It seems that riding season is arriving early this year and it’s time to renew the plates on my motorcycle. My friend and I were discussing insurance costs and he suggested that it didn’t make sense to get over the bare minimum liability insurance for a motorcycle since it’s motorcyclists that get injured and not the other way around. That conversation got me wondering how many fellow motorcycle owners are riding on the roads with the minimum $200,000.00 liability coverage.

The amount of liability coverage that you decide to purchase this riding season may warrants a second look this spring. Specifically, there are at least two additional scenarios worth considering. The first is the situation where you have a passenger on your bike with you. If your passenger gets injured and you are even partially responsible, you will be hoping that you have enough insurance to compensate your injured passenger. It is too late to add insurance after an accident and, unfortunately, people are more likely to get injured significantly when motorcycles are involved in accidents.

A second troublesome hypothetical situation is one where your driving causes another vehicle to crash while avoiding a collision with your motorcycle. Imagine if that vehicle has a few people in the car who suffer moderate to severe injuries. $200,000.00 May not be enough to cover the compensation that you’re a responsible to pay to the people injured in the accident.

When your insurance is not sufficient to fully compensate the people injured in an accident where you are at fault, then the shortfall could fall on you personally. That may be a risk that you are willing to take to save some money on insurance. However, it is worth thinking about the possibilities, costs and risk again this year before re-insuring your bike for another awesome season of riding your motorcycle around the beautiful Okanagan. Ride safe!!

If you have been involved in a motorcycle accident and would like some advice, please contact eric@hemmerlinglaw.com or (250) 448-7200 for a free 1/2 consultation.

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