When might you hold someone other than another motorist liable for your motorcycle accident? Your motorcycle consists of several moving parts, all of which need to be manufactured and maintained with your longevity in mind. Manufacturers and mechanics alike owe you a duty of care when they put their hands on your motorcycle.
Parties who fail to uphold that duty subsequently assume responsibility for any harm that comes to you as a result of their negligence. You can emphasize that responsibility by taking the offending parties to civil court after a dangerous accident. Vaughan & Vaughan can connect you with motorcycle accident lawyers in Indiana who can help you build your case.
We have several combined decades of experience tackling different kinds of personal injury cases, including product liability cases. If you have questions about your right to damages after a motorcycle accident stemming from a defective product, consider scheduling a free case consultation with our team.
How Can an Attorney Help You Recover from a Defective Part Motorcycle Accident
Motorcycle accidents can always leave survivors shaken, no matter the accident’s original cause. Trying to pursue legal action against an offending party when you’re still getting your feet back under you or contending with severe injuries can feel like an impossible quest. That, however, is where an attorney can step in.
Attorneys can bring both expertise and guidance to your post-motorcycle accident recovery. We can recommend the best way to assess a defective motorcycle accident after your initial crash. We can then interface with insurance providers, manufacturers, and other involved parties while you get the essential medical care you need to recover.
Vaughan & Vaughan motorcycle accident lawyers in Indiana can also turn to our network of professional contacts to bring in the experts who can help you build your case against an offending party. You might not have access to those resources, let alone the time to reach out to them, if you try to take on Indiana’s civil courts and a liable party alone.
Assessing the Cause Behind Your Motorcycle Accident
Motorcycle accidents stemming from a defective product constitute product liability cases in the eyes of Indiana’s civil courts. So long as you have the evidence you need to trace your motorcycle accident back to a specific product or part failure, you may have the right to hold a corporation liable for your losses.
It can be tricky, though, to determine at what point a faulty part failed and whether or not that failure directly contributed to your accident. For example, the product may have been released onto the market with inherent faults, putting the manufacturer at fault for your crash. However, a mechanic may have inappropriately worked on a part, thus assuming liability for its failure.
How to Hold a Manufacturer Liable for a Motorcycle Accident
Your right to hold any party liable for a defective motorcycle accident stems from the evidence you can bring forward of a certain party’s liability. For example, if you want to hold a motorcycle manufacturer responsible for your accident, you need to prove that said manufacturer released your motorcycle onto the market without appropriately safety-testing its parts.
You can also bring forward evidence depicting a specific part’s failure at the time of your accident. The physical, damaged part can serve as compelling evidence when documented and brought before a judge. You can also request that your attorney bring in expert witnesses to comment on the nature of your accident and what parts might have caused it.
How to Hold a Mechanic Liable for a Motorcycle Accident
If you believe a mechanic bears the liability for your recent accident, the question of liability gets even more complicated. Some mechanics, for example, work as independent contractors. Others work under the protective umbrella of a corporate mechanic’s chain. You need to know what contract a mechanic operates on before you hold a specific party liable for an accident.
For example, say you get your motorcycle worked on at a privately held, small-time mechanic’s shop, and the mechanics therein work as independent contractors. If you can bring forward evidence establishing that the mechanic’s shop is liable for your losses, you may not actually have the right to hold the shop responsible for your accident.
Instead, the independent contractors’ contracts may make those individuals responsible for your accident. That doesn’t mean that you can’t sue those parties, but it does mean that you may take up your claim against an individual instead of a corporation.
However, matters change if you get into an accident after a mechanic employed by a corporate mechanic’s chain works on your motorcycle. So long as you can prove that said mechanic works as an employee within a company and that they were on duty at the time your product failed, you can hold that employee’s employer liable for your losses.
When to File a Product Liability Claim
No matter who you want to hold liable for a defective part failure, you have until the deadline established in Indiana Code section 34-11-2-4 to file your claim with Indiana’s civil courts. This personal injury statute of limitations gives you no longer than two years to prove that a certain party damaged an essential part of your motorcycle and subsequently caused your crash.
You Can Work With Vaughan & Vaughan to Investigate Your Recent Motorcycle Accident
Not every motorcycle accident stems from another driver’s negligence. Some motorcycle manufacturers release new products without conducting the proper safety checks. Mechanics may even release your motorcycle back to you without properly repairing dangerous damage. In either case, a motorcycle’s defective part may result in a deadly accident.
These parties are as responsible for your well-being on a motorcycle as any driver on the road. As such, you can work with Indiana motorcycle accident lawyers to hold those parties accountable for their negligence. You can contact Vaughan & Vaughan after a crash to investigate your losses and fight for your right to financial compensation.
Schedule your first motorcycle accident case consultation today by calling Vaughan & Vaughan or reaching out through the firm’s online contact form.
