North Carolina ATV Accidents Attorney

ATV accident cases often result in serious injuries, but the real difficulty often lies in trying to locate insurance coverage to pay for victims’ injuries and damages. While some ATVs are fully insured, these vehicles are not street legal in North Carolina and they are therefore not covered by the North Carolina Financial Responsibility Act which mandates liability insurance coverage for all drivers. Further, homeowners’ coverage typically only pays for damages arising from an ATV collision if the accident occurs on the homeowner’s insured property. If you or a loved one has been injured in an ATV accident, Raleigh car accident lawyer Carl Nagle and the team at Nagle & Associates can help you identify all available insurance coverage sources and seek full compensation for your financial and physical hardships. Whether your ATV accident involved another vehicle or was a single-ATV collision, we understand the multitude of potential causes that may have been involved. Carl Nagle is dedicated to pursuing maximum monetary compensation on behalf of injured individuals. We have successfully secured hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of roadway accident victims throughout North Carolina, including in Raleigh, Wilmington, Asheville, and Winston-Salem.

Assert your Right to Compensation Trust Our Raleigh ATV Accidents Attorney

ATVs are also known as “quads,” due to their four wheels, and they may weigh up to 800 pounds. These small but powerful vehicles typically reach speeds of 60+ miles per hour. In some situations, driver error may result in a rollover accident, as may inexperience or intoxication. Since ATVs lack the protection of a passenger vehicle, accident victims may suffer catastrophic injuries, including broken bones, internal injuries, and damage to their head and neck.

An ATV, like all vehicles, requires driving with care and focus. Negligent driving may harm others, including loved ones riding as passengers. If a driver carries a passenger, they should do so only on an ATV that is designed specifically to carry passengers. This is because the center of gravity shifts with a passenger aboard, and the vehicle may more easily flip.

Following an ATV accident, it is important to assess liability for the crash. Victims have a right to pursue a legal claim against a negligent ATV owner or a careless driver if they were injured in a collision caused by a driver’s carelessness or inexperience. Victims of malfunctioning ATVs also may potentially pursue a product liability case if the ATV was unsafe or defective.

Since ATVs are not cars and are not generally meant to be driven on the road, these vehicles are mostly used on trails. If a trail is damaged, and its condition led to an accident, a property owner that failed to maintain the trail or roadway may be found liable. A premises liability theory may be an appropriate legal claim if the victim can show that the property owner failed to address known or reasonably discoverable hazards on their trail. However, as a defendant in a personal injury lawsuit involving an ATV accident, a property owner may set forth a defense of contributory negligence.

Contributory negligence under North Carolina law provides that a plaintiff in a personal injury lawsuit may not recover damages if they were partly responsible for the accident and their injuries. This “pure” contributory negligence doctrine is a defense that may prevent victims from recovering compensation even if they were minimally at fault.

A victim of an ATV accident who successfully demonstrates that a defendant was entirely at fault for an accident would then set forth evidence of their resulting injuries. To recover damages, it is important that the victim document all of their medical costs, as well as wages missed from work due to their injuries. Future medical costs may be recovered if the victim can prove lasting or permanent harm or a need for future treatment or procedures. Doctors and rehabilitation specialists can testify about the potential impact of these injuries, should they prevent the victim from working until retirement age.

Consult a Car Accident Lawyer in Raleigh or Elsewhere in NC

Determining liability following an ATV accident may be complicated, and locating insurance coverage to fund personal injury claims can also be quite difficult. At Nagle & Associates, Raleigh car accident attorney Carl Nagle’s former insurance defense experience has prepared him to help victims of ATV accidents in their claims against homeowners, property owners, or other potentially responsible parties. Also, since we focus solely on traumatic injury lawsuits, our team has ongoing relationships with physicians, neurosurgeons, and psychiatrists. With seven offices throughout the state, we serve accident victims and families in Raleigh, Asheville, Wilmington, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Charlotte, Hickory, and other areas of Wake, Durham, Forsyth, Mecklenburg, Guilford, Brunswick, Cumberland, and Catawba Counties. Call us at (800) 411-1583 or fill out our online form to set up a free consultation with a motor vehicle collision attorney.