Logo

Call for a Free Consultation : 856-667-4666 / 856-600-HURT

How To File a Motorcycle Accident Claim in NJ

November 25, 2025 by

How To File a Motorcycle Accident Claim in NJA motorcycle crash can leave you facing painful injuries, medical bills, and questions about who will pay for your losses. Unlike car accident claims, New Jersey motorcycle accident claims follow different rules.

Motorcycle accidents are not covered under the state’s no-fault (PIP) system, meaning you must take specific legal steps to recover compensation. Understanding how to file a claim—and doing it correctly—can make the difference between a fair recovery and financial hardship.

Steps for Filing a Motorcycle Accident Claim in NJ

Step 1: Report the Crash and Gather Essential Evidence

Start by reporting the crash immediately. Under N.J.S.A. 39:4-130, any accident involving injury, death, or more than $500 in property damage must be reported to law enforcement. Always request a police report, which provides key facts such as the date, time, driver identities, and officer observations.

Next, collect and preserve evidence. Take clear photos of the crash scene, damage to your motorcycle, and visible injuries. Get witness names and contact information. Keep your helmet, torn clothing, or damaged riding gear.

Step 2: Notify Your Insurance Company

After the crash, notify your insurance company as soon as possible. Even though another driver may be at fault, your insurer needs documentation for potential uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM).

Unlike car drivers, motorcyclists in New Jersey are excluded from the no-fault Personal Injury Protection (PIP) system, which normally covers medical bills regardless of fault. This means injured riders must file a third-party claim against the at-fault driver’s insurance—or use their own UM/UIM coverage if the driver is uninsured or underinsured.

Avoid giving recorded statements or signing documents before consulting an attorney. Insurance adjusters often look for ways to limit or deny payouts.

Step 3: File a Third-Party Claim Against the At-Fault Driver

A third-party claim is a demand for compensation filed with the at-fault driver’s insurance company. Your claim should include:

  • The police report
  • Medical records and bills
  • Photos of the crash and injuries
  • Witness statements
  • Proof of lost wages or employment impact

In this step, the insurer investigates liability—the legal responsibility for causing the crash. Liability often depends on showing that the other driver acted negligently.

Step 4: Negotiate, or File a Lawsuit if the Claim Is Denied

Once your claim is submitted, the insurer may respond with a settlement offer. However, initial offers are often too low to cover full medical and long-term losses. A motorcycle accident attorney negotiates on your behalf to secure fair compensation.

If the insurer denies your claim or refuses to settle fairly, your lawyer can file a personal injury lawsuit in New Jersey Superior Court.

A critical deadline applies here: under N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2, you generally have two years from the accident date to file a lawsuit. This is known as the statute of limitations—the legal time limit for taking action. Missing this deadline means losing your right to sue, regardless of the claim’s merits.

Step 5: Work With an Experienced Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

An experienced motorcycle accident lawyer in NJ handles every step of the process—investigating the crash, calculating damages, dealing with insurers, and representing you in court if needed.

Motorcycle claims often face bias; insurers may wrongly assume the rider was speeding or reckless. A skilled attorney presents objective evidence, such as skid analysis or witness testimony, to counter these assumptions.

Your lawyer also ensures that your claim covers both economic damages (medical bills, repairs, lost income) and non-economic damages (pain, suffering, and reduced quality of life).

Read Also: Liability for No-Contact Motorcycle Accidents

Contact the Law Offices of David J. Karbasian, PC

If you’ve been injured in a motorcycle accident, you deserve answers, support, and strong legal representation. At the Law Offices of David J. Karbasian, PC, we offer free consultations and never charge a legal fee unless we recover compensation for you. We’re available evenings and weekends, and we can meet you at home or in the hospital if needed.

Call 856-600-HURT / 856-667-4666 or contact us online to discuss your case. We’ll handle the legal process while you focus on recovery.

Filed Under: Motorcycle Accidents Tagged With:

Understanding Liability in Motorcycle Accidents: Who’s at Fault?

