Motorcycle accidents can unsurprisingly change someone’s life in a matter of seconds. Between the serious injuries, lengthy insurance calls, costly medical bills, and the time away from work, motorcycle riders are left wondering “Who decides who was at fault?”

Washington law determines fault in a severe motorcycle accident in many different ways, and unfortunately for riders, it’s not always as easy as saying “the driver was distracted and carelessly hit the rider,” there are steps to this. 

Your insurance company, local police officers, personal injury attorneys, and sometimes juries all examine the motorcycle crash from multiple angles before assigning who is truly responsible for the accident.

If you were seriously injured in a devastating car accident while on your bike in Washington, understanding exactly how fault is determined can go a long way in protecting your legal rights, and helping you avoid some very costly mistakes down the road.

Washington Is a “Pure Comparative Fault” State

One of the most important things to understand about Washington law is that it follows what’s called pure comparative negligence, and this matters more than most injured riders realize.

What this means, in plain terms, is that more than one person can share fault for the same accident. For example:

  • A driver may have carelessly turned left directly in front of your motorcycle
  • But you, the rider, may have also been traveling slightly over the speed limit at the time

Here’s the thing, even if you were partially responsible for the crash, you can still recover compensation for your injuries. Your financial recovery is simply reduced by whatever percentage of fault is assigned to you.

A basic example of how this plays out:

  • Your total damages come out to $100,000
  • You’re found to be 20% at fault for the accident
  • Your compensation is reduced by that 20%
  • You walk away with $80,000

Now here’s where Washington’s law is genuinely different from many other states. A lot of states will completely bar you from recovering anything if you’re found to be more than 50% responsible for your own accident. 

Washington doesn’t do that. 

Even if a rider is found to be mostly at fault, they may still have a legal right to some compensation, and that’s not something you should just assume you’ve lost without talking to an attorney first.

What Evidence Is Used to Determine Fault?

Fault in a motorcycle accident isn’t decided on gut feeling, it’s pieced together using a combination of physical evidence from the scene, witness statements, applicable traffic laws, and the findings of insurance investigations.

In Washington motorcycle accident cases, the strongest and most commonly relied-upon evidence tends to include things like:

  • Police reports filed at the scene
  • Photos taken immediately after the crash
  • Traffic camera footage
  • Dashcam video from nearby vehicles
  • Eyewitness statements
  • Vehicle damage patterns
  • Skid marks and road debris
  • Medical records documenting your injuries
  • Accident reconstruction experts who can recreate exactly what happened

The insurance companies on both sides will take all of that and compare it against Washington traffic laws to figure out who violated the rules of the road and to what degree. 

And if the case can’t be settled and ends up going in front of a jury, it may ultimately be up to those jurors to decide how fault gets divided between the parties involved.

Common Motorcycle Accident Scenarios in Washington

Certain types of motorcycle crashes tend to come up again and again across Washington State. Each one carries its own typical fault patterns, and knowing them can matter a lot when it comes time to build your case.

Left-Turn Motorcycle Accidents

Honestly, one of the most common, and most devastating, motorcycle crashes happens when a driver makes a left turn directly in front of an oncoming rider. These collisions most often happen at intersections, and they can leave riders with catastrophic, life-altering injuries. 

Part of what makes them so dangerous is that motorcycles simply don’t offer the kind of physical protection that passenger vehicles do. In a lot of these cases, the driver’s explanation is the same: they just didn’t see the motorcycle coming.

Under Washington law, drivers making left turns are generally required to yield to oncoming traffic before proceeding through an intersection. Because of that, the turning driver is frequently found to be primarily at fault. That said, insurance companies rarely stop there, they’ll still dig into whether the rider was speeding, riding aggressively, or did anything else that may have contributed to the collision.

If you ride yourself, or have ever thought about it, you’ve probably seen this exact scenario play out in videos on your social media feed. 

You can only be so cautious out there, so at the very least, always wear proper protective gear.

Lane Change Accidents

Lane change accidents involving motorcycles typically happen when a driver fails to properly check their mirrors or blind spots before moving over. Because motorcycles are so much smaller than other vehicles on the road, drivers can genuinely overlook them until it’s too late to do anything about it. These crashes are especially common out on highways and during periods of heavy traffic when lanes are constantly shifting.

Washington law gives motorcycles the same right to occupy a full lane as any other vehicle; full stop. Even so, insurance companies will often try to flip the narrative, arguing that the rider was weaving through traffic, riding between lanes, or traveling at unsafe speeds. 

