If a negligent motorist injures you while you’re motorcycling in Missouri, schedule a free consultation immediately to discuss your rights and legal options with a Jefferson County motorcycle accident attorney.

A motorcycle offers practical transportation and healthy recreation, but motorcycle accidents can be catastrophic. Motorcycles provide none of the safety features that trucks and cars provide to passengers and drivers. This makes it imperative to use a helmet when you’re motorcycling.

What is the helmet law for motorcyclists in Missouri? What are your rights as a motorcyclist if a negligent motorist injures you? When should you contact a Jefferson County motorcycle accident lawyer? For the answers to these questions, keep reading.

What Safety Precautions Should Motorcyclists Take?

In 2021, more than 150 motorcyclists died in accidents on Missouri streets and highways. Even if you survive a serious motorcycle accident, you could suffer a traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, lacerations, bone fractures, or paralysis.

Almost every research project conducted on the topic of motorcycle accidents has determined that a motorcycle helmet is the most effective device for preventing deaths and serious injuries in motorcycle collisions.

What is Required of Motorcyclists in Missouri?

Missouri no longer has a universal helmet law requiring all motorcyclists and passengers to wear helmets when they ride. Since 2020, only motorcyclists and passengers who are age 25 or below are required to wear helmets. Protection for the eyes, like a face shield or goggles, isn’t required.

Motorcyclists and passengers who are 26 years of age and older are not required to wear helmets while motorcycling, provided that they carry health insurance. Nevertheless, motorcycle accident lawyers in Missouri strongly advise their clients to wear helmets while motorcycling.

Additionally, you cannot be stopped by a police officer in Missouri solely for the failure to use a helmet. An officer may only cite you for violating the helmet law if that officer has stopped you for a different, “primary” violation.

In Missouri, the failure to wear a helmet while motorcycling – for those who are required to wear one – can result in a fine of $25 for a first offense. But since Missouri’s helmet law is a “secondary enforcement” law, it is seldom – if ever – actually enforced.

How Effective Are Motorcycle Helmets?

Statistics prove that helmet use reduces the number of deaths and injuries that result from motorcycle accidents. The year after universal helmet use was no longer required in Missouri, motorcycle accident fatalities increased dramatically. Here are some recent statistics:

1. In 2019 in Missouri, there were 118 motorcycling fatalities, and 10 of those motorcyclists were not wearing a helmet.
2. In 2020 in Missouri, there were 111 motorcycling fatalities, and 20 of those motorcyclists were not wearing a helmet.
3. In 2021, the first year without a universal helmet law in Missouri, there were 152 motorcycling fatalities, and 78 of those motorcyclists were not wearing a helmet.

Other states that have abolished universal helmet laws report similar numbers. In the first year without a universal helmet law, motorcycling fatalities increased by 37.5 percent in Kentucky, by 31 percent in Texas, and by 21 percent in Arkansas.

Who’s at Fault for Motorcycle Accidents?

Of course, motorcyclists are not the only parties responsible for motorcycle accidents. Too many motorcycle crashes are caused by car and truck drivers who do not yield to or see motorcyclists. Personal injury lawyers represent both injured motorcyclists and those injured by motorcyclists.

Most motorcyclists know that when cars and trucks crash into motorcycles, motorcyclists and their passengers will probably sustain the most severe injuries. When a motorcycle accident isn’t fatal, it may nevertheless be devastating and catastrophic.

Missouri motorcyclists who have been injured by negligent motorists are entitled by Missouri law to compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, pain, suffering, and related damages, but proving that a negligent motorist is liable for a motorcycle accident may be a difficult challenge.

When Should You Contact a Motorcycle Accident Lawyer?

If you are injured by a negligent motorist while you are motorcycling, that negligent motorist – or that motorist’s lawyer or auto insurance company – may insist the negligence was yours, that you were not injured seriously, or that you were actually injured at another time and place.

A Missouri motorcyclist who is injured by a negligent driver must be advised and represented by a Jefferson County motorcycle accident attorney, and you must contact that attorney as soon as possible after you’ve been treated for your injuries by a health care provider.

What Will Your Attorney Do on Your Behalf?

