The Decision Every Rider Eventually Faces

After a motorcycle crash — or after losing someone you love to a preventable tragedy — your case will eventually reach a point where you face a big choice:

Do you settle? Or do you take the case to trial?

It’s one of the most important decisions in your entire case. And it’s not always straightforward. Settling offers certainty and closure. Trial offers the chance for full justice — but comes with risk, time, and emotional weight.

The good news?
You don’t have to make this decision alone — and you shouldn’t.
A true motorcycle lawyer walks you through the pros, cons, timing, and strategy so you understand exactly what’s at stake.

At McCarthy Motorcycle Law, we help riders and grieving families across California navigate this fork in the road. We don’t push people toward trial for ego or toward settlement for speed. We help you decide based on your case, your goals, your values, and your future.

Here’s how settlement vs. trial actually works in real California motorcycle cases.

1. Why Most Cases Settle — But Not All Should

Most motorcycle accident cases — and many wrongful death cases — resolve through settlement. Insurance companies want to limit risk, and injured riders often want closure. But “most cases settle” doesn’t mean your case should settle.

A settlement is simply a negotiated agreement between you and the insurance company (or companies). You accept a specific amount in exchange for closing the case forever.

Settlement can make sense when:

• The offer is fair and backed by evidence

• Liability isn’t strongly contested

• Damages are well-documented

• You want resolution sooner

• You want to avoid the uncertainty of trial

Trial becomes necessary when:

• The insurer refuses to pay what your case is worth

• Liability is disputed

• The insurer is acting in bad faith

• Policy limits are high enough to make trial worthwhile

• A loved one was killed and accountability matters

• The truth needs to be told publicly

The right answer depends on your injuries, your losses, your evidence, your damages, and your goals.

2. Understanding What Settlement Really Means

A settlement is final, binding, and cannot be revisited. That means your lawyer must project the full future impact of your injuries, including:

• Future surgeries

• Long-term pain

• Lost earning capacity

• Loss of household services

• Psychological trauma

• Permanent disability

An early settlement feels tempting — especially when bills are piling up — but settling before you reach maximum medical improvement is one of the most common mistakes riders make.

Because once you sign, the case is closed forever.

A lawyer’s job is to make sure the settlement reflects:

• everything you’ve lost

• everything you will lose

• everything the law allows you to claim

We negotiate from evidence, not emotion.

3. What a Trial Really Involves

Many people think trial is like what they’ve seen on TV: dramatic cross-examinations and surprise witnesses. Real trials are methodical, structured, and heavily driven by preparation.

A motorcycle injury or wrongful death trial includes:

• Jury selection

• Opening statements

• Expert testimony (medical, crash reconstruction, economic)

• Witnesses

• Cross-examination

• Displays, photos, and forensic evidence

• Closing arguments

• Jury deliberation

• The verdict

Trials can take days or weeks.
They require riders and families to revisit painful events.
They demand patience, strength, and clarity.

But they also offer something settlement never can:

the chance for a jury — not an insurance adjuster — to decide what your suffering is worth.

For many families, especially in wrongful death cases, trial is about more than money. It’s about truth. Accountability. Dignity. A public record of what happened.

4. The Key Differences Between Settlement and Trial

Speed

Settlement: months
Trial: often 1–2 years

Finality

Settlement: immediate and binding
Trial: subject to appeal

Stress

Settlement: minimal
Trial: significant emotional investment

Control

Settlement: you decide the number
Trial: the jury decides

Compensation

Settlement: predictable but sometimes lower
Trial: potentially much higher — but never guaranteed

Transparency

Settlement: private
Trial: public, which can matter in wrongful death cases

Cost

Settlement: lower litigation costs
Trial: more experts, more hours, larger expenses (advanced by the attorney)

A good lawyer talks you through each factor, honestly and without pressure.

5. When Settlement Makes the Most Sense

Settlement is a smart choice when:

1. The offer reflects the full value of your damages

Including future treatment, lost wages, and long-term effects.

2. Liability is strong but not perfect

Settling avoids the uncertainty of jury perception.

3. Your injuries have stabilized

You know your long-term medical needs.

4. You want closure sooner rather than later

Especially important when healing requires emotional bandwidth.

5. The insurer is negotiating in good faith

Not every company stonewalls — some engage realistically.

6. Policy limits are low

If the driver has only $30k or $50k, settlement makes sense because trial cannot increase the available amount unless bad faith applies.

7. The risk of trial outweighs the reward

Settlement avoids unpredictability.

