Get out of the lane if you can do it without making the injury worse. Call 911. Accept the ambulance if anything feels wrong — adrenaline hides fractures and internal bleeding, and a “later” emergency visit is harder to explain.
On the scene
Ask for the other driver’s name, insurer, and plate. Ask witnesses to stay. Photograph the bikes and cars where they stopped, the lane markings, the light, and your gear, before anyone “clears the road.” A short list is on what to photograph.
What not to do
Do not apologize in a way that sounds like fault. Do not post the crash. Do not give the other insurer a recorded statement that night. California law gives you time. Use it. The ordinary injury deadline is two years under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. A claim against a city, county, or the state is often six months under Government Code section 911.2. Those are not the same clock.
The same day
Get examined. Tell the clinician you were on a motorcycle. Keep the helmet and the jacket, even if they look ruined. Then call counsel if a car was involved, if you were hurt, or if the other driver was uninsured.
Written for riders in California as general information from the Bike911 practice of A.G. Assanti & Associates, P.C. It is not advice about your facts, and it is not a substitute for counsel. Deadlines can be shorter than you think.
Related
- Should I talk to the insurance company before a lawyer?
- What happens if I was partially at fault?
- How does a lawyer decide what a case is worth?
- What evidence disappears quickly after an accident?
- What should I photograph after a crash?
- Can I still claim if I did not go to the hospital?
- When does an insurance company become unreasonable?
- What is the difference between settling and going to trial?
- What actually happens after a case goes to trial?
- Is lane splitting legal, and does it sink a claim?
- Does California helmet law affect a claim?