Motorcycle riders assume unique risks when taking to the road. Even properly equipped with safety gear and advanced driving skills, motorcyclists are more vulnerable to serious injury or death in collisions.
For motorcycle enthusiasts, however, taking to the open road on their bikes is one of the greatest joys that can be experienced. A rider himself, Paul Hergott joins the vast majority of bikers who use defensive driving to minimize the ever present risks so as to enjoy this mode of transportation as safely as possible.
Some bikers seem to ignore their vulnerability, failing to use proper safety equipment and/or failing to take extra defensive driving precautions. Others take riding to the point of recklessness. Regardless, bikers are never “asking for it” to the point that ICBC or another liability insurance company will escape having to pay fair financial compensation for injuries and losses arising from a motorist’s failure to follow the rules of the road. If a biker is properly found to have contributed, by some percentage, to a crash occurring, the entitlement to fair financial compensation is not eliminated, but rather is reduced by the percentage of that contribution.
ICBC’s internal determination of fault has zero bearing in a court of law, and should not be accepted without independent legal advice.
Regardless of their internal determination, and even if ICBC initially accepts full responsibility on behalf of their insured motorist, liability can be raised and challenged down the road. In every case, we take all necessary steps to investigate and preserve evidence so as to be armed to prove liability if it becomes necessary to do so, regardless of what liability position ICBC takes initially.
At Hergott Law, we prepare every case as if it is going to trial. An actual trial is seldom necessary to compel ICBC to pay fair financial compensation for our clients’ injuries and losses, but it is by being prepared to hold the defending insurance company to task that fair settlements are reached.
We are selective about the cases we take on. It is important that we be able to provide every client with the high level of service Hergott Law has been recognized for. It is also important to us that we act only for those injured victims who we believe in, who are seeking fair financial compensation for their injuries and losses in an honest way.
In our civil justice system, injury claims are defended by very well-funded, powerful insurance companies like ICBC. Injured victims need strong advocates on their side to achieve a fair outcome. We have represented individuals in a wide range of claims and have achieved successful settlements as well as court judgments for our clients.
We act for injured victims from all over British Columbia, as well as for those living outside of British Columbia who were injured in motor vehicle incidents within the Province.