Your Jefferson County motorcycle accident lawyer will advocate aggressively for justice – and for the monetary compensation that you are entitled to under Missouri law. Your lawyer will:

1.  explain how the law applies to your own case
2.  protect your legal rights
3.  review the accident evidence and speak with any witnesses
4.  determine which party is liable
5.  negotiate for a reasonable and acceptable settlement
6.  if no settlement is possible, take your case to trial

What is the Deadline for Filing a Motorcycle Accident Claim?

If you are motorcycling in Missouri and a negligent motorist injures you, you must act at once. Missouri has established a five-year deadline (statute of limitations) for taking legal action after a motorcycle accident, but you cannot wait five years to speak with an attorney.

Evidence deteriorates over time, and the memories of witnesses fade quickly. A personal injury claim that is filed immediately after a motorcycle accident is a stronger claim that will be more likely to prevail.

If you’ve missed the five-year deadline, it’s possible that your case may qualify as one of the rare exceptions that Missouri allows, so go ahead and speak to an attorney, but if you’ve been injured recently on a motorcycle, or if you’re injured that way in the future, contact an attorney at once.

If You Are Injured on a Motorcycle, What Will Justice Cost?

After you have been injured in a motorcycle accident and treated by a health care professional, reach out to a Missouri personal injury attorney immediately. Your first consultation with an attorney is provided with no cost or obligation.

You’ll receive personalized legal advice and learn how the law in Missouri applies to your own motorcycle accident case. If you proceed with legal action, you’ll owe no lawyer’s fee unless and until your lawyer recovers your compensation with an out-of-court settlement or a jury verdict.

The injuries a motorcyclist sustains may require lifelong medical care. If you’re a motorcycle accident victim, you will need the maximum compensation amount that’s available, and you’ll need a motorcycle accident lawyer who knows how to win that compensation on your behalf.

If you have suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in an accident that was someone else’s fault, you and your family may face crushing financial pressures. A Jefferson County traumatic brain injury attorney can take legal action and file a personal injury claim on your behalf.

When someone sustains a traumatic brain injury (TBI), the right medical care may require a great deal of time, money, and effort. If you were injured by someone else’s negligence, your attorney will fight for compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and related losses and damages.

What are the different types of traumatic brain injuries? How are TBIs categorized and defined? If you’ll keep reading, you will find the answers to these questions, and you will learn more about your legal rights in Missouri as the injured victim of another person’s negligence.

How Do Traumatic Brain Injuries Happen?

Traumatic brain injuries can happen when someone’s head receives a strong blow or jolt or when the skull is penetrated by an object. A TBI may affect one part of the brain, several parts, or the entire brain.

A severe traumatic brain injury is life-threatening, and survivors may be permanently disabled or impaired. Treatment for the most severe TBIs may require prolonged hospitalization as well as years of therapy and rehabilitation. Many TBI patients never fully regain their pre-TBI health.

If you or someone you love sustains a traumatic brain injury in Missouri, and if someone else’s negligence is the reason that injury happened, schedule a consultation – immediately – with a Jefferson County TBI lawyer to discuss your legal options and your right to compensation.

How is the Severity of a Brain Injury Measured?

Doctors usually measure the severity of a traumatic brain injury with a 15-point system called the Glasgow Coma Scale. Points measure verbal responses, motion in the eyes, and other critical functions. The fewer points a patient has, the more severe the patient’s injury is. A patient with:

1. 13 to 15 points has a mild TBI
2. 9 to 12 points has a moderately disabling TBI
3. 4 to 8 points has a severely disabling TBI
4. 3 or fewer points is in a persistent vegetative state

How Are Traumatic Brain Injuries Categorized?

