Biker and Motorcycle Related Legal Articles

This article is an opinion editorial and rant piece. If you do not want to hear me rant about what I will call idiots against bikers then do not read this article.

First off I will talk about a moronic woman named Melissa Arrington, age 27 who was sentenced to 10 and ½ years for negligent homicide and aggravated drunk driving, because the judge in her case found out that she was laughing about running over a bicyclist in her car, and dragging him 800 feet to his death. No one apparently warned Melissa that her calls in and out of jail were monitored, and when she was caught laughing about killing a bicyclist, it was turned over to the Judge. She could have received less than 4 years on the charges, but I guess the Judge got pissed off when he heard the tape of her laughing! You can read the original article by clicking here now.

I will just say this. Everyone who knows me knows I am into Bikers Rights. The way I see it a person on a bicycle has the same rights to share the road as a person on a motorcycle. The victim in this case was a 45 year old man who simply took his bicycle out for a ride one evening and was the victim of a homicide at the hands of a drunken cager named Melissa Arrington. Kill a biker go to jail, this applies to bicyclist too!

The next winner I am going to talk about is a personal injury lawyer whose bullshit rantings were brought to my attention by Biker Law Blog readers. His name is Stephen D. Lombardi of Iowa. He apparently advertises on Injuryboard.com which is a service that charges attorneys big bucks per month to be listed on their site for exclusive areas. In other words when you go to injuryboard.com or most other lawyer directories you are going to find lawyers who pay big bucks to be listed there. Just because a lawyer pays big bucks to be listed does not mean you are getting the best lawyer in town if you know what I mean. Read some of my articles on selecting a motorcycle lawyer, or other personal injury lawyer.

Now I am not in anyway impugning Mr. Lombardi’s abilities as a lawyer. I do not know him or his work. He may be the best personal injury lawyer in Iowa, I have no clue. But I will say this; by his own writings he is no friend to bikers and motorcyclist. If you read his article that is posted here you will see full well that Mr. Lombardi supports discrimination against bikers and motorcyclist. He is endorsing mandatory helmet laws for bikers as well as mandatory insurance requirements for bikers. He might as well work for the insurance industry! Then, on his own website, he states that he represents people in motorcycle accidents. Click here and you will see what I mean. To cover himself he then wrote another article which you can read here. Apparently the biker community has caught on to his articles because they have been sending me links to this Mr. Lombardi.

All I can say is this; it is not good business to attack your own clients, or to endorse discrimination against those that you mean to represent.

I will let the biker and motorcycle community decide and make their own decision on this issue. I for one am a straight shooter. I am not one to bite the hand that feeds me. I am sure that Mr. Lombardi would appreciate comments from you bikers and motorcyclist in the biker community telling him what you think about his articles!

By Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © 2008

There are many articles here on the Biker Law Blog which discuss motorcycle accident scenarios. This article will attempt to lead you through the process of what you should do if you are in a motorcycle accident, and what your legal options are. This article will also attempt to educate bikers and motorcyclist out there who have not had motorcycle accidents, just in case they are god forbid in an accident, or one of their friends goes down.

I know this is a topic that no one wants to think about, especially if you have not had an accident, but it is information that you should know just in case.

First off, everyone who rides a motorcycle should carry on their person what I call an emergency card. This card or paper should be labeled Emergency Card or Emergency Information Sheet. On this sheet you should put as many emergency contacts as possible. You should list them in order of priority, and you should list their full name, address, phone number, and how they are related to you. In some States family members have more priority at the hospital, etc., than non relatives. The emergency card or list should also contain your full name, address, phone number, blood type if you know it, medications that you are taking, any medical conditions that you have, etc.

As you know or don’t know, many motorcycle accidents are catastrophic. The purpose of the Emergency Card or Sheet, is to tell medical workers or law enforcement who to contact, and your medical information, in case you cannot speak for yourself due to a catastrophic motorcycle accident. I think it would be a good idea for everyone to carry such a card or sheet on their person even for car accidents, or other types of accidents. I carry my card in my wallet.

If you have had a motorcycle accident, chances are your motorcycle is down, and so are you. If you have just been hit on your motorcycle and are down on the ground, the best thing that you can do is to stay down and wait for emergency rescue workers to arrive. If you have sustained back, head, limb, or other major injuries, you trying to get up and move around could make your injury worse! Obviously there are exceptions such as if you go down in the middle of no where and are laying in the middle of the road, etc. This article is not about the exceptions but rather, it discusses what usually happens.

Usually someone will call the paramedics when they see a motorcycle accident. In some circumstances you may have to make the call on your own. Make sure you have a cell phone on your person to make the emergency call if you can, and if necessary!

