Bart Durham Personal Injury News & Blog

After a motorcycle accident, how long do I have to file a suit?

Written by Bart Durham Injury Law | Dec 11, 2015 9:08:13 PM

It's no secret that motorcycle accidents are among the most serious types of accidents that a person could suffer on the road. Often, the best-case scenarios in motorcycle accidents involve broken bones and possibly even surgical amputations. Of course, the worst-case scenarios will leave you devastated and mourning the loss of a loved one.

Among the most tragic truths of any motorcycle accident is that the problems do not simply end when the accident is over. If you survive an accident, you will likely have hundreds or thousands of dollars' worth of medical bills to contend with. If you do not survive, your loved ones will be left with funeral expenses and possibly less income with which to cover them depending on your circumstances. This is why pursuing legal action for compensation is so important.

In Tennessee, as with many other states, the legal system understands that a victim should not have to pay for injuries suffered in an accident that was caused by someone else. If a driver was negligent and chose to text while behind the wheel, he or she should have to pay for the consequences, not the motorcyclist who was injured by the distracted driver. Victims who can prove that they were not at fault in an accident have a very strong chance of recovering compensation.

However, the state of Tennessee does not allow for victims to hold the possibility of a lawsuit over those who were at fault, which is why statutes of limitations exist. The statute of limitations for any kind of injury to a person in Tennessee is one year, meaning that if you were injured in a motorcycle accident in our state, you have 365 days from the time of the accident to bring legal action against the other driver or drivers. Once the statute expires, it will be extremely difficult to bring any legal action. If you have been injured in a motorcycle accident, do not hesitate to take action and recover the compensation that you deserve.