Personal Injury Law

Does Being Overweight Affect Your Rights in a Motorcycle Accident Case?

By Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq.

First off, if you are overweight and a biker, I hope you do not take this article the wrong way. This article will discuss two things: (1) does being overweight affect your rights in a motorcycle accident case; and (2) does being overweight affect your ability to ride a motorcycle.

I will first discuss how being overweight may or may not affect your ability to ride a motorcycle.

As many of you probably already know, obesity is a huge problem in the United States of America.

For instance, I just got back from walking at the shopping mall. I would say that well over 50% of the people in the mall were not only overweight, but what I consider to be obese.

Notwithstanding this fact, I do not see why a person who is overweight cannot safely operate a motorcycle. As a matter of fact, I personally know people who I would consider to be obese, and yet are outstanding motorcycle riders.

Being overweight may be a consideration with respect to that type of motorcycle a person may want to ride, such as a sport motorcycle v. cruiser type of motorcycle. It may be more comfortable for a person who is obese or overweight to select the cruiser type of motorcycle. The way I look at it, to each their own.

A motorcycle rider, whether they are skinny, medium build, or overweight, should take an appropriate motorcycle safety course, when beginning to ride, and maintain their skills; however I do not see weight being a factor one way or another.

With respect to the issue of whether being overweight, would affect your rights in a motorcycle accident case, I would say no, unless you as a motorcycle rider are somehow at fault. I wrote an article previously discussing how pre-existing conditions should not affect a personal injury case. You can read that article by clicking here now.

In human nature there is a tendency to discriminate against people who are different. This holds true for people who are overweight or obese, who are also the victims of discrimination. If you are overweight, and have been in a motorcycle accident, you are going to want to retain an attorney, who knows how to deal with the issue of pre-existing conditions, and a jury's tendency to discriminate against people who are different.

I am that type of attorney. As an example of a worst-case scenario type of motorcycle accident case; I am representing a man from northern California, who sustained horrendous injuries in a motorcycle accident. Months prior to his accident, he had surgery to put a band around his stomach so that he could lose weight. At the time of as accident, he was obviously extremely overweight. Notwithstanding this fact, he was rear ended by a negligent cager. Among other injuries, the surgeons had to go back into his body to reinstall the band around his stomach.

My firm will eventually get this gentleman, a very high settlement or judgment for his injuries. You see a defendant has to take a plaintiff as he finds them. This holds true whether the defendant is obese, or has other pre-existing conditions.

If you are overweight, obese, or have other pre-existing conditions, and have been the victim of a motorcycle, or other motor vehicle accident, you may call my law firm for a free consultation at 800-816-1529, extension 1. I will tell you over the phone whether you have a good case.

By California Motorcycle Accident Attorney Norman Gregory Fernandez, © 2008

Full post as published by Biker Law Blog on August 16, 2008 (boomark / email).