August 4, 2025 by

Understanding Liability in Motorcycle Accidents: Who’s at Fault?Motorcycle crashes often result in serious, life-altering injuries and overwhelming medical bills. For injured motorcyclists, determining who is at fault is critical to successfully pursuing compensation for their losses. But in New Jersey, where liability laws can be complex, fault isn’t always easy to prove.

At the Law Offices of David J. Karbasian, PC, we help riders navigate this legal process and fight back against insurance companies trying to shift the blame.

Common Causes of Motorcycle Accidents

Motorcyclists are vulnerable on New Jersey roads due to their smaller size and limited protection. Many crashes occur because of:

  • Drivers failing to yield when turning left
  • Unsafe lane changes by motorists
  • Speeding and aggressive driving
  • Distracted or impaired driving
  • Poorly maintained roads or weather conditions

How New Jersey Determines Fault

Fault in a motorcycle crash usually stems from negligence, which is when one of the parties to an accident fails to take reasonable steps to prevent harm. When another person’s negligence leads to a crash, that person can be held liable for any injuries caused.

New Jersey follows the legal principle of modified comparative negligence. Under this approach:

  • Your financial recovery may be adjusted according to your level of responsibility for causing the accident.
  • You may not receive any compensation if your degree of fault is more than 50%.

For example, if you’re deemed 20% at fault, any jury award would be reduced by that same percentage. This rule makes it vital to build a strong, evidence-backed case that minimizes your share of fault.

Who May Be Liable in a Motorcycle Crash?

More than one party may be responsible for a motorcycle accident. Potentially liable parties include:

  • Negligent drivers who caused the crash
  • Government agencies responsible for road maintenance
  • Motorcycle or vehicle manufacturers in cases involving mechanical failure
  • Commercial vehicle drivers and their employers
  • In rare cases, the motorcyclist may share responsibility

Evidence That Helps Prove Fault

To support your case, certain types of evidence are particularly helpful:

  • Police reports documenting the accident scene and officer observations
  • Photos and videos showing vehicle damage, road conditions, and injuries
  • Eyewitness statements that support your account of the accident
  • Medical records that verify the extent of your injuries and when they occurred
  • Expert witness testimony, such as accident reconstruction reports

How Karbasian Law Can Help

At the Law Offices of David J. Karbasian, PC, we understand the challenges injured riders face. We take immediate action to:

  • Investigate the cause of your accident
  • Collect vital evidence
  • Communicate directly with insurance companies to protect you from lowball offers or unfair allegations of blame
  • Pursue full and fair compensation for your losses, including lost income or wages, unreimbursed medical costs, physical and emotional pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of companionship or consortium, and loss or damage to personal property
  • Litigate aggressively when insurers fail to offer fair compensation

Read Also: Tips for Having a Safe Summer on Your Motorcycle

Contact the Law Offices of David J. Karbasian, PC

If you’ve been injured in a motorcycle accident, don’t wait to protect your rights. Send us an email today, or call us at 856-600-HURT to schedule an appointment to discuss your motorcycle injury claim. Evening and weekend consultations are available upon request. We can also meet with you at your home or the hospital if necessary.

We handle all motorcycle accident cases—and other personal injury claims—on a contingent fee basis. That means you won’t pay any legal fees unless we recover financial compensation for the losses you incurred.

Filed Under: Motorcycle Accidents Tagged With:

Motorcycle Accidents in New Jersey

May 24, 2023 by

Motorcycle Accidents in New JerseyAfter a motorcycle accident in New Jersey, where you have been cited for lane splitting, you will only be able to recover compensation for your losses if you can show that another motorist was primarily responsible for causing the accident. Call attorney David Karbasian at 856-667-4666 / 856-600-HURT.

Filed Under: Motorcycle Accidents Tagged With:

No-Contact Motorcycle Accidents in New Jersey

January 23, 2021 by

Can You Pursue Compensation If There Was No Collision?

