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- Waukee Motorcycle Accident Injury Attorneys
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Iowa recorded more than 1,000 motorcycle injury crashes in a single year, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation. Injuries from these crashes can be extremely painful, expensive to treat, and may require a prolonged healing period. Yet even experienced riders are often blindsided by the legal complexities that arise after an accident, including questions about whether not wearing a helmet affects their claim, how to document injuries that develop slowly over time, and what deadlines apply to taking legal action. The guidance below addresses each of these critical areas using Iowa-specific law and medical information.
Iowa's Motorcycle Helmet Law and How It Affects Your Claim
Iowa is one of only three states in the nation that has no motorcycle helmet law. Riders in Waukee and across Iowa are fully within their legal rights to ride without a helmet. However, the absence of a legal requirement to wear a helmet does not mean that riding without one is without legal consequences if you are injured in a crash.
It is well established that wearing a helmet can prevent traumatic brain and head injuries in the event of a motorcycle accident. A rider who chooses not to wear a helmet and then suffers a head or brain injury in a crash may be found partially negligent for their own injuries. Under Iowa law, a negligent act is one that fails to exercise the proper degree of care. It does not have to be something illegal. The defense in a motorcycle accident case may argue that a reasonable person riding a motorcycle would have worn a helmet, and that a rider who did not was failing to exercise adequate care for their own safety. If that argument is accepted and you are found partially negligent, the compensation you can recover will be reduced in proportion to your share of fault under Iowa's comparative fault laws.
When Helmet Use Does and Does Not Affect Your Damages
The question of helmet use will not be relevant in every motorcycle accident case. Its impact on liability is most likely to arise only when the injury you suffered was a head or brain injury that a helmet may have prevented or reduced in severity. If, for example, you were involved in a motorcycle crash and suffered injuries to your lower body such as leg fractures, the fact that you were not wearing a helmet would be entirely irrelevant. You would have sustained those leg injuries regardless of whether you had a helmet on at the time of the crash.
On the other hand, if the injury you sustained was a head or brain injury that could have been prevented or mitigated had you been wearing a helmet, then you may be considered partially negligent under Iowa's comparative fault framework. Your damages would then be reduced in proportion to the degree of fault attributed to you for not wearing protective headgear.
Conversely, if you were wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, that fact works strongly in your favor. Wearing a helmet when there is no legal requirement to do so demonstrates that you were exercising caution and care while riding, which can help counter any attempts by the defense to assign negligence to you. To learn more about what happens if you were partially at fault in an Iowa motorcycle accident, further guidance is available at iowainjured.com.
Proving the Other Driver's Negligence Is Your Most Important Task
Negligence on the part of the other driver is the most important component of a successful motorcycle accident claim. If the accident would not have occurred but for the other person's negligent conduct, you need strong evidence to prove it. The types of evidence that can be used to establish the other driver's negligence include police accident reports, lab tests if the other driver was driving while impaired, witness testimony, photographs of the accident scene and vehicles, video evidence from nearby cameras, and physical evidence from the crash scene. Keep in mind that the other driver and their insurance company will be working simultaneously to demonstrate your negligence. This is why it is so important to seek medical attention after even a minor motorcycle accident and to secure legal representation as quickly as possible after the crash.
Broken Bones from a Motorcycle Accident: Injuries, Recovery, and Compensation
Among the most common injuries sustained in motorcycle crashes are broken bones. Motorcyclists have virtually no structural protection in the event of a collision. Whatever protective gear they are wearing, including helmets and riding jackets, is generally all that stands between their body and the road or other vehicles. The severity and type of broken bone injuries in a motorcycle crash depend on multiple factors, including the severity of the impact, the angle of the collision, the speed the rider was traveling, and which part of the body absorbs the greatest force.
Signs and Symptoms of a Broken Bone
The most distinctive characteristic of a broken bone is usually intense, localized pain at the affected area. However, other signs can accompany a fracture and it is important to recognize them, particularly in the aftermath of a crash when adrenaline may temporarily mask the severity of pain. Additional signs of a broken bone include swelling, bruising, bleeding, limited mobility at the site of injury, numbness, tingling, broken skin with a protruding bone, and an obviously misshapen or out-of-place limb or joint. If you experience any of these signs following a motorcycle accident, seek emergency medical care without delay.
Bones Commonly Broken in Iowa Motorcycle Crashes
There is no limit to the number or types of bones that may be broken in a motorcycle accident given the unprotected nature of riding. Rib fractures are common when a rider's torso strikes the ground, another vehicle, or a fixed object at impact. Collarbone, leg, arm, spine, and pelvis fractures are also frequently seen in serious motorcycle crashes. The severity and specific type of fracture will determine the required treatment, the length of recovery, and whether there is any risk of long-term complications.
Treatment, Recovery Time, and Long-Term Complications
Treatment for a broken bone varies significantly depending on which bone was affected and the severity of the break. Cast immobilization is typically used for fractures of the limbs, including broken arms and legs. A functional cast or brace may be appropriate for more minor breaks. Serious fractures, however, may require surgical intervention to stabilize the bones, insert hardware, and allow for proper healing.
