San Francisco Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

Dolan Law Firm

1438 Market Street
San Francisco, California 94102
USA

(415) 421-2800

www.bike-law.com

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Law Firm Overview Free Consultation

The Dolan Law Firm has an experienced team of seven lawyers and fifteen assistants who stand ready to help people in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our attorneys have extensive experience helping our clients recover fair damages for the full range of serious injuries that can result from motorcycle, bicycle and scooter wrecks, including traumatic amputation and wrongful death.

Our lawyers treat our clients with kindness, compassion, and respect and we are always aware of their legal, psychological, and emotional needs. We listen intently to their concerns and communicate with them frequently to ensure they are getting the best legal representation possible. We make it a priority to promptly respond to calls, regularly report on case status, and keep our clients informed as to relevant changes in the law that affect them.

Our attorneys can help establish liability of the part of the other driver related to speeding, running red lights, illegal left turns and improper lane changes, driving recklessly, driving inattentively, or driving drunk. We can also represent motorcyclists or bicyclists injured as a result of defective products or parts, such as tires, inner tubes, helmets, swing arms, brakes, chains, throttle cables, pedals, toe clips or brake cables.

Practice Areas

Additional Practice Areas: Road Hazards, Lane Splitting, Red Light Accidents

Practice Areas Description

- Motorcycle Accident

The Dolan Law Firm is committed to helping victims of scooter, bicycle and motorcycle accidents. We have handled dozens of large-scale settlements and verdicts on behalf of bikers all over California. Our motorcycle and bicycle accident attorneys are passionate about their work, in part, because they are bikers themselves.

- Damages in Motorcycle Accidents

If you are injured in a motorcycle or scooter accident and suffer injuries and damages, you may be entitled to recovery, depending on who is responsible for the crash. If the accident is completely your fault, you may be liable for the other party’s damages.

- Insurance

Around 25% of motorcycle and scooter riders have no insurance. It is critical that you have insurance on your bike (this applies to motor driven vehicles only. Bicyclists are not required to carry liability insurance). If you don’t and you are in an accident, you may lose your license, be fined, and have your recovery reduced. Passengers are not affected by this law, only drivers.

- Preventing Motorcycle Accidents

Motorcycle accidents, bicycle crashes and scooter wrecks can be brutal. They can cause all kinds of horrible injuries, and often death .It only makes sense to take certain precautions to make sure you don’t end up in a wreck. The lawyers and staff of the Dolan Law Firm have helped dozens of victims of terrible scooter, bicycle and motorcycle accidents, and believe it is very important to pass on as much information as possible to help prevent future tragedies.

- Police Report

Many people don’t understand police reports. It is important to know what the police have reported about a motorcycle, bicycle or scooter accident. Police reports are not always right -- if there is anything in a police report that doesn’t reflect the reality of a California motorcycle or bicycle accident, the lawyers of the Dolan Law Firm can challenge the report and prove it is wrong.

- Bike Crash Injury Compensation

The lawyers of the Dolan law firm have helped dozens of victims of California motorcycle crashes and bicycle accidents. Our lawyers know what steps to take to make sure that you get all the compensation you deserve. If you are involved in an accident, you should take the following steps to care for yourself and your passengers and to protect your legal rights.

- Auto Accidents

Their excuse is almost always that they “just didn’t see you.” According to the motorcycle accident statistics in “The Hurt Report,” around 3 out of every 4 motorcycle and scooter wrecks are collisions with other vehicles, most of which are cars and trucks. And in two-thirds of those accidents, the driver of the car or truck is at fault, violating the motorcyclist’s right of way.

- Single Bike Accidents

According to “The Hurt Report,” a collection of motorcycle accident statistics, around one-fourth of motorcycle, bicycle and scooter accidents are single bike accidents, in which a rider hit something or wiped out. Around two-thirds of the time, the blame for the accident is put on the rider but keep in mind that even something as seemingly authoritative as a police report is not always accurate.

- Hazardous Road Conditions

Hazardous road conditions can be the cause of both single-bike accidents and collisions with cars and trucks. However, in single-bike accidents in particular, the police may not pay attention to the road hazards that contributed to the accident. In many of these accidents, the police report says that the driver is 100% at fault.

- Defective Equipment

In a significant number of scooter, motorcycle and bicycle accident lawsuits, defective equipment is to blame for the crash. Often, in both single-bike accidents or collisions with cars and trucks, police reports will blame motorcyclists, when the true responsibility lies with the manufacturer of a defective component or product.

- Wrongful Death

When someone is killed by the wrongful conduct, or gross negligence of another, it is called a “wrongful death.” These are the most tragic of cases, and happen all too often as a result of motorcycle accidents. The Dolan Law Firm’s lawyers understand your suffering and grief having experienced the tragedy of an accidental death first hand. Some of our lawyers have lost family members and loved ones in serious personal injuries, including motorcycle and bicycle accidents.