There is no shame in settling — when it’s the right call.
It’s about choosing the path that protects your recovery and your family.

6. When Trial Is the Better Option

Trial becomes the right choice when settlement cannot achieve justice.
This happens more often in serious motorcycle cases than in car crashes because rider injuries are severe, permanent, and expensive.

Trial may be the better option when:

1. The insurer refuses to offer a fair amount

This is the #1 reason riders go to trial.

2. Liability is disputed but supported by strong evidence

Juries are surprisingly fair when they understand the physics of motorcycle crashes.

3. The case involves wrongful death

Some families need public accountability, not private negotiation.

4. Your damages exceed policy limits

And the insurer refuses to tender the limits despite clear liability — opening them up to bad-faith exposure.

5. The case requires telling a story that matters

Some tragedies deserve their day in court.

6. The adjuster is misreading the case

A trial forces them to confront reality.

Trial is not a threat.
It’s a tool — one insurance companies fear because it puts the power in your hands, not theirs.

7. How a Motorcycle Lawyer Helps You Decide

This is where real trial lawyers separate themselves from settlement mills and billboard firms.

A true motorcycle lawyer does not:

• push settlement to close files quickly

• push trial for ego

• pressure clients one way or another

Instead, we walk you through:

Case Value Analysis

What your case is worth based on evidence, expert input, and comparable verdicts.

Liability Strength

How the facts will resonate with a jury.

Damage Modeling

Charts, projections, and summaries of long-term losses.

Settlement Modeling

Possible outcomes under different negotiation scenarios.

Trial Risk Assessment

Strengths, weaknesses, jury issues, defense strategies.

Your Personal Needs

Your recovery, your timeline, your emotional bandwidth.

At McCarthy Motorcycle Law, you get personal guidance — not a factory-produced answer.

8. Why Motorcycle Cases Are Different — and Why That Matters for Trial

Motorcycle cases involve dynamics most people don’t understand:

• Visibility issues

• Stopping distances

• Evasive options

• Lane position

• Countersteering

• Gear & impact physics

• Road design hazards

Juries need education.
Insurance companies often assume jurors are biased against riders — but when a lawyer explains the realities of riding clearly and respectfully, jurors listen.

We’ve seen juries deliver powerful verdicts once they understand how preventable a crash really was.

Trials favor the side that tells the better, clearer, more human story.
Riders have powerful stories — they just need the right lawyer to tell them.

9. The Role of Policy Limits in Deciding Settlement vs. Trial

This is a critical factor in motorcycle cases.

If the at-fault driver has low limits

and no additional coverage (employer, umbrella, commercial), settlement at limits often makes sense.

If your damages exceed the limits

and the insurer refuses to pay the limits, trial can open the door to a bad-faith claim that makes them responsible for a much higher verdict.

If multiple policies exist

(UM/UIM, umbrella, company vehicles), trial may unlock significantly greater recovery.

Policy limits aren’t the end of the discussion — they’re the beginning of strategy.

10. The Emotional Side of Settlement vs. Trial

No one wants to relive trauma in a courtroom.
No one wants a process that drags on for years.
No one wants uncertainty during medical recovery or grief.

But riders and families also don't want:

• to be treated unfairly

• to be blamed for something they didn’t do

• to accept pennies on the dollar

• to let insurers devalue a loved one’s life

Your emotional needs matter.
Your pain matters.
Your future matters.

The right lawyer respects all of it.

11. How We Guide Riders Through This Decision

At McCarthy Motorcycle Law:

• You work directly with attorney John McCarthy, not a case manager

• We explain every option in plain English

• We value transparency and honesty over pressure

• We run both settlement and trial scenarios

• We prepare every case as if it will go to trial

• We’re ready to fight — but only when it’s right for you

We also recognize that this is your life — not just a legal strategy.
We help you understand the decision so completely that, when you make it, you feel confident and empowered.

That’s the goal.

Final Thoughts: You Don’t Have to Choose Alone

The decision between settlement and trial is one of the biggest steps in your case. It affects:

• your finances

• your physical recovery

• your family’s stability

• your emotional healing

• your long-term health and future

You deserve guidance rooted in experience, empathy, and integrity.

If you’re facing this decision now — or if you’re still early in your case and want to understand how this works — reach out for a free case evaluation.
It goes straight to our inbox — not a call center — and we usually respond the same day.

We’ll listen to your story, explain your options, and help you determine the path that leads to justice, accountability, and the best possible future.

Because when riders go down, McCarthy Motorcycle Law stands up.