Boston Motorcycle Accident Lawyers
Injured in a motorcycle accident in Boston, MA? Contact the top Boston motorcycle accident lawyer to seek justice and compensation.
Motorcycle crashes in Boston cause injuries that are rarely minor. High-speed impacts on I-93, the Mass Pike, and Storrow Drive, along with dangerous lane changes and left-turn collisions on Commonwealth Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue, leave riders with fractures, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, and road rash requiring surgical debridement. While you are at Massachusetts General Hospital or Brigham and Women's trying to understand what comes next, the at-fault driver's insurance company has already assigned its team to minimize what it pays you.
At Breakstone, White & Gluck, we have represented seriously injured motorcycle accident victims throughout Massachusetts for over 30 years. We know the insurers who defend these cases, the arguments they use to reduce motorcycle claims, and the expert witnesses who counter those arguments most effectively. We prepare every case for trial, handle every aspect of the claim, and advance all costs so you pay nothing unless we win.
Get your free case evaluation and discover how our Boston motorcycle accident lawyers can help you seek the compensation you deserve
OVER $300 MILLION
won for our clients
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$3,750,000
Motorcycle Accident
Motorcyclist suffers facial fractures, concussion and loss of vision in one eye
$3,500,000
Motorcycle Accident
Motorcycle vs. Truck Collision; Wrongful Death
$1,250,000
Motorcycle Accident
Car Cuts Off Motorcyclist Who Suffers Severe Orthopedic Injuries
He was amazing. He was responsive, supportive, thorough, and gave great advice throughout the whole stressful ordeal. They are the best!
~ Anna Olds
In This Boston Motorcycle Accident Guide
- What Should You Do After a Motorcycle Crash in Boston?
- Why Hire Breakstone White & Gluck?
- Common Causes of Boston Motorcycle Accidents
- Injuries We Handle in Motorcycle Accident Cases
- How a Boston Motorcycle Accident Lawyer from Breakstone, White & Gluck Can Help
- Who Is Liable for Your Boston Motorcycle Accident?
- What Compensation Can You Recover?
- How Massachusetts Law Affects Your Claim
- How Motorcycle Insurance Works in Massachusetts
- How Long You Have to File a Claim
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Speak With a Boston Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Today
What Should You Do After a Motorcycle Crash in Boston?
The steps you take in the hours after a crash directly affect how much compensation you can recover. Follow these steps to protect your health and your claim.
- Call 911 and go to the emergency room: Adrenaline masks serious injuries like internal bleeding and traumatic brain injuries. An ER visit creates the medical record that stops insurers from arguing your injuries happened somewhere else.
- Preserve your bike and photograph the scene: Keep your motorcycle in its exact post-crash condition. Take photos of vehicle positions, road hazards, and damage to your gear. The bike itself contains physical evidence of the impact.
- Decline recorded statements: The other driver's insurer will call quickly and sound cooperative. Do not give any statement or sign any documents before speaking with an attorney.
- Call a Boston motorcycle accident lawyer immediately: Skid marks fade, surveillance footage gets deleted, and witnesses become harder to reach. Early legal action preserves the evidence we need to prove your case.
Why Hire Breakstone White & Gluck?
When you are dealing with a serious injury, unpaid medical bills, and time away from work, you need a firm that treats your case with the same urgency you feel. At Breakstone White & Gluck, one of our three founding partners personally handles every case from the first call through resolution.
We focus exclusively on serious personal injury cases. That singular focus means we understand exactly how catastrophic motorcycle injuries are valued and we know how to stop insurance companies from minimizing your claim.
- Direct partner access: You work with Marc Breakstone, David White, or Ronald Gluck directly, not a junior associate.
- Trial-ready preparation: We build every case as if it will go before a jury, which gives us real leverage at the negotiating table.
- Recognized excellence: Our partners are named Top 100 Super Lawyers, listed in Best Lawyers in America, and hold AV ratings from Martindale-Hubbell.
- Selective caseload: We limit the cases we accept so your case gets the attention it deserves.
Our firm also distributes bicycle helmets to Massachusetts children through Project KidSafe, reflecting a genuine commitment to rider safety in our community.
Common Causes of Boston Motorcycle Accidents
Most motorcycle crashes are caused by the negligence of another driver, not the rider. Drivers routinely underestimate a motorcycle's speed or simply fail to look before changing lanes or turning.
