Nashville Motorcycle Accident Attorney

Board-Certified Trial Representation for Nashville Riders

Stanley A. Davis is a Board Certified Civil Trial Attorney and holds an additional certification in Civil Pre-Trial Advocacy through the National Board of Legal Specialty Certification. Fewer than 300 Tennessee attorneys hold any board certification. Since 1997, he has represented injured Nashville residents in personal injury cases, and the Tennessee Jury Verdict Reporter has named him among the state’s most prolific trial lawyers for multiple consecutive years. When insurance companies know your attorney can take a case to trial, the settlement calculus changes.

Motorcyclists face a particular challenge after a crash: insurers often approach these claims assuming the rider was at fault. Countering that bias takes evidence, witnesses, and an attorney whose credentials signal that low offers won’t stick. That’s the position we bring to every Nashville motorcycle accident case.

No Fees Unless We Win Your Case

We handle motorcycle accident cases on a contingency-fee basis: you pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you. Free consultations are available to injured riders and surviving family members throughout the Nashville area. Our clients have left over 600 5-star Google reviews, and our verdicts and settlements reflect what trial-ready representation has produced for people who’ve been seriously hurt.

How Nashville Motorcycle Accident Claims Work

Every motorcycle accident injury claim rests on four elements: duty of care, breach of that duty, causation connecting the breach to the crash, and resulting damages. Proving all four takes more than a police report. We investigate the scene, preserve physical evidence, interview witnesses, and retain accident reconstruction professionals when the facts warrant it.

Tennessee follows a modified comparative negligence rule. An injured rider who is less than 50% at fault may still recover compensation, reduced proportionally by their share of fault. A rider found 50% or more at fault can’t recover. Insurance adjusters understand this rule well, and they frequently attempt to assign inflated fault percentages to motorcyclists to reduce what they owe.

Our firm has recovered results including $3.0 million for severe injuries, $1.5 million in a failure-to-yield case, and multiple results at $900,000 and above. Those outcomes reflect what it means to prepare a case for trial, not just for settlement.

Common Causes of Nashville Motorcycle Accidents

Most motorcycle crashes in the Nashville area aren’t caused by reckless riding. They’re caused by drivers who didn’t look carefully enough. Identifying the cause of a crash is central to building a liability case.

The driver behaviors and road conditions that most often lead to motorcycle accidents include:

• Left-turn collisions: A driver turning left at an intersection misjudges an oncoming motorcycle’s speed or fails to see it. Tennessee law generally holds left-turning drivers responsible when they collide with vehicles lawfully traveling through an intersection.
• Unsafe lane changes: Drivers who don’t check blind spots before merging can strike motorcycles traveling alongside them in adjacent lanes.
• Distracted driving: Phone use remains a leading cause of motorcycle crashes. Tennessee’s Eddie Conrad Act increases the points added to driving records for cell phone violations under the state’s Hands-Free Law.
• Failure to yield: At intersections, during merges, and when entering traffic, drivers who don’t yield the right of way to motorcycles cause a significant share of angle collisions.
• Dooring: In downtown Nashville and other areas with parallel parking, a driver or passenger opening a car door without checking can strike an oncoming motorcycle directly.
• Rear-end collisions: Following too closely or failing to react to a motorcycle slowing or stopping produces rear-end impacts that can be catastrophic, given the size disparity.
• Drunk or impaired driving: Impaired drivers have reduced reaction time and poor judgment, both of which put motorcyclists at heightened risk.
• Head-on collisions: Motorcyclists have no structural protection from frontal impact, making head-on crashes among the deadliest on any road.

Injuries Nashville Motorcycle Riders Sustain

Motorcyclists don’t have the structural protection of an enclosed vehicle. When a crash happens, the human body absorbs the impact directly. The result is often injury far more severe than what a car occupant would face in the same collision.

