Mobile motorcycle accident lawyer: a cruiser motorcycle with a helmet on the seat parked on a coastal highway with the Mobile skyline and bay bridge behind it, with a gavel and scales of justice

Riders in Mobile have the Causeway, the Bayway, Dauphin Island Parkway and the Eastern Shore, and they share every one of those roads with drivers who did not see them. When a car turns left across a motorcycle, the rider is the one who goes to USA Health. We represent injured motorcyclists in Mobile and Baldwin County from our office at 411 St. Francis Street, and we know how these cases get defended before the first call is made.

The defense in a motorcycle case is almost always the same: the rider was speeding, the rider was in the blind spot, the rider should have been able to stop. In Alabama that argument carries a weight it does not carry anywhere else, because a finding that the rider was even slightly at fault ends the case. Our job is to take that argument off the table with evidence, early.

Mobile Motorcycle Accident Claims: At a Glance

  • Deadline: two years from the crash under Ala. Code § 6-2-38, and six months to give notice if a city vehicle or city road defect was involved.
  • The 1% trap: Alabama’s contributory negligence rule bars recovery if the defense proves you shared any fault, which is why rider bias has to be answered with evidence.
  • Helmets: Alabama requires one (Ala. Code § 32-5A-245); not wearing one does not end your claim, but expect the defense to raise it.
  • Your own policy matters: uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is often where the real money is in a rider’s case.
  • Cost: free consultation, no fee unless we win: (251) 501-4232.

Motorcycle Crashes in Mobile County and Across Alabama

2024 was the deadliest year for Alabama riders in more than a decade. ALDOT’s 2024 Crash Facts count 1,810 motorcyclists involved in crashes statewide, 1,138 injured and 125 killed, up from 92 deaths the year before. Mobile County recorded 13,491 crashes of all kinds in 2024 and 73 traffic deaths. The state does not publish a county-level motorcycle count, but the Gulf Coast’s riding season runs most of the year, and our office sees motorcycle cases year-round.

One number from that report shapes every case: ALDOT attributes 63 percent of fatal motorcycle crashes to the motorcyclist. Insurers know that statistic and jurors share the assumption behind it. A rider’s case has to start from the premise that fault will be contested no matter how clear it looks.

Where Riders Get Hit Around Mobile

  • The Causeway (Battleship Parkway). Seven miles of two-lane and four-lane road across the top of the bay, lined with restaurants, boat launches and driveways. Left turns across traffic and cars pulling out of parking lots are the pattern here.
  • The Bayway. Elevated I-10 over Mobile Bay with no shoulder and nowhere to go. Crosswinds, sudden fog and stop-and-go traffic ahead of the tunnel make it dangerous for anyone on two wheels.
  • The Wallace Tunnel. The curve on the western approach and the backups inside the tunnel produce rear-end crashes. A motorcycle crash and fire closed eastbound I-10 at the tunnel in September 2025 with cars trapped behind it.
  • Dauphin Island Parkway and Rangeline Road. The routes to the island and the coast, with long stretches of high speed and cross traffic from side roads.
  • Airport Boulevard, Schillinger Road and Moffett Road. Six-lane and five-lane commercial corridors with constant turning traffic across the center lane. Airport Boulevard carries close to 60,000 vehicles a day near University Boulevard, and a car turning into a shopping center is the classic motorcycle crash.
  • I-65 and the I-10 interchange. Lane changes by drivers who never checked the mirror, and merges at the Exit 20 interchange where I-65 ends.
  • Baldwin County. US-98 through Daphne and Fairhope, the Foley Beach Express and the beach roads in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, where out-of-town drivers and seasonal traffic make the risk worse.