- Lane Splitting

Many bikers are curious about whether California motorcycle and bicycle laws permit them to ride in between two lanes, also known as lane sharing or lane splitting. While lane splitting is legal, any resulting motorcycle, bicycle or scooter accidents in California may be considered comparative fault, meaning that the biker may be judged partly responsible and have any recovery reduced.

- Motorcycle & Bicycle Laws

Motorcyclists, bicyclists and scooter riders must follow the same rules that apply to all vehicles on the roads. But there are also special laws that apply only to bikers. The attorneys of the Dolan Law Firm deal with California motorcycle and bicycle laws regularly in their work as attorneys, and also in their free time, when riding their own bikes.

- Motorcycle Helmet Laws

California motorcycle laws are very specific about helmets: You must wear a motorcycle crash helmet whenever you ride. You may not agree that the government should mandate such a thing, but you should know that if you do not wear a helmet, you could be fined. If you are in a collision and suffer a head injury, the defense will claim you are comparably at fault for not protecting your head.

- Failure to Yield

Motorcycles, motor scooters and bicycles have the same right of way that cars do. They have a right to use an entire lane, and motorcycles have a right to ride between lanes (called lane splitting) Sometimes other motorists don't seem to understand or honor these rights and they fail to yield the right of way. If you were injured by a negligent driver, or your loved one was killed when a car or truck failed to yield, contact the injury lawyers at the Dolan Law Firm.

- Red Light Accidents

A bike or motorcycle is stopped at a red light. A car driver isn't paying close attention and fails to notice the biker in the lane in front of him or her, or fails to consider the amount of stopping distance they need to give the biker room. The car is going too fast and it hits the biker from behind. Two things then happen: the cycle is pushed forward into oncoming traffic and the biker is thrown from the cycle.

- Bike Accident

A car hits a bike rider causing serious injuries to the biker, but the car itself has very little damage. The driver speeds off. This grim scenario has occurred in many communities, leaving families to pick up the pieces after a serious injury or the death of their loved one. You do not have to face this challenge alone.

- Injured Bicycle Messengers

Bicycle messengers face a significant challenge daily as they provide valuable service to many businesses in the major cities of San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland and Sacramento. Many bike messengers are hurt and two to three are killed each year, most often through no fault of their own.

- Amputation

While loss of a limb is not a common injury from a motorcycle or bicycle accident, when it does occur it is usually the result of a crushing injury, often to the foot. It can also result from a leg crushing injury if a car pins a biker or cyclist against an object. The emotional trauma of a crush injury and the ultimate loss of a limb can be severe. Counseling may be needed to help the injured person adjust to their loss.

- Facial Injuries

Between 10 and 25 percent of motorcycle accident victims who go to the hospital have suffered some degree of facial injury. One of the greatest challenges of facial injuries following a motorcycle or bicycle accident is the affect it can have on a person's social life. Frequent side effects of a serious facial injury are depression, loss of self-esteem and loss of confidence. Work may be difficult. Family life can suffer.

- Head Injury

Fifteen to 20 percent of injured motorcyclists suffer head injuries, with more unhelmeted bikers suffering traumatic brain injuries (TBI). Fewer than 10 percent suffer serious TBI but for those who do, the cost of initial hospitalization can easily exceed $100,000. About half of these seriously injured people will require extended care.

- Spinal Cord Injuries

When struck by a car, whether it was a side collision or a rear-end or head-on collision, bikers are usually thrown some distance from their motorcycle. Without the protection of a car or truck compartment around them, motorcyclists and particularly bicyclists are far more likely to suffer spinal cord injuries in an accident.

Attorneys

	Mrs. Anne Costin Attorney Civil Rights, Discrimination, Employment		Mr. Quinton B. Cutlip Attorney Business Litigation, Civil Rights, Litigation, Personal Injury
	Mr. Michael J. DePaul Attorney Employment, Labor		Mr. Christopher B. Dolan Attorney Animal Bites, Assault, Battery, Discrimination, Elder Law
	Mrs. Genevieve Guertin Attorney		Mrs. Marjorie J. Heinrich Attorney Animal Bites, Bicycle Accident, Defective Products, Discrimination, Elder Law
	Mr. Andrew Klimenko Attorney Business and Industry, Discrimination, Intellectual Property, Landlord and Tenant Law, Litigation		Mr. Bryan David Lamb Attorney Civil Litigation, Medical Malpractice, Personal Injury, Product Liability, Workers Compensation
	Mr. Shawn R. Miller Attorney Employment, Personal Injury		Mrs. Vanessa Wills Attorney Civil Rights, Medical Malpractice, Personal Injury