Bicycle Accident

Have you or someone you care about been involved in a bicycle accident in Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley or elsewhere in California?

Due to the pleasant weather, a desire to live a healthy lifestyle, and/or a wanting to help our planet by "going green," California has many bicycle riders, who ride to work, around universities, to do errands, and just for exercise and fun. Unfortunately, due to the large amount of bicycle riders in Los Angeles, Ventura and Orange counties, there are a large number of bicycle accidents, especially involving children.

Bicycle accidents occur in many ways, including when a careless driver drifts into a bike lane and swipes a bicycle rider the driver could not see, when a bicyclist is hit by a car coming out of a driveway or parking lot, when a driver does not see a bicyclist making a turn on a busy street, or when a bicyclist is riding on the sidewalk and collides with a car.

No matter how a bicycle accident has happened, the first important thing to do, after getting medical care, is to determine who is at fault. Usually, because bicyclists do not have the protection that a motor vehicle offers, the bicycle rider is the most injured from the collision. Depending on the type of bicycle accident, these injuries can often include broken bones and fractures, pain throughout the body and cuts, scrapes and other abrasions, contusions and bruising often called road rash. These injuries may be worse in cases when the bicycle rider is not wearing a helmet or other protective gear.

Because of the lack of protection for bicycle riders, even a "minor" impact with a car or truck may cause serious injuries to the bicycle rider. There is often a prejudice against bicycle riders, wrongfully blaming them or placing full liability on them when, in fact, it is not their fault or there is comparative negligence of the other parties involved.

If you have been injured while riding a bicycle, do not let the other party's insurance company wrongfully blame you for the accident. We have seen insurance companies come up with all sorts of bogus reasons why the bicycle rider was at fault for an accident, when in fact the other driver caused or contributed to causing the accident.

Oftentimes a Traffic Collision Report (usually referred to as a Police Report) will blame a bicyclist for an accident that would not have occurred had the vehicle operator exercised due care before making a turn. We do not accept these bogus arguments and will fight to obtain the compensation that the injured bicyclist deserves, including all damages allowed under California law for all injuries suffered, such as the following:

1. All past and future medical, hospital, physical therapy, psychological and dental charges;
2. All past and future loss of earnings and also all time lost at work, even if paid for it under sick leave, vacation time or other benefits as the responsible party should not benefit by the benefits you earned and may have used up;
3. Loss of enjoyment of life and activities you lost and missed out on;
4. All past and future pain, suffering, emotional distress and inconvenience;
5. All property damage, rental charges and all loss of use of property (as sometimes one cannot afford to rent a replacement vehicle but still suffers from the loss of use of that property and, therefore, is entitled to compensation);
6. All diminution in value of your property, that is the difference in value after it was repaired compared to its pre-collision value, which is usually more and you are usually entitled to that extra compensation;
7. And all other appropriate damages under California law.

Our firm also has successfully settled several bicycle accident claims where the other party's insurer denied the claim and refused to make any payment at all. In one such recent claim, after another experienced attorney actually dropped the claim (and did so after consulting with another attorney and also a professional investigator), the client then hired our firm and we obtained the full policy limits for our client!

Take the pressure off yourself and let someone experienced in handling such matters assist you. Call our offices now for a FREE consultation with an experienced injury attorney or any member of our legal team.