A motorcycle crash can leave you with serious injuries, months of treatment, time away from work, and lasting limits on how you move, work, or live day to day. Because riders have little protection in a collision, the financial and personal consequences can be substantial.
If someone else caused your Atlanta motorcycle accident, you may be able to recover compensation for those losses. Below, Butler Kahn explains what damages may be available, what can affect the value of your claim, and when additional compensation may be available in cases involving especially dangerous conduct or a fatal crash.
O.C.G.A. § 51-12-7 allows recovery of necessary expenses resulting from an injury. For a motorcycle crash, that may include ambulance services, hospital treatment, diagnostic testing, surgery, therapy, medication, follow-up care, and medically necessary future treatment.
O.C.G.A. § 51-12-1.1 governs medical and healthcare expenses in Georgia injury cases. The amount printed on a medical bill is not automatically recoverable. Instead, the law limits these damages to the reasonable value of medically necessary care and permits consideration of certain evidence concerning billed charges, insurance-related amounts, and treatment under a letter of protection.
If your injuries keep you from working, you may seek compensation for income lost during recovery. Pay records, tax documents, and medical restrictions can help prove that loss.
A serious injury may also reduce your future earning ability. Permanent physical or cognitive limitations may prevent you from returning to the same occupation, hours, or duties. The value of that loss depends on your prognosis, work history, earnings, occupation, age, and limitations.
Georgia law permits compensation for harms that do not come with a bill. O.C.G.A. § 51-12-2 distinguishes general damages from special damages. Special damages are losses that must be proved, while general damages may be recovered without proving a specific dollar amount.
For an injured motorcyclist, general damages may include physical pain, mental suffering, scarring, disfigurement, and physical impairment. The severity and duration of your injuries, treatment, permanent limitations, and effect on daily activities can all matter. Georgia law does not impose any specific mathematical formula for pain and suffering.
If your motorcycle was damaged or destroyed, you may seek compensation for the property loss. Depending on the facts, damages may include reasonable repair costs, diminished value, loss of use, or the value of a motorcycle that cannot reasonably be repaired due to the motorcycle crash. You may also claim damage to riding gear, electronics, or other personal property.
O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33 requires your damages to be reduced by your percentage of fault. If you are found 20 percent responsible, an otherwise recoverable award is reduced by 20 percent. The statute bars recovery if you are 50 percent or more responsible for the injury or damages claimed. Because fault directly affects compensation, photographs, video, witness statements, vehicle damage, and accident reconstruction evidence can be important when an insurer argues that you contributed to the collision.
Punitive damages are available only in limited cases. O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5.1 requires evidence of malice, willful misconduct, oppression, fraud, or indifference to the consequences. Ordinary negligence is not enough.
O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5.1 provides that punitive damages punish and deter rather than compensate you for losses. Georgia generally caps them at $250,000 in many cases. One exception applies when an individual caused harm while impaired by alcohol or drugs to the point that their judgment was substantially impaired.
If the at-fault driver has no liability insurance or insufficient coverage, uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage may provide another source of recovery. An applicable policy may pay damages you are legally entitled to recover when the at-fault person is uninsured or underinsured. The amount available depends on the policy limits, the coverage selected, and other available insurance.
If a motorcycle collision causes your loved one’s death, O.C.G.A. § 51-4-2 allows the surviving spouse or, if there is no surviving spouse, the decedent’s child or children to pursue damages. O.C.G.A. § 51-4-5 separately allows the personal representative to recover funeral, medical, and other necessary expenses resulting from the injury and death.
Butler Kahn has obtained significant results for motor vehicle accident victims, including a $45 million motorcycle accident settlement for a catastrophically injured rider and his family. Serious cases deserve serious lawyers. If you were injured in a motorcycle accident, contact Butler Kahn by calling (678) 940-1444 or contacting us online for a free consultation with an experienced Atlanta motorcycle accident lawyer.
