North Carolina Motorcycle Accident Lawyers

Our attorneys and support team

If you ride, you already know how some people see you. Plenty of drivers, and plenty of jurors, picture every motorcyclist as the one who blew past them weaving through traffic. When a rider gets hurt, that picture is often the first thing the other side reaches for.

North Carolina law makes that bias dangerous. If a jury decides you were even slightly at fault, you can recover nothing.

Harris Legal represents seriously injured riders, passengers, and families who have lost someone in a motorcycle crash, anywhere in North Carolina. We start building your case for trial from day one, because that's how you get a fair result for a rider.

Tell us what happened

We'll tell you honestly whether your case is worth pursuing

How motorcycle crashes happen

Most motorcycle crashes happen the same ways car wrecks do. The difference is that a rider has almost no protection, so the same mistake by a driver does far more damage.

The most common patterns we see:

Turns across a rider's path. A driver turning left, or changing lanes, doesn't see the motorcycle or misjudges its speed.
Pulling out in front of a rider at stop signs, driveways, and intersections.
Red light and stop sign violations.
Distracted drivers, including drivers on their phones who rear-end a rider.

Hazards that threaten motorcycle riders more than drivers

Some dangers barely affect a car but can be catastrophic on two wheels:

Debris in the road, especially cargo or parts that fell from another vehicle. These can be strong cases if we can identify the vehicle responsible. If we can't, your uninsured motorist coverage may apply.
Cables and wires across roads. Low-hanging lines, and unmarked cables used to close back roads and dirt roads, can be nearly invisible to a rider at speed.
Road defects like potholes. These claims are difficult. Roads are usually maintained by the state, and legal protections for the state make these cases hard to win. We'll tell you plainly if yours is one of them.

Whoever caused the crash, the legal question is the same. Did a driver or another party fail to act with reasonable care, and did that cause your injuries?

The biggest risk in a North Carolina motorcycle case

North Carolina follows contributory negligence. If a jury finds you were even slightly at fault, you can be barred from recovering anything.

In motorcycle cases, that rule collides with a bias most jurors already carry. Many people assume a rider was speeding, especially on a sport bike. The law doesn't say you have to disprove that assumption. In practice, you do.

The defense will look hard at:

How fast you were going
How aggressively you were riding
Following distance
Whether you were paying attention
Alcohol

How we answer the stereotype

We don't try to argue jurors out of their beliefs about motorcyclists. Those beliefs run too deep. Instead, we show why you aren't the stereotype.

That starts with evidence of how you were actually riding: video, scene evidence, and witnesses. It continues with who you are. A juror who sees you as a parent, a spouse, and a regular person who happens to ride on two wheels instead of four looks at the crash differently.

What if I wasn't wearing a helmet?

North Carolina requires riders to wear helmets. But under North Carolina law, not wearing one can't be treated as automatic negligence or contributory negligence in a civil case.

That doesn't make it irrelevant in practice. The defense may use it to paint you as careless, and jurors may weigh it whether or not they're supposed to. A case is stronger when the rider wore a helmet. Not wearing one doesn't end your case. In our largest two-wheeler case, our client wasn't wearing a helmet.

When the police report blames the rider

Officers carry the same assumptions about riders as everyone else, and sometimes that shows up in the crash report. A report isn't the final word.

If the officer simply missed facts, we show them the evidence. Most officers will acknowledge that the report didn't reflect the full picture. If the officer formed opinions against the rider, it's a harder problem, and we confront it directly with evidence of what really happened.

Who pays after a motorcycle crash

The first source is the at-fault driver's liability insurance, if the driver is known.

The problem is that motorcycle injuries are often far more severe than car crash injuries. North Carolina's minimum liability coverage is $50,000, and a serious motorcycle injury can exhaust that quickly. Many North Carolina drivers carry no insurance at all.

Your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage

When the at-fault driver has too little coverage, none, or can't be found, the next source is your own uninsured (UM) or underinsured (UIM) motorist coverage.

