Helping Families Pursue Answers After a Fatal Motorcycle Crash

A motorcycle fatal crash lawsuit is a claim a family files after a rider dies because another person’s negligence caused the crash. California law says who may bring that claim, and strict deadlines apply. This guide explains the basics in plain terms.

What a Motorcycle Fatal Crash Lawsuit Covers and Who Can File It

A motorcycle fatal crash lawsuit covers the losses the family and the rider’s estate suffer. Under Code Civ. Proc. § 377.60, the rider’s surviving spouse, domestic partner, and children may bring the claim. If the rider left no surviving issue, the persons, including the surviving spouse or domestic partner, who would inherit the rider’s property by intestate succession may sue.

Parents, stepchildren, a putative spouse, children of the putative spouse, and (if the parents are deceased) the rider’s legal guardians may also sue if they depended on the rider. A minor may sue if the minor lived in the rider’s home for the previous 180 days and relied on the rider for half or more of support.

Two kinds of claims often matter:

• Wrongful death claim: the family’s own losses, such as loss of companionship.
• Survival action: the rider’s losses before death, such as medical bills. The rider’s personal representative or successor in interest brings it, under Code Civ. Proc. § 377.34.

Which family members qualify turns on each person’s relationship to the rider. Identify who may have a claim early.

Who Can Be Held Responsible After a Motorcycle Fatal Crash

The at-fault driver is a common target, and others may share responsibility. Under Civ. Code § 1714, everyone is responsible for injury caused by a want of ordinary care. Cal. Civ. Code § 1714 reads: “(a) Everyone is responsible, not only for the result of his or her willful acts, but also for an injury occasioned to another by his or her want of ordinary care or skill in the management of his or her property or person, except so far as the latter has, willfully or by want of ordinary care, brought the injury upon himself or herself.”

• The at-fault driver: speeding, distracted driving, or failing to yield can support liability.
• A public agency: a city, county, or Caltrans may be liable for a dangerous road condition. Under Gov. Code § 835, the plaintiff must show the property was in a dangerous condition, that the condition caused the injury, that it created a reasonably foreseeable risk of the kind of injury incurred, and either an employee’s negligent act created the condition or the agency had notice of it a sufficient time before the injury to act.
• Private property owners: a hazard on private land can also support a claim.

Claims against a public agency have a much shorter clock. Under Gov. Code § 911.2, a claim for death must be presented not later than six months after the cause of action accrues.

What Families May Recover in a California Motorcycle Death Claim

Families may recover economic losses, such as medical bills and lost income. They may also recover non-economic losses (losses that are not money), such as loss of companionship. Civ. Code § 1431.2 defines both types. Under that section, each defendant pays non-economic damages only for its own share of fault.

In a survival action, Code Civ. Proc. § 377.34 generally excludes pain, suffering, and disfigurement. A narrow exception applies only to actions granted a preference before January 1, 2022, or filed between January 1, 2022 and January 1, 2026.

No dollar figure can be set from general information. The amount turns on the rider’s age, income, family ties, the evidence of fault, and the insurance available. Pay records, medical bills, and funeral invoices help show these losses.

What to Expect: The Claim Process and Timeline

A claim usually moves through a review, evidence gathering, insurance talks, and a deadline check before any lawsuit is filed.

1. Consultation: review the crash, the reports, and who may bring the claim.
2. Evidence: gather the police or California Highway Patrol report, witness statements, vehicle information, and the rider’s medical and funeral records.
3. Public agency: present any written claim within six months, as noted above.
4. Lawsuit deadline: Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1 sets two years for an action for the death of an individual caused by another’s wrongful act.
5. Successor filing: a successor in interest files an affidavit under penalty of perjury, with a certified death certificate, under Code Civ. Proc. § 377.32.

Timelines vary from case to case. No particular length is promised.

Common Questions: Helmets, Licensing, Fault, and What Not to Say

Helmet use and fault are fact questions, and the law weighs them case by case.

• Helmets: Veh. Code § 27803 requires drivers and passengers to wear a safety helmet when riding on a motorcycle, motor-driven cycle, or motorized bicycle operated on the highways. Under Evid. Code § 669, a statute violation can create a presumption of failure to use due care if the violation proximately caused death or injury to person or property, the harm was of the kind the statute was designed to prevent, and the person harmed was within the class the statute protects; that presumption can be rebutted.
• Licensing: insurers may ask whether the rider held the required motorcycle license. That fact is weighed along with the crash facts.
• What not to say: avoid recorded statements, guesses about speed, and social media posts about the crash. Don’t sign a release before the full losses are known.

Why Families Work With Colvin Accident Lawyers

Colvin Accident Lawyers is a personal injury firm based in Bakersfield, California. The firm handles motorcycle, car, truck, bicycle, pedestrian, bus, dog bite, premises liability, catastrophic injury, and wrongful death claims.

• Responsible lawyer: Donald Norman Colvin is the responsible lawyer for this page. Our team of lawyers and support staff works on each claim.
• Where we are based: Colvin Accident Lawyers is based in Bakersfield, California.
• Focus: the firm concentrates its work on personal injury and wrongful death matters.
• Results: results turn on the facts of each case. Results will differ if the facts differ.

Frequently Asked Questions About Motorcycle Fatal Crash Claims

Talk With Colvin Accident Lawyers About Your Family’s Situation

If you’re planning a funeral, gathering records, and returning insurance calls, you’re carrying a lot at once. Three early decisions matter most: who may file, whether a public agency is involved, and which deadlines apply. To talk through those questions, contact Colvin Accident Lawyers for a free, confidential initial consultation with no obligation to continue.

Colvin Accident Lawyers, Bakersfield, California — responsible for this site.