After a motorcycle collision: rebuild the lane picture

Get emergency help for urgent injuries and follow the directions of the treating professionals. Once safe, write a short timeline: your direction of travel, lane, approximate position relative to traffic, the other vehicle’s movement, and where the motorcycle came to rest. A passenger should record a separate account in their own words. Memory is useful, but photographs, witnesses, and electronic records can test it.

Preserve photographs of both vehicles before repairs, riding gear, helmet damage, skid marks, lane lines, traffic controls, sight obstructions, and nearby cameras. Record camera locations promptly because private footage may be overwritten. Keep the crash report number and insurer correspondence together. If you cannot collect evidence personally, ask someone you trust to document what they can without entering an unsafe roadway.

California law defines lane splitting as a two-wheeled motorcycle moving between rows of stopped or moving vehicles. The DMV tells drivers to check mirrors and blind spots and to leave motorcyclists room. Neither the existence of lane splitting nor a driver’s statement that they did not see the motorcycle decides responsibility by itself. The relevant questions include speed, available space, signals, traffic density, visibility, and each person’s movement immediately before contact.

Make a simple sketch with lanes, direction arrows, the impact point, and where each vehicle stopped. Mark which facts you saw and which came from someone else. If a vehicle changed lanes or opened a door, preserve its position and damage pattern. If debris or a road defect played a role, document its exact location rather than assuming the motorist was the only possible source of harm.

Give clinicians accurate information about symptoms and changes over time; only a medical professional can assess an injury. Retain visit summaries, referrals, bills, work restrictions, receipts, and a dated log of missed activities or help needed at home. Do not turn a preliminary diagnosis into a prediction of permanent impairment. The California Courts explain that personal injury claims may involve medical costs, lost wages, emotional harm, and other losses, but proof and legal responsibility matter in each case.

California Courts identify a usual two-year deadline to sue for personal injury and warn that claims involving a government agency can have a shorter deadline. Treat that as a prompt for individual advice, not a calculation of your own filing date. A lawyer can examine the correct parties, applicable exceptions, insurance layers, and whether a separate property-damage issue exists.