Help, coverage and the bike

What to Do After a Motorcycle Accident

By Miller & Jacobs Accident Attorneys

After a motorcycle crash, start with the rider's need for help and the traffic around them. If help is urgent, call 911. Then plan how to get the bike back, keep the gear and scene evidence, and check how medical bills may be paid.

Keep injury questions separate from repair or towing payments. The car PIP rules usually do not fit a rider's injury claim. Find out which policy could pay before you make the next billing call.

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A motorcycle on its side on a paved street.

Deal with the rider's condition before the claims file

Where help is needed

Use 911 for a serious injury or immediate road danger. Tell the dispatcher where the rider is, whether the road is blocked and what help is needed. Follow the directions given. Do not use a test ride or a few steps on foot to decide whether an injury needs care.

Head impact and danger signs

Tell your doctor or other care provider about a head impact and symptoms. CDC's concussion guide says some symptoms may show up hours or days later. Its adult danger signs include a worsening headache that does not go away, repeated vomiting or seizures. Seek emergency care for danger signs.

The next care contact

Keep the advice you receive when you leave care. Save the next-visit details too. Note changes in symptoms and any limits on work or riding for your care provider. Base care on medical need. A claim estimate or a call from an insurer cannot diagnose an injury.

Find the medical-payment route that fits a rider

Florida's required PIP law generally does not pay for injuries you suffer while riding an ordinary two-wheeled motorcycle. Section 627.732 includes self-propelled vehicles with four or more wheels that are designed and required to be licensed for Florida highways, and trailers designed for use with them. Section 627.736 also sets limits when the injured person is on or in a self-propelled vehicle. Having an insured car does not by itself pay the rider's bills.

Medical-bill options

Check your health plan, any medical-payments coverage on the bike policy and other benefits you have. Ask who and which bike are covered, what the limits are and what terms apply. Give the care provider the billing details. Save letters that approve or deny payment. The motorcycle medical-coverage guide explains why the usual car PIP checklist may not fit.

Check the UM policy

Uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, called UM, may pay covered injury damages when the driver at fault has no bodily injury insurance or too little. Get the full policy and any forms you signed to choose coverage. A car policy does not prove that a bike you own is covered. Check who qualifies, what is excluded and the proof of fault.

Keep these tasks separate

Keep injury questions separate from repair or towing payments.

Keep three kinds of physical evidence apart

Photos should show the bike, the rider's gear and the road. One view of the fallen bike may miss how contact or the fall took place. Ask a helper for safe views if you are getting care.

A gloved arm on the roadway beside a fallen motorcycle and a car.

Get witness names and a way to reach them. Find out about footage from your ride camera, other vehicles or nearby businesses. Save your original recording with the lead-in and aftermath. A shortened social-media clip may omit part of the sequence, so retain the full file.

The bike's condition

Take views from more than one side. Include wheels, lights and marks where there was contact. Note which bike it is if safe. Keep the repair quote. Say if a part was already damaged or changed before this crash.

Helmet and riding gear

Photograph the helmet, jacket, gloves and other affected gear. Keep the items as they were after the crash, where safe, for a lawful check. Ask before repair, cleaning or throwing out gear that may be needed as evidence.

Surface and movement

Take photos of a suspected pothole, gravel, road marks or a blocked view from a safe place. Show enough of the area to find it later. Note where each vehicle stopped. Say what you saw and what you learned from someone else.

Make a plan for the bike before repairs or disposal

Track the bike and its holder

Find out who is towing the motorcycle, where it will be stored and how to contact the holder. Ask what storage costs and how to get access. Keep track if the bike moves to another shop or yard so a request to check it reaches the right place.

Plan inspection and safe future use

Tell the shop or insurer if the claim may turn on a failed part or how contact took place. Ask a lawyer how to set up a check before those parts are changed or thrown out. Needed safety or emergency work comes first. Do not enter another person's property or take their records without permission.

Ask a qualified mechanic about the bike before you ride it again. The engine may start even when brakes, wheels or other parts are not sound. Keeping evidence does not mean the bike is safe to use.

Record the police contact and crash date accurately

Florida's injury-crash stopping rule and information-and-aid duties apply to drivers at the scene. If care keeps you from gathering details, tell a helper what is missing. Do not put the file ahead of needed care.

Under section 316.065, drivers must immediately notify law enforcement for injury, death or apparent vehicle or property damage of at least $2,000. That amount applies from October 1, 2026; the earlier threshold was $500. Injury notice does not depend on reaching the damage amount.

Keep the agency name, call date and report or incident number. Within a municipality, the statute names local police; elsewhere it names the sheriff or Florida Highway Patrol. Check the report's bike and driver identifiers when it becomes available. Our Florida reporting guide separates immediate notice from written-report tasks.

Know which payment or request is being discussed

Open the claim under the policy that may apply. Keep a log of what was asked, how you replied and the next step. Your own insurer may require notice and cooperation under the policy. Give facts you know. Say when a record is needed to check an answer.

Calls about towing, the bike, health benefits and injury may concern different claims. Ask for the claim number and whom the caller works for. Read requests for a statement or medical-record release. Legal help can explain what is being sought and what you must do.

An injury offer may affect more than the claim against the driver. If settling would leave an underinsured-motorist claim, ask about the written-notice steps in section 627.727(6) and the actual coverage before you finalize it. A repair check, a release and an injury offer can do different things.

Ask for a filing-date review while the bike is being recovered

Give the crash date and the people, firms or policies involved to the person checking time limits. The general Florida negligence period in section 95.11(5)(a) is two years. The 2023 law applies that change to claims that legally arose after March 24, 2023. Older claims and exceptions need their own date check.

Do not count the filing period from the day repairs end or an insurer makes a final decision. Different claim types can have other periods or required steps. You can deal with the bike, bills and an offer while the filing date is checked.

Speak With Our Motorcycle Accident Lawyers About Next Steps

Mark J. Miller, Partner

Rick S. Jacobs, Partner

Start a note with what is missing, who may have it and why it matters. It could be video of a turn, a damaged part or an unanswered insurance question. Bring what you have. You do not need to wait for the last bill to ask what should be done first.

Miller & Jacobs Accident Attorneys can discuss these next steps. Our Orlando motorcycle accident services and Pompano Beach motorcycle accident services describe help with claims. Ask which tasks are urgent, what work is proposed and how the fees and costs would be handled.

Call 954-465-8733 Schedule a Free Consultation

Questions riders ask when the next step is unclear

Can I wait for insurance approval before getting needed care?

Get urgent medical help when needed. Ask your provider and insurer which benefits may pay the bill. Tell the care provider about symptoms and follow medical advice. You can ask how to pay while getting the care you need.

Does my car's PIP policy cover me on the motorcycle?

Do not assume it does. Florida's required PIP law generally does not cover an ordinary two-wheeled motorcycle rider's injuries. The law's vehicle definition and limits for people on self-propelled vehicles matter. Check your health plan, any medical-payments coverage and the terms of the policies that may apply.

What if the bike has already been moved or repaired?

Write down who handled the bike, where it went and what work was done. Get earlier photos, repair quotes, bills and any parts that were kept. Say what changed and what is gone. A lawyer can check which other records may answer the question.

What should I do with my ride-camera recording?

Save the full original and a backup before you share a shorter clip. Keep the time around the crash. Note the camera's clock setting if you know it. Tell the person helping you what is in the file. Do not change or overwrite the original to make your point.