How does one show negligence in a Nevada motorcycle accident?

How does one show negligence in a Nevada motorcycle accident?
On Behalf of Bradley, Drendel & Jeanney • Mar 08, 2017
Accidents involving any kind of vehicle tend to be bad for those involved. The property damage and personal injury that can occur when two massive pieces of metal and plastic collide at high speed is indisputable. When one of those vehicles is a motorcycle though, the results of a Nevada accident are often catastrophic. Because of the smaller size and weight of the motorcycle, and the lack of any metal cage around the driver, motorcycle accidents usually create devastating injuries. When these are caused by someone else’s negligence, there are legal rights that may have to be protected.

” Negligence ” is a word that is used when discussing accidents and other injury cases. But, what does it mean?

This blog has described it as someone not using “reasonable care.” While this is true, there are more specific things we can say about what needs to be shown to convince a court that negligence occurred.

First, the party being painted as negligent must have a legal duty to the other party. This can be a duty to him or her specifically, or a more general duty to, for example, others on the road.

This party must also have breached this duty. That is, the party must have done something a reasonable person would not have, or not done something a reasonable person would have. The breach of the duty must also have led to the injury, both in fact and foreseeably. Finally, there must be some kind of legally recognizable damage or injury that occurred from the negligence for there to be liability.

These elements can get somewhat complicated, especially causation, which is broken into cause “in fact” and “proximate cause.” This blog may go into all the elements in more detail in later posts. But, for now, it is important for Nevada motorcyclists to understand that if they have been injured due to another’s carelessness, they may have a legal right to monetary compensation.