This article is in partnership with Law Tigers.
We know, as motorcyclists, the inherent risks of riding on public roads. Unlike those in cars, trucks, and SUVs, we’re without the protection of those barriers. There’s no separation between us and the pickup truck to our right.
But that doesn’t mean we should be the ones to immediately be blamed when an accident occurs.
‘Motorcycle bias’ is a term that means that when an accident involving a motorcyclist and a car occurs, law enforcement, insurance companies, and other parties tend to automatically place the blame on the rider rather than the driver. There’s already a preconceived bias because of that inherent risk-taking. But more often than not, the motorcyclist is just riding down the road, minding their own business, when an accident occurs. Yet, this bias takes on a more sinister form when the accident results in the deaths of the motorcyclist(s) involved.
After all, the dead aren’t there to defend themselves. They also aren’t there to defend their actions. They can’t recall the nature of the accident, nor report what happened to them to law enforcement, or to insurance. Their stories aren’t being told, while at the same time, the driver is still around to state their side of what happened.
It’s one-sided, and it ensures that those tasked with laying blame have an easy target. At the same time, it leaves the rider’s loved ones often having to balance grappling with their own grief from losing family or friends, while also having to fight for their families’ names, as well as what’s owed to them.
That’s what happened when Nick Terry’s parents, Robert and Deborah Terry, tragically lost their lives on a motorcycle ride some years ago. Blame was laid at their feet. Insurance took the side of the driver.
And Nick was left fighting not just for his parents, but fighting to hold back his grief while he attempted to clear their names, and also get them what they were owed.
He tells RideApart his story below.
Two and a half years ago, my parents were taken out by an 18-year-old kid in a van.
We’ve been a motorcycle family forever. I grew up around it, and my dad's been riding with my mom since they met back in the ‘70s. That particular afternoon, they were close to the house and they were going to help out the local HOG group that they were in.
A hot-air balloon company had an individual driving a van and chasing the balloon—they're big out here in Arizona. On any given Sunday, or any given nice weeknight, you'll see a couple dozen of 'em flying around. And that morning, my mom and dad were going to meet up with the group and they just tried to go around the van that was pulling off the road. But the van cut across right in front of them on a 65mph single-lane each way road. No one expected turns; there’s no reason for turns, and it’s not a normal turn area. But the van just drove right into them.
They both died right there.
The fact that it was the two of them together at the same time, like, they were healthy. They were about to turn 69. They were retired. And they just got robbed.
So when everything was taking place after, I just grabbed it, and just kind of ran with everything. I went into collection mode and started moving through it. I just was like, “Okay, cops were involved, insurance companies, made all the notifications.” I did the stuff to get things rolling.
But then everyone started blaming my parents for what happened.
“How’s that possible?” I asked. My dad had been riding his whole life. He's not hasty. He wasn't a hasty driver. He'd taken motorcycle safety classes and taught me how to ride. And he had my mom on the back. Yet, although the Peoria Police Department was handling it, it felt as if they were stalling, and that they weren't giving me much to go with.
I just kept hounding people to give me information that I felt was needed, if for nothing else than the simple fact that I needed to understand. I needed to have documentation. I needed information so that I can move things forward, because this was all time-dependent.
Then they finally came back with an official report, and they put the blame on my old man for the accident, saying that he was at fault because he passed a vehicle in the same lane. Even though this van was pulling off the road, and my dad did what any other biker would've done and attempted to get out of the way, as you don't know what the driver is doing.
It's a 65mph road. Why are you stopping? There's no paved shoulder. It's a dirt shoulder. Just a single lane in each direction, and a solid double yellow line. Any rider is going to get out of the way in order to protect themselves in an unknown situation. You don’t know why the guy's getting off the road.
But they looked at that as a negative, and said that he should have gone completely into the oncoming lane of traffic because the van was not completely out of the lane. Yet, the van pulling over there to do a U-turn is like stopping on the freeway and doing that.
Insurance then took the police department’s report and said, “Guess what? There's fault here. We can't go do anything.” And they told me my mom wasn't covered all of a sudden as a passenger because my dad was now at fault.
It got real cold, real quick. And I got really, really mad, as I was just trying to do right by them. Not even a traffic ticket was issued to the driver? Everybody just goes on their happy little way and we're stuck with two dead parents? How’s that fair?
I think it was around 10 o'clock at night when I said I finally have to find a lawyer, as this is bullshit. I left a voicemail with Law Tigers saying, “I don't know if anything can be done, or if you guys can help, but call me if you can,” and I hung up the phone. I didn't expect anything, really, but they called me back that night.
They put me in touch with the Accident Law Group and attorney Joe Brown.
