Bicycle Accident Lawyers
Award-Winning Legal Professionals at the Ready
Bicyclists are owed their fair share of the road, just like any other motorist. Even more caution than normal should be shown around bicyclists, too, because they are so vulnerable to the consequences of a wreck. Unfortunately, driver errors and negligence do not suddenly get better just because a motorist is driving near someone on a bicycle. Each day, terrible bicycle accidents can and do happen.
If you were in an accident while riding your bicycle, let Morris & Dewett Injury Lawyers help you make sense of what to do next. Our legal team would be happy to help you with every process related to your case. If you do not have health insurance, then please call us at (888) 492-5532 right away. We might be able to find a medical professional who is willing to treat you for a medical lien, which means they will get paid through your settlement or award if one is secured at the end of your case.
Want to know more? Request a free consultation now.
Serious Injuries Suffered in Bicycle Accidents
Bicyclists have very little protection against the impact of a collision with a larger vehicle. Helmets and pads can help, but they can only do so much. As a result, it is typical for a bicycle accident victim to suffer catastrophic injuries due to a driver’s momentary lapse in better judgment.
Serious injuries often reported in bicycle accident claims include:
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs): One of the worst injuries that a bicyclist can suffer in a crash is a brain injury. A harsh impact to the head, even with a helmet on, can cause instant and permanent damage. Bicyclists should always seek urgent medical attention after a crash, even if they feel relatively fine because there could be an underlying concussion or head injury that needs to be addressed as soon as possible.
- Spinal cord injuries: Another life-changing injury that can be suffered by a bicyclist in a wreck is a spinal cord injury. Damage to the spine can cause temporary or permanent paralysis of multiple body parts. Quadriplegia is paralysis of all four limbs and most of the body, which is caused by damage to the spine near the neck and skull.
- Soft tissue injuries: Damage to a tendon, ligament, muscle, or nerve will cause a soft tissue injury. Although this type of injury might not seem as dramatic as a broken bone or an internal organ injury, it can still cause extreme pain and debilitation, especially if left untreated.
- Broken bones: It is common for bicycle accident survivors to require weeks of hospitalization to get over multiple broken bones suffered in their accident. Bone breaks can heal correctly in many cases, but if they do not, then the injury can be considered catastrophic.
Our bicycle accident attorneys can work with medical experts to get a full understanding of your injuries and how your life will be impacted by them for years to come. In doing so, we can better calculate your damages and make sure that you get enough compensation to cover everything.
How Did Your Bicycle Accident Happen?
An investigation into the circumstances leading up to your bicycle accident might be required if liability is contested or cloudy. We can use our collective legal experience and insight to uncover new evidence, as well as closely analyze preexisting evidence that might have already been collected at the scene of the crash. The goal is to prove that the driver who hit you did something wrong, not you.
Motorist mistakes that often lead to bicycle accidents include:
- Tailgating: Following a bicyclist too closely is extremely dangerous for the bicyclist. A bicycle can come to a complete stop in a much shorter distance than a vehicle. If a bicyclist stops at an intersection and a vehicle was tailgating them, then the risk of being rear-ended will be high.
- Making unsafe lane changes: Motorists need to check mirrors and blind spots whenever they are making a lane change or merging to avoid causing a crash. The need to engage in this quick yet essential safety behavior is heightened when around bicyclists, who are even easier to miss due to their comparatively small size.
- Driving in a bike lane: Dedicated bicycle lanes should only be used by bicyclists. Such lanes are designed to let bicycle riders navigate the roads with motor vehicle traffic around them and with less risk of an accident. When a motorist drives in a bike lane, it puts innocent bicyclists at risk of being hit unexpectedly.
- “Dooring” a bicyclist: A “dooring” accident occurs when someone inside a vehicle opens the door into an adjacent lane of traffic or onto a sidewalk and strikes someone. Typically, dooring accidents involve a motorist opening their door into a bike lane right in front of a bicyclist, who has no time to stop from crashing right into the door.
Bicycle Safety Laws Can Affect Your Claim
Were you wearing a bicycle helmet when your crash occurred? If you were not, then it could affect your liability and chances of securing a fair amount of compensation for your injuries. It depends on where you live, though.
In Louisiana, bicyclists only need a helmet if they are under the age of 12. Furthermore, the law says that not wearing a helmet cannot be “prima facie evidence of negligence” following a crash. In other words, you don’t automatically assume liability for your damages just because you did not wear a helmet.
In Texas, the bicycle helmet law is even less restrictive because there is no statewide helmet law. Any bicycle of any age can decide for themselves if they want to wear a bicycle helmet or not. Although, it could be possible for a defendant to argue that not wearing a helmet increased the plaintiff’s liability.
Call Our Proven Advocates Who Can Elevate Your Case
We should begin your bicycle accident case as soon as possible while the memory of what happened is still at the front of your mind. Call Morris & Dewett Injury Lawyers at (888) 492-5532 right now. We can point you in the right direction during a no-cost, no-obligation case consultation.
