Jonesboro Motorcycle Crash Cases We Handle
Motorcycle wrecks in Jonesboro are rarely random. The same bad driving habits show up again and again, and riders usually pay the highest price. Our firm helps clients with cases involving:
Left-Turn and Failure-to-Yield Wrecks
A driver glances up, thinks the lane is clear, and turns straight across a rider’s path. These wrecks often happen in seconds and leave riders with broken bones, head injuries, and smashed bikes. We dig into the scene, witness accounts, vehicle damage, and impact angles to show who cut off the rider.
.svg)
Distracted Driving Hits
Phones, dash screens, food, and simple inattention can wipe out a rider’s chance to react. These crashes are common in both motorcycle and car accident cases in Jonesboro, especially when a driver drifts, brakes late, or never sees another vehicle at all. We work to prove that lack of attention caused the wreck.
Truck Collisions
A rider has little protection in truck accidents involving box trucks, work trucks, delivery vans, or 18-wheelers. These cases often involve larger insurance policies, company records, and fast-moving defense teams. We move quickly to lock down the evidence before it disappears.
Rear-End Motorcycle Crashes
A low-speed hit between two cars can throw a motorcyclist off the bike and onto the pavement. Rear-end wrecks near stoplights, backed-up traffic, or slowing vehicles can leave riders with spinal trauma, wrist fractures, and serious road rash.
.svg)
Dangerous Road Surface Cases
Loose gravel, broken pavement, deep potholes, uneven patches, and sloppy construction zones can turn a routine ride into a disaster. When a road defect played a role, we look at whether a public body or outside contractor failed to fix a hazard that put riders at risk.
Hit-and-Run and Uninsured Driver Claims
Some drivers flee. Others stay but carry too little insurance or none at all. A crash like that does not end the case. We look at every path to recovery, including uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage.
Serious Motorcycle Injuries That Often Follow a Crash
A motorcycle rider does not have the steel frame, airbags, or enclosed cabin that people in passenger vehicles take for granted. That lack of protection is why so many Jonesboro motorcycle cases involve trauma that lasts long after the wreck scene is cleared.
We pursue damages tied to injuries such as:
- Severe road rash and skin damage: Sliding across pavement can tear through layers of skin, lead to infection, require grafting, and leave lasting scars.
- Traumatic brain injuries: Even with a helmet, a rider can suffer a concussion or more serious brain trauma that affects memory, concentration, balance, and day-to-day life.
- Spinal cord and back injuries: Herniated discs, vertebral fractures, nerve damage, and paralysis can change every part of a person’s routine and future.
- Broken bones and crush injuries: Arms, wrists, ribs, legs, hips, and shoulders often absorb the force when a rider is thrown from the bike or pinned in the collision.
- Emotional harm after the wreck: Fear, sleep problems, flashbacks, depression, and anxiety can stay with a rider long after physical wounds begin to heal.
A Jonesboro motorcycle accident attorney from Rice & Kendig can build a claim around the full impact of those injuries, not just the first hospital bill.
Steps to Take After a Motorcycle Accident in Jonesboro
What a rider does in the first hours and days after a Jonesboro wreck can affect both medical recovery and the strength of the claim. Fast action helps preserve proof, tie the injuries to the wreck, and keep the insurance company from controlling the story early.
Get Medical Care Right Away
A rider can feel charged with adrenaline and miss the first signs of a brain injury, internal bleeding, or spinal damage. A same-day or next-day medical visit creates a record that ties the crash to your condition.
Save the Scene and Your Gear
Photos matter. Witness names matter. Your helmet, jacket, gloves, and damaged bike matter too. Do not throw away gear, repair the motorcycle, or let the insurance company take control of the evidence before your lawyer sees it.
Say Less and Protect the Claim
Do not guess, do not apologize, and do not give a recorded statement just because an adjuster asks for one. Insurance companies look for words they can twist into shared blame. Let your lawyer handle those calls.
What Compensation Can We Win for You After a Motorcycle Crash
A serious motorcycle wreck can hit every part of a person’s life at once. The right claim should account for far more than the initial property loss or the first hospital invoice. Rice & Kendig Injury Lawyers pursue damages that reflect both the immediate harm and the long-term fallout.
Economic Damages
Economic damages cover the financial losses tied to the wreck. These may include emergency care, surgery, hospital bills, rehab, medication, future treatment, lost wages, reduced earning capacity, motorcycle repair or replacement, damaged riding gear, travel for treatment, and other out-of-pocket costs caused by the crash.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages cover the human impact of the collision. These may include physical pain, mental distress, loss of enjoyment of life, sleep disruption, emotional trauma, physical limitations, and the ways the injuries affect daily routines, independence, and overall quality of life.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are not available in every Louisiana motorcycle accident case. In Louisiana, exemplary damages may be awarded when the injuries were caused by a defendant’s wanton or reckless disregard for others’ safety, and the defendant’s intoxication while operating a motor vehicle was a cause-in-fact of the injuries.
Louisiana Motorcycle Laws That May Affect Your Case
Recent changes to Louisiana law have made motorcycle injury claims tougher in several ways. A Jonesboro motorcycle accident attorney has to know how those rules may affect value, proof, and timing.
Filing Deadlines Matter
Louisiana’s survival action law, Civil Code art. 2315.1, and wrongful death law, Civil Code art. 2315.2, now use the “one year from death or two years from the injury, whichever is longer” framework in many cases. Waiting is still risky because witness memories fade, vehicles get repaired, and crash evidence disappears fast.
The 51% Fault Rule Can Shut Down a Claim
Under the Louisiana Civil Code art. 2323, an injured person who is found 51% or more at fault can recover nothing. That gives insurers a stronger reason to blame the rider for speed, lane position, helmet use, or any other detail they can cite.
“No Pay, No Play” Can Cut Damages Hard
Under La. R.S. 32:866, an uninsured owner or operator can lose recovery for the first $100,000 of bodily injury and the first $100,000 of property damage, subject to statutory exceptions. That issue needs to be checked early in the case.
Past Medical Bills Are Treated Differently Now
Under La. R.S. 9:2800.27, Louisiana limits recovery of many past medical expenses to the amounts actually paid, plus applicable cost-sharing amounts paid or owed, rather than the full billed amount. That can change how damages are presented in a motorcycle case.
Helmet Rules Still Matter
Louisiana’s helmet law can become a defense issue in motorcycle cases. Louisiana riders also need to know the standing motorcycle statutes:
- La. R.S. 32:190 requires the use of a proper safety helmet.
- La. R.S. 32:191.1 gives motorcycles full use of a lane and bars lane splitting.
- Road-condition claims often turn on La. R.S. 48:35, which addresses public-road safety, maintenance, and duties tied to roads, highways, bridges, and streets.
Even when a helmet issue does not block a claim, the other side may still use it to argue for more fault or less money.
The Housley Presumption Is Gone
Under the Code of Evidence art. 306.1, the lack of a prior medical history does not create a presumption that the crash caused the injury. That makes solid medical records and doctor support even more valuable in motorcycle claims.
Don’t Let the Driver Rewrite the Crash
Motorcycle cases can turn into blame fights fast. Rice & Kendig can help protect the evidence, push back on bias, and pursue full recovery.
or Call Us
(318) 222-2772
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
