Motorcyclist Forced To Put His Bike Down Because Of Motorist Failing To Yield

Outcome: Verdict

The case involved a non-contact motorcycle versus car accident. Our client was proceeding southbound on Rimrock Road in Madison. Rimrock is a four-lane road with two lanes in each direction. Our client was on his motorcycle proceeding in the left hand lane. He was traveling between 30 and 35 miles per hour.

The other driver approached Rimrock Road from a cross street, East Badger Road, which was controlled by a stop sign. The defendant came to a stop at the stop sign, saw the cyclist and believed that she could make it across in front of him before the cyclist arrived in the intersection. It was her intention to turn left, northbound onto Rimrock Road. After pulling forward from the stop sign, she realized that she was not going to make it in time and stopped her car for a second time. The evidence showed that she did not actually make it into either the right or left hand lanes of travel but had stopped in the right hand turn lane off of southbound Rimrock Road. Our client seeing the defendant pull away from the stop sign feared that he was about to get hit. He hit his brakes in an effort to bring his motorcycle to a stop. He lost control of his motorcycle and crashed sustaining a broken left ankle/tibia.

Despite incurring more than $55,000 in medical expenses, missing a year of Veterinary School, having to live with plates and screws in his ankle and despite having to live with very real limitations for the rest of his life, the insurance company, American Family, offered only $3,000.

Our theory of the case was that the plaintiff was confronted with an emergency when the defendant pulled away from the stop sign towards the intersection and that he had no choice other than to react and that his reaction was reasonable.

The jury agreed and reached a fair award. Our client was kind enough to write a testimonial for us which is here on our site.