Injured in a motorcycle accident in Ohio? An Ohio motorcycle accident lawyer at Anzellotti, Sperling, Pazol & Small can review what happened and explain how your claim works.
Motorcycle riders have no frame around them, so the same collision that dents a car breaks a rider. Motorcycle accident injuries are more often serious injuries, the medical treatment runs longer and the medical bills run higher, and motorcycle accident claims are worth more, which is exactly why insurance companies contest them harder.
The other difference is bias. Insurers start from the assumption that riders take risks, and the driver who turned left across a rider’s path will very often say they did not see the motorcycle. A claim about another driver’s negligence gets turned into an argument about the motorcyclist unless the file is built to prevent it. A motorcycle accident attorney who knows these cases starts from that assumption too, and works backward from it. The attorney’s first job is to make the rider-blame argument impossible to sustain.
Anzellotti, Sperling, Pazol & Small is a personal injury law firm that has practiced from Youngstown since 1971, which is over 55 years representing motorcycle riders and their families across Ohio. Personal injury is the whole of what we do. If your crash happened closer to home, our Youngstown motorcycle accident lawyers handle the same claims locally, and there is no fee unless we recover compensation for you.
Responsibility follows carelessness. A motorist who fails to yield on a left turn, changes lanes into a rider, follows too closely or drives distracted is negligent, and those are the most common causes of serious motorcycle crashes. Third parties can be responsible as well: an employer whose driver was working, a contractor or public body responsible for road debris or a defective surface, or a manufacturer whose part failed.
Riders have duties too. Speeding, unsafe passing or unpredictable riding can shift a share of fault onto the motorcyclist, and Ohio’s comparative fault rule then applies. Recovery is reduced by the rider’s share and barred only where that share is greater than everyone else’s combined. Every percentage point insurers move onto the rider is money they keep, which is where most of the fight happens.
Ohio’s helmet law is narrower than most people think. Riders must wear a helmet if they are under 18 or hold a novice endorsement, which generally means the first year after it is issued, and a passenger riding with someone in either group must wear one too. Eye protection is separate and applies to everyone: every operator and every passenger needs safety glasses, goggles or a face shield, whatever their age or experience.
Experienced adult riders are not required to wear a helmet, but the choice can still come up in a claim, because insurers may argue that injuries were worse than they would have been otherwise. That argument goes to damages, not to who caused the crash, and it is contested on the medical evidence.
Lane splitting, meaning riding between lanes of traffic, is not permitted in Ohio. Riders are expected to hold a single lane and follow the flow of traffic, and a rider who was splitting lanes at the moment of impact will have that raised against them.
Responsibility follows carelessness. A motorist who fails to yield on a left turn, changes lanes into a rider, follows too closely or drives distracted is negligent, and those are the most common causes of serious motorcycle crashes. Third parties can be responsible as well: an employer whose driver was working, a contractor or public body responsible for road debris or a defective surface, or a manufacturer whose part failed.
Riders have duties too. Speeding, unsafe passing or unpredictable riding can shift a share of fault onto the motorcyclist, and Ohio’s comparative fault rule then applies. Recovery is reduced by the rider’s share and barred only where that share is greater than everyone else’s combined. Every percentage point insurers move onto the rider is money they keep, which is where most of the fight happens.
Ohio’s helmet law is narrower than most people think. Riders must wear a helmet if they are under 18 or hold a novice endorsement, which generally means the first year after it is issued, and a passenger riding with someone in either group must wear one too. Eye protection is separate and applies to everyone: every operator and every passenger needs safety glasses, goggles or a face shield, whatever their age or experience.
Experienced adult riders are not required to wear a helmet, but the choice can still come up in a claim, because insurers may argue that injuries were worse than they would have been otherwise. That argument goes to damages, not to who caused the crash, and it is contested on the medical evidence.
Lane splitting, meaning riding between lanes of traffic, is not permitted in Ohio. Riders are expected to hold a single lane and follow the flow of traffic, and a rider who was splitting lanes at the moment of impact will have that raised against them.
A rider can seek compensation for medical treatment already received and still to come, lost income, reduced earning capacity, and non-economic losses such as pain and the life-changing loss of what someone used to be able to do. Ohio limits non-economic damages in most injury cases and removes the limit entirely for certain catastrophic injuries, and spinal cord damage, brain injury and amputation are common enough in motorcycle crashes that the question arises often.
Where a crash results in a fatality, the family’s claim becomes a wrongful death claim with its own rules and its own deadline.
Ohio gives you two years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit for bodily injury, with narrow exceptions. A wrongful death claim runs two years from the date of death instead.
The evidence that decides a motorcycle case is mostly gathered in the first weeks. Ohio State Highway Patrol or local police crash reports, photographs of the scene and the bike, witness accounts and any camera footage from nearby businesses fix what happened before anyone’s recollection has shifted, and a report that records a negligent lane change is worth more than any later account of it. Medical records then connect the injury to the crash and show what the recovery required. Consistency matters: gaps in treatment are the first thing an adjuster looks for.
We build the file to survive the rider-blame argument before it is made. Our clients stop taking calls from the at-fault motorist’s auto insurance carrier, we gather the evidence while it still exists, and we go into negotiation first because a settled claim pays sooner. An attorney who has tried these cases negotiates from a different position than one who has not. When the number on the table does not reflect what the file is worth, we are prepared to try the case.
That is the most common thing drivers say, and it is not a defense. A driver is required to see what is there to be seen. Photographs, witness accounts and the crash report establish visibility, and the claim proceeds on negligence.
Yes, provided your share of fault is not greater than everyone else’s combined. Your recovery is reduced by your share.
Usually, yes. Most adult riders are not required to wear one in Ohio. The insurer may argue your injuries were worse as a result, which goes to the amount of damages rather than to whether you can recover.
You may have a claim against whoever was responsible for the road, which can be a public body or a contractor. Those claims carry their own notice requirements, so they need attention early.
The driver’s employer may be liable as well as the driver, and commercial policies are larger than personal ones. These cases involve more parties and more evidence, and they move faster than the deadline suggests.
A short call with an attorney is usually enough. We can tell you whether there is a claim, who is responsible, and what the insurer is likely to argue. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
Call ASP&S ASAP at 330-778-ASAP (2727), or contact us online and we will call you back.