Calgary Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

Lifelong Experience as a Motorcycle Rider Helps Injured Bikers

Video Transcript:

Steve Grover:

Right hard, ride safe, but ride smart, and always wear a motorcycle helmet when you're riding a motorcycle.

Rob Rosenthal:

If you're in a crash and injured while riding your motorcycle, where do you get help? What can you do? What are your rights? So we're gonna find out the answers to those questions and more right now, because that's what we're gonna ask the lawyer on this episode. Hi again, everybody. I'm Rob Rosenthal with askthelawyers.com, and my guest is Calgary lawyer Steve Grover. I wanna remind you right at the front, if you'd like to ask Steve questions of your own, just go to askthelawyers.com, click the button up in the upper right hand corner that says Ask a Lawyer and it'll walk you right through the very simple process there, or you can just call the phone number that will be on the screen during our conversation. Steve, good to see you. Thank you for helping us out and answer our questions.

Steve Grover:

Hi Rob. Nice to see you. 

Rob Rosenthal:

So let's start with just a little background. Tell us a little bit of your background with helping bikers who have been injured throughout your career, I know you're an avid biker yourself, correct?

Steve Grover:

Yeah, Rob, I've been riding motorcycles my whole life ever since I was about five years old, starting with dirt bikes and moving up to street bikes, and as I get older, more into the cruisers and now into the adventure riding. So it's a passion of mine. I enjoy riding, I enjoy getting out and joining the fresh air and seeing new sights, riding in Canada, America and down to South America, and even to Asia, one time.

Rob Rosenthal:

Wow, and so was it important to you then to have that part of your practice that you help bikers who have been injured?

Steve Grover:

Yeah, I always think it's really important to give back to the community that you support, you know there's a lot of injured riders out there that have been injured in accidents and unfortunately not due to their negligence, and our office is pretty active in the community supporting writing groups supporting motorcycle shops in Alberta and just any individual riders being out there and making sure everyone's riding safe.

Rob Rosenthal:

It seems like these days, Steven, maybe you've had a lot more experience than I have, but it seems like sometimes people just automatically assume the biker was at fault. There's an accident, there's injuries, they automatically assume the biker is at fault, is that something you've seen and is that sometimes difficult to overcome?

Steve Grover:

I mean, that's the perception socially, I know sometimes there are socially, you know, people making judgements of who's right and who's wrong, unfortunately, the biking community does sometimes have a negative stereotype out there, given the Hells Angels, the Bandidos motorcycle groups, and unfortunately, someone involved in a motorcycle accident then we probably think oh, the motorcyclist was going too fast, he wasn't paying attention and you know, they're at fault for the accident, which is not a majority of the cases, it's usually especially up here in Canada, where we do have limited summers, essentially the riding season is from April until end of October. People aren't used to seeing motorcyclists on the road, especially here in Calgary, obviously with the winters here in Canada, riding's not all year round, and when riders get on the street in April and May, drivers need to be aware that they're sharing the road with motorcyclists on top of other vehicles like cars or 18 wheeler trucks on the road too.

Rob Rosenthal:

Do you find that it helps you with these cases gives you an advantage, having all that experience yourself as far as a rider, so you know some of the situations that they may be in?

Steve Grover:

Yeah, I think it's a huge advantage. Obviously, you know, understanding the rules of the road, riding motorcycles, what to look out for, you know what's the most common motorcycle accident involving a car and a motorcyclist... I mean, obviously, riding a motorcycle is completely different than driving a car. Here in Alberta, you need a class six motorcycle license to ride a motorcycle... Obviously, if you just drive in a car, you just need to class five, there's a lot of training that goes involved in riding a motorcycle, you have to get your class six motorcycle license in Alberta to ride, and obviously there's a different kind of gear you have to wear: helmets, jackets, boots, gloves. So I think it's a huge advantage that myself and my firm have when an injured rider comes up into our office, we understand the scenario that he or she she may be in the accident, there may be some bias against he or she by the police or the general public and maybe they're at fault for the accident, so I think that's a huge advantage our firm has over other injury firms in Alberta.

