case and develop a claim that takes into account all of the compensation you deserve for current and future needs. Once you hire Joye Law Firm, you can turn all of your dealings with insurance companies over to an attorney who is looking out for your best interests.

Yes. The law says that it does not matter whether you were wearing a helmet when it comes to determining the at-fault driver’s responsibility for covering your damages. However, in the practice, insurance companies and their lawyers may use your lack of a helmet in an attempt to reduce the amount they pay on your claim. Don’t let them get away with it.

South Carolina law requires only people who are under the age of 21 to wear motorcycle helmets and protective eyewear. South Carolina repealed its law requiring all riders to wear helmets in 1980. That means it is perfectly legal for a motorcyclist over age 21 to ride without a helmet in South Carolina.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says a helmet is the most important piece of motorcycle safety equipment. Wearing a helmet decreases the severity of head injuries and the likelihood of death in a crash. The federal government estimates that wearing a helmet reduces the risk of dying in a crash by 37 percent.

While it is a smart decision to wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle, it is not a requirement in South Carolina. The decision to ride without a helmet should not affect an injured biker’s right to recover compensation from the at-fault driver.

However, insurance companies often try to shift the blame to unhelmeted riders, even if the rider was older than 21 and the lack of a helmet had nothing to do with the cause of the crash. Don’t let them get away with it. The attorneys at Joye Law Firm stand up for the rights of injured motorcycle riders. Contact us now to find out how we can help.

No, not without getting help from a lawyer first. Many times, an insurance company representative will contact you to discuss your case soon after an accident. This is something you should avoid doing by yourself. It is best to turn insurance negotiations over to a skilled personal injury attorney.

The insurance company may ask you to provide a recorded or written statement. Do not do this without the advice of an attorney. In many instances, the facts of an accident are not clear in the immediate aftermath of a serious motorcycle accident. An injured motorcyclist is often on painkillers, in the hospital or recovering at home or with relatives. This is not the right time to begin a conversation about what happened.

You should talk to a qualified attorney first. Your lawyer can conduct a thorough investigation into what really caused the crash. These efforts may include hiring accident reconstruction specialists and other experts to sift through the evidence to determine the cause. Your lawyer can also work with medical experts, life-care planners and others to calculate your losses from the crash. Negotiations with the insurance company should begin only after all of this information has been gathered.

Instead of talking to the other driver’s insurance company, you should call a motorcycle accident attorney like those at Joye Law Firm. It’s best to let a lawyer deal with the insurance companies while you focus on recovering.

Possibly. We would have to investigate the circumstances of your accident to determine whether you have a valid claim, but in general you may seek compensation from the party at fault in a South Carolina motorcycle accident. However, if you share any blame for the accident, it may affect what compensation you may obtain.

When more than one party shares the blame for an accident, South Carolina uses a modified comparative fault system. This means your award may be reduced by the percentage of fault you contributed to the crash, so long you were less than 51 percent to blame.

A lawsuit in a motorcycle accident might seek compensation for:

• Medical expenses. Because motorcycle accidents can cause catastrophic injuries, scarring and disfigurement, this will be the bulk of most claims.
• Property damage. This is money to repair or replace a damaged motorcycle after a wreck. If your bike had custom parts or paint, you should be sure to document this and ask for appropriate compensation. You may also be able recover the cost of a rental vehicle as you await repairs or shop for a new vehicle.
• Lost income. This covers lost salary or wages due to missing work during your recovery or for losses due to a disability that requires you to take work that pays less or prevents you from returning to work.
• Pain and suffering. This may include compensation for specific severe injuries, scarring or disfigurement.
• Punitive damages. This is money sometimes awarded to punish the defendant in cases of particularly egregious or outrageous behavior.

If your case goes to court, the jury will determine what percentage of blame you deserve for the accident, and reduce your compensation accordingly. For example, if you are found to be 30 percent to blame for the crash, your award will be cut by 30 percent. If you bear 51 percent of the blame or more, you will not receive any compensation.

As your attorneys, Joye Law Firm would investigate your accident and work to mitigate any harm your comparable negligence might do to your financial recovery.

In most cases, you will need to seek medical treatment first after a motorcycle accident. In addition to treatment for injuries, seeing a doctor creates medical records that can serve as primary evidence if you pursue a legal claim in your accident. But if you are able, there are additional steps to take to protect your rights after a motorcycle accident.

If possible, you or a companion should:

• Get names, contact information and insurance information from everyone in the accident. If there are witnesses, get contact information for them, too.

• Take photos that will illustrate the accident. This includes pictures of the scene, your bike and its damage, the other vehicles, skid marks, your injuries, damaged clothing, road defects and weather conditions that may have contributed to the accident.
• Cooperate with police who respond to the accident, but do not admit fault or downplay your injuries or the damage to your bike. Ask how to get a copy of the police report and do so as soon as possible.
• If your motorcycle is taken from the accident scene, tell the towing company that every effort should be made to preserve physical evidence. Follow up in writing.

• If you don’t need emergency care, see a doctor as soon as possible for a full examination. Some serious injuries are not apparent right away.
• Report the accident to your insurance company. Decline to provide a recorded or written statement without representation by an attorney.
• Create a file and keep all records of your accident, including receipts for medical treatment or medication of any kind.

You should also contact a motorcycle accident attorney, such as ours at Joye Law Firm. If the accident was someone else’s fault, you may be able to obtain compensation for injuries, damage to your motorcycle and other losses.