Author: Jason Waechter | Date: May 12, 2026 | Category: MC Legal Minute
Social media can seriously damage a Michigan motorcycle injury case if photos, videos, comments, check-ins, or Facebook posts are taken out of context by an insurance company or defense attorney. In this Motorcycle Legal Minute™, Jason Waechter, The Motorcycle Lawyer®, explains why injured riders should be very careful about what they post online after a motorcycle accident.
The Motorcycle Legal Minute™ was created by Jason Waechter, The Motorcycle Lawyer®, to explain Michigan motorcycle law in a short and easy-to-understand way.
After a Michigan motorcycle accident, many injured riders do not realize how closely insurance companies and defense attorneys may look at Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and other social media accounts. A single photo, video, comment, joke, check-in, or “good day” post can be taken out of context and used to argue that you are not as injured as you claim.
This can be especially harmful in a motorcycle injury case because the insurance company may try to minimize the injury, dispute how the crash affected your life, or argue that your pain and suffering claim is worth less than it really is.
Remember the Ice Bucket Challenge? It was created for ALS awareness. A Facebook friend would challenge someone to record a video dumping a bucket of ice water over their head, then post it online.
Some people who posted those videos also had personal injury cases pending. Defense attorneys and insurance adjusters used those videos to argue that the injury victims were more active, more mobile, or less limited than they claimed.
The same thing can happen after a Michigan motorcycle crash. A short video may not show the pain afterward. A smiling picture may not show the medication, physical therapy, surgery, missed work, lost sleep, or bad days. But once the post is online, the defense may try to use it anyway.
Michigan motorcycle and auto accident victims may need to prove that their injuries significantly affected their normal life. That is one reason social media can become so dangerous in an injury claim.
If an insurance company finds posts showing activities, travel, riding, working in the garage, attending events, exercising, hunting, fishing, partying, or even smiling with friends, it may try to argue that the crash did not affect your life very much.
That argument may be unfair. It may ignore the full truth. But it can still create problems in a motorcycle accident claim, especially when pain and suffering damages, serious impairment, or threshold-level injury issues are involved.
After a motorcycle crash, injured riders should be extremely careful about posting anything that could be misunderstood, twisted, or used against them. This includes:
This does not mean every social media post destroys a case. It means injured motorcyclists should understand that online posts rarely tell the full story, and insurance companies may try to use them in the worst possible way.
If you already posted something and now worry it could affect your motorcycle injury claim, do not panic. But you should also be careful. Deleting posts after an injury claim begins can create separate legal problems, especially if the post may be considered evidence.
The safer move is to stop posting about the accident, your injuries, your recovery, your activities, and your legal claim. You should also avoid deleting anything without first getting legal advice from an experienced motorcycle accident lawyer.
Social media problems do not always come from the injured rider’s own account. Friends and family members may post photos, tag you, comment about your condition, or share old pictures that create confusion.
After a motorcycle accident, it is smart to ask close friends and family not to tag you in photos, videos, comments, check-ins, or posts while your injury claim is pending.
Social media can be especially damaging when an injured rider must prove a serious impairment or threshold-level injury. In Michigan, the legal issue may involve whether the crash-related injury affected the rider’s general ability to lead his or her normal life.
That is why a photo, video, or post can become more important than people realize. The defense may try to use social media to argue that the rider’s normal life was not affected enough to support a pain and suffering claim.
For more on that legal standard, see our related guide: Michigan motorcycle threshold injury law.
After a Michigan motorcycle accident, the best approach is to protect your claim from the beginning. Get medical care, follow your treatment plan, document your symptoms, keep records, and avoid making public statements online about the crash or your recovery.
Be honest with your doctors, but do not casually minimize your injuries online. Do not give the insurance company an easy way to take a single post and pretend it tells the whole story.
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