Alabama Motorcycle Laws That Come Up in Every Case

  • Helmets. Ala. Code § 32-5A-245 requires every rider and passenger to wear protective headgear meeting the specifications in § 32-12-41, and shoes. Alabama has no age exception.
  • Full lane, no lane splitting. Under § 32-5A-242 a motorcycle is entitled to the full use of a lane, no driver may deprive a rider of it, and riding between lanes of traffic is prohibited. Two motorcycles may ride side by side in one lane.
  • License. A Class M endorsement is required under § 32-5A-240. Riding without one is a traffic offense, and the defense will try to turn it into a fault argument; it is not one by itself.
  • Passengers and the guest statute. Alabama’s guest statute, § 32-1-2, bars a non-paying passenger from suing the driver of the vehicle they were riding on except for willful or wanton misconduct. A passenger hurt by another driver’s negligence has a full claim against that driver.
  • Right-of-way. The same rules of the road apply. A driver turning left must yield to oncoming traffic, including a motorcycle, and a driver changing lanes must make sure the lane is clear.

What Happens if You Were Not Wearing a Helmet

Riding without a helmet is a traffic violation in Alabama, and the defense will bring it up. It does not, by itself, make you contributorily negligent for the crash, because a helmet has nothing to do with whether the car turned in front of you. Where it matters is damages: if your injury is a head injury, the insurer will argue that the helmet would have prevented or reduced it. That is a medical question, and we answer it with medical experts rather than conceding the point. If your injuries are to your legs, back or arms, the helmet argument has no bearing on them at all.

Contributory Negligence and Rider Bias

Alabama is one of the last states that still follows pure contributory negligence. If a jury finds that your own negligence contributed to the crash in any degree, you recover nothing (Brown v. Piggly-Wiggly Stores, 454 So. 2d 1370 (Ala. 1984)). For riders this rule combines with a bias that many jurors carry: motorcycles are reckless, so the rider probably did something wrong.

We deal with both the same way. The crash is reconstructed from the physical evidence: skid and gouge marks, the damage profile on the bike and the car, the location of debris, and any camera footage from businesses or vehicles nearby. Many newer cars record speed and braking in an event data recorder, and the other driver’s phone records can show whether they were looking at a screen. The rider’s own helmet camera, if there was one, is frequently the best evidence in the case. Where the evidence shows the car driver failed to yield, the rider’s speed within a reasonable range stops being an argument.

Contributory negligence is not a defense to wanton conduct. A driver who was texting, drunk or racing can be liable even if the rider made a mistake, and punitive damages come into play.

Insurance in a Mobile Motorcycle Case

Alabama’s minimum liability policy is $25,000 per person. A rider with a broken femur and a week at USA Health has medical bills past that number before discharge. Three sources of coverage matter in most rider cases:

  • The at-fault driver’s liability policy, which is often the minimum.
  • Your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, on the motorcycle policy and on any other auto policy in your household. Alabama allows stacking of UM coverage across vehicles in many situations, and the difference can be several times the at-fault driver’s limits. A hit-and-run driver counts as uninsured.
  • Medical payments coverage on your policy, which pays regardless of fault and does not have to be repaid in every case.

One caution: your own UM insurer is an adversary once a claim is made, and it has the same contributory negligence defense the other driver has. Notice requirements in UM policies are strict. We handle the UM claim alongside the liability claim so neither one is lost.

Injuries We See in Motorcycle Cases

There is no sheet metal between a rider and the road. The injuries that come through our office are traumatic brain injuries even with a helmet, spinal cord injuries, fractures of the femur, tibia, pelvis and wrist, road rash that requires grafting, internal injuries and amputations. These injuries bring long recoveries, future surgeries and lost careers, and valuing them requires physicians and life-care planners rather than an adjuster’s software. We work with the treating doctors at USA Health, Mobile Infirmary, Providence and Springhill to document what the future holds before any demand goes out.

What Your Claim Can Include

Alabama does not cap compensatory damages in injury cases. A claim can include medical bills past and future, lost income and lost earning capacity, the cost of replacing the motorcycle and gear, and the pain, scarring and loss of enjoyment of life the crash caused. Punitive damages are available against a wanton driver, capped at the greater of $1.5 million or three times compensatory damages under § 6-11-21. If a rider is killed, the claim becomes a wrongful death action under § 6-5-410, where Alabama allows only punitive damages, measured by the wrongdoer’s conduct, with no cap.

