Legal Question in Personal Injury in Wisconsin

I was riding my motorcycle on my way to work at 4:30 a.m. a couple weeks ago. I got about 3 minutes away from home when I was involved in a motorcycle accident. Road construction was going on down the road from my house for the past couple of weeks leading up to the accident. They were repaving and widening the road. Signs were posted about staying in your lane and the speed limit was 40 mph. I was driving down the road when I hit a piece of uneven pavment and I felt me going down. Me and my bike skidded about 50 feet with the bike landing on top of me. It took a couple cars driving by me for someone to finally stop and call 911. I was taking to my local hospital and then transported to a trauma center 40 minutes away. I had 4 broken ribs, a hole in my lung, and a punctured kidney. I was a very lucky man. I spent 4 days in the hospital and am just taking day by day to heal. I was told I can slowly go back to work part time whenever I feel ready to. I was wearing a helmet, leather coat, and gloves so that stuff really protected me. I have been driving my motorcyle for over 25 years and have never gotten into one accident with my bike. My question to you is, do you think I would have a case against the construction crew because of the lip that was on the road causing me to crash? please email me back at your earliest convience as to what you think.

Thank you for your time.


Asked on 9/03/11, 11:16 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
JAY Nixon nixon law offices

Although you should definitely consult with an experienced personal injury attorney right away, it is often difficult to win "single vehicle accident" cases. That is because the only driver in control of any accident vehicle was you, so that if there was any negligent vehicle operation which was a factor in the accident, it would have to be your own "contributory negligence" rather than negligence by any other driver from whom you could recover. While you could argue negligence on the part of the contractor who was doing the road improvements, it sounds as though the construction zone was clearly marked, putting you on notice that dangerous conditions typical of construction zones (such as uneven pavement) could be present. They would probably also argue that you were negligent in even attempting to go through such a zone on a motor cycle as opposed to a car, since motorcycles are inherently less stable than cars and more dangerous to operate, even under ideal road conditions. If you are serious about pursuing a claim, you should not delay in retaining an attorney and/or private investigator (ideally an accident reconstruction expert), since evidence of temporary conditions such as construction sites disappears quickly. It would also be important to get exact measurements of just how great the elevation change there was at the "lip" that you encountered, as well as pictures of all signage or warnings which may have been in place (or lacking) there. Finally, if the claim might involve any branch of the government, there is a very brief statute of limitations (120 days) for presentation of a notice of claim and notice of injury to that branch of government, which notices have highly technical requirements in order to be valid. My comments in this public web forum are intended only for public educational purposes and are not legal advice specifically for you. Instead, you should retain a lawyer in order to meet your legal needs since I will be taking no action on your case. You are welcome to contact my Racine, WI office at 262-633-3090 or email me at [email protected] for further information if you desire it.

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Answered on 9/09/11, 11:12 am


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