The attorney rides and rides a lot. Of course, the attorney must know the law and be competent but so much more is required.
Only an attorney who rides knows how it feels when that huge SUL makes a left hand turn directly in front of us. The fear. The anger. Knowing the collision will occur and there is nothing we can do. The horrible sound when our bikes and our bodies strike the SUV.
The attorney must have experienced this to understand.
The attorney must know how it feels to lay on the street waiting for the ambulance.
Remember having your riding gear cut off and laying in the street almost naked.
It is impossible to explain to a non-riding attorney how this feels.
There is a unique feature about riders. Many times, they are more worried about their bike than themselves.
Clients have called me from a hospital bed wondering if their bike will be okay. Can I get their bike fixed before they are out of the hospital so they can ride again?
We love our bikes. Mine is called “gorgeous.” We can’t explain to a non-riding attorney how our bikes are part of our family.
When I began representing injured motorcyclists, I had a surprise. I would go to the hospital and my client would show me a hundred pictures of his/her bike and one picture of the family. You know this is true. I have many pictures of all the wonderful places I have ridden and two pictures of my wife-and I love my wife.
Try explaining to a non-riding attorney why you talk to your bike.
I tell my bike “gorgeous” how pretty she is. I even tell her “I love you.”
No, I’m not crazy. I remember how she saved me in a snowstorm or a hail storm. The engine purred and she was a steady mount and I rode home safe.
I remember the time in Arizona when the sky went black and lightning was all around and she safely carried me to the hotel and 30 seconds later hell broke loose.
I remember riding down from Mt. Saint Helen when I was the only one on the road and the road was covered in ice. Going 10 miles an hour around a curve and she never lost her balance.
I remember the time my bike and I hid under an overpass because the side wind was so strong I knew I would be blown over and she never went down.
I remember the time hornets got up my sleeves and they were stinging my arms and neck, and I took my hands off the bars and tried to kill them while the bike held the road on its own as we were traveling 70 miles an hour on a Montana highway.
Whoever went on a 5-day road trip without getting soaked, trying to put our rain gear on along the side of the road? Who has never forgotten their rain gear?
My experiences and a thousand more are the same as yours. They are what binds us together as riders.
It is not the attorneys’ fault they do not understand. He/she never rode and it is impossible for them to understand.