A motorcyclist has almost nothing standing between them and the pavement, which is part of why riders are killed at a rate nearly 30 times higher than passenger car occupants for every mile traveled, according to federal crash data. When a crash happens, the injuries tend toward the catastrophic end of the spectrum: road rash, broken bones, spinal trauma, and head injuries even when a helmet was worn.
Riders also carry an unfair reputation into these cases before the facts are even reviewed. Insurance adjusters, and sometimes juries, tend to assume a motorcyclist was speeding, weaving, or otherwise careless, regardless of what the evidence actually shows. Frischhertz & Impastato builds motorcycle accident cases around the full picture, not the assumption, and pushes back when an insurer tries to shift blame onto the rider by default.
Call (504) 276-6962 for a free consultation after a motorcycle crash in New Orleans. We can start reviewing what happened right away.
Not Every Motorcycle Accident Involves Direct Impact
Not every serious motorcycle case starts with a direct impact. If a driver's carelessness forces a rider to swerve, brake hard, or lay the bike down to avoid a crash, the rider can still have a valid claim against that driver even though the vehicles never touched. Louisiana's negligence law does not require contact, only that another party's fault caused the injury. Hit-and-run drivers who clip a lane and disappear, and near-misses that send a rider into the median, fall into this same category.
Cases like this are often harder to prove, but as local motorcycle accident lawyers in New Orleans, we move quickly to investigate and preserve evidence that establishes cause and fault.
Louisiana's Rules of the Road for Motorcyclists
Louisiana law gives motorcyclists the right to full use of a traffic lane, and two motorcycles may legally ride side by side within one lane, but riding between lanes of traffic, commonly called lane splitting, is against the law here (La. R.S. 32:191.1). Riders and passengers are also required to wear a DOT-compliant safety helmet at all times while on the road (La. R.S. 32:190).
These rules matter beyond citations. When a crash happens, whether a rider was following them (or whether the other driver violated them) often shapes how liability gets argued.
Helmet Use in a Motorcycle Injury Claim
Not wearing a helmet does not disqualify a rider from recovering compensation, but it can be used against a claim in a specific way. Under Louisiana's comparative fault framework, an insurer may argue that a rider's own choice to go without a helmet contributed to the severity of a head or brain injury, which can reduce the compensation awarded for that portion of the harm (La. Civ. Code art. 2323).
This argument typically has no bearing on injuries unrelated to the head, such as a broken leg or road rash, and it requires medical evidence to hold up rather than an insurer's assumption.
What Usually Causes Motorcycle Crashes
A few patterns show up again and again in the New Orleans motorcycle accident cases we see:
A driver turning left in front of an oncoming motorcyclist, which accounts for a large share of fatal motorcycle collisions nationally
A driver merging or changing lanes without checking a blind spot for a motorcycle
Tailgating a motorcycle too closely to stop safely if it slows
Distracted driving near intersections and on-ramps
Road hazards such as potholes, uneven pavement, or streetcar tracks common on New Orleans streets
Injuries That Bring Riders to Our Firm
Motorcycle injuries tend to be severe even in crashes that would leave a car's occupants unharmed. Our New Orleans motorcycle accident lawyers regularly handle cases involving traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, road rash requiring skin grafts, shattered or amputated limbs, and internal injuries from the force of impact. Because these injuries often mean months of treatment and time away from work, the value of a claim has to reflect long-term consequences, not just an initial emergency room bill.
Fighting Bias for Fair Compensation
We have watched insurance companies deny or lowball motorcycle claims on the theory that riders are reckless by nature, and we have built the evidence that dismantles that theory case by case. Crash reconstruction, witness statements, and a driver's own violations often tell a very different story than the one an adjuster wants to write first. Across all of the injury cases we have handled, we have recovered more than $700 million for our clients, even after insurers have tried to lay the blame on the wrong person's shoulders, offered low settlements, or attempted to deny compensation altogether.
If you were hurt while riding, do not let an assumption about motorcyclists decide your case before it has been investigated. Contact Frischhertz & Impastato at (504) 276-6962 for a free consultation, and know that we only get paid if you do.
A compilation of the Frischhertz & Impastato attorneys and staff at work and interacting with clients.
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