TBIs are categorized by the type of injury and the injury’s severity. The eight main types of TBIs are concussions, contusions, brain hemorrhages, intracranial hematomas, coup-contrecoup brain injuries, diffuse axonal injuries, penetration injuries, and second impact syndrome:

1.  A concussion happens when a strong force or blow causes the brain to crash into the skull. Concussions happen frequently in traffic accidents and in contact sports like football, but even a mild concussion may cause long-term medical difficulties.
2.  Contusions are bruises on the brain that may accompany concussions. When a contusion doesn’t heal, it may develop into a hematoma and require surgery. The severity of the damage a contusion causes depends on its location and size and a patient’s ability to heal.
3.  Brain hemorrhages happen when ruptured blood vessels cause bleeding on or in the brain. A hemorrhage that develops on the brain’s surface is a “subarachnoid” hemorrhage, and hemorrhages that develop in the brain tissue are “intracerebral” hemorrhages.
4.  A hematoma is a collection of blood outside of the blood vessels. Large hematomas in the brain are severe injuries that are fatal if untreated.
5. A coup-contrecoup brain injury is actually two concussions. The brain collides with the skull, and the force of that collision causes the brain to “rebound” and strike the other side of the skull.
6. A diffuse axonal injury happens when a brain is shaken or twisted inside the skull, causing the brain’s connecting fibers (called axons) to tear. This disrupts the messages that the neurons send to the rest of the body and causes the loss of basic body functions.
7. Penetration injuries happen when objects (usually bullets or bullet fragments) penetrate the skull and then the brain. In some cases, penetration injuries cause seizures and eventually lead to epilepsy.
8. Second impact syndrome is caused by second and subsequent traumatic brain injuries. Second and subsequent TBIs almost always cause more damage to the brain and more harm to someone’s health than a first brain injury.

What Are the Symptoms of a Traumatic Brain Injury?

A TBI may affect someone’s memory, thinking ability, and speaking ability. It may trigger behavioral and/or emotional difficulties. Eating and sleep disorders, vision problems, and nausea are also common symptoms of traumatic brain injury.

Additionally, a TBI may be the cause of epilepsy, and TBIs increase the risk of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and several other brain disorders. Over a million persons in the U.S. sustain traumatic brain injuries every year.

If Someone Else’s Negligence Causes a TBI

In Missouri, if another person’s negligence is the reason why you have suffered a traumatic brain injury, you are entitled to compensation for your:

1. current and projected future medical expenses
2. lost and projected future lost wages
3. personal pain, suffering, and your other related losses and damages

However, “entitlement” does not mean that compensation simply appears in your bank account or mailbox. You and your Jefferson County traumatic brain injury attorney will have to prove that someone else has liability for the accident that caused your brain injury.

When Should You Contact a TBI Attorney?

In Missouri, the deadline – that is, the statute of limitations – for filing a personal injury claim based on a traumatic brain injury is five years from the date of the injury or (if it was a latent or difficult-to-detect injury) five years from the date the injury was discovered.

Limited exceptions to the five-year deadline are allowed on a case-by-case basis, but your claim may be exceedingly difficult to prove after so much time has passed. Instead, contact a Jefferson County TBI lawyer as soon as you’ve been examined and treated for a traumatic brain injury.

Your injury claim will be stronger if your attorney examines the evidence before it deteriorates (or disappears) and questions any witnesses before their recollections begin to fade.

How Will You Be Compensated?

Your attorney will negotiate for a fair and appropriate settlement amount, but if no reasonable settlement offer is forthcoming, your attorney will take the liable party or parties to trial, explain to jurors how you were injured, and ask those jurors to order the payment of your compensation.

TBI attorneys in Missouri work on a contingent fee basis, so you pay no attorney’s fee until and unless you are compensated, and if you are a TBI victim, your first legal consultation is offered without cost or obligation.

Pick up the phone and take advantage of this opportunity to receive personalized legal advice and to learn how Missouri law applies to your own case by scheduling a consultation today with a Missouri brain injury attorney.

If you are injured by another person’s negligence in Missouri – in a traffic crash or in any other accident scenario – as soon as you have been examined and/or treated for your injuries, schedule a meeting to discuss your rights and options with a Jefferson County personal injury attorney.

If you file a personal injury claim to recover compensation, several Missouri state laws will apply to your case. For instance, a statute of limitations for personal injury cases is a law that sets a deadline for filing your injury claim.

In criminal cases, statutes of limitations ensure that criminal convictions are based on evidence that has not faded or deteriorated over time. A prosecutor must file most criminal charges within a particular time limit.

What Is the Purpose of a Statute of Limitations?

In the United States, most jurisdictions have a statute of limitations for crimes that are not homicides or other violent felonies. When the time runs out, and no charges have been filed in a criminal case, no further prosecution or filing of charges is allowed.

