Motorcyclist injury representation across the Palisades and northern Bergen County. We push back against the built-in insurance bias against riders and reconstruct the crash properly.
Englewood Personal Injury Lawyers represents motorcyclists injured in collisions on Route 9W, the Palisades Interstate Parkway, Route 46 and the winding backroads through Alpine and Tenafly. Motorcycle cases carry a built-in headwind at the insurance adjuster’s desk that a car accident case does not, and untangling that bias is much of the work.
Serving Englewood, Fort Lee, Tenafly, Cresskill, Alpine, Demarest and the surrounding Palisades communities.
A motorcyclist involved in the same collision as a car occupant almost always ends up with worse injuries: fractures, road rash requiring debridement or grafting, orthopaedic hardware, closed-head injury, and in the worst cases, spinal cord damage. Recovery timelines run in months and years rather than weeks, and returning to full pre-injury function is not always realistic.
The most common liability scenarios we see: a left-turning driver who did not see the motorcycle across an intersection, a lane-change collision at highway speed, and a rear-end impact where a car following too closely misjudged the motorcycle’s stopping distance. Each has its own evidentiary approach; each is winnable when the reconstruction is done properly and defended aggressively when it is not.
New Jersey motorcyclists are not required by policy to carry PIP the way auto occupants are, which changes the medical-bill picture from day one. Health insurance often becomes the primary payer, with medical liens later negotiated out of the recovery. This is worth understanding before treatment begins so a bill dispute does not compound the injury.
Comparative fault under NJSA 2A:15-5.1 applies. New Jersey follows a modified 51% rule — an injured motorcyclist is barred from recovery only if found more than 50% at fault. Insurers routinely try to pin partial fault on the rider (speed, following distance, visibility, helmet use where applicable) to reduce the payout even when the other driver’s negligence is obvious. Rebutting those arguments is where an experienced motorcycle attorney earns the fee.
Helmet use is legally required in New Jersey; failure to wear one can affect head-injury damages under a mitigation argument, but does not by itself defeat a claim. UM/UIM coverage on the motorcycle’s own policy is often decisive when the at-fault driver’s limits are inadequate to the severity of the injury.
The statute of limitations is two years. Wrongful death claims by the estate of a rider killed in the collision run two years from the date of death.
Keep the helmet, gear, and the motorcycle itself — do not authorise disposal, salvage sale or repair until an accident reconstructionist has documented the impact damage. Get imaging even for injuries that feel like soft tissue only; motorcyclist rib and vertebral fractures can look modest in the ER and turn out to be significant. Do not post anything about the crash on social media, and do not talk to the other driver’s insurance company. Bring the police report, hospital records and any photographs you have to a free consultation before responding to any settlement approach.
Motorcycle cases have their own dynamics — the standard playbook does not fit them. You can request a free consultation online and an attorney will contact you the same business day. Consultations are free, and we come to you if travel is difficult after the injury.
Related practice areas: Auto and rideshare collisions · Catastrophic injury representation
Motorcycle cases have their own dynamics and the standard playbook does not fit them. Request a free consultation and an attorney will contact you the same business day.