North Carolina Unsafe Lane Change Accidents Attorney

At Nagle & Associates, Raleigh motorcycle accident attorney and motorcycle enthusiast Carl Nagle has dedicated his career to seeking compensation for North Carolina roadway accident victims. We maintain a legal practice that centers solely on helping people injured by the carelessness or wrongdoing of others behind the wheel. If you or a loved one has been struck by a negligent driver, you should not hesitate to assert your legal rights. Insurance companies will work to defeat your rights, trivialize your injuries and minimize your claim payments. Our law firm is familiar with the opposing tactics that victims can expect to confront because Mr. Nagle formerly worked as an insurance defense attorney and an insurance claims adjuster. Carl Nagle is also a fellow motorcycle rider, with over 30 years of personal riding experience. Nagle & Associates has seven offices throughout North Carolina and has recovered many substantial awards for victims throughout the state, including in Asheville, Winston-Salem, Wilmington, and the surrounding areas.

Pursuing Compensation from a Careless Driver after an Accident

All drivers are required to remain in their lanes on the road, changing lanes only when it is reasonably safe. Weaving in and out of traffic is dangerous, and drivers who cut off others or fail to signal may be held accountable for any resulting accidents and injuries to others around them. Motorcyclists are particularly vulnerable to drivers who make unsafe lane changes. The fact that a motorcycle is a two-wheeled vehicle leads to more instability than a standard four-wheeled vehicle, and the rider is exposed to the elements, should an accident take place.

A driver who causes a motorcycle accident due to making an unsafe lane change may be held accountable for the resulting harm in a personal injury lawsuit. These cases often proceed under a negligence theory of law, with the injured motorcyclist, as the plaintiff, demonstrating that the other driver, the defendant, failed to exercise reasonable care. The elements of a negligence claim are duty, breach, causation, and damages. All four elements must be demonstrated in order to hold the defendant driver liable, or legally responsible, for the victim’s injuries.

After proving liability, the plaintiff may be able to recover damages for the harm resulting from the motorcycle accident. Damages in a motorcycle accident lawsuit may include compensation for economic costs, including hospital and medical bills as well as lost wages from work and property damage to the motorcycle. Pain and suffering damages may also be recovered from the responsible party, and a jury may use their experience and background to determine the appropriate amount of these more subjective damages to award in a specific case.

One legal defense that may present a challenge to an injured motorcyclist is the legal doctrine of pure contributory negligence. North Carolina persists in implementing this harsh rule, which bars a plaintiff from recovering compensation in a personal injury lawsuit if they in any way contributed to the accident that resulted in their injuries. A defendant driver who made an unsafe lane change and collided with a motorcyclist might allege that the motorcyclist was speeding, for example, and that by speeding the motorcyclist contributed to the resulting crash. According to North Carolina’s contributory negligence rule, if a judge or jury found that the injured motorcyclist contributed to the accident by even a small amount, the motorcyclist would be prevented from recovering any damages in a personal injury lawsuit.

Calculating a victim’s future medical costs and future lost income is particularly important—and also challenging—in a case involving catastrophic injuries. If you cannot return to your former line of work, you can potentially collect damages for future lost earning capacity. At Nagle & Associates, we can enlist reputable medical and vocational experts to quantify the anticipated costs and explain these costs to a judge or jury.

Seek Legal Representation from a Motorcycle Accident Attorney in Raleigh or Beyond

The period following a motorcycle collision may bring devastating physical, emotional, and financial consequences. At Nagle & Associates, fellow motorcyclist and Raleigh motorcycle accident lawyer Carl Nagle stands ready to enforce your legal right to recover compensation for both past and future losses. Our personalized attention and comprehensive legal representation has helped victims and their families in Wilmington, Asheville, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Charlotte, and Hickory, as well as other communities throughout Forsyth, Mecklenburg, Wake, Guilford, Durham, Brunswick, New Hanover, Cumberland, and Catawba Counties. For a free case evaluation with an experienced NC motor vehicle collision attorney, contact our office at (800) 411-1583 or use our online form to send a note to Mr. Nagle today.