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Knowledge, experience, and dedication have brought the lawyers of The Epstein Law Firm to the forefront of their profession. From personal injury to civil litigation, they have built a strong record of success in achieving justice for their clients.
Our practice is diverse and well-established. Recognizing that every case is unique, we always begin by listening to you.
The Epstein Law Firm, P.A. has been successfully representing clients throughout New Jersey since 1973
Most New Jersey drivers get their medical bills paid by their own PIP coverage after a crash, no matter who caused it. Motorcyclists do not. A motorcycle policy in New Jersey is not required to provide PIP for the rider the way an auto policy is — “motorcycle” is not even included in the no-fault law’s definition of “automobile.” From the first medical bill, your case is about identifying which coverages actually apply, and insurers know most riders have never mapped theirs.
That coverage gap is only the first way motorcycle cases differ. Juries and adjusters carry biases about riders, the injuries are often catastrophic, and the other driver almost always claims they “never saw” the motorcycle. The Epstein Law Firm, led by Michael Epstein, a Certified Civil Trial Attorney, handles motorcycle cases built for those realities: early evidence preservation, correct coverage mapping, and trial-ready preparation that forces insurers past the stereotypes.
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The Epstein Law Firm can review your motorcycle accident claim and explain the evidence, deadlines, and next steps that may apply.
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Three differences define motorcycle litigation in New Jersey. First, the insurance structure: without rider PIP, there is no automatic first payer for medical treatment. Bills land on health insurance, medical payments coverage if you bought it, or the liability claim itself — each with its own rules, liens, and reimbursement rights that must be managed from the start.
Second, the lawsuit threshold works differently. Because motorcyclists are outside the no-fault PIP system, riders are generally not subject to the “limitation on lawsuit” threshold that restricts car drivers’ pain-and-suffering claims. That removes one defense — but it also means the insurer fights harder on fault and damages instead.
Third, the injuries. Riders absorb impacts directly, so fractures, road rash requiring grafting, traumatic brain injuries, and spinal injuries are common even in crashes that would total a car without hospitalizing its driver. The medical proof must capture not just what happened but what it will cost over a lifetime — future surgeries, therapy, and lost earning capacity.
Start with your own motorcycle policy: liability limits, uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, and any medical payments coverage you purchased. UM/UIM is often the most important line on the page — it is your backstop when the at-fault driver carries minimum limits or none at all, and too many riders carry the minimum without realizing what a serious injury costs.
Next, look beyond the bike policy. If you own a car insured in New Jersey, your auto policy’s UM/UIM coverage may also apply to a motorcycle crash. Household policies can add further layers. Then the at-fault driver’s liability coverage, and in commercial contexts — a delivery driver, a company vehicle — employer policies with far higher limits.
Each layer has notice requirements and its own adjuster. Missing a notice deadline on your own UM policy can cost you that coverage entirely. Mapping every policy in the first weeks is not paperwork — it is what determines whether a catastrophic injury has adequate insurance behind it.
Motorcyclists face a quiet prejudice: the assumption that riding is inherently reckless, so the rider must have been at fault. Adjusters raise it subtly — questions about your speed, your lane position, your experience — and jurors can carry it silently. You cannot argue bias away. You defeat it with evidence.
The most common fact pattern is the left-turn collision: a driver turns across the rider’s path and says they never saw the motorcycle. “I didn’t see them” is not a defense; it is an admission that the driver failed to keep a proper lookout. Intersection cameras, dashcam footage, witness statements, and damage patterns showing the rider had the right of way turn that admission into liability.
Your riding history helps too. A valid motorcycle endorsement, safety course completion, and a well-maintained bike with proper gear all undercut the recklessness narrative before it forms. Bring your license, training certificates, and maintenance records to your consultation.
New Jersey requires every motorcycle rider and passenger to wear a helmet — the state’s motorcycle safety program is built around it, and riding without one is a violation. Insurers will absolutely raise non-use against you if you were not wearing one.
But the helmet question is narrower than insurers pretend. It does not decide who caused the crash — a driver who turned left across your lane is liable whether or not you wore a helmet. At most, it becomes a damages argument about whether a helmet would have reduced specific head injuries, and even that requires expert proof, not an adjuster’s assertion.
Meanwhile, a damaged helmet is evidence in your favor: it documents impact severity and responsible riding. Preserve it, along with your jacket, gloves, and boots — gear damage corroborates the forces your body absorbed.
The Epstein Law Firm can review the evidence, insurance issues, and next steps that may matter in your motorcycle accident claim.
Medical care comes first, and then documentation. Photograph the motorcycle, your gear, the other vehicle, the road, and your injuries before anything is repaired or cleaned. Get the police report number and make sure the report reflects the driver’s account accurately — early versions given at the scene are the hardest to change later.
Do not give the other driver’s insurer a recorded statement, and do not accept a quick settlement before the full extent of your injuries is known. Motorcycle injuries evolve: fractures reveal complications, brain injuries declare themselves late, and road rash can require multiple procedures. Early offers are priced for what is visible on day three, not what treatment costs in month six.
Finally, preserve the motorcycle itself. Insurers and defense experts will want to inspect it, and its damage pattern is often the best reconstruction evidence in the case. Store it unrepaired until your lawyer says otherwise.
New Jersey generally gives you two years from the crash date to file a personal injury lawsuit. Miss it, and the claim is gone no matter how clear the fault.
Shorter clocks apply in special situations. If a public entity contributed — a dangerous road condition, a government vehicle, unmarked construction — you generally must file a formal notice of claim within 90 days. Your own UM/UIM policies have notice requirements that can be shorter still. The rule for riders: get the coverage map and the deadline calendar built in the first weeks.
Michael Epstein is a Certified Civil Trial Attorney — a credential the New Jersey Supreme Court grants to a small percentage of lawyers with substantial trial experience. Motorcycle cases are where that credential matters most: biased adjusters, catastrophic injuries, and complex coverage stacks are exactly what trial preparation overcomes. The Epstein Law Firm has recovered multimillion-dollar results in serious injury cases, and our lawyers bring over 120 years of combined experience to New Jersey injury victims. We handle motorcycle cases on contingency — no fee unless we recover — and the consultation is free.
If you were hurt riding anywhere in New Jersey, contact our office before giving statements or accepting an early offer. We also handle car accidents, truck accidents, and bicycle accidents.
Speak with a New Jersey motorcycle accident lawyer about your rights and options. Free consultation, no fee unless we win.
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Below are answers to common questions about motorcycle accident claims in New Jersey. This information is general and not legal advice — contact our office for guidance about your specific situation.
Generally no — and this is the most important insurance difference in motorcycle cases. New Jersey’s no-fault PIP system applies to “automobiles,” and “motorcycle” is not included in that definition — motorcycle policies are not required to provide PIP coverage for the rider the way auto policies are. Do not assume an automatic first layer of medical payments exists.
Instead, injured riders typically rely on health insurance, medical payments coverage purchased on the motorcycle policy, the at-fault driver’s bodily injury liability coverage, and their own uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. Each source has its own notice requirements and reimbursement rights, which is why mapping every applicable policy in the first weeks is essential.
Sources: NJ DOBI Order — motorcycle policies and PIP coverage requirements; DOBI 2026 NJ Auto Insurance Buyer’s Guide — PIP coverage.
In most cases, two years from the crash date under N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2. If the deadline passes without a filed lawsuit, you generally lose the right to sue regardless of injury severity.
Shorter deadlines can apply alongside it. If a public entity contributed — a dangerous road condition, unmarked construction, a government vehicle — you generally must file a formal notice of claim within 90 days under the Tort Claims Act. Your own uninsured/underinsured motorist policies also carry notice requirements. Build the deadline calendar in the first weeks, not near the end of the two years.
Sources: P.L. 2019, c.120 — text of N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2 (two-year limit); NJ Law Revision Commission — Tort Claims Act notice requirements (N.J.S.A. 59:8-8).
Generally no. The limitation-on-lawsuit (verbal threshold) option restricts the pain-and-suffering claims of people covered by the no-fault PIP system — and because motorcyclists sit outside that system, riders are typically not subject to the threshold. That removes one defense insurers use against car drivers.
Do not mistake that for an easier case. Insurers redirect the fight to fault and damages: disputing who caused the crash, minimizing the injuries, and leaning on bias against riders. The absence of the threshold means your pain-and-suffering claim is available — it still has to be proven with thorough medical documentation.
Sources: NJ DOBI Order — motorcycle policies and PIP coverage requirements; DOBI — Everything You Wanted to Know About NJ Auto Insurance (2026).
Start with your motorcycle policy’s declarations page: liability limits, uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, and any medical payments coverage. UM/UIM is often the most important line — it is your backstop when the at-fault driver carries minimum limits or none at all.
Then look wider: auto UM/UIM policies in your household may also apply to a motorcycle crash, the at-fault driver’s liability coverage is the primary target, and commercial or employer policies can add far higher limits when a working driver is involved. Each policy has notice requirements — missing the notice deadline on your own UM coverage can forfeit it entirely.
Sources: DOBI 2026 NJ Auto Insurance Buyer’s Guide — uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage; P.L. 2022, c.87 — UM/UIM minimum requirements.
No — it is an admission. “I didn’t see them” means the driver failed to keep a proper lookout, which is the driver’s legal duty, not the rider’s. The most common version is the left-turn collision, where a driver turns across the rider’s path; the rider with the right of way is not at fault because a driver failed to look.
Turning that admission into a result takes evidence: intersection or dashcam video, witness statements, and damage patterns showing lane position and right of way. What the driver said at the scene — before consulting an insurer — is often the most honest version, which is why the police report’s account of the driver’s statements matters so much.
Sources: NJ Division of Highway Traffic Safety — Motorcycle Safety; IIHS — Motorcycles research.
Yes — New Jersey requires every motorcycle rider and passenger to wear a helmet, and the state’s motorcycle safety program is built around helmet use and rider training. Riding without one is a violation, and insurers will raise it.
But non-use does not decide who caused the crash: a driver who turned across your lane is liable whether or not you wore a helmet. At most, it becomes a damages argument about whether a helmet would have reduced specific head injuries — and that requires expert proof, not an adjuster’s assertion. A damaged helmet, meanwhile, is evidence in your favor, documenting impact severity and responsible riding. Preserve it.
Usually yes. New Jersey’s comparative negligence law reduces your recovery by your percentage of fault but allows recovery as long as your fault is not greater than the other driver’s. A rider who was slightly over the speed limit can still recover from a driver who turned left across their path — fault is apportioned by actual contribution.
Insurers work hard to inflate the rider’s share, playing on bias about motorcycling. The counterweight is evidence: the driver’s lookout failure, distraction, speed, and lane discipline, plus your endorsement, training, and maintenance records. Fault percentages are negotiated, not handed down, so disputed-fault cases need early legal involvement.
Sources: DOBI Ombudsman — Auto Comparative Negligence Settlement FAQs; NJ Law Revision Commission — comparative fault framework (N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.1 to -5.3).
The motorcycle itself: its damage pattern is often the best reconstruction evidence, showing impact point, speed, and direction of force. Store it unrepaired until your lawyer releases it. Your helmet and gear corroborate the forces involved, and scene photos — road position, sight lines, signage, debris — capture what fades within days.
Beyond the physical evidence, secure the police investigation file, the driver’s at-scene statements, witness information, and any video from intersection, dash, or surveillance cameras. Motorcycle cases also benefit from expert analysis more often than car cases, because jurors need help understanding rider dynamics — braking, lane positioning, and conspicuity — that drivers take for granted.
Medical expenses, lost income and reduced earning capacity, pain and suffering, out-of-pocket costs, and compensation for permanent impairment, scarring, or disfigurement. Because riders absorb impacts directly, future medical costs — additional surgeries, therapy, prosthetics, long-term care — are often the largest category and must be projected by medical and economic experts, not guessed.
Motorcycle cases are not subject to the auto verbal threshold, so pain-and-suffering claims do not face that gate. But every category must be documented: medical records describing lasting limitations, employer records of lost work, and testimony about how the injuries changed daily life. Cases with lifetime cost projections resolve for more than cases built on bills to date.
Sources: DOBI — Everything You Wanted to Know About NJ Auto Insurance (2026); IIHS — Motorcycles research.
Almost never before you know the full extent of your injuries. Motorcycle injuries evolve: fractures develop complications, brain injuries declare themselves late, and road rash can require multiple procedures. Early offers are priced for what is visible in the first weeks, not what treatment costs months later — and accepting one typically ends your claim permanently.
The insurer’s urgency is not your urgency. You have up to two years to file suit, and a fair evaluation requires stabilized injuries, complete medical records, and a mapped insurance picture. If an adjuster is pressing you to decide quickly, that pressure is information about what the claim may actually be worth.
Sources: DOBI Ombudsman — dealing with insurers on disputed claims; DOBI — Automobile Insurance consumer page.
The Epstein Law Firm serves clients from three New Jersey locations:
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973-381-8410
The Epstein Law Firm
The Epstein Law Firm