Bicycle Accidents

The vast majority of bicycle accidents are low-speed, single participant accidents, and these rarely produce more than just a scratch or scrape. However, some accidents can include multiple riders, high speed, cyclists and pedestrians, or even bicycle versus motor vehicle. These accidents have a great potential to be dangerous, and certain safety measures should be taken to reduce the risk of serious injuries while cycling.

The first recorded bicycle accident occurred in 1842 when Kirkpatrick McMillan rode his Velocipede 40 miles to Glasgow, but upon arriving collided with a young girl in the crowd awaiting his arrival. Since then, bicycle accidents have been becoming more and more common. In an area where bicycles are prevalent as a means of transportation, exercise, or recreation, one can hardly scan the area without seeing a minor accident involving a bicyclist. However, as a cyclist, the way you ride and the safety measures you take have a huge impact on the amount of risk you are in when you turn the pedals.

A recent study showed that nearly 60% of bicycle accidents are single participant accidents caused by operator error or collision with an obstacle or animal. Nearly all of these accidents are preventable. In order to prevent such types of accidents from happening to you, consider taking certain precautions. First, pay attention when riding your bicycle! Constantly look where you are going, actively identify possible obstacles and create a plan to avoid them. Slow down when the situation calls for it. Even if you cannot manage to avoid an accident, lowering the speed at which the accident occurs can greatly reduce the risk of serious injury. If you ride in low light conditions, make sure your bicycle has reflectors and that they are clean, and consider purchasing a lamp so you can see potential obstacles better.

Somewhere between 60%-85% of bicycle accidents involving serious injury are the result of negligence of a motor vehicle driver, whether involved in the accident or not. While these accidents may not be preventable by the cyclist, there are still precautions to take to reduce risk of serious injury should an accident occur. Wear a helmet! Almost 75% of serious and fatal injuries in bicycle accidents are due to head injuries. Approved bicycle helmets can be purchased for as little as $20.00, and have been proven to significantly reduce the risk of head injury in the unfortunate case of an accident. When cycling on the road, follow the same rules as motor vehicles, following any additional provisions as according to your local legal code. Use hand signals when turning or stopping to let drivers around you know what your intentions are. Ride defensively! We are constantly reminded to drive defensively, and the same strategies apply to riding a bicycle. Always keep your eyes open and be looking for routes of escape should your current lane of travel be suddenly cut off.

Even good cyclists cannot avoid all accidents, especially the most risky types - those caused by negligent operators of motor vehicles. Should you find yourself involved in an accident with a motor vehicle, it is important that you remember certain things. Just like in a car accident, you must be careful to preserve your rights, obtain the appropriate information, and always remain calm and courteous. Always call the police and insist that the officer file an accident report. In the event that an officer is unable to respond, be sure to file a report with the police department yourself within 72 hours of the incident.

Obtain the driver's name, phone number, address, insurance and vehicle information, as well as a name and phone number from every available eyewitness. Take photographs of the accident scene, including any damage to your bicycle, the opposing vehicle, or surroundings. Make sure you receive the appropriate medical care, whether that involves calling for an ambulance or simply transporting yourself to the Emergency Room. Be sure to have your bicycle thoroughly inspected by a bike shop with a respectable reputation, and finally, consider contacting experienced bicycle accident attorneys.

A few warning items are worth mentioning: you should never minimize potential injuries or accept settlements before you are aware of the full extent of damage to yourself and your equipment. It is also often unwise to issue a statement to the driver without first consulting with an attorney, preferably one with experience in defending those injured in bicycle accidents caused by negligent drivers.

The best way to find experienced bicycle accident lawyers may depend on your location. If you are near a large city, your local yellow pages may be your best resource. It is often easier, both on you and the attorney, to work face to face through a bicycle accident lawsuit. And if you or a loved one is dealing with personal injury as a result of the accident, it can be a real comfort to deal face to face instead of over the phone.

The next resource you might consider is simply searching the Internet. The Internet is a virtually limitless source of information of any type. Most of the time, the challenge isn’t getting results for a particular search, but rather sorting through the thousands of results to find the one site that will have the information you are looking for. The best way to limit results to specifically what you are looking for is to tell the search engine exactly what it is that you want. Start searching using very specific words, such as ‘Florida Bicycle Accident Attorney’. If a specific search doesn’t return enough results, try something slightly less restricting until you find what you are looking for.

