After a motorcycle crash in Aurora, you may feel overwhelmed. An Aurora motorcycle accident lawyer can help injured riders navigate the complex legal system after these devastating events. Unlike regular vehicle accidents, motorcycle crashes carry much higher risks; severe injuries that can permanently change your life and lead to significant medical expenses. Aurora motorcycle accident lawyers understand these challenges and fight for the compensation you deserve.
This article explains your legal options after a motorcycle accident. You’ll learn about liability, recoverable damages, and how to file a personal injury claim within Colorado’s specific time limits. By understanding these legal processes, you’ll know how to protect your rights and move forward after a serious motorcycle accident.
Common Causes of Motorcycle Accidents in Aurora
Understanding the common causes of motorcycle accidents helps you recognize dangerous situations before they escalate into serious collisions. Aurora’s roadways present unique challenges that contribute to these incidents.
Distracted Driving
Distracted driving remains one of the leading factors in motorcycle crashes. When drivers text, adjust their GPS, or engage with passengers, they fail to notice motorcyclists sharing the road. You’re particularly vulnerable when drivers don’t check their blind spots before changing lanes or making turns.
Speeding
Speeding dramatically reduces reaction time for both motorcyclists and other drivers. At higher speeds, you have less time to respond to sudden hazards, and the impact force increases exponentially during collisions.
Bad Road Conditions
Bad road conditions pose significant threats to motorcycle stability. Potholes, uneven pavement, loose gravel, and inadequate road maintenance can cause you to lose control. Aurora’s weather conditions including ice, snow, and rain, create additional hazards that affect traction and visibility.
Defective Motorcycle Parts
Defective motorcycle parts can fail without warning. Faulty brakes, tire blowouts, or steering mechanism failures leave you unable to control your bike safely.
Drunk Driving
Drunk driving impairs judgment, coordination, and reaction time. Intoxicated drivers struggle to maintain proper lane position and often fail to see motorcyclists until it’s too late.
Improper and Illegal Turns
Improper and illegal turns catch motorcyclists off guard. Drivers who turn left across your path or make sudden right turns without signaling create unavoidable collision scenarios.
Reckless Driving
Reckless driving behaviors including aggressive lane changes, tailgating, and road rage, put you at extreme risk on Aurora’s streets.
Typical Injuries Resulting from Aurora Motorcycle Accidents
Motorcycle accidents expose riders to devastating physical trauma. Common injuries from motorcycle accidents include traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injury, amputation, fractures/broken bones, burns, and paralysis. You face immediate medical emergencies alongside lasting health complications that reshape your daily life.
Understanding the Impact of Injuries
Brain Injury: Damages cognitive function, memory, and personality. Victims experience chronic headaches, seizures, and difficulty concentrating for years after the initial trauma.
Spinal Cord Injury: Often results in permanent mobility loss, requiring wheelchairs and extensive home modifications.
Amputation: Forces you to adapt to prosthetics while managing phantom pain and psychological adjustment challenges.
Burns: From road rash or fuel ignition cause severe scarring and require multiple reconstructive surgeries.
Fractures/Broken Bones: In the pelvis, legs, and arms demand lengthy rehabilitation periods.
Paralysis: Eliminates independence and creates lifelong care needs.
Importance of Medical Documentation
You need comprehensive medical documentation from emergency room visits, specialist consultations, diagnostic imaging, and treatment plans. These records establish the severity of your injuries and connect them directly to the accident, forming the foundation of your compensation claim.
Liability and Comparative Fault in Aurora Motorcycle Accidents
Determining liability for motorcycle accidents involves examining multiple parties who may bear responsibility. Other drivers frequently cause crashes through negligent actions like failing to check blind spots or running red lights. Manufacturers can be held accountable when defective motorcycle parts contribute to accidents. Road maintenance agencies face liability when poor road conditions; potholes, inadequate signage, or dangerous construction zones, play a role in crashes.
Understanding Colorado’s Comparative Fault Laws
Colorado’s comparative fault laws protect your right to compensation even with partial responsibility in accidents. You can recover damages as long as you’re less than 50% at fault. If you’re found 20% responsible for an accident, you’ll receive 80% of your total damages. This modified comparative negligence system ensures injured motorcyclists aren’t completely barred from compensation due to minor contributing factors.
The Role of an Aurora Motorcycle Accident Lawyer
An Aurora Motorcycle Accident Lawyer investigates all potentially liable parties to maximize your recovery. They gather evidence proving each party’s degree of fault, from driver negligence to manufacturer defects. Your attorney challenges attempts by insurance companies to unfairly assign you excessive blame, protecting your compensation rights under Colorado law.
Recoverable Damages After a Motorcycle Accident in Aurora
Financial compensation following a motorcycle crash addresses both tangible losses and intangible suffering.
