Plano Motorcycle Accident Lawyer
Hit by a driver on the Dallas North Tollway, US-75, SH-121, the President George Bush Turnpike, or the Legacy corporate corridor? Patterson Law Group knows Texas motorcycle law cold — the §661.003 helmet rule + §661.003(f) evidentiary bar, the §545.060 lane-splitting prohibition, and the §1952.0511 UM/UIM stacking rules that fund Plano rider claims.
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How we serve Plano clients
Patterson Law Group does not maintain a brick-and-mortar office in Plano. We serve our Plano-area clients from our physical offices in Fort Worth (2409 Forest Park Boulevard), Arlington (2310 W Interstate 20 #100), and San Antonio (926 Chulie Drive). The initial case review is by phone or Zoom — at no cost — and our attorneys travel to Plano, McKinney, and the rest of Collin County for depositions, mediations, court hearings, and trial. Signed retainers, medical authorizations, deposition prep, and settlement signings can all be handled remotely when that is what you prefer. We know Texas motorcycle law cold — the §661.003 helmet rule + §661.003(f) evidentiary bar, the §545.060 lane-splitting and lane-usage statute, and the §1952.0511 UM/UIM rules that fund rider claims. We file cases in Collin County (and Denton or Dallas County where venue allows), work with Plano-area medical providers, and litigate at the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney like any local Plano firm. When your case calls for an in-person attorney at the courthouse or across the mediation table, we are there.
Greater Plano cities we serve
We represent motorcycle-accident clients across Collin County and the surrounding north-DFW suburbs — Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Allen, and every fast-growing city north of the Dallas North Tollway.
Additional Collin County and north-DFW cities served: Murphy, Wylie, Sachse, Parker, Fairview, Lucas, Prosper, Celina, The Colony, Little Elm, Anna, and Melissa. Counties covered: Collin, Denton, and northern Dallas.
What to do after a Plano motorcycle crash
- Get medical care immediately. Collin County's adult-trauma capacity is concentrated at Medical City Plano (Level II trauma, 3901 W 15th Street), Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano, Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Plano, and Methodist McKinney just north. Children's Medical Center Plano handles pediatric trauma. Motorcycle crashes routinely produce concussions, traumatic brain injuries, spinal fractures, internal bleeding, multi-system trauma, and road-rash infections that take time to fully present. Even riders who walk away from the scene should be evaluated within 24 hours — gaps in treatment are the single most common defense argument in Plano motorcycle cases.
- Report the crash. Plano PD handles crashes inside the City of Plano; the smaller surrounding cities — Frisco, McKinney, Allen, Richardson, Carrollton, Lewisville, Murphy, Wylie, Sachse, Prosper, Celina, The Colony, and Little Elm — each have their own departments. Collin County Sheriff and the Collin County Constables handle unincorporated Collin County. DPS handles state highways, interstates, and the toll roads (Dallas North Tollway, President George Bush Turnpike, SH-121 Sam Rayburn Tollway). Get the case number from the responding officer — that is the key the official CR-3 will be filed under under Texas Transportation Code §550.062.
- Photograph everything. The bike, the at-fault vehicle, the scene, sight lines from the driver's position, lane markings, skid marks, debris pattern, traffic controls, road conditions, your gear (especially the helmet — its condition is evidence), and visible injuries. Plano has heavy corporate-campus surveillance along Legacy Drive (Toyota, JCPenney, Liberty Mutual, FedEx Office, Capital One) — photograph anything that might be on someone else's camera before that footage is overwritten.
- Get witness contact info. Motorcycle cases turn on who-was-where evidence. Independent witnesses are gold — they did not have a financial stake in the outcome. Get a name and phone number before the witness leaves the scene. Witnesses who walk away rarely come back, and Plano-area witnesses often work at one of the corporate campuses and are easier to track down when you have their name day-of.