Although statutes of limitations for personal injury cases may frustrate personal injury victims, these statutes maintain fairness in the civil court system. In fact, a statute of limitations gives personal injury victims and their attorneys time to gather and analyze the evidence in a case.

Statutes of limitations ensure that the civil courts are not overwhelmed by cases that have not been thoroughly scrutinized by an attorney.

Additionally, a statute of limitations helps to prevent evidence from deteriorating or being lost over time. In the end, all parties that are involved in a personal injury case benefit from having a statute of limitations.

What Else Does a Statute of Limitations Accomplish?

Statutes of limitations have a long history. They were established in ancient Greece to discourage persons from making a living off of filing lawsuits. Today, a statute of limitations:

1. ensures that justice is quick by compelling injury victims to act quickly
2. helps to prevent a loss of evidence or any introduction of outdated evidence
3. ensures that witnesses’ memories are current and fresh

What Are the Statutes Of Limitations for Personal Injury Cases in Missouri?

Generally speaking, the statute of limitations in a Missouri personal injury case is five years from the injury date in cases that arise from traffic accidents, in slip-and-fall accidents, and in accidents that are caused by hazardous or defective consumer products.

Other types of personal injuries are covered by other statutes of limitations in Missouri. The statute of limitations for a medical malpractice case in Missouri is two years. Survivors of wrongful death victims in Missouri have three years to file a wrongful death claim.

The five-year limit is important particularly when a product liability claim arises from the use of a purportedly defective pharmaceutical drug. Some people may experience reactions and side effects that are not immediately obvious – but become more painful and serious over time – after using a prescription drug.

When Should You Speak to a Personal Injury Attorney?

Whether you were injured by someone’s negligence in a traffic crash, at a hotel, restaurant, or retail location, or even at your own place of work, you should not wait five years and then try to file a personal injury claim at the last possible moment.

Only a Missouri personal injury attorney has the qualifications to review your personal injury claim and to determine the statute of limitations for your own case. If you file a personal injury claim after the deadline has passed, your claim will be permanently dismissed by the court.

Should You Ignore a Statute of Limitations?

If you are injured by someone else’s negligence –a negligent motorist, property owner, or health care provider, for example – take action as soon as you have been examined and/or treated for your injuries by contacting a Jefferson County personal injury lawyer as soon as possible.

Although there are a variety of exceptions to Missouri’s statutes of limitations, and your case may qualify under one of the exceptions, it is always best when your attorney can examine evidence while it’s fresh and speak to witnesses before their memories fade.

A Jefferson County personal injury attorney will determine when the statute of limitations “clock” begins in your case and will file your personal injury claim as quickly as possible.

It is absolutely imperative to be advised and represented by a Jefferson County personal injury lawyer who knows the system, the statutes of limitations, and the exceptions to the statutes.

What If You Are Suing a Government Agency?

Let’s say you suffer a slip-and-fall injury at a public library or your minor child is injured on playground equipment in a city park. Recovering compensation by suing a government agency is far more complicated than filing a personal injury claim against a private citizen or business.

If a state, county, or municipal government agency or employee is named as a defendant in your injury claim, the rules are quite different. An injury claim against a Missouri government agency must be filed within 90 days of the injury date. That means you must contact a lawyer at once.

In addition to filing in a civil court, claims against government agencies also must be filed with the Missouri Office of Administration’s Risk Management Division. Your Missouri personal injury lawyer will explain the details of filing an injury claim against a government agency.

What Else Should You Know About Personal Injury Deadlines?

Putting your case in the hands of a personal injury attorney – as early as possible – is imperative when you are seeking monetary compensation for your medical expenses, lost wages, and your other injury-related damages and losses.

If you have been injured by another person’s negligence, or if someone you love is a wrongful death victim, it costs nothing to learn more about your rights or to launch the legal process.

Personal injury lawyers in the State of Missouri work on a contingent fee basis, which means you pay an attorney’s fee only if your attorney recovers compensation on your behalf. You will pay nothing upfront, and your first legal consultation is provided with no cost or obligation.

Take advantage of the opportunity to receive personalized legal advice and to learn how the law in Missouri applies to your own case. If you have been injured because someone else was negligent, contact a personal attorney at once, because recovering compensation is your right.