No-Contact Motorcycle Accidents in New JerseyWhile a motorcycle brings a great feeling of freedom on the road—one of its major appeals—it’s also easier to have a no-contact accident on a motorcycle, often with serious consequences. These types of crashes stem from a variety of factors:

  • another motorist cuts into your lane, forcing you down or off the road;
  • another motorist suddenly brushes up next to you or fails to obey a traffic sign or signal, forcing evasive action that causes you to lose control;
  • water, loose gravel, uneven lanes or potholes cause you to skid or lose traction; or
  • your bike breaks down, leading to a fall.

In these situations, you may suffer serious and catastrophic injury but without impacting or colliding with another vehicle. Can you seek compensation from another party, even though no one hit you? Fortunately, the answer is yes.

Recovering for Your Losses Based on a Claim of Negligence

In a motorcycle-accident-injury claim, as with most other personal injury claims, your right to recover for your losses is almost always based on a legal theory of negligence. To prove negligence in court, you must demonstrate that:

  • the defendant (the accused wrongdoer) failed to act as a reasonable person would;
  • the failure to act reasonably caused an accident; and
  • you suffered actual losses because of the accident.

The law does not identify specific acts considered unreasonable. Instead, that determination is left for the jury to decide based on the specific facts of the case.

To establish cause, you must show two things:

  • that the accident would not have occurred without the defendant’s wrongful conduct; and
  • that the accident and injuries suffered were “reasonably foreseeable” consequences of defendant’s failure to act reasonably.

Under the law, you may seek damages for injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident, even though there was no contact or impact. The jury will carefully consider defendant’s actions, determining whether they were reasonable and whether they caused you to lose control or otherwise crash.

Contact the Law Offices of David J. Karbasian, PC

Send us an e-mail today or call us at 856-667-4666 / 856-600-HURT to schedule an appointment. We are currently communicating with clients by phone, text message or videoconference. Evening and weekend consultations are available upon request.

Filed Under: Motorcycle Accidents Tagged With:

The Importance of Wearing a Motorcycle Helmet

October 27, 2020 by

Statistics Show the Need for and Positive Impact of Wearing a Helmet

Importance-of-Wearing-a-Motorcycle-HelmetAccording to statistics reported by the state of New Jersey, more than half of all motorcycle accidents occur in intersections, with about two of every three caused when other motor vehicle operators fail to see a biker. Excessive speed is a factor in the majority of motorcycle accidents, and lack of experience accounts for one in every five fatal motorcycle accidents.

Safety advocates have long encouraged bikers to wear an approved helmet, urging that such use has can minimize injuries in collisions. New Jersey requires all bikers to wear a securely fitting helmet that complies with federal Department of Transportation (DOT) guidelines, including a neck or chin strap, as well as reflectors on both sides.

A number of other statistics support the use of motorcycle helmets:

  • Contrary to popular perception, a helmet won’t impede your view of potentially dangerous situations. In fact, in a study of nearly a thousand bikers, 40% of whom wore helmets, not a single person reported a helmet causing obstruction of surrounding dangers.
  • A motorcycle crash can be fatal, even at relatively slow speeds. According to the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, most motorcycle accidents occur when bikers are traveling less than 30 miles per hour. At these slower speeds, helmets can cut both the frequency and severity of head injuries in half.
  • Regardless of speed, bikers without helmets are three times as likely to suffer fatal head injuries as those wearing DOT-approved helmets

Contact the Law Offices of David J. Karbasian, PC

Send us an e-mail today or call us at 856-667-4666 / 856-600-HURT to schedule an appointment. We are currently communicating with clients by phone, text message, and videoconference. Evening and weekend consultations are available upon request.

Filed Under: Motorcycle Accidents Tagged With:

Motorcycle Accidents and Protective Clothing

August 21, 2020 by

Can You Recover Damages If You Weren’t Wearing Protective Clothing?