- Do not give a recorded statement to the at-fault driver's insurance company. Their adjusters typically call within 24–48 hours. They are trained to get you to say things that limit your recovery — minimizing injury, undercutting fault, locking in low-ball numbers. Refer them to us.
- Call a lawyer before you sign anything. Early settlement offers from the carrier are almost always low. Once you sign a release, you cannot reopen the claim, even if your injuries turn out to be worse than expected. We send preservation-of-evidence letters within hours so dashcam, traffic-cam, business surveillance, the Legacy corridor's commercial camera networks, and the at-fault vehicle's ECM (event data recorder) are locked down before the carrier or its insured can spoliate them.
Texas motorcycle law — what Plano riders should know
Two-year statute of limitations
Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code §16.003 gives you two years from the date of the crash. Claims against the City of Plano, Collin County, DART, or other governmental defendants may have Texas Tort Claims Act notice deadlines as short as six months under §101.101. Many Plano-area cities have charter notice provisions that are tighter than the TTCA floor — call early.
Modified comparative fault (§33.001)
Under §33.001, Texas follows a 51% bar rule: you can recover damages as long as you are 50% or less at fault. The defense will push fault hard against motorcycle riders — we counter with reconstruction evidence, ECM data, traffic-camera footage, and the responding officer's CR-3 contributing-factor codes.
Paid or incurred medicals (§41.0105)
§41.0105 limits medical-bill recovery to amounts actually paid or incurred — particularly important for clients with substantial Medical City Plano or Baylor Plano trauma stays. Documenting both billed and paid amounts protects the recoverable value of medical specials.
Helmet rule and §661.003(f)
Texas Transportation Code §661.003 requires helmets generally but exempts riders 21+ who carry at least $10,000 in medical-insurance coverage or who completed a DPS-approved motorcycle operator training course. §661.003(f) bars helmet status as evidence of negligence or contributory negligence in a Texas civil case.
Lane splitting and lane usage (§545.060)
Texas Transportation Code §545.060 requires a motor vehicle to be driven within a single marked lane. Texas does not authorize lane splitting or lane filtering on the Dallas North Tollway, US-75, or anywhere else. §545.060(c) does permit two motorcycles to ride two abreast in a single lane.
Following too closely (§545.062)
§545.062 prohibits following another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent. Rear-end crashes into stopped or slowing motorcycles are a routine fact pattern in Plano's US-75 stop-and-go and the SH-121 Sam Rayburn merge zones.
UM/UIM coverage for riders (§1952.0511)
UM and UIM coverage on your own auto or motorcycle policy fills the gap when the at-fault driver has no insurance or low limits. Under Tex. Ins. Code §1952.0511, insurers must offer UM/UIM unless rejected in writing. A resident relative's policy may also apply — and household stacking is often the funding source on Plano-area underinsured-motorist cases.
Exemplary damages (§41.003)
§41.003 permits exemplary damages on clear and convincing evidence of fraud, malice, or gross negligence. Drunk driving on the Dallas North Tollway, racing on PGBT, knowing distraction, and street racing all support gross-negligence pleadings. §41.008 caps exemplary damages with statutory exceptions including felony DWI.
Wrongful Death Act (Chapter 71)
Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code Chapter 71 governs Wrongful Death and Survival Actions. Surviving spouse, children, and parents can recover for loss of love, companionship, financial support, and mental anguish. The Survival Action under §71.021 preserves the rider's own pre-death pain-and-suffering claim for the estate.
Hospital liens (Tex. Prop. Code Ch. 55)
Texas hospitals can attach liens to settlements under the Texas Hospital and Emergency Services Lien Act. Medical City Plano and Baylor Plano liens are routine in Collin County motorcycle cases. We negotiate liens down to maximize the rider's net recovery.
Plano's most crash-prone motorcycle corridors
- Dallas North Tollway. The spine of north-DFW commuter traffic — high posted speeds and weekend leisure traffic to and from Frisco and The Colony. Lane-change crashes from drivers failing to check blind spots are routine, and the Tollway-PGBT interchange concentrates serious crashes.
