Motorcycle Accident Attorney for Riders Hurt in Wake County

I represent riders and passengers hurt in motorcycle crashes in Raleigh and across Wake County. A motorcycle claim runs on the same North Carolina negligence law as a car claim. The difference is in how adjusters look at the person who was on the bike.

The first meeting with a Wake County client is by phone or video. My only office is at 110 W. Elm Street in Graham. There is no Raleigh or Wake County office.

How many motorcycle crashes happen in Wake County?

NCDOT's 2024 crash profile for Wake County lists 303 motorcycle crashes that year. The profile records 13 fatal injuries and 256 non-fatal injuries in those crashes.

The same profile counts 266 motorcycle crashes in the county in 2020. Every year since has been higher, and 2024 is the highest of the five years the profile reports.

Only 68 of the 303 motorcycle crashes in 2024 were property damage only. Across all Wake County crashes that year the share ran the other way, with 25,379 of 33,284 crashes involving no injury. A rider has very little between the body and the road.

What does North Carolina's helmet law require?

G.S. 20-140.4(a)(2) bars operating a motorcycle or moped on a highway or public vehicular area unless the operator and all passengers wear safety helmets with the retention strap secured. Each helmet has to comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 218. The statute sets no age exception.

The one exemption covers an autocycle with completely enclosed seating or a roll bar or roll cage. A conventional motorcycle does not qualify.

Subsection (b) is the part that matters in an injury claim. It says a violation of the helmet law is not negligence per se or contributory negligence per se in any civil action.

That language keeps an insurer from treating a bare head as automatic fault for the wreck. An insurer can still raise the helmet when it discusses head and neck injuries, and the answer is the medical records and the crash facts.

How does contributory negligence affect a rider's claim?

North Carolina's contributory negligence rule applies to a rider the same way it applies to a driver. If the rider shares any fault the claim is barred. The party asserting the defense has to prove it under G.S. 1-139, and I explain the doctrine further on the page about contributory negligence.

A rider who talks to the other driver's insurer early hands over material for that defense. We take those calls for the client. We also get the crash report and any video before the questions start.

Gaps in treatment are a problem with the case that adjusters notice quickly. You cannot have delays and gaps in medical treatment. It severely damages the value of your case.

How do we build a motorcycle case?

Most of the work is about what the other driver could see. We look at the sight lines at the intersection or driveway where the crash happened. The damage pattern on the bike and the car usually shows the angle of impact better than either driver's memory.

We photograph the scene at the Wake County location and the gear the rider wore. Witness accounts go down in writing while they are fresh. A rider with a head injury sometimes cannot recall the seconds before impact. The physical evidence answers what memory cannot.

Last clear chance matters more on motorcycle cases than many riders know. The doctrine can defeat contributory negligence when the rider was in a position of helpless peril and the driver discovered it or ought to have discovered it. The driver also had to have the time and ability to avoid the crash and fail to do it.

What coverage applies after a motorcycle crash?

The at-fault driver's liability policy comes first. North Carolina's minimum liability limits under G.S. 20-279.21(b)(2) are $50,000 for bodily injury to one person and $100,000 for two or more people in one accident.

Serious motorcycle injuries can outrun those minimums. Underinsured motorist coverage is the next layer. It applies once the at-fault driver's liability coverage has been paid out by judgment or settlement.

We read the motorcycle policy and any auto policies in the client's household along with the at-fault driver's policy. We also negotiate the liens that health insurers and hospitals assert against the claim. I see a lot of attorneys that do not look for multiple insurance policies, so we read every policy before anyone discusses a number.

What helps a rider's claim in the first weeks?

Medical care comes first and the appointments that follow it matter as much. We ask riders to keep the helmet and the riding gear as they are. We also ask that the motorcycle stay unrepaired until it has been photographed.

The crash report comes from the agency that worked the wreck. That is the town police department inside a Wake County town and the Highway Patrol or sheriff's office outside one. We request it along with any 911 audio and nearby video.

We also keep a running record of missed work and of the riding and other activities the injury has taken away. Those details are easier to prove when they are written down as they happen.

The filing period for an injury claim is covered on the page about deadlines for injury claims in North Carolina. Riders hurt in a crash with a car can also read about car accident claims in Wake County, because the insurance rules overlap.