This coverage can stack with other policies in your household, not just your motorcycle policy. It can include policies on other vehicles owned by relatives who live with you, including your spouse. It doesn't include roommates or family members you don't live with.

If there's no UIM coverage and no other responsible party, options become very limited.

If you ride, check your UIM coverage today

Many riders carry far too little underinsured motorist coverage. We encourage every rider to carry as much as they can get. If it's available to you, $1 million in UIM coverage is worth serious consideration. It's the coverage that protects you from someone else's thin policy.

Medical liens: what you actually take home

Whoever paid for your medical care, whether a health plan, Medicare, or Medicaid, may have a right to be repaid from your recovery. Some plans have no repayment right at all. Others have very strong ones. It depends on the plan.

On serious cases with large liens, we bring in a partner firm experienced in negotiating lien reductions, so more of the recovery goes to you. We keep you informed about your liens throughout, so you can make an informed decision about any settlement offer.

What about my bike and gear?

We don't handle property damage claims. Insurers use a fairly standard method to value a motorcycle and gear, and they'll pay that amount. If we took a fee on it, you'd end up with less than you need to replace them. Most clients handle this part directly. If the insurer won't deal fairly with you, let us know.

Passengers

Passenger claims are usually stronger than rider claims because a passenger generally isn't at fault for the crash.

There are exceptions. If the passenger owns or co-owns the motorcycle, as spouses often do, the rider's negligence can be imputed to the passenger. The defense may also argue the two were on a "joint enterprise." And a passenger who climbs on knowing the rider is about to do something dangerous, like a wheelie, may have assumed that risk.

Injuries that make a motorcycle case serious

We represent riders and passengers with serious injuries, including:

Injuries requiring an ICU stay or emergency surgery
Traumatic amputation
Road rash covering a large area of the body or leaving permanent scars
Traumatic brain injuries
Fatal crashes

If you didn't need emergency care, your case is likely not one we can take, but call us anyway—we'll gladly refer you to someone who can.

What to do after a motorcycle crash

Get emergency medical care right away.
Save any video. If you ride with a GoPro or helmet camera, preserve the footage. It can be the most important evidence in your case.
Be careful what goes online. The riding community is close-knit, and fundraisers often start quickly. That's fine, but keep details of the crash out of posts. The other side reads them.
Call us early. Business surveillance video gets recorded over. The sooner we send preservation letters, the better the chance it survives.

How we work a motorcycle case

We prepare every case as though it will be tried, starting immediately:

Visiting the scene when needed
Sending evidence-preservation letters and public records requests early
Asking nearby businesses for surveillance footage before it's erased
Hiring reconstruction and medical experts as soon as the case calls for them, not at the last minute

A straightforward case with severe injuries and limited insurance can resolve in a couple of months. Cases with higher policy limits or more complications typically take 18 to 24 months.

Results

$2.25 million — moped rider struck by a tractor-trailer on a highway. Our client wasn't wearing a helmet, and the defense alleged he was at fault. Dashcam footage showed he was riding safely and exactly how the crash happened.

What it costs

Our fee is one-third of the recovery. It's the same whether your case resolves after our first letter or after a jury verdict. We never want the fee to influence our decision, or yours, about whether to take the next step.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have a case? It depends on the evidence, the injuries, and the available insurance. We can often tell you quickly if you don't, and we'll say so.

How long will it take? Anywhere from a couple of months to about two years, depending on injury severity, insurance limits, and how complicated the facts are.

How long do I have to file? Generally three years from the crash. For a wrongful death claim, generally two years.

How will I pay my bills while I'm out of work? This is one of the first things people worry about. Your claim can include medical bills and lost income, and we'll walk you through how liens and insurance affect what you receive.

Do you handle other kinds of injury cases? Yes. See our pages on car accidents, truck accidents, pedestrian and bicycle accidents, dog bites, medical malpractice, and wrongful death.