And because Washington generally does not permit lane splitting (RCW 46.61.608), those kinds of allegations can end up playing a significant role in how fault is investigated and ultimately assigned.

Rear-End Motorcycle Accidents

Rear-end motorcycle accidents can be absolutely devastating for riders, who unfortunately absorb the full and brutal impact of the collision without the protective frame of a car surrounding them. Even what might seem like a relatively low-speed crash can violently throw a rider from their motorcycle, causing serious and life-altering injuries such as bone fractures, traumatic head injuries, or damage to the spinal cord.

In many of these rear-end collisions, the following driver is typically presumed to be at fault, as all drivers on the road are expected to maintain a reasonably safe following distance from the vehicle ahead of them. 

However, even with that presumption in place, insurance companies will more often than not still launch their own investigation into the crash, looking closely at whether the rider stopped too suddenly, whether their brake lights were functioning properly at the time of the accident, or whether the rider made an unsafe or unexpected maneuver in the moments before impact.

Motorcycle “Dooring” Accidents

Dooring accidents happen when a driver or passenger carelessly swings open a parked car door directly into the path of an oncoming motorcyclist, often with little to no warning whatsoever. These types of crashes can violently throw riders into oncoming traffic or cause them to lose control of their motorcycle in an instant, with very little time to react.

In many of these situations, the person who opened the door may ultimately be found responsible for the accident, as both drivers and passengers are legally expected to take a careful look and check whether it is actually safe to open a vehicle door into active traffic before doing so.

How Police Reports Affect Fault

After a motorcycle accident, responding officers usually create an official collision report.

In Washington, these reports often include:

  • Road conditions
  • Weather
  • Witness information
  • Vehicle positions
  • Diagrams of the accident
  • Statements from drivers and riders
  • Preliminary fault assessments

Insurance companies will almost always heavily rely on these police reports when conducting their own investigations into the accident. That said, it is important to understand that a police report is not necessarily the final word on who is truly at fault.

Police officers, after all, were not eyewitnesses to the crash itself, they arrived after the fact. Because of this, reports can sometimes contain honest mistakes, incomplete or missing information, or conclusions that were drawn based on only the limited evidence available at the scene at that moment. 

If additional and compelling evidence happens to surface later down the line, such as nearby surveillance footage or credible witness testimony, the fault determinations that were originally made can absolutely change.

Why Insurance Companies Often Target Motorcyclists

Unfortunately, motorcyclists are far too often judged unfairly in the aftermath of an accident. Insurance companies will sometimes lean on deeply ingrained stereotypes that paint riders as reckless, aggressive, or irresponsible, even in situations where the motorcyclist was carefully following all traffic laws and operating their bike in a completely safe manner. This kind of bias can have a very real influence on how claims are investigated and how any eventual settlement offers end up being calculated.

Insurance adjusters may go out of their way to find almost any reason they can to shift the blame onto the rider, all in an effort to reduce the total amount their company is on the hook to pay out. They may argue that the motorcycle was speeding, that it was difficult for other drivers to see, or that the rider was maneuvering in an unpredictable or erratic way in the moments leading up to the collision. 

This is exactly why taking photos, collecting witness contact information, documenting helmet damage, and preserving any other available evidence as immediately as possible following a crash can turn out to be critically important to your case.

What Riders Should Do After a Motorcycle Accident

The steps taken immediately after a crash can significantly affect how fault is determined later.

If possible, injured riders should:

  1. Call 911 immediately
  2. Seek medical attention right away
  3. Take photos of the scene
  4. Gather witness contact information
  5. Preserve helmet and riding gear
  6. Avoid admitting fault
  7. Request a copy of the police report
  8. Speak with a motorcycle accident attorney before accepting a settlement

Even seemingly small comments made at the scene can later be used by insurance companies during fault disputes.

Injured in a Washington Motorcycle Accident? Contact Abeyta Nelson Today

Motorcycle accident cases are very often far more complicated and nuanced than they may first appear on the surface. Insurance companies will frequently attempt to place the blame squarely on the rider, downplay or outright minimize the severity of the injuries involved, or pressure accident victims into hastily accepting settlement offers that simply do not come close to fully covering all of their losses. 

When serious and life-altering injuries are involved, having the right experienced legal representation in your corner can make an enormous difference in the final outcome of your case.

If you or someone you love was injured in a motorcycle accident in Yakima or anywhere in Washington State, the team at Abeyta Nelson Injury Law can help you understand your rights and pursue the compensation you deserve.

Contact Abeyta Nelson Injury Law today to schedule a complimentary consultation and learn how their team can help protect your future after a serious motorcycle accident.

You don’t pay unless you win.