Motorcycle Accidents Involving Roadway HazardsOne common recommendation to minimize the risk of serious injury on a motorcycle is to wear protecting clothing—helmet, gloves, boots, pants, and a durable long-sleeved shirt or jacket. Many affordable options are available—you don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on leathers. But say it’s summer, and you’re only going around the corner to the store. Do you really need to wear all your protective gear?

Unfortunately, accidents can happen at any time. Statistics consistently show that the largest number of motor vehicle accidents happen within a mile from home. So what happens if you get on your bike without safety gear and are injured in an accident caused by someone else’s carelessness? Can that person avoid liability for your injuries on the grounds that you wouldn’t have been injured if you had been wearing appropriate safety gear? Well, maybe.

Here’s how it works. In a personal injury claim, recovery is typically based on the legal theory of negligence, which requires you to show the following:

  • that the defendant failed to act as a reasonable person would;
  • that the failure to act reasonably caused an accident; and
  • that you suffered actual losses as a result.

The defendant can argue that you also failed to act as a reasonable person would, and are therefore somewhat responsible for your injuries, because you wouldn’t have suffered road rash to your hands and arms if you’d been wearing gloves or a long-sleeved jacket. New Jersey, like most states, applies the legal concept of comparative negligence, which requires the jury to determine the degree to which you were responsible for your injuries. Under the New Jersey rule, if you were more than 50% responsible for your own injuries, you cannot recover anything. Accordingly, if the jury determines that your failure to wear protective clothing was the primary cause of your injuries, it may be difficult to recover for your losses.

Contact the Law Offices of David J. Karbasian, PC

Send us an e-mail today or call us at 856-667-4666 or 877-HOGLAW1 / 856-600-HURT to schedule an appointment. We are currently communicating with clients by phone, text message, or online videoconference. Evening and weekend consultations are available upon request.

Filed Under: Motorcycle Accidents Tagged With:

New Jersey Motorcycle Accidents Involving Drunk Drivers

August 3, 2020 by

Your Right to Recover Compensation

Motorcycle Accidents Involving Roadway HazardsWhen you’re injured in a motorcycle accident caused by a drunk driver in New Jersey, you can always file a personal injury claim against the impaired driver. Intoxication generally does not excuse a person from liability for negligence. It’s important to understand, though, that you also may be able to pursue damages from other parties under New Jersey’s dram shop law or under a theory of social host liability.

New Jersey’s Dram Shop Law

Dram shop laws establish whether an employee or establishment are liable for serving alcohol to a patron who causes an accident. In New Jersey, a person injured by a drunk driver may seek compensation from the bar, restaurant, or other establishment that served or sold alcohol to the driver, but one of two criteria must be proven:

  • The person who was served (and subsequently caused the injuries) was visibly intoxicated when sold or served alcohol; or
  • The person served was under the age of 21 at the time, and the server knew or had reason to know that the person being served was a minor.

Social Host Liability

New Jersey’s social host liability law applies the concept of dram shop liability to persons serving alcohol in their homes or at private parties or events. Under the law, a social host may be responsible even if the guest served himself/herself, and even if the guest brought their own alcohol to the event. New Jersey law allows you to sue a social host if:

  • The person causing the accident was visibly impaired, and the host knew or should have known
  • The alcohol was consumed under circumstances “manifesting reckless disregard for the consequences;”
  • Those circumstances involved an “unreasonable risk” of harm to either people or property; and.
  • The drunk person caused injury to other persons or property.

Contact the Law Offices of David J. Karbasian, PC

Send us an e-mail today or call us at 856-667-4666 / 856-600-HURT to schedule an appointment. We are currently communicating with clients by phone, text message, or online videoconference. Evening and weekend consultations are available upon request.

Filed Under: DUI, Motorcycle Accidents Tagged With:

Motorcycle Accidents Involving Roadway Hazards

July 3, 2020 by

Common Types of Roadway Hazards | Recovering Compensation for Your Injuries

Motorcycle Accidents Involving Roadway Hazards Though the vast majority of motorcycle accidents are collisions with other vehicles, a significant number of crashes are single-vehicle accidents. One of the most frequent causes is some type of roadway hazard that causes a biker to lose control and crash.

