Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/929813
SEVERELY INJURED MARINE PREVAILS DESPITE BAD POLICE REPORT By Susan Handel, Esq. A police report can be a very helpful tool in assis ng vic ms of motorcycle accidents to secure compensa on for their injuries when the report is in their favor. If the police report is in their favor, and against the other driver, it will help establish liability for their motorcycle accident. What if the police report is against you? Fortunately, the police report is not the final word on liability for your motorcycle accident. When I receive a police report that is against my client, I do not throw in the towel and give up! Instead, I do everything possible to turn the liability around, including, but not limited to, taking independent witness statements, hiring an accident reconstruc on expert to reconstruct the motorcycle accident, calling the police officer to discuss the accident and persuade him to change his report based on new informa on that he may not have considered, taking the deposi on of the defendant driver and pinning them down on the facts of the accident, and more, depending on the par culars of each motorcycle accident. I frequently will do a background check on the defendant driver and all independent witnesses listed on the police report in order to secure informa on that can impeach their tes mony in a deposi on and/or trial. If I believe in a case, I do not give up easily. Ma hew Bonus, a then 32 year old Marine, was involved in a motorcycle accident and sustained injuries which included, but were not limited to a closed head injury, skull fractures, le caro d artery dissec on, le scapular fracture, facial nerve palsy, le fibular fracture and cogni ve injuries. He was hospitalized for approximately one month and was unconscious for most of that me. He was not able to tell his side of the story at the scene of the accident because he was unconscious. He was never able to tell his side of the story because of the massive head injuries he sustained that caused him to lose his memory as to the facts of his accident. The defendant claimed that Ma hew tried to pass her unsafely on her right side and t-boned her car as she was making a right hand turn onto a street that had been closed due to flooding. The police report was against Ma hew and concluded that he had violated California Vehicle Code Sec on 21755, which regards Unsafe Passing on the Right. When Ma hew became conscious in the hospital, the other pa ent befriended him in his room that was also involved in a catastrophic motorcycle accident. I had been contacted by, but declined, the case of the other pa ent because clearly, the motorcycle accident was his fault as a result of excessive speed. However, at this pa ent's urging, Ma hew called me. The leading cause of motorcycle accidents con nues to be the failure of vehicle drivers to observe and see the motorcyclist. 10 WheelsOfGrace.com Issue 39 SEVERELY INJURED MARINE PREVAILS DESPITE BAD POLICE REPORT Susan Handel se les catastrophic motorcycle accident for $1,500,000 despite all odds against her badly injured client!