Economic damages in motorcycle accidents
These cover quantifiable expenses you’ve already incurred or will face in the future. They include:
- Medical costs for emergency treatment, surgeries, hospital stays, and ongoing care
- Rehabilitation expenses for physical therapy and occupational therapy
- Lost wages from time away from work during recovery
- Future earnings if your injuries prevent you from returning to your previous employment
- In-home care and childcare expenses when injuries limit your daily functioning
- Property damage to your motorcycle and riding gear
Non-economic damages in motorcycle accidents
These compensate you for losses that don’t carry a specific price tag. You can pursue compensation for:
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Depression
- PTSD stemming from the trauma
- Loss of consortium (how your injuries affect relationships with your spouse and family)
- Scarring and disfigurement (emotional impact of permanent physical changes)
- Loss of enjoyment of life (when injuries prevent you from participating in activities you once loved)
The damages recoverable from motorcycle accident cases may also include punitive damages in situations where the at-fault party’s conduct was particularly reckless or malicious. Wrongful death damages provide compensation to surviving family members when a motorcycle accident proves fatal.
Important Legal Considerations Specific to Aurora and Colorado Motorcycle Laws
Understanding Aurora motorcycle laws and regulations is critical when pursuing a claim. You need a valid motorcycle endorsement on your driver’s license per Colorado Revised Statute § 42-2-103. When riding, you must maintain one leg on each side of the motorcycle, keep both hands on the handlebars, and avoid carrying packages that interfere with control (R.S. § 42-4-1502).
Helmet Laws in Aurora Colorado
Colorado repealed its universal helmet requirement in 2017. Current law mandates only passengers under 18 wear helmets. Adult riders can legally ride without head protection, though studies from the University of Michigan show non-helmeted riders face double the fatality risk. You must wear goggles or safety glasses regardless of helmet use (R.S. § 42-4-232).
Suing Without Wearing a Helmet
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that failure to wear a helmet doesn’t constitute negligence. You can pursue full compensation even if you weren’t wearing a helmet during your accident. Insurance companies cannot reduce your damages based on helmet non-use. This protection applies to claims filed under Colorado Department of Transportation regulations and state traffic laws.
Filing Claims and Statute of Limitations for Motorcycle Accidents in Aurora
Time is critical when pursuing compensation after a motorcycle accident. Colorado law imposes strict deadlines that determine whether you can file a claim.
Personal Injury Claims
Colorado’s Statute of Limitations limits the time you have to file a personal injury claim to just two years from the date of the injury. If a motor vehicle was involved, this deadline extends to three years.
Wrongful Death Claims
Filing wrongful death claims in motorcycle accidents follows different timelines. When a motorcycle accident results in a fatality, surviving family members have three years to file a wrongful death claim if the accident involved a motorized vehicle.
Missing these deadlines means losing your right to seek compensation entirely, courts will dismiss cases filed after the statute of limitations expires.
An Aurora Motorcycle Accident Lawyer can help you understand which deadline applies to your specific situation. You need to act quickly because building a strong case requires time to gather evidence, interview witnesses, and consult with medical experts. Starting the legal process early gives your attorney the best opportunity to secure the compensation you deserve.
How an Aurora Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Can Help You
Finding a lawyer specialized in Aurora motorcycle accidents gives you access to attorneys who understand the unique challenges of motorcycle injury claims. These legal professionals investigate crash scenes, reconstruct accidents, and identify all liable parties; from negligent drivers to defective part manufacturers. You benefit from their expertise in calculating the full value of your claim, including future medical needs and long-term disability costs that insurance companies often overlook.
Here are some ways an Aurora motorcycle accident lawyer can help you:
- Handle negotiations with insurance adjusters who routinely minimize motorcycle accident claims
- Gather critical evidence like helmet cam footage, witness statements, and expert testimony to build compelling cases
- Provide guidance on preserving your rights under Colorado’s comparative fault laws, ensuring partial responsibility doesn’t prevent you from recovering damages
- Manage all legal deadlines, court filings, and procedural requirements while you focus on physical recovery
Contact a Motorcycle Accident Lawyer in Aurora, CO
Motorcycle accidents in Aurora require immediate action and experienced legal representation. An Aurora motorcycle accident lawyer understands the complexities of Colorado’s comparative fault laws, the two-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims, and the three-year window for wrongful death cases involving motor vehicles.
If you’ve been injured in a motorcycle accident, contact our Aurora motorcycle accident lawyers as soon as possible.
Even if you’re unsure whether someone else was at fault, we can look into your case and determine what’s possible.
With a combination of a proven track record, impressive financial resources, esteemed legal reputation and a compassionate approach, we believe there is no better team than Denver Personal Injury Lawyers®.
