The best way to find the right lawyer is to know the right questions to ask before you hire a lawyer for your case. These questions are a good start:

1. What experience do you have handling serious motorcycle accidents injury claims?
2. Have you ever written a book or educational documents on motorcycle accidents and insurance claims?
3. Have you ever spoken to groups of other lawyers and professionals about accident cases and insurance laws?
4. Do you have a website with information on motorcycle accident cases and free forms that I can print to make my insurance claims?
5. What kinds of settlements have you received for your clients?

The Michigan motorcycle accident lawyers at Buckfire & Buckfire, P.C. will give you honest answers to these questions. Our firm has represented injury victims and their families throughout the State of Michigan for almost forty years. Our lawyers have the thorough knowledge, expertise, and experience in handling these cases and understand how to handle difficult cases and best represent our clients. Most of our clients are referred to us from other clients who have placed their trust in us to represent their family members, friends, and colleagues. We also receive many referrals from other lawyers and from medical professionals who recognize that we are the law firm to best represent their clients and patients.

4 injured when car, motorcycles collide

Steven Martens | Posted: Monday, October 19, 2009 11:05 pm | No Comments Posted

GRAND MOUND, Iowa - Four people were injured Monday afternoon when a car turned into the path of three motorcycles on U.S. 30 in Grand Mound.
The accident occurred about 2 p.m. when a westbound car turned left into the path of three eastbound motorcycles, according to the Clinton County Sheriff's Office and Iowa State Patrol.
Four people, including the driver of the car, were transported from the scene, one by helicopter.
The driver of the Geo Metro was identified as Elmer Peterson, 70, of Grand Mound. The motorcyclists were identified as Xavier Cuevas, 34, of Davenport, Steven Timmerman, 31, of Davenport and Gordon Lofgren, 66, of Blue Grass. All were driving Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
Cuevas was transported by MedForce to Genesis Medical Center, East Rusholme Street, while the others were taken to Genesis Medical Center, DeWitt, the state patrol said.
The accident is being investigated by the Iowa State Patrol.

Posted in Local on Monday, October 19, 2009 11:05 pm | Tags: Vehicle Accident, Motorcycle Accident, Car Crash, Clinton County Sheriff's Office, Iowa State Patrol, U.s. 30, Elmer Peterson, Xavier Cuevas, Steven Timmerman, Gordon Lofgren, Genesis Medical Center, East Rusholme Street, Genesis Medical Center, Dewitt

http://www.qctimes.com/news/local/article_21256034-bd32-11de-97c5-001cc4c002e0.html

It really doesn’t matter if you say motorcycles helmets don’t work or are more unsafe then when you wear one. Once you’re in a crash and dead the debate stops for you. No one can tell me their head is harder than concrete or metal or anything else it’s bound to come into contact with after taking a spill.

Here we had on October 19, 2009 a story out of Grand Mound, Iowa where a car turned in front of three motorcycles. The car driver was a 70-year-old man. All four people were transported to the hospitals in the Davenport area.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g4fVduv2Rk

Do yourself and your family a favor and wear a helmet.

On Saturday June 20^th, at 10:15pm, a motorcycle driving northbound on I-380 near Center Point, crashed into a deer, according to the Des Moines Register. The 23-year-old driver Donald Bruce was transported to University of Iowa Hospitals, and his passenger, also 23, Elexia Turk, died at the scene from severe head injuries. Both were not wearing helmets. They were from Cedar Rapids.

Video: http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/48694257.html

Assuming this story is factually accurate as a motorcycle driver you have to ask, what possible liability could I have to the passenger when crashing into a deer? As the driver you don't insure the passenger for complete safety. In other words you can't say you're not responsible 100% of the time; that assumes you're following the rules of the road. But can you be at-fault for running into a deer? It will probably depend on how much you're paying attention, whether you'd had something to drink (alcohol), the speed of the bike as compared to the posted speed limit, how experienced you are as a driver and whether there are any distractions the driver can control but fails to do so. If you fail to pay attention, then yes you're probably going to be liable. But don't forget the evidence, because without it you lose.

I rest my case.

A lawsuit currently before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (WV) illustrates how difficult it can be to show that design defects and manufacturing mistakes contributed to a fatal motorcycle accident.

A thorough summary of the case brought by the widow of man who died of internal and external injuries after losing control of his 2005 Suzuki Boulevard motorcycle and crashing into a highway guardrail in West Virginia (Docket No. 3:09-cv-1284) appeared in the Jan. 27, 2010, West Virginia Record. In short, the woman is alleging that her husband crashed and died because his bike tended to become unstable at high and low speeds and had other design and manufacturing defects that made it shut down unexpectedly and difficult to control while driving through curves.

American Suzuki Motor Corporation, named as the defendant in the civil liability lawsuit, faces charges that it produced and sold a defective product and also failed to adequately warn Boulevard owners and riders about problems with the motorcycle model. The company could also be made to pay punitive damages if it is shown that Suzuki acted with conscious or reckless disregard for public safety.

Not surprisingly, Suzuki is denying that it did anything wrong, claiming that the victim of the fatal accident was driving unsafely and may have modified the motorcycle in ways that affected its steering and performance. The company has recalled the 2005 Boulevard three times to fix problems with the ignition system and the fuel tank mounting.

To substantiate her claims, the widow of the Suzuki accident victim will need to show that the company knew or should have known of the alleged problems with the 2005 Boulevard bike model and did not do enough to fix those problems. Physical examinations of the motorcycle itself and bikes of the same type by qualified experts can go a long way toward answering such questions. So can exploring the history of relevant product recalls and company records concerning the making and marketing of the bike.

For Suzuki's part, the company will probably request a forensic reconstruction of the accident and explore the victim's driving history (e.g., Did he have a current motorcycle operator's license? Did he complete motorcycle safety courses? Did he customize the bike?). Because West Virginia has comparitive negligence rules for determining fault for injuries, the victim's damages can be reduced if the person is found to be at some fault for the accident. Suzuki will try to avoid liability in this case by showing that something the victim did or failed to do was 50 percent or more of the cause of the accident.

Completing the investigations necessary to make both the plaintiff's and defendant's case could take months or even years. The time and effort can be worth it for this widow, however, if she makes her case and receives justice for the wrong done to her husband, herself and her family. A vicotry for the plaintiff could also help ensure that Suzuki takes responsibility for compensating other victims of similar accidents and working to prevent future fatalities.

About the Editors: The Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm, whose attorneys work out of offices in Virginia (VA) and North Carolina (NC), edits the injury law blogs Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as pro bono services.

EJL