First, they started collecting information. I did their intake and all that stuff, and I gave them everything. Here's the police report. Here are the documents from the crime scene. Here's…I just had everything because I had gone into that gathering mode right after it happened.
And at first, I had this feeling of not being in the loop. I thought, “Do we even have a case here? I don't wanna string this along if you guys can't help.” But Joe called my brother and I, and he told us, “Listen, I'm gonna take the case directly.”
The silence turned out to be a matter of them putting together what they thought they could do.
I was just really looking for accountability. Somebody to be like, “This was somebody's fault.” This wasn't a freak accident, this was a decision made by someone who was inexperienced as a result of a company not putting out proper protocol or safety measures or practices. The kid driving the van was 18 years old, and he'd only been on the job for a month. For his part, he stuck around, and he wasn't trying to avoid anything or run.
But I'm involved in a business that revolves around safety. We have multiple trainings and teachings, and we make sure that people aren't driving fatigued, as well as make sure that people are handling equipment correctly, or that they're suited for the job in the first place.
They have experience. This kid didn't. This kid just showed up out of nowhere in a month, and he was traveling around, and then he killed two people. It was an accident, but nonetheless, there was a fault there. And he didn't even get a traffic ticket.
That wasn’t an answer I was willing to accept.
When Joe told me we have a case here, he asked me, “What do you want?” I told him I wanted accountability. I don't care about the rest of it. I want somebody to own this. I wanted them to change their policies, that they’re going to do something about it so it doesn't happen again. And at the minimum, an apology would’ve been nice.
We didn't go after the kid because my brother and I just didn't feel like that was right. You know, he's going to carry that around the rest of his life. We figured that was punishment enough. But, eventually, Joe got to the insurance companies and ended up getting a really good settlement out of it. They didn't even fight it. It got to the point where they didn't even push back. It wasn't really an apology. But it felt like at least somebody admitted there is a fault here.
The settlement thing, that's weird, you know. It felt like dirty money. There’d been so much hurt that got left behind. The whole thing changed me, and my family, as well as my whole outlook on life got affected that day. I am not the same person I was when that happened. But the reason I'm still standing here and able to take steps from it is because of the help I got.
This whole experience just shattered me, and my kids saw that. But I had to pick myself up for them.
I had all this other stuff going on, but by the time it was all over, I think it took me five months before I got a moment to really sit down and not be living in that world of the accident. I didn't even go to work for like a month and a half, or something like that. I remember calling my boss up and asking, “Do I still have a job?”
And it took me weeks to find the bike, because I still wanted it. Not only did I know things were in the bags from my mom that I couldn't find when their stuff was returned to me, but I wanted the bike itself. I told my brother, “I need this back. I need the bike. I don't care what it costs me. I want the bike back,” because in my head, I told myself, “I can't fix the situation, but maybe I can fix the bike.” It became therapy for me because as I started taking things off of it that were broken, it started looking better.
I don't think there’s a single bolt on that bike that I haven’t touched, but I got it running and I still ride it. I’ve put close to 3,000 miles on it in the year and a half that it's been back on the road. And hearing that thing run and watching it turn the speedo, I just carry my parents with me.
But all of this, all of this all came out of the fact that I met Law Tigers and, and Joe and his group. None of this would've been possible without them. Yet, so many people are so quick to blame the motorcyclist as the problem. I even remember a family member saying, “I knew that bike was a bad idea.”
The motorcyclists didn't do anything wrong, though. They were just riding.
There has been a positive effect to this, however. My old man, he and my mom always planned for retirement. My whole life, it was, “I'm gonna prepare for retirement. I gotta work now.” And he would miss vacations.
But then they retired and only got seven years. All that savings and everything, they just went to my brother and I. It wasn’t enough time. I'm not gonna make that mistake. I'm not gonna wait. You can't. That was a big change that came out of that, and it’s not waiting for shit, or passing things up just because I don't think I have enough time or I don’t have enough cash.
You just have to do it now, because I don't know if I'm going to get a tomorrow.
A Note from Law Tigers to Riders
Nick Terry’s story is a reminder of the risks on the road and how motorcycle bias may affect how law enforcement, insurance, and others may not be equipped to handle an accident’s investigation without prejudice toward motorcyclists. That's where Law Tigers comes in.
We’re more than just a network of lawyers; we're riders who understand motorcycle accidents inside and out. We’re here to help you legally, and also to support you all the way through your grief, recovery, or finding some semblance of stability after a horrendous situation, Law Tigers is there for you.
Don’t ride alone. Sign up for our free Rider Benefit Kit and join the Law Tigers community. With us, you are part of a family, a nationwide network of riders who stick together. Whether on or off the road, Law Tigers always have your back.
