Phoenix Motorcycle Accident Lawyers
We stand up for riders after a Phoenix crash.
A driver did not see you, and now you are the one paying for it. We know how these cases work, and we know how to push back.
No fee unless we win
The blame starts before you say a word.
Riders get judged the second the report is written. Insurance adjusters lean on old ideas about people on bikes, and they hope you will accept less because of it. Here is the truth behind the myths, and how we use it for you.
What Arizona actually requires.
The helmet rule depends on age. Pick the rider and see the law, plus how an insurer might try to use it against you.
Adults are not required to wear a helmet under A.R.S. § 28-964.
If you are 18 or older, riding without a helmet is legal in Arizona. The law does still require eye protection, such as glasses, goggles, or a face shield, unless your bike has a windshield.
Here is the part that matters after a crash. An insurer may still argue that not wearing a helmet made a head injury worse, and use that to chip away at your damages. That is an argument, not a rule, and we push back hard on it. Skipping a helmet did not cause the driver to hit you.
Riders under 18 must wear a helmet under A.R.S. § 28-964.
For any operator or passenger under 18, a helmet is required at all times and must be worn properly. Eye protection is also required unless the motorcycle has a windshield.
Even when a young rider was not wearing a helmet, that does not hand the at-fault driver a free pass. We look at what actually caused the crash and the injuries, and we make the driver answer for their choices.
Sharing some blame does not end your case.
Two rules shape almost every rider claim in this state. Understanding them early is how you keep control of what happens next.
Pure comparative fault
Arizona is a pure comparative fault state. If you are found partly at fault, your recovery is reduced by your share, but it is not taken away. Even a rider who is assigned a large share of fault can still recover something.
This matters because insurers love to pin blame on the rider. That tactic does not shut the door here. We work to keep your share of fault low and your recovery as full as the facts allow.
Two years to act
Most injury claims in Arizona must be filed within two years of the crash. If you wait past that deadline, you can lose the right to recover at all, no matter how strong the case was.
If a government driver or vehicle was involved, a separate notice must be filed much sooner, within 180 days under A.R.S. § 12-821.01. The safest move is to talk with us early so no deadline slips by.
The same few mistakes, over and over.
Explore the intersection. These are the driver errors we see most often in motorcycle cases across Maricopa County.
Left turn and failure to yield
A driver turns left across your lane and cuts you off, or pulls out from a stop sign or driveway without yielding. This is the classic rider crash, and the fault sits squarely with the driver who did not wait.
Look but fail to see
The driver looks in your direction and still does not register the motorcycle. It is a known danger for riders, and it does not excuse the driver from watching the road.
Unsafe lane change into a blind spot
A driver drifts or merges into your lane without checking, often putting a bike right in the blind spot. A quick mirror check would have prevented it.
Rear-end while you are stopped
You are stopped at a light or in traffic and a distracted driver plows into the back of the bike. A rider has almost nothing to shield the impact, so the injuries can be severe.
Dooring and road hazards
A parked driver swings a door into your path, or a poorly maintained road throws debris, gravel, or a bad pothole at you. Both can knock a rider down in an instant.
A bike gives you no shell to hide behind.
When a car and a motorcycle collide, the rider absorbs it. The injuries tend to be worse and take longer to heal, and they deserve to be valued that way.
Road rash is not a scrape. When your body slides across pavement, the road can grind through skin and down into muscle. Serious road rash may need cleaning, skin grafts, and weeks of painful wound care, and it can leave permanent scars and nerve damage. We treat it as the real, lasting injury it is, not a footnote.
We also see traumatic brain injuries, even in riders who wore a helmet. A concussion or worse can change memory, focus, and mood long after the visible wounds close.
Spinal injuries are common too, from herniated discs to damage that affects movement or sensation. So are broken bones, often in the wrists, arms, legs, and ribs, since a rider instinctively reaches out during a fall.
These injuries stack up in medical bills, missed work, and daily pain. Building a claim that reflects all of it, now and down the road, is exactly what we do.
Everything the crash took, on and off the bike.
A fair claim covers more than the hospital bill. We add up the full picture so the number reflects your real life.
Depending on your case, recovery can include your medical bills, from the ambulance and emergency care through surgery, rehab, and future treatment. It can include lost income while you are out of work, and lost earning power if your injuries keep you from doing your job the way you used to.
It also covers the human side. Pain, the long grind of recovery, scarring from road rash, and the loss of things you enjoyed before the crash all have real value. So does your property. A motorcycle is expensive, and so is the gear, the helmet, the jacket, and the boots that were destroyed protecting you.
Now the part riders miss most. Many at-fault drivers carry the bare minimum of insurance, and that is often nowhere near enough for serious rider injuries. This is where uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, often called UM and UIM, becomes so important. It is coverage on your own auto policy that can step in when the other driver has too little or none at all.
People are often surprised they can use their own policy this way, and insurers do not always volunteer it. We find every layer of coverage that could apply, including UM and UIM, so you are not left short because of someone else’s cheap policy.
We ride for the rider.
The story the insurer tells is not the only one.
Desert Legal Group in Phoenix, Arizona
Arizona keeps riders on the road nearly year round, and drivers who fail to look for motorcycles cause a large share of the crashes.
We rebuild what actually happened and make the case on facts, not the stereotype about bikers.
You want a team that gets what happened.
We know how motorcycle cases are fought, and we know the tricks used to blame the rider. Here is what you get with us.
We answer the rider blame
We expect the other side to point at you first. We come ready to shut that down with facts, not feelings, so your side of the story leads.
We chase every policy
We dig for all the insurance that could apply, including your own UM and UIM coverage, so a low-limit driver does not decide what your case is worth.
We build it to be tried
We gather the evidence early, from the scene to vehicle data, and prepare each case as if it will go to court. That preparation is what moves insurers.
No fee unless we win
You pay nothing up front. Our fee comes only if we recover for you, so getting strong help does not depend on what is in your bank account.
Yes, likely so. Arizona does not require adult riders to wear a helmet under A.R.S. § 28-964. An insurer may still argue that not wearing one made a head injury worse, but that is an argument we know how to fight. Your helmet choice did not cause the driver to hit you.
Arizona limits what riders can do between lanes, and the rules have changed in recent years. Because it is easy to get wrong, do not assume anything about how it affects your case. Tell us what happened and let us sort out how the law applies to your crash.
No. Arizona uses pure comparative fault under A.R.S. § 12-2505. If you share some blame, your recovery is reduced by your share, but you can still recover. We work to keep your share of fault as low as the facts allow.
This is common, and it is where your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage can help. UM and UIM coverage on your policy can step in when the at-fault driver has too little or none. We find every layer of coverage that could apply to your claim.
Nothing up front. We work on a contingency fee, which means no fee unless we win. Our fee comes out of the recovery only if we get one for you. The first consultation is free.
Most Arizona injury claims must be filed within two years of the crash under A.R.S. § 12-542. If a government driver or vehicle was involved, a notice must be filed within 180 days under A.R.S. § 12-821.01. Call early so no deadline is missed.
It depends on your injuries, your treatment, your lost income, and the insurance available. No honest lawyer can promise a number at the start. What we can do is build the full picture of your losses and pursue every dollar the facts support.
It can be very serious. Deep road rash may need skin grafts and weeks of wound care, and it can leave lasting scars and nerve damage. We treat it as a real injury with real value, not something to brush aside.
Talk with a Phoenix motorcycle accident lawyer today.
Tell us what happened. The consultation is free, and there is no fee unless we win.
