City buses are essential components of an everyday life in an urban area. However, it’s impossible to completely avoid tragedies, and anybody who’s in the wrong place at the wrong time could become the victim of a bus accident in a city.
This is especially true for motorcyclists since car drivers often have trouble seeing them.
Keep in mind that if you’re in an accident with a city bus while you were on your motorcycle, you do have options. Your injuries may entitle you to financial compensation, and here’s how.
Injuries You May Sustain in an Accident With a City Bus
Depending on where you and the bus were, the speed of the bus, your motorcycle’s speed, and other variables, you could end up with a variety of injuries in your city bus accident.
These are just a few examples:
- Road rash: There are a number of ways this could happen. For example, a car could hit you as it attempts to change lanes. You’d then lose your balance, and your body would skid across the road. This could cause mild to severe damage to your skin, leaving you out of commission for weeks.
- Burns: If a bus hits you and your motorcycle falls on you, you could easily sustain a burn if your tailpipe is resting on your leg. A severe burn may require at least a couple weeks of healing.
- Broken limbs You could suffer broken limbs in a number of ways. If a city bus sideswipes your motorcycle, you could fall off your bike and land on the asphalt, breaking your leg and arm. Similarly, the bus could sideswipe you and your motorcycle could fall on top of you. Depending on how heavy your motorcycle is, you could break your arm if it falls underneath the bike.
As you can see, you could suffer some serious injuries that will result in piles of medical bills. But those bills can be a part of your personal injury claim.
In fact, you can even claim for future medical costs that you need for your long-term recovery.
Damage to Your Motorcycle
Motorcycles--especially high-quality ones-- can cost over $10,000. Since you and your motorcycle aren’t protected by the walls, rollcages, and other safety devices as a car is, you’re both subject to serious damage in an accident. These are some of the repairs you may have to deal with:
- Broken mirrors: When a motorcycle falls to the ground, the mirrors will most likely get damaged when they hit the asphalt or concrete. Mirrors are essential to safety, so new ones will be essential.
- New paint job: If your motorcycle crashes to the ground after getting hit by a city bus, the paint job will almost certainly be ruined.
- A new motorcycle: Your motorcycle may not be able to make it through the crash, which means that you’ll need a new motorcycle to replace it.
You can actually claim damaged materials in your personal injury case. Your PI attorney can give you more details about this, but essentially, you’ll be able to add the cost of repairs or the monetary value of your damaged motorcycle to the claim.
Getting Help for Your Motorcycle Accident
Filing a personal injury claim, particularly while you’re still recovering from your accident, can get overwhelming very quickly.
If you decide that you want to file a claim, contact a personal injury attorney first. Your attorney will be able to handle the paperwork, fight on your behalf, and get you the compensation you deserve.
