Mechanical Defect Caused Motorcycle Accident?

Alberta Lawyer Investigates Tire Blowouts, Brake Failures, and More

Video Transcript:

Steve Grover: 

If you're going up against Honda they've got deep pockets, so you have to get these investigators out right away, and the engineers look at the motorcycle and the gear, and that's the most important part of the claim.

Rob Rosenthal: 

So if you're injured in a motorcycle crash and you suspect a failure in your equipment might have been a cause, what can you do and where do you turn for help? We're gonna find out right now on this episode of Ask the Lawyer, my guest is Alberta lawyer Steve Grover, and I remind you right off the top, if you'd like to ask Steve questions about your situation, just go to askthelawyers.com, click the button up at the top that says Ask a Lawyer, it'll walk you through the process, very simple form, or you can always call the phone number you see on the screen during our conversation. Steve it's good to see you as always. Thank you for helping us out again.

Steve Grover: 

Hi Rob, nice to see you again thanks for having me again.

Rob Rosenthal: 

You've represented a lot of bikers who have been injured by motorcycle accidents caused by other vehicles, but what happens if a person is may be involved in an accident with another vehicle, or just a solo accident and they're injured and they think it might have been their equipment that caused the problem. Is there a way you can help with that?

Steve Grover: 

Yeah, they are motorcycle accidents but it takes it to a different level where they are called product liability claims, those can come in any kind of forms, mechanical failure, failure of a tire, maybe even a mechanic that you take a service and doesn't do the service job properly doesn't hook up the front tire to your motorcycle. So those take 'em to a different level called product liability, they are motorcycle accidents, but we mostly look at them as a product liability claim against the manufacturer or the mechanical shop that did work on your motorcycle.

Rob Rosenthal: 

Can you give me an example of one or two of these kind of defects that you've seen and what they led to that you've handled in your practice?

Steve Grover: 

Yeah, I mean, we've seen... These cases don't come across so much in Canada that much, but we've seen where there's been a tire blow out where a Dunlop tire wasn't manufactured properly, the person was riding the motorcycle, front tire blows out they... Unfortunately, they violently fall off their motorcycle at a high speed of 100 kilometers an hour, suffer a brain injury, multiple fractures, there could be mechanical failures where your hand break doesn't work. These defects are part of production, 'cause a lot of these motorcycles and tires are made in a factory of high production, so whoever is the manufacturers making these products and they're able to sell them, and so their profit goes up because they're all manufactured in a factory at a high rate.

Rob Rosenthal: I know you're a rider yourself, you've had a lot of experience in this area. Let's talk about the tires a little bit, what's your advice for motorcycle riders when it comes to buying and maintaining the tires for their bikes?

Steve Grover: 

Nowadays, with the internet prevailing in our lives, if you're going out and looking for some new motorcycle tires for your motorcycle, first of all, I would just Google like, Hey, I'm looking for some Dunlop tires to go off road. See what the reviews are like on these tires, you can see if people are saying, "Hey, listen I've had problems with these tires where the traction wasn't so good or the tire blew out." Most people post nowadays on Google review of what a business is like, people can easily say, "Hey listen, I bought these tires and there's a manufacturer recall on them," that's the first access is Google is the encyclopedia for the 21st century. Secondly, go to the shop that you're buying these tires from and ask the salesperson, the people that work in the service, Are these the right tires for this kind of bike, 'cause every type of bike is different. There's cruisers, there's adventure bikes, and also, when you buy the tires, just check them out yourself, make sure that they look proper. Every time you get on your bike, check your tires to make sure there's no cracks in them, make sure the tire pressure is good. I mean, you just have to do your due diligence when you go out there and buy some tires, I mean... That's my recommendation.

Rob Rosenthal: 

If someone's injured in a motorcycle crash, Steve, say there's not another vehicle involved, is there a way for them to know at least right off the hand that it might have been an equipment failure or product liability or just... Or rider error, or is this the kind of thing they need to talk to an expert like yourself to help them figure that out?

Steve Grover: 

Yeah, there's multiple factors to take into consideration, obviously, if you're an experienced rider like myself been riding most of my life, and all of a sudden you just wipe out for no reason. I mean, I would first of all, question like, Okay, is there a manufacture defect talk to the shop that you bought the motorcycle from, see if there's been defect recalls, if you're not sure about that, hire a law firm like ourselves, we've done product liability claims, there's a lot of investigation going on these claims, you have to get out and preserve all your motorcycle gear, preserve the motorcycle because we have to get engineers out there to inspect the motorcycle, look at your gear to make sure there's nothing... If the fault was coming from a defect in the motorcycle, if the motorcycle is gone, it's salvaged and not there, unfortunately, there's no real case. 'Cause if you're going up against Honda, they've got deep pockets. So you have to get these investigators out right away, and the engineers look at the motorcycle and the gear, and that's the most important part of the claim.

Rob Rosenthal: 

Lots of really helpful information as always Steve, thank you for making some time to help us out again.

Steve Grover: 

Great, thank you for having me, Rob, have a great day.

Rob Rosenthal: 

And you do as well. That's it for this episode of Ask the Lawyer. My guest has been Alberta lawyer Steve Grover, and I will remind you, if you wanna talk to Steve about a situation of your own, just go to askthelawyers.com click the button up at the top that says Ask a Lawyer it'll walk you through a very easy process, doesn't cost anything to ask your questions. Thanks for watching, everybody. I'm Rob Rosenthal for Ask the Lawyers.

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