The Most Common Types of Roadway Hazards for Motorcyclists

  • Potholes, rough roads, or uneven surfaces (such as edge breaks between lanes), which can cause a sudden shift in balance;
  • Sand, gravel, water, oil, or other slippery substances on the road, causing loss of control in a turn or difficulty stopping;
  • Roadway debris, including branches, construction cones, rebar, trash, tools, or tire treads;
  • Trees, shrubs, signs, or other objects that limit or obscure your view of vehicles coming from side roads;
  • Stalled vehicles with no hazard lights on; and
  • Dead animals on the road.

Recovering Compensation for a Motorcycle Accident Caused by a Roadway Hazard

In the aftermath of a motorcycle accident, one of the first things you should do is retain an experienced attorney to represent you. At my office, I will immediately start investigating how the accident happened and who caused it. I have been representing injured clients for 28 years and riding motorcycles for over 45 years. I know how roadway hazards are dangerous to motorcyclists. Any legal action we take is based on negligence. To succeed with a claim, we will need to show that:

  • The defendant (the person or company you sue) failed to meet the standard of care expected (for example, their truck recently spilled gravel on the road, and they failed to put up warning signs to alert those on the roadway, including motorcycle riders);
  • That failure to meet the standard of care caused your accident; and
  • As a result of your accident, you suffered actual losses and injuries

Contact the Law Offices of David J. Karbasian, PC

Send us an e-mail today or call us at 856-667-4666 or 877-Hoglaw1 / 856-600-HURT to schedule an appointment. We are open with safety precautions and can also communicate with clients by phone, text message, and videoconference. Evening and weekend consultations are available upon request.

Filed Under: Motorcycle Accidents Tagged With:

The Impact of Not Wearing a Helmet on a Motorcycle Injury Claim

June 8, 2020 by

Can You Still Sue for Injuries Suffered as a Result of Someone Else’s Negligence?

The Impact of Not Wearing a Helmet on a Motorcycle Injury ClaimNew Jersey is one of 19 states that currently require anyone on a moving motorcycle to wear a helmet. Motorcycle operators and passengers may be ticketed for failure to comply with the law. But what are the consequences with respect to recovering for personal injury if you’ve been hurt in a motorcycle accident, but weren’t wearing a helmet? Will that failure prevent you from recovering anything?

New Jersey’s Modified Comparative Negligence Statute

Like all other states, New Jersey has replaced the old concept of contributory negligence (which would prevent a person from recovering anything in a personal injury claim if he or she contributed in any way to causing the injuries) with the principle of comparative negligence. Under New Jersey’s “modified comparative negligence” law, the fact that you were not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident may or may not prevent you from recovering for your losses. Here’s how it works.

Under comparative negligence law, a jury first determines the entire amount of your losses. The jury will then seek to establish the extent to which you were responsible for causing your injuries, expressing that as a percentage of total liability for your losses. In New Jersey, if the jury determines you were more than 50% responsible for your losses, you cannot recover anything.

If you have been injured in a motorcycle accident while not wearing a helmet, it’s very possible that the jury will consider your failure to wear a helmet as a form of negligence especially for a head injury. If the jury determines that your injuries were primarily the result of not wearing your helmet, you may be precluded from any recovery.

Contact the Law Offices of David J. Karbasian, PC

Send us an e-mail today or call us at 856-667-4666 or 877-HOGLAW1 / 856-600-HURT to schedule an appointment. We are currently communicating with clients by phone, text message or online videoconferencing. Evening and weekend consultations are available upon request.

Filed Under: Motorcycle Accidents, Personal Injury Tagged With:

© 2019 karbasianlaw All Rights Reserved.
Concept, Design & Hosting by GetLegal's Practice Builder Team Sitemap | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy