Louisville Motorcyclist dies in Accident with Vehicle in Downtown Louisville
On Sunday, March 5, 2023, motorcyclist Eric Knight died as a result of injuries suffered in an accident with a vehicle in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. The 37-year-old Knight was travelling westbound on Broadway when a vehicle traveling eastbound turned in front of him at 29th street. It certainly would appear that the driver of the vehicle was at fault in this accident unless Mr. Knight ran a red light.
Kentucky Motorcyclists Should purchase Kentucky No-Fault Insurance.
Kentucky law requires Kentucky no-fault insurance coverage (also called PIP coverage) on all automobiles, but not motorcycles. The lack of PIP coverage can cause the motorcycle accident victim financial hardship on a couple different levels. First, PIP coverage offers a partial lost wage benefit of $200/week and this can be valuable to someone unable to work due to their injuries. Of course, motorcycle accidents involve significant physical injuries and it is likely that the motorcycle accident victim will be off work due to their injuries. Secondly, the existence of PIP coverage extends the statute of limitations for their personal injury claims. If the motorcycle accident victim fails to settle their claim or file a lawsuit within one-year from the date of the accident, they will lose their claim entirely against the at fault party. If they had PIP coverage, they would have at least 2 years to resolve their claim or file a lawsuit.
When buying motorcycle insurance make sure that you purchase significant amounts of uninsured motorist, underinsured motorist and PIP coverages. One of the coverages that you may be able to reduce is liability coverage if you do not plan on having passengers on your motorcycle. A motorcycle does not often cause significant damages or injuries to others and, therefore, significant liability limits may not be needed. Of course, if you take passengers on your motorcycle, then significant liability limits would be necessary because motorcycle passengers can experience significant injuries or death.
I am not positive why people, who can afford significant coverages on their automobile, fail to purchase similar coverages on their motorcycle. I suppose the main reason is to save money. The problem with this thought is that many of the coverages they are not buying are cheap. One such coverage is underinsured motorist coverage. This coverage is one of the most needed and used in auto accident claims because at fault drivers tend to have minimum limits of liability coverage. Underinsured motorist insurance allows you to buy protection against being injured by drivers who do not have enough insurance to satisfy your claim. Another reason people do not buy enough insurance on their motorcycle is because insurance agents fail to properly educate them on the coverages.
The estate of the victim in the above-described Louisville motorcycle accident will need significant amounts of underinsured motorist coverage if they hope to recover anything close to the full value of their claim. The wrongful death claim of the 37-year-old motorcyclist will easily exceed one million dollars based upon the lost income claim alone and it is unlikely that the motorist causing this accident has anything close to that in liability coverage. One of the stark realities of any motorcycle accident, truck accident or car accident is that the recovery will be limited by the amount of insurance available to the victim.
Only on rare occasions is it fruitful to pursue a claim against someone’s personal assets in addition to their insurance coverage. The insurance company representing the at fault driver has an obligation to settle claims made against their insured within the policy limits. If you have a $100,000.00 claim and the at fault party only has the Kentucky minimum liability insurance of $25,000.00, they will only pay the $25,000.00 if you release their client. If you have underinsured motorist coverage you can collect more of your claim from your own insurance company.
If you do not have underinsured motorist coverage and you want to try and collect your entire claim of $100,000.00, then you will have to file a lawsuit and obtain a judgment for that amount. The insurance company will be compelled to pay the $25,000.00, but you are unlikely to collect the remaining $75,000.000 because the at fault party can file for bankruptcy protection. At the end of the day, you will have wasted a lot of time and money and not collected anything other than the insurance money that was available to you much earlier.
CONTACT LOUISVILLE MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT LAWYER
If you are involved in a motorcycle accident, you will require the services of an experienced Louisville motorcycle accident attorney to investigate the cause of the accident and maximize all benefits available to the victims and their families. Matthew Troutman, a Louisville motorcycle accident lawyer, of the Troutman Law Office has been handling motorcycle accident claims and auto accident claims, almost exclusively, since 1986 and has the experience and talent to obtain the best result for the victim in the above accident.
If you need legal assistance due to a motorcycle accident, contact Louisville motorcycle accident attorney Matthew Troutman directly at 502-648-9507 or 859-696-0001 and he will meet with you in the hospital, your home or wherever is convenient for you. He will give you direct access through his cell phone and guide you through the difficult process necessary to obtain the best result possible for you in your motorcycle accident claim. To learn more about Louisville motorcycle accident attorney Matthew Troutman and the Troutman Law Office, click here.