After you have been in a motorcycle accident, you’ll probably wonder when it is safe to get on your motorcycle again. Can you ride away from the scene? Or should you wait a while before riding again? Should you maybe think of selling your motorcycle and not riding it again if it seems too dangerous after the crash? The answer depends on how you fared in the collision, as well as your preferences later.
Should You Ride Your Motorcycle Immediately After a Crash?
Immediately after a motorcycle accident, the first thing you need to do is assess your physical injuries. If you are seriously injured, you won’t be able to ride your motorcycle away from the scene. Don’t try to ride while badly injured because it could worsen your injury or result in another crash.
Once paramedics arrive at the scene of the motorcycle accident, you should follow their instructions and accept any medical care they recommend. As such, you might not get the option to ride your motorcycle away from the scene of the crash because you might be taken to the hospital in an ambulance.
If you are uninjured after a motorcycle accident, you will need to evaluate the condition of your motorcycle. If your motorcycle is badly damaged, you shouldn’t attempt to ride it. Doing so could put you at a considerable risk of a second accident due to a defect from vehicle damage, such as a brake or steering system failure.
Should You Ride Your Motorcycle During Recovery?
As you recover from your injuries after a motorcycle accident, you should talk to your doctor to get a full understanding of your injuries and the expected healing process. The physical demands of riding a motorcycle can be surprising, so it might not be safe to try to ride a motorcycle while you are healing. Your medical provider can assess your strength, coordination, and mental alertness and tell you if it might be unsafe to ride while you are recovering.
Don’t forget that following your doctor's instructions during the recovery process is essential not only for your health but also for preserving the legitimacy of any injury claim you might file. Medical professionals provide guidelines and recovery timelines based on their understanding of your injuries and how they heal. Deviating from these recommendations can not only hinder your recovery but also impact the outcome of an insurance or personal injury claim. Insurance companies or opposing legal parties might argue that your failure to follow medical advice suggests your injuries were not as severe as claimed or that you contributed to a prolonged recovery period.
If riding a motorcycle is your primary mode of transportation, you should talk to a motorcycle safety expert about adaptive riding strategies to use while recovering. For example, modifications to your motorcycle or safety equipment might allow you to ride more safely while recovering from an injury. Be sure to run any recommended adaptive riding methods by your medical provider, though, so they can recommend for or against them based on your health and healing process. Ultimately, you might have to use public transportation, ridesharing services, or rides from family and friends in the meantime.
Should You Ride Your Motorcycle When Fully Recovered?
Riding a motorcycle again after fully recovering from an accident can be unexpectedly challenging, even for veteran riders. Several factors can make it difficult to get back into riding a motorcycle, even after all physical injuries have healed.
Before you ride your motorcycle again after fully recovering from an accident, you should consider:
- Psychological impact: You might understandably feel afraid to get on a motorcycle again after being in a crash that another motorist caused. Don’t rush into things if your mind and heart aren’t into it. You need focus and confidence to ride safely, after all.
- Physical readiness and skill reevaluation: Even after you have physically recovered, there may be subtle changes in your riding abilities or comfort levels on a bike. For instance, an injury might affect balance, strength, or flexibility, all of which are crucial for safe motorcycle operation. To reevaluate your skills and physical readiness, you might want to take a motorcycle safety course that refreshes your skills and understanding of the rules of the road for riders.
- Gradual reintroduction to riding: You may want to use a gradual process to reintroduce yourself to riding after you have recovered from a crash. You can take short trips in low-traffic conditions to refamiliarize yourself with riding before you attempt longer rides or travel on the highway.
- Safety as a top priority: No matter when or if you decide to ride your motorcycle again, keep safety as your top priority. Wear the right protective gear and ride defensively and responsibly whenever you’re on the road.
Representation for Injured Riders in Las Vegas
While you’re trying to decide if you should ride a motorcycle again after an accident, you won’t want to further complicate your thoughts with legal questions and concerns. If you need to file an injury claim and live in Las Vegas, you can leave all parts of that process up to Bertoldo Carter Smith & Cullen and our motorcycle accident attorneys. Using our decades of practice experience—our doors first opened in 1985—we can build your claim, collect evidence, and fight for the maximum allowable amount of compensation in your name.
Cliff Marcek, one of our attorneys, has been riding motorcycles for 15 years. He has taken the motorcycle safety course taught by Harley Davidson and he can provide you several safety tips to minimize the chance of a motorcycle crash and injuries.
Call (702) 505-8115 to request a FREE consultation with our law office today.