Common causes we see in Boston motorcycle cases include:
- Left-turn collisions at intersections where drivers cut across a rider's path
- Distracted driving, including texting and GPS use
- Unsafe lane changes into a rider's blind spot
- Tailgating on high-speed corridors like I-93 and Storrow Drive
- Dooring on busy streets like Boylston and Newbury
- Drunk or impaired driving
- Road defects and debris in active construction zones
Injuries We Handle in Motorcycle Accident Cases
Without a steel frame or airbags, a rider absorbs the full force of a collision. Even a low-speed impact can produce injuries that require surgery, long-term rehabilitation, or permanent care.
We represent clients with the most serious motorcycle injuries, including:
- Traumatic brain injuries and skull fractures
- Spinal cord injuries and paralysis
- Complex bone fractures requiring surgical repair
- Amputations and degloving injuries
- Severe road rash and permanent disfigurement
- Internal organ damage
- Wrongful death
Our results reflect the gravity of these injuries. We have obtained significant recoveries for clients injured in motorcycle accidents and for clients with brain injuries.
How a Boston motorcycle accident lawyer from Breakstone, White & Gluck can help
Breakstone, White & Gluck relentlessly represents our clients. Our Boston motorcycle accident lawyers will thoroughly review all the available motor vehicle insurance coverages, including the at-fault driver’s policy, as well as your own. We will gather the evidence to secure the maximum award possible. Whatever led to your motorcycle crash, our attorneys will work closely with you and review your short- and long-term medical and financial needs.
We prepare every motorcycle accident case we take for trial, because sometimes a jury trial is what’s needed to ensure the best possible outcome. We are known for our willingness to try cases, and have secured several million dollars on behalf of clients. This means that insurance companies may be more willing to negotiate in good faith and from a better starting point. Some of our awards over the years include:
- $3.75 Million for motorcyclist unable to fully return to work after crash.
- $3.5 Million for family of motorcyclist run over by a waste disposal truck and killed.
- $1.25 Million for a seriously injured motorcyclist who received extensive medical care, and who was out of work for several months.
In Massachusetts, motorcycle accident victims have a three-year statute of limitations to file a negligence lawsuit against responsible parties, although in same cases there are shorter notice periods which may be very strict to allow time to prepare and negotiate the best case, however, contact our offices as soon as possible.
Katelyn Ludwig
"I knew that Ron had my best interests at heart, and that I could trust him to help me make the right decision."
Who Is Liable for Your Boston Motorcycle Accident?
Identifying every responsible party is one of the most important steps in maximizing your compensation. Multiple parties may share fault for the same crash.
Potentially liable parties include:
- Negligent car, truck, or rideshare drivers
- Delivery and trucking companies whose drivers caused the crash
- Rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft when their driver was logged into the app
- Municipalities responsible for dangerous road conditions or broken traffic signals
- Construction contractors who created hazards on the roadway
- Motorcycle or parts manufacturers when a defect contributed to the crash
Claims against a city or town require a formal legal notice, called a presentment letter, to be filed within two years. Missing that deadline eliminates your right to recover from the government entirely, which is one reason to contact us quickly.
One pattern we see in Boston motorcycle accident cases is that left-turn collisions at intersections on Commonwealth Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue are the most aggressively contested by insurers, who routinely argue the rider was speeding or riding outside the lane. We respond with event data recorder information from the at-fault vehicle and any available intersection camera footage, which almost always contradicts the driver's account. Locking in that evidence within the first 48 to 72 hours is often what determines whether liability is clear or contested through the entire case.
What Compensation Can You Recover?
Massachusetts law allows you to recover both economic and non-economic damages after a motorcycle accident. Economic damages cover your measurable financial losses. Non-economic damages compensate for the physical and emotional impact on your life.
| Damage Type | What It Covers |
| Medical expenses | Emergency care, surgery, rehabilitation, and future treatment |
| Lost income | Wages already missed and reduced future earning capacity |
| Pain and suffering | Physical pain, emotional distress, and post-traumatic stress |
| Permanent disability | Scarring, amputation, and loss of physical function |
| Property damage | Your motorcycle, helmet, and riding gear |
| Wrongful death | Funeral costs, lost financial support, and loss of companionship |
Massachusetts places no cap on pain and suffering damages in motorcycle injury cases. We pursue every category of loss so the full financial burden of the crash shifts to the party responsible for causing it.