If you are already trying to pay medical bills, repair a bicycle, and perhaps are missing work as a result of the accident, this may be a huge concern. However, you need not fear. Most bicycle accident lawyers understand the hardship that you are facing, and realize that you likely do not have a few thousand dollars extra to simply throw away to legal counsel.

The vast majority of bicycle accident attorneys are paid on commission, so they do not get paid unless you receive a settlement or win a court-mandated compensation. If you do receive a settlement or compensation, the rates may vary, but often the fees are approximately one-third of your award plus court costs. This does two things for you – it assures that you will not lose any money by going to a bicycle accident lawyer, but also means that bicycle accident attorneys are completely on your side and is willing to work hard for your cause. The firm can only bill if the firm wins the case, so you are sure to get a lawyer who cares about winning your case.

The size of the award will vary drastically based on a myriad of factors. Bicycle Accident lawyers can advise clients on what they are likely to receive in terms of compensation. Severity of injuries to persons and damage to equipment, whether hospitalization was required, total amount of medical costs, etc. Also included can be compensation for wages lost through missed work. In some cases, your bicycle accident attorneys may also consider filing for pain and suffering or traumatically induced stress, but these are less common in bicycle accident lawsuits. Only experience bicycle accident attorneys will be able to estimate the size of your bicycle accident lawsuit, or even your chances of obtaining compensation at all.

This will depend on the events of your particular accident, and especially on the order in which they occurred. For instance, if your brakes failed, thus causing the accident, the manufacturer of the brakes may be liable, or even the bike shop that last tuned your brakes. However, if your accident was caused by a negligent and perhaps intoxicated driver, then the largest force of the bicycle accident lawsuit will be directed toward the driver. In certain circumstances, other parties such as witnesses, police officers or departments and medical facilities may also be sued.

In some cases, multiple parties may be involved in the bicycle accident lawsuit. Perhaps your accident was caused by a negligent driver, but during an attempt to avoid the accident, or diminish the force of an impending crash, your brakes fail. In that case the negligent driver may be sued along with the bicycle manufacturer.

Again, this is a question whose answer can only be discovered in relation to your individual accident, and only by a qualified and experienced bicycle accident attorney. In receiving a consultation a bicycle accident attorney, you will be able to answer many of these sorts of questions and understand better where your bicycle accident lawsuit will be best focused.

A small, sleepy town was building its first Fast-food restaurant. The contractor included a trench drain at the edge of the property where the roadway met the drive-through. The trench was covered with nearly 20 rectangular grates across the entrance to the facility. Unfortunately, the contractor left approximately two inches of extra space in the trench opening that was not covered by the grates. Most of the time, the grates had this extra space spread evenly between them, and no problems arose. However, when the cars rolled over the grates to enter the Fast-food facility, the grates often slid slightly. One day, a gap almost two inches in width formed between two grates, and a middle-aged man riding his bicycle to the fast-food restaurant, with sight diminished by the direct shining of the sun, drove his front tire into this gap up to the hub of the wheel. The victim spent a number of months hospitalized, and was tragically permanently disfigured. Now, the contractor pays very stiff insurance bills, and the fast food location also was forced to provide a reasonable settlement.

This may seem like a bizarre or strange case, however, very few cases are ‘normal’, and regardless of how unique, strange, or bizarre your case may be, if you were injured by another party’s negligence, then you may very well be entitled to a settlement and you should strongly consider contacting a bicycle accident attorney today.

Bicycle accidents happen all the time. In fact, every 6 minutes, a cyclist is fatally injured, and almost half of these involve cyclists under the age of 16. If you are a cyclist, you must become safety conscious. Wear a helmet, and if you ride at night, buy a light and make sure your reflectors are clean. Pay close attention to where you are riding and where other vehicles and persons are in relation to you and your intended path of travel. Always have a way out planned ahead of time so you can avoid being involved in an accident. In the unfortunate event that you are involved in an accident, be sure to treat the situation seriously.

Be courteous to other persons involved, but make sure to take down all pertinent information, including names, phone numbers, addresses, insurance information from all involved parties, take photographs, and call the police or file an accident report. If you have been injured, find and consult with an experienced bicycle accident attorney. It is likely that if you take the time to search, you will be able to find a qualified bicycle accident lawyer who will work for commission, so you are not at risk of losing still more money. Be aware that bicycle accident lawsuits may take years to resolve, depending on the complexity of the case and the persons involved. However, if you are not at fault, you should not have to pay for damages caused by another person’s negligence, so consider talking to one or more bicycle accident attorneys today.