Our attorney has handled motorcycle cases all over the state of Illinois and we will always come to you 
wherever you are. Don’t let the name fool you. So, if you need a Bloomington-Normal motorcycle accident lawyer, contact our office immediately for a free consultation at 1-847-305-4105.
We have throughout our career handled hundreds of motorcycle cases. We’ve traveled all over Illinois to meet with clients. We’ve represented clients in numerous Illinois cities including Bloomington-Normal and we’re available to clients in the surrounding cities in McLean County including:
- Chenoa
- El Paso
- LeRoy
- Lexington
We also have a law firm we partner with directly in Bloomington so your interests and needs, no matter what they are, will be protected. Our office will manage your case professionally and will represent your interests aggressively. We have years of experience dealing with motorcycle insurance companies. Let us obtain appropriate compensation for the damage to your bike and recover the most money for your pain and suffering.
Types of damages you can recover
The first question a new client often asks is how much is my case worth? That’s a tough question to answer at that early junction and depends on a wide variety of factors including:
- Severity of impact
- Severity of injuries
- Amount of medical bills
- Amount of insurance policy
- Amongst many other things
Instead of focusing on how much you can get, let’s focus on the main types of damages you can recover. This all assumes that there is insurance to go after, either the defendant has insurance or your own uninsured and underinsured motorist policy.
Property Damage
First, you will recover for your property damage. Not only the damage to your bike but to your leather, your phone, your after-market parts, and so forth.
The amount of property damage is not unlimited however as some drivers have very small insurance policies and some bikes can cost a lot of money to replace if totaled. That’s why we always recommend that our clients have property damage coverage on their own insurance policy.
Pain & Suffering
This is the damage that people most associate with motorcycle accidents. Bikers are unprotected generally speaking so when they get hit by a 4,000-pound car, it’s not the driver of the car who is going to get hurt.
How do you measure pain and suffering? It’s a sliding scale based on the severity of your injury. If you suffered a back strain/sprain, it’s unlikely that your pain was severe enough to rise to the level of significant compensation. Not always but generally speaking.
However, we have worked on cases where riders suffered herniated disks, brain injuries, massive road rash, broken bones, and so forth. Those cases can be worth significant amounts of money.
Lost Wages
If you can document that you lost money because of the injuries you suffered in the accident, then you can recover for your lost wages. It’s not that clear cut for some people. For example, if you’re a self-employed independent contractor, there may be many reasons why business was down in 2020 not just that you were involved in an accident. We have to show the cause and effect.
But, having said that, we have had clients recover significant amounts of money for their lost wages.
Punitive Damages
Often bikers are angry after an accident regardless the cause and they want the driver of the vehicle to be punished. That refers to ‘punitive damages.’
Motorcycle accidents are generally speaking a negligence tort – meaning, the event occurred by accident. Punitive damages are not available in a negligence case. Only in cases involving intentional acts can you recover punitive damages.
That does not mean you should allege that the driver hit you on purpose. To the contrary. If the event was intentional, then insurance will likely not cover the accident at all.
Medical Bills
You can recover for all your medical bills after an accident. But that does not mean if you had $100,000 in meds that you are going to get that $100,000. Rather, your health insurance company and your medical providers who were not paid by health insurance are going to want to reimbursed out of the proceeds of your case.
In many cases, these providers will file ‘liens’ with you or your attorney. These are serious and need to be monitored as we cannot disburse funds after we settle without paying the liens back, very generally speaking.
Brain injuries from motorcycle accidents
The most serious injuries motorcycle accident victims suffer (aside from wrongful death) are brain injuries. Damage to your brain can have cognitive impacts felt for the rest of your life. It could be disabling.
Wearing a motorcycle helmet can help mitigate the risk of a brain injury but in no way eliminates it. Not even close. We still recommend them though despite the fact wearing one is not mandatory in Illinois. If you can protect yourself with a helmet and gear then we recommend doing it.
The most common brain injury riders suffer are concussions. Insurance companies tend to dismiss concussions as a serious brain injury but that is a mistake. Riders who suffer concussions can have symptoms for a long time including headaches, tinnitus or ringing in the ear, or vertigo and dizziness.
A severe brain injury can differ between a minor concussion with few side effects and a serious concussion. If you suffered a brain injury, contact a Bloomington Normal motorcycle accident attorney today for a free consultation.
Can I Recover for PTSD After A Motorcycle Accident?
You definitely can and we’ve had countless clients who suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after a motorcycle accident. The symptoms often include nightmares, night sweats, and feeling like you are reliving the accident over and over again.
However, it is critical if you want to recover for your PTSD that you get psychological counseling or other medical treatment for it.
If two years after the accident you try and tell an insurance company or a jury that you suffered severe PTSD but didn’t see any help for it, you can imagine what their response is going to be.
Visit us in Bloomington Normal
Bloomington is the county seat of McLean County so the courthouse is there. It’s not that small with a population of over 70,000. And of course, it is connected to Normal Illinois where Illinois State University is located.
If you’re in Normal, head over to the Meatheads on Main street – the best burger and fries in town. We were just there recently.
If you’d like to meet us in Bloomington, you can do so at our ‘partner’ law firm’s office in the downtown part of the city.