What we see consistently in the motorcycle cases we handle in Greater Boston is that future care cost documentation is the component most often missing from initial demands, and the gap is largest in cases involving traumatic brain injuries. Riders treated at Massachusetts General Hospital or Brigham and Women's after a serious crash often require neuropsychological rehabilitation and long-term follow-up that can cost far more than the initial hospitalization. We work with life care planners who document that cost projection before the demand goes out, because it is nearly impossible to recover future care costs in a supplemental claim once a settlement is signed.
How Massachusetts Law Affects Your Claim
Comparative negligence is the legal rule that determines how fault is shared between parties. Massachusetts uses a modified version that allows you to recover compensation as long as you are not more than 50 percent at fault. Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault. If you are found 20 percent responsible for a $200,000 claim, you would receive $160,000.
Massachusetts also requires all riders and passengers to wear a helmet. Not wearing one does not prevent you from filing a claim, but insurers will use it to argue that your head injuries should be worth less. We push back on that argument with medical evidence and expert testimony.
Lane splitting, which means riding between lanes of slow or stopped traffic, is illegal in Massachusetts. If an insurer argues you were lane splitting at the time of the crash, we counter that claim with physical evidence and accident reconstruction.
In our experience handling motorcycle cases in Massachusetts, the comparative fault argument based on helmet use is the one insurers raise most consistently even though Massachusetts law does not make helmet use relevant to liability. Adjusters introduce the issue in early communications to plant the idea of shared responsibility before any formal fault determination has been made. We address that argument directly in the initial demand package so it does not have an opportunity to shape the insurer's opening position.
How Motorcycle Insurance Works in Massachusetts
Motorcycles are excluded from Personal Injury Protection in Massachusetts. Personal Injury Protection, commonly called PIP, is the no-fault coverage that pays medical bills for car accident victims regardless of who caused the crash. Because motorcycles do not qualify, you cannot use PIP to cover your hospital bills.
This means your financial recovery depends on other sources:
- The at-fault driver's bodily injury coverage: This is the primary source of compensation when another driver caused the crash.
- Your own health insurance or MedPay: These policies can cover immediate medical costs while your injury claim is pending.
- Uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage: If the at-fault driver has no insurance or not enough, your own policy may fill the gap.
We identify every available insurance policy and pursue each one aggressively so your medical bills do not go unpaid while your case is resolved.
How Long You Have to File a Claim
You have three years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit in Massachusetts. If your claim involves a city, town, or state agency, you must send a presentment letter within two years or you will lose the right to sue entirely. Do not wait to call us. Evidence disappears fast, and every delay makes your case harder to prove.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I Have a Case if I Was Not Wearing a Helmet?
Yes. Not wearing a helmet does not prevent you from filing a claim against a negligent driver. Insurers may try to reduce compensation for head injuries, but we fight that argument with medical evidence.
Can I Recover the Cost of My Helmet, Gear, and Aftermarket Parts?
Yes. Your helmet, protective clothing, and aftermarket additions are all recoverable as property damage when properly documented. We make sure every item is accounted for in your claim.
Do I Have to Give a Recorded Statement to the Other Driver's Insurer?
No. You have no legal obligation to speak with the insurance company of the driver who hit you. We handle all insurer communication so your words cannot be used to reduce your payout.
What if the Other Driver Was Uninsured or Fled the Scene?
Your own uninsured motorist coverage may pay for your losses in a hit-and-run or uninsured driver situation. We also investigate the crash independently using traffic cameras and witness accounts to identify the responsible party.
Will My Health Insurer or MassHealth Take Part of My Settlement?
Health insurers and MassHealth can place a lien on your settlement to recover what they paid for your care. We negotiate these liens down to make sure the maximum amount of money reaches you directly.
Does a Police Report Determine Who Is at Fault?
No. A police report is evidence, but it is not the final word on liability. We build independent proof of fault using accident reconstruction specialists and physical evidence collected from the scene.
Can a Motorcycle Passenger File an Injury Claim?
Yes. An injured passenger can pursue compensation from the motorcycle operator, the other driver, or both, depending on who caused the crash. Passengers have the same legal rights as any other injury victim.
Speak With a Boston Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Today
At Breakstone White & Gluck, we handle the insurance companies, the investigation, and the legal process so you can focus on your medical treatment and getting back to work. We offer a completely free consultation and charge no fee unless we win your case.
Call 800-379-1244 or contact us online to speak with a founding partner today.
