What the law requires
A motorcyclist is entitled to the same standard of care from other road users as anyone else. The most common cause of injury to a rider is a driver turning across their path or pulling out of a junction, having looked without seeing.
Filtering through slow or stationary traffic is lawful in England and Wales. Insurers routinely argue it as contributory negligence anyway, and that argument frequently does not survive contact with the Highway Code and the actual road layout.
What decides a claim like this
Liability is established on records far more often than on recollection. In this kind of claim the documents that matter most are:
- Helmet and protective clothing — do not throw them away, the damage to them evidences the forces involved.
- Helmet-cam footage, which settles the majority of disputed liability cases outright.
- The position of the bike and the car at rest, which usually shows who crossed whose path.
- Whether the driver's account is consistent with the sightlines actually available at that junction.
What to do now
The evidence that decides these claims has a short life. If the accident was recent:
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1
Report it Tell the police if anyone was hurt or a driver failed to stop, and report it to your insurer even if the other driver was at fault.
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2
Get the details Registration, name, address and insurer of every vehicle involved, plus contact details for anyone who saw it.
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3
Photograph everything Final positions, damage to both vehicles, skid marks, road layout and any signage or signals.
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4
See a doctor A record made close to the accident is the strongest evidence that the injury came from it.
How long you have to claim
The general limitation period for a personal injury claim is three years from the date of the accident, or from the date you first knew the injury was significant and attributable to someone else. If you were under 18 at the time, the three years runs from your eighteenth birthday. Where the injured person lacks mental capacity, time may not run at all.\n\nThe practical deadline is shorter than the legal one. CCTV is overwritten, defects are repaired and records are archived, so a claim started early is almost always a stronger claim.
How we work
We assess the claim, obtain the records that decide it, instruct an independent medical expert and deal with the insurer throughout. Personal injury claims of this kind are run on a No Win, No Fee agreement: there is nothing to pay upfront, and nothing to pay us for our work if the claim does not succeed. A success fee is deducted from the compensation if it does, and we set that out in writing before you commit to anything.