Deadlines for a Mobile Motorcycle Accident Claim

  • Injury: two years from the crash. Ala. Code § 6-2-38(l).
  • Wrongful death: two years from the death, filed by the personal representative. Ala. Code § 6-5-410.
  • City of Mobile vehicles or road defects: sworn notice within six months. Ala. Code § 11-47-23.
  • County claims: twelve months. Ala. Code § 11-12-8.
  • UM claims: the deadline in your policy for notice and for consent to settle with the other driver, which can be shorter than any statute.

What to Do After a Motorcycle Crash in Mobile

  1. Get treated. USA Health University Hospital is the region’s Level I trauma center. Go, even if you think you are fine; concussion and internal bleeding show up later.
  2. Get the report. Mobile PD, the sheriff’s office or ALEA, depending on where the crash happened. Mobile PD reports are $15 online or at the Records Unit on Government Boulevard.
  3. Keep the bike, the helmet and the gear. Do not repair or discard anything. The damage pattern and the helmet are evidence.
  4. Save any camera footage from your helmet or bike, and note nearby businesses that may have cameras facing the road.
  5. Do not give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer. Notify your own insurer of the crash in writing, with the basic facts only.
  6. Stay off social media about the crash and your recovery. Adjusters read it.
  7. Call us early. Camera footage is overwritten in days, and the other driver’s phone records require a subpoena we can only send once a case is open.

Where Your Case Is Filed

Crashes in Mobile and Mobile County are filed in the Mobile County Circuit Court at Government Plaza, 205 Government Street, a few blocks from our office. Crashes on the Eastern Shore, in Foley or at the beach go to the Baldwin County Circuit Court in Bay Minette. We try cases in both, and we handle the UM claim against your own insurer in the same action when the policy allows it.

Why Riders Call Fob & Foster

Fob & Foster Personal Injury Lawyers has recovered more than $100 million for injured people across Alabama. We handle motorcycle cases from our Mobile office with the same reconstruction experts, medical experts and trial resources we use statewide, and we do not refer serious cases out. You pay nothing up front. Our fee comes out of the recovery, and if there is no recovery there is no fee.

Mobile Motorcycle Accident Questions, Answered

Can I still recover if I was not wearing a helmet?

Yes. Not wearing a helmet is a violation of Ala. Code § 32-5A-245, but it is not negligence that caused the crash. The defense can argue a helmet would have reduced a head injury, which is a medical question we contest with experts. It has no effect on claims for injuries to the rest of your body.

The driver says I came out of nowhere. Is that the end of my case?

No, but it is the defense you should expect in every Alabama motorcycle case. We answer it with the physical evidence, camera footage, witness accounts and, where needed, a reconstruction. A driver who failed to yield on a left turn is at fault regardless of whether they saw you.

The other driver has minimum insurance. What are my options?

Your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, including coverage on other vehicles in your household that may stack, your medical payments coverage, and any additional defendants such as an employer if the driver was working. We look at every policy before we tell you what the case is worth.

Is lane splitting legal in Alabama?

No. Ala. Code § 32-5A-242 prohibits riding between lanes of traffic. Two motorcycles may share a lane side by side. If you were lane splitting at the time of a crash, call us before talking to any insurer, because that fact changes how the case has to be built.

How long do I have to file?

Two years from the crash for an injury claim and two years from the death for a wrongful death claim. A claim involving a city vehicle or road defect requires notice to the city within six months, and your own UM policy has its own notice deadlines.

What does a Mobile motorcycle accident lawyer cost?

Nothing up front. We work on a contingency fee and advance the case expenses. If we do not recover anything, you owe us nothing.

Related Practice Areas

Talk to a Mobile Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

If you were hurt riding in Mobile or Baldwin County, or you lost a family member in a motorcycle crash, call (251) 501-4232 or (205) 407-6009. Our Mobile office is at 411 St. Francis Street, Mobile, AL 36602. The consultation is free, and we will give you a straight answer about the case.