Injuries commonly documented in motorcycle crash cases include:

• Traumatic brain injury (TBI): A brain injury caused by sudden trauma to the head that disrupts normal function. Even helmeted riders can sustain TBIs in high-impact crashes. If you’ve suffered a brain injury in a motorcycle accident, the legal and medical consequences deserve dedicated attention.
• Spinal cord injury and paralysis: Damage to the spinal cord can result in partial or complete paralysis with permanent consequences for independence and earning capacity.
• Road rash and severe lacerations: Sliding across pavement causes friction burns and deep wounds that can require surgery and leave permanent scarring.
• Broken bones: Fractures to the arms, legs, pelvis, and ribs are common. Complex fractures often require surgical repair and extended rehabilitation.
• Neck and back injuries: Soft-tissue and structural injuries to the spine can cause chronic pain and limit the ability to work.
• Amputation: Severe crush injuries to limbs sometimes result in surgical or traumatic amputation.

Wrongful Death Claims After a Fatal Motorcycle Crash

When a motorcycle accident causes death, surviving family members may pursue a wrongful death claim. These cases often move quickly on the insurance side before families fully understand what they may be entitled to seek. Early legal representation can help protect against that.

Compensation in a wrongful death case can include both economic losses (funeral and burial costs, medical bills incurred before death, and the income the deceased would have provided) and non-economic losses such as loss of companionship and loss of guidance. We handle these cases with care for what families are actually going through.

Compensation Available to Nashville Motorcycle Accident Victims

The value of a motorcycle accident claim depends on the severity of injuries, the documented impact on the victim’s life and work, available insurance coverage, and how fault percentages are allocated under Tennessee modified comparative negligence. A personal injury claim may seek both economic and non-economic damages.

Economic damages cover losses with a calculable dollar value:

• Past and future medical expenses, including surgery, hospitalization, rehabilitation, and ongoing care
• Lost wages during recovery
• Reduced earning capacity if injuries are permanent
• Property damage, including motorcycle repair or replacement
• In wrongful death cases, funeral and burial costs and the financial contributions the deceased would have provided

Non-economic damages compensate for losses that don’t appear on a bill:

• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Physical limitations that affect daily activities

Insurance companies frequently make early settlement offers that don’t account for long-term medical needs or future lost earning capacity. Accepting such an offer typically requires signing away the right to seek additional compensation. Don’t agree to any settlement before speaking with an attorney about what your claim may actually be worth.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Long Do I Have to File a Motorcycle Accident Claim in Tennessee?

Under TCA § 28-3-104, the statute of limitations for motorcycle accident injury claims in Tennessee is one year from the date of the accident. Missing that deadline typically bars recovery entirely. If you were injured in a Nashville area crash, contact us as soon as possible to protect your right to file.

Does Not Wearing a Helmet Hurt My Motorcycle Accident Claim?

Tennessee requires all motorcycle riders and passengers to wear helmets under TCA § 55-9-302. Not wearing one is a violation of that law. However, it doesn’t automatically bar a claim. What matters under Tennessee law is whether the helmet violation contributed to the severity of the injuries. If another driver’s negligence caused the crash, helmet use or non-use is one factor among many in how fault is allocated, not a bar to recovery.

What If I Was Partially at Fault for the Accident?

Under Tennessee modified comparative negligence, you can still recover compensation if you were less than 50% responsible for the crash. Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault. For example, a rider found 10% at fault in a case valued at $500,000 may recover $450,000. A rider found 50% or more at fault can’t recover. Because insurers work to push fault percentages up, having an attorney investigate and document what actually happened matters significantly to the outcome.

Schedule a Free Consultation

Attorney Stanley A. Davis is committed to his faith and helping others. He follows the words of Ephesians 4:32, which read, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Stan lives and works in this community. He’s represented Nashville injury victims since 1997, and he brings board-certified civil trial credentials to every case he takes. If you or someone you love was hurt in a motorcycle crash, call us or reach out online to schedule a free consultation.

Schedule a free consultation with our Nashville motorcycle accident attorney by calling (615) 866-3938 or contacting the firm online.