Personal Injury Lawyer

A road trip on a motorcycle can be an exciting way to see the country. Unfortunately, it can also cause many legal complications if you are involved in an accident on your motorcycle when traveling out of state. You may wonder what to do if you are involved in an accident when you are far from home. Here is a guide to help you handle this potentially difficult situation.

Medical Treatment

It is always a good idea after any motor vehicle collision to receive a medical evaluation as soon as possible to check for any serious injuries. This usually means going to the nearest emergency room. The most important thing is to receive prompt medical treatment, so it is not necessary to forgo an examination until you return home. The only exception may be if the injury occurred close to where you live, while still over the border between states, and you would prefer to see your own doctor. However, do not put off an evaluation because symptoms of serious injury are sometimes delayed.

Insurance Claim

When you have an accident in another state, the claims procedure is more or less the same as it would be in your own state. You exchange information with the other driver and you file a claim with his or her insurance agency. If you receive a fair settlement offer, you can accept it without getting any lawyers or courts involved. Unfortunately, however, it is relatively rare to receive a fair settlement offer from the other party’s insurance company without hiring an attorney and filing a lawsuit.

Attorney

Because the accident occurred in another state, you may wonder if you should hire an attorney from where you live or from the state where the accident happened. It depends largely on geography. If the state where the accident happened is near the one where you live, it may be possible to hire a local attorney to represent you because he or she may be licensed in adjacent states. If the accident occurred very far away, you should hire an attorney based in that location. Otherwise, it could be prohibitively expensive due to the need for the lawyer to travel back and forth.

It may be possible to have a local attorney represent you in a state where he or she is not licensed with a pro hac vice admission. This is special permission from the state bar of the other state that allows an attorney from your state to represent you, but only if he or she works with a lawyer who is licensed in that state.

Attorneys may be able to handle this complex situation. Contact a motorcycle accident law firm, such as Johnston Martineau, LLP, for more information.