The most severe fractures carry the greatest potential for permanent consequences. A broken spine is particularly serious. If a spinal column fracture causes any disturbance to the spinal cord, the resulting injuries can be permanent. Spinal cord damage can cause full or partial paralysis that will affect a victim for the rest of their life. Even fractures that are less immediately severe can lead to future complications. A condition known as post-traumatic arthritis, for example, may develop at the site of a previous fracture and cause chronic pain and reduced mobility for years or even decades after the original injury. For a comprehensive look at pursuing a motorcycle accident injury claim in Iowa, detailed guidance is available at iowainjured.com.
Liability and Compensation for Broken Bone Injuries
If your motorcycle accident and the broken bones that resulted were caused by another driver's negligent or irresponsible conduct, that driver may be held liable for the full range of damages you have suffered. Compensation in an Iowa motorcycle accident claim can include medical expenses already incurred, anticipated future medical costs for ongoing care and any additional procedures, lost wages during the recovery period, and damages for pain and suffering. Iowa law requires that you file a motorcycle injury case within two years of the injury occurring in order to recover damages. Given that deadline, speaking with a qualified motorcycle accident attorney as soon as possible after your crash is essential. Proving liability on your own in a case involving serious injuries or substantial damages is complicated, and having an attorney gather the evidence, file your claim, and guide you through the legal process significantly improves your chances of recovering the full compensation you are owed.
What to Do When Motorcycle Accident Injuries Do Not Appear Right Away
One of the most misunderstood aspects of motorcycle accident injuries is that they do not always manifest immediately. A rider may walk away from a crash feeling shaken but relatively unharmed, only to wake up the next morning in significant pain. This is a well-documented physiological response to trauma and it has very real legal implications that every injured rider needs to understand.
Why Pain and Symptoms Are Often Delayed After a Crash
When a person experiences a traumatic event such as a motorcycle accident, adrenaline surges through the body. Other hormones including cortisol are also released, and these can temporarily suppress the sensation of pain. The same physiological phenomenon is familiar to anyone who has ever worked out intensely: muscle soreness does not fully appear until the next day, not during the workout itself. The force of impact in a motorcycle crash can create injuries that take hours, or even a full day, before they produce noticeable symptoms. What is critical is that once pain or other symptoms begin to emerge, you seek medical care promptly so that your injuries are properly documented and your treatment begins without delay.
What Happens If You Waited More Than a Week to Seek Medical Care?
Waiting more than a week before seeing a doctor after a motorcycle accident does not automatically destroy your claim, but it will raise a significant red flag with the insurance adjuster assigned to your case. When you do seek care, make sure you clearly explain to your doctor exactly when your pain began and why you did not seek medical attention immediately. The explanation matters because it provides medical context for the delay. Failing to seek medical care altogether, however, can cost you your claim entirely. Insurance companies treat an absence of early medical documentation as evidence that the injury is not real or not serious. Going to the emergency room, urgent care, or your regular doctor is inconvenient after a traumatic experience, but the cost of not going can be far greater in the long run.
When New or Worsening Symptoms Appear After Initial Treatment
A motorcycle accident can produce injuries that are masked by more immediately apparent and severe conditions. Consider a rider who suffered extreme neck pain with radiating arm pain following a crash, and whose MRI revealed a herniated disc in the neck requiring surgery. After the surgery resolves the neck and arm pain, the rider begins experiencing significant shoulder pain. This is a scenario that happens regularly in serious accident cases. The initial severe pain was masking an underlying shoulder injury that only became apparent once the more acute condition was treated. Whenever a new symptom or new area of pain develops during your recovery, report it to your doctor immediately. Promptly documenting all emerging symptoms and explaining how they developed gives your attorney the medical record they need to connect those new conditions to the original crash.
When Conditions Are Diagnosed Weeks or Months After the Original Accident
Some motorcycle accident injuries produce related conditions that are not diagnosed until weeks or months after the initial crash. This can happen, for example, when a rider who injures their dominant arm begins over-relying on the other arm during recovery, causing an overuse injury to develop on that side. Similarly, a rider with serious leg injuries may not experience back or hip pain until they are back on their feet and walking, often with a limp or altered gait, which places abnormal stress on the lower back and hips. All of these secondary and delayed conditions may still be legally connected to the original accident. Your attorney should schedule a conference with your treating physicians to establish what is known as a causation opinion, which is a formal medical determination that a given condition is more likely than not the result of the accident. A causation opinion that a condition is merely "possible" is not legally sufficient in Iowa. The injured person bears the burden of proving it was more probable than not that the condition was caused by the accident, which is a meaningfully higher standard that requires careful and experienced handling.
Consulting a Waukee Motorcycle Accident Attorney
The toll from severe motorcycle injuries can encompass substantial medical expenses and long-term care costs for victims and their families. Lost wages may compound matters, especially if employment becomes unrealistic for an extended period. Getting help from a motorcycle accident attorney allows the pursuit of comprehensive compensation, from financial damages and emotional distress such as pain and suffering.
Victims of these accidents should seek consultation with a motorcycle accident attorney, as damages may be extensive and recovery of compensation is important.
At Walker, Billingsley & Bair, our motorcycle accident attorneys can represent you in dealings with your insurance company, or when filing a personal injury claim. Set up your consultation now by calling 641-792-3595.