Rob Rosenthal:

Makes sense. What if a biker thinks maybe they are partially in fault for an accident, how does that work in Canada, even if they do, in your estimation or end up being partially at fault, does that change things?

Steve Grover:

Yeah, it does change things. It's a good question, Rob. In Alberta, we have a contributory negligence, you know, looking at fault, so say that the rider of the motorcycle is 50% at fault, he or she won't recover full damages, but they will recover 50% of other damages based on that, so I mean, you know, we have to investigate the accident to make sure he or she's not at fault to the accident, if they are a percentage at fault that is reduced on a damage award that they get either through settlement or through judgment trial here in Alberta.

Rob Rosenthal:

Now, there is a helmet law in Canada, right, How do if someone's injured and they weren't wearing a helmet, how does that affect their claim?

Steve Grover:

Yeah, across Canada, fortunately, we do have a government that's passed law in every jurisdiction, every province and territory in Canada, mandating that if you're writing a motorcycle in Canada, you have to wear a helmet. I know in the United States, the law changes in one of the states that borders Alberta is Idaho. Once you cross from Albert into Idaho, I know you can take off your helmet and ride a motorcycle without a helmet, I don't encourage people to ride without a helmet, obviously, the most important part of your body is your head, your brain, but unfortunately, if you're riding a motorcycle and not wearing the helmet and you do suffer a concussion or a brain injury, that is a factor that will be taken to consideration in the legal system, especially the court system, in determining how much your case is worth. I've seen sometimes where someone suffers from severe brain injury in a motorcycle and without wearing a helmet and they've been hit with 75% contributory for causing their brain injury, but the fact are the facts... But I do encourage everyone, you know ride hard, ride safe but ride smart and always wear a motorcycle helmet when you're riding a motorcycle.

Rob Rosenthal:

What if someone's injured in a motorcycle collision and they think, you know, let's say they're not at fault, but they go well, I can probably handle this without an attorney, what... is that a good idea and why not?

Steve Grover:

I don't think it's a good idea. Number one, people think, Okay, I'm gonna save some money, you know the standard fee here in Albert is 30% or 33% of the settlement proceeds goes to the lawyer that represents you, the person in the accident. We spend time and money to develop your case, we're experts in this field. Obviously, I'll give you an example. My dad was a general surgeon, if you had an appendix problem, I trust you wouldn't just go home and you pull out a butter knife and cut your appendix out, you'd probably go to him, you know... Go through the healthcare system. I mean, obviously, we work for free, it doesn't cost you anything to retain us, we pay for all the experts and the investigation reports, those are part of the disperses we incur, and that money comes back to us on top of the settlement. So I think it's a huge advantage for a client to have a lawyer. Number two, the other issues, the insurance companies, if they know they're at fault for the accident, they wanna minimize their risk, they don't wanna pay as much as what you're entitled to, and the law in Canada is based essentially is if you're injured in accident, you're entitled to be put in the same position you were before the accident, health-wise and monetary-wise for loss of income, so that's a huge advantage to have a lawyer, someone that's an expert in the field that will spend the time and money to develop your case properly, and you're up against a big insurance company, they have all the resources in the world.

Steve Grover:

So my advice is, it's sort of like David and Goliath, you know, if you wanna be David and take on your own good luck, but if you wanna retain a firm like us that specializes in personal injury, specializes in motorcycle accidents, our interest is to take care of our clients first. And develop the case properly.

Rob Rosenthal:

Really, really helpful information. Steve, thank you so much for making some time to help us out and answer your questions. I appreciate it.

Steve Grover:

Thank you for your time, and thanks for the questions. Have a great day.

Rob Rosenthal:

That's gonna take care of this episode of Ask the lawyer, my guest has been Calgary lawyer Steve Grover. I remind you again, if you'd like to have Steve questions about your situation, go to askthelawyers.com, click the button at the top that says Ask a lawyer and it'll walk you right through the process. Doesn't cost you anything to ask questions, or you can call the phone number that was on the screen during our conversation. Thanks for watching. I'm Rob Rosenthal with Ask the Lawyers.

Disclaimer: This video is for informational purposes only. In some states, this video may be deemed Lawyer Advertising. The choice of lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely on advertisements.