- US-75 (Central Expressway). Heavy commuter traffic between downtown Dallas and the northern suburbs (Plano, Allen, McKinney). Stop-and-go congestion at rush hour produces rear-end crashes into slowing motorcycles.
- SH-121 (Sam Rayburn Tollway). The east-west spine through Plano and Frisco. High-speed merging at the Dallas North Tollway interchange and the US-75 interchange concentrate severe motorcycle crashes.
- President George Bush Turnpike (PGBT / SH-190). The outer ring through Plano, Richardson, Garland, Carrollton, and Irving. 70 mph speed limits, frequent toll-plaza weaving, and managed-lane confusion produce high-speed rider crashes.
- Spring Creek Parkway. Major east-west arterial across Plano. Mixed school-zone, retail, and commuter traffic at Coit, Custer, and Preston intersections.
- Park Boulevard. The main east-west arterial through central Plano, with heavy left-turn crash exposure at signalized intersections like Park & Preston and Park & Independence.
- Plano Parkway. Industrial and retail mix on the southern side of the city — drivers pulling out of business driveways into motorcycle traffic.
- Legacy Drive (the Legacy / Toyota / JCPenney / Liberty Mutual corporate corridor). Dense corporate-campus traffic, rush-hour congestion, and high rideshare volume around Legacy West and The Shops at Legacy. Left-turn-across-traffic crashes are a frequent fact pattern.
- 15th Street. A key east-west connector through downtown Plano and past Medical City Plano. Hospital-zone traffic and frequent driveway turn-ins.
- Coit Road and Custer Road. North-south arterials with heavy intersection-crash volume — the kind of mid-suburban roads where drivers turning left across oncoming motorcycle traffic produce catastrophic injuries.
- Preston Road (SH-289). The historic spine of north Dallas/Plano, lined with retail and dining. Frequent driveway and parking-lot turn crashes.
- Independence Parkway. Major north-south arterial across Plano. School-zone speed enforcement and intersection-heavy geometry produce predictable crash hotspots at Park, Plano Parkway, and Spring Creek.
Where Collin County motorcycle cases are heard
Collin County
Civil personal injury cases in Collin County are heard at the Collin County Courthouse, 2100 Bloomdale Road, McKinney. Collin County operates a deep civil bench — the 199th, 219th, 296th, 366th, 380th, 416th, 417th, 429th, 469th, 470th, and 471st District Courts handle the county's civil docket, along with statutory county courts at law for the smaller-dollar matters.
Denton & Dallas Counties
Denton County cases — the Frisco-Denton side of Frisco, The Colony, Little Elm — are heard at the Denton County Courts Building, 1450 E McKinney Street, Denton. Dallas County overflow or cases with proper venue facts in Dallas County are heard at the George L. Allen Sr. Courts Building, 600 Commerce Street, Dallas.
Federal court (E.D. Tex., Sherman Division)
Cases with diversity of citizenship or substantial federal-law issues filed out of Collin County go to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division, 101 E Pecan Street, Sherman.
Plano municipal cases and small-dollar matters can also be heard at Plano Municipal Court (4120 W 15th Street, Plano) — but civil personal injury claims are filed at the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney.
Common questions from Plano motorcycle clients
What is the deadline to file a Plano motorcycle accident lawsuit?
Is not wearing a helmet a defense to my Plano motorcycle injury claim?
Is lane splitting legal in Texas?
What if the driver who hit me on the Dallas North Tollway had no insurance or low limits?
What if I was partially at fault for the Plano motorcycle crash?
Where will my Plano motorcycle case be filed?
What hospitals handle the most severe motorcycle injuries in the Plano area?
Does Patterson Law Group have an office in Plano?
Hit on your bike in Plano? Talk to a Texas trial lawyer today.
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