Planning ahead is the key in case you are in a motorcycle accident. Since most motorcycle accidents do result in serious if not catastrophic injuries, you want to make sure that you have liability insurance, collision and comprehensive insurance, uninsured motorist coverage, and under insured motorcycle insurance. The worst thing that can happen is that you are hit by a driver with no insurance, or minimum insurance and you are stuck with huge medical bills and horrendous injuries, with no real way to be compensated financially. Yes, you can sue the driver even if they have minimum insurance. Chances are they will go bankrupt, or have no assets, and you will be stuck with an empty judgment. I recommend that all bikers and motorcyclist carry at least $500,000.00 to $1,000,000.00 of uninsured motorist and under insured motorist coverage just in case. At least you will know that there should be enough money to compensate you for your out of pocket and non out of pocket losses.

With respect to the motorcycle accident we are discussing, you or your loved ones now have two jobs; (1) Get Better, and (2) Retain a Competent Motorcycle Accident Lawyer who will handle the legal aspects of your case, provide you and your family with guidance, direct you to the right doctors if necessary, handle your motorcycle property damage for you, charge you no money out of your pocket until they recover for you, and generally handle all aspects of the case with your assistance when needed.

Do not be one of the fools that I sometimes talk to that tries to do it on their own only to find out that the insurance company is not going to just willy nilly pay you!

It really is as simple as the above. If you retain the right lawyer for your motorcycle accident case, then all you will need to worry about is getting better and cooperating with your attorney.

If you or a loved one or friend has had a motorcycle accident anywhere in the State of California you may call me 24 hours per day toll free at 800-816-1529 extension 1. My people will come to you if you cannot come to us. If we take your case, we will take care of you to the full extent of our powers as competent motorcycle accident lawyers.

By Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © 2008

I have noticed many regular personal injury lawyers pawning themselves off as biker and motorcycle accident lawyers lately, and to be frank it really kind of rubs me the wrong way. There is nothing worse than a poser!

Most of these “regular” personal injury lawyers who are now advertising themselves as so-called biker and motorcycle accident lawyers do not know the difference between a petcock and a cappuccino at Starbucks. Yet there they are advertising in the Yellow Pages and on the Internet claiming to be Biker and Motorcycle accident experts. I beg to differ! A real biker or motorcyclist should be able to sift through the B.S. pretty fast.

The trouble for you is that if you pick the wrong lawyer to handle your motorcycle accident case, you simply will not get what you are entitled to with respect to compensatory damages, or you may get stuck paying the wrong lawyer a fee to get your motorcycle fixed!

I have said it before, and I will say it again; there exists a prejudice against bikers and motorcyclist not only amongst the general public, but also with respect to law enforcement officers, insurance companies, and potential jurors in your case.

If you select a lawyer that claims to be a biker and motorcycle accident lawyer, who is not equipped to deal with the prejudice against bikers, because they are not themselves bikers and motorcyclist, you will lose in the end!

I will tell you flat out that the vast majority, if not most of the guys advertising themselves as biker and motorcycle accident lawyers do not even ride motorcycles. The last time they were on a bike was probably in grade school and the bike had pedals, or when they rented a bicycle at the beach! These guys or gals have probably never been on a bike that has an engine! Is this the kind of joker that you want representing you in your motorcycle accident case? I think not.

If a lawyer you are looking at for representation in a motorcycle accident case claims to be biker and motorcycle accident lawyer, you may want to ask them if they have a valid California Motorcycle license endorsement, and when was the last time they rode a motorcycle. You may want to ask them if they own a motorcycle, and if not, when and if they ever owned a motorcycle! You get the drift. It is real easy to see if lawyers advertising themselves as biker and motorcycle accident lawyers are posers or the real thing.

Don’t be fooled by fancy ads in motorcycle rags, or on the internet. Check your lawyer out to make sure that they are the real deal, and not just a regular personal injury lawyer trying to pose and mislead you into thinking that they are real bikers and motorcycle accident lawyers.

As for me, I am the real deal. I am a real biker and a motorcycle accident lawyer. I talk the talk, and walk the walk. That is a picture of me riding one of my motorcycles in the upper left! I actually ride, and have ridden motorcycles for many years. To me this is not rocket science, this is what I do!

Unlike many regular personal injury lawyers, my firm absolutely does not charge any kind of a fee for handling the property damage part of your motorcycle accident case. We only take a percentage of the bodily injury part of your case. You will absolutely pay no money out of your pocket when you retain us to handle your motorcycle accident case. We get our fee when your case settles or we obtain a judgment through trial.

If you do not have medical insurance, we can arrange for you and your passenger to get medical treatment for the injuries you have suffered in your motorcycle accident case.

If you or your passenger has suffered a motorcycle accident anywhere in the State of California, you may give me a call 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, at 800-816-1529, use extension 1. I will personally give you a free consultation on your motorcycle accident case.

If you are outside the State of California, make sure you ask your potential lawyer some questions based upon this article in order to determine whether you are really dealing with a biker and motorcycle accident lawyer, or just a regular personal injury lawyer.

Do not hire a poser regular personal injury lawyer pawning themselves off as a biker and motorcycle accident lawyer for your motorcycle accident case!

By Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © 2008