You think you’re doing the right thing by riding a bike to get around. Bicycles are not only environmentally friendly, but cycling is a great form of exercise. But what happens when a driver who isn’t paying attention hits you? Chances are, your life will immediately turn upside down. You may miss weeks of work, important family events, and face an uncertain recovery. On top of this, once the medical bills start rolling in, it can be overwhelming.
If you were injured in a bicycle accident, you are not alone, and you have options. Through a bicycle accident lawsuit you can seek to hold the driver who hit you accountable. If you are successful, you can recover for all your accident-related expenses. Of course, this isn’t going to change the fact that you were seriously injured, but it can make the recovery process much smoother.
At the law firm of Console & Associates, P.C., we represent bicycle accident victims, helping them recover meaningful compensation. We understand the challenges you are facing. We also recognize that picking up the phone to rehash the accident and your injuries with a lawyer may not be something you are looking forward to. That’s understandable; however, is it fair that you are on the hook for your accident-related expenses. At Console & Associates, P.C., we don’t think so. And we will do everything we can to hold the driver responsible for your injuries financially accountable. Together, we can make the roads a safer place for all cyclists. We offer all bicycle accident victims a free consultation and, if you decide to bring a bike accident lawsuit with Console & Associates, P.C., you won’t pay for our legal representation unless we can recover compensation on your behalf. That’s part of the “No Fee Promise” we make to each one of our clients.
Bicycle accident legal help is more affordable and easier to get than you might expect. Just call (866) 778-5500 today for a free, no-obligation case review.
After you sustain serious bicycle accident injuries, one thing becomes clear: you need help. With an experienced bicycle accident law firm on your side, you will have all your questions answered, your worries addressed, and your legal and financial interests protected. With more than 25 years of history in legal practice, Console & Associates, P.C. has exactly the sort of experience you need for a bicycle accident claim. We have recovered more than $100 million in total compensation for our clients, including six-figure bicycle accident settlements like $100,000 and $635,000 for victims injured in hit-and-run bicycle accidents.
Like auto accidents in general, bicycle crashes involving cars can result from many different actions. Most of the causes of bicycle accidents fall into the category of negligence.
That negligence is usually on the part of a driver who struck a bicyclist, but in some cases, there may be the grounds for a viable case against the employer of a negligent driver, a property owner or property manager, a government agency that negligently plans roads that are dangerous to cyclists, and other entities.
Pertaining specifically to bicycle collisions caused by a driver’s negligence, common causes of bicycle accidents include:
In some instances, someone else is to blame for a bicycle accident. You might also have the grounds for a bicycle injury lawsuit if your accident involved one of the following situations:
An injured cyclist doesn’t always know right away what led to the bicycle accident. Speaking to a bicycle accident attorney and allowing that lawyer to launch an investigation at no upfront cost can help you get answers and determine what legal options you have.
There are many different types of bicycle accident injuries. A collision with a larger vehicle could cause the cyclist to suffer many of the same types of injuries that occur in other types of motor vehicle collisions. Since the cyclist has no protection from the force of the impact, those injuries are often severe.
In other types of bicycle accidents, there may be no collision with a vehicle, but the cyclist may instead be thrown from the bicycle, or get entangled in or struck by bike parts.
Some of the injuries that our bicycle accident lawyers most commonly encounter include:
Recovering from any of these injuries can be a long and difficult—not to mention painful—road, and not all accident victims will make a full recovery. Having a compassionate bicycle accident attorney on your side can make all the difference, allowing you to focus on your physical recovery while giving you the best chance at receiving the full amount of compensation you’re entitled to.
When a bicycle accident is someone else’s fault and it causes you to suffer significant physical and financial harm, you can and should seek compensation. To get the maximum compensation for your damages, you need professional legal representation from an experienced bike accident lawyer. Your bicycle accident attorney has the legal knowledge to conduct a thorough investigation, gather evidence to prove legal liability, calculate the full amount of your damages, negotiate out-of-court settlements, and represent you in court if needed.
The experienced bicycle accident attorneys at Console & Associates, P.C. handle all types of bicycle accident lawsuits that arise from negligence. Most often, bicycle injury claims involve a driver’s negligence behind the wheel of a car, truck, or other motor vehicle. Another type of bicycle accident claim is a product liability claim, in which the victim holds the manufacturer of a defectively designed or manufactured bicycle or bicycle part accountable for causing an accident. Product liability cases are those that involve a manufacturer’s negligence.
The legal team at Console & Associates also has a history of success handling hit and run cases in which motorists struck cyclists and then fled the scene. These situations are particularly appalling. Not only is it heinously wrong and illegal to flee the scene of an accident, but by leaving the injured cyclist alone and without help, the motorist is allowing the victim’s serious injuries to go untreated longer, potentially risking their life. By thoroughly investigating hit and run crashes and working with experts in accident reconstruction, our attorneys have been able to help victims.
In 2019, 846 cyclists were killed in traffic accidents, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
For every fatal accident on a bicycle, there are many more instances in which cyclists survive a crash but sustain serious, often life-changing injuries. Historically, bicycles have led to nearly three times as many total head injuries as playing football and more than eight times as many head injury-related hospitalizations, according to Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute.
Even when the overall national traffic fatality rate has decreased, that doesn’t always mean that cyclists’ fatality rates have followed suit. In fact, in 2018, when the overall traffic fatality rate dropped by 1 percent, cyclist fatalities increased by 10 percent, according to news site Streetsblog USA.
Injured cyclists often want to know what an average bicycle accident settlement looks like. However, it’s difficult to give a typical bicycle accident settlement amount, since the value of a claim depends heavily on the unique facts of an accident and on the extent of the damages, or harms and losses, the victim suffered. Below are some of the considerations that affect the value of your bicycle accident case:
Other factors can also impact the value of your claim. The upper limits of your bicycle injury payout will likely be limited by the amount of bicycle accident insurance available through an auto insurance policy or a residential or commercial business property.
The causes of bicycle accidents and the legal liability for accidents also affect the value of a claim. When the defendant’s negligence is obvious, such as when a motorist who struck you is charged with reckless driving over their clearly dangerous behavior behind the wheel, your case is stronger than if the defendant’s culpability for the accident is debatable. In the case that a cyclist is partially responsible for the accident, their payout typically will be reduced by the percentage at which the cyclist is found at fault.
Dealing with bicycle accident aftermath isn’t easy, but you don’t have to do it alone. The bicycle accident lawyers at Console & Associates, P.C. can help.
Injured cyclists often wonder why a police accident report in bicycle accidents is such a big deal. Basically, a police report is an authoritative method of documenting that the bicycle accident happened and what caused it.
Without a bicycle accident report, you may have a hard time proving your claim, especially if your bike itself wasn’t damaged. The insurance company may try to get out of paying your claim by arguing that you sustained your injuries in some other way that isn’t covered by the policy.
Once the police report is prepared, you should get a copy and keep it for your records and for the case your attorney is building on your behalf.
To be eligible to pursue a bicycle accident settlement, you need to be able to prove that the defendant—the party you’re suing—was negligent in some way. Demonstrating negligence in a personal injury claim requires you to first establish that the defendant owed you some duty of care, such as the duty drivers have to follow traffic safety laws or the duty property owners have to maintain premises in reasonably safe conditions.
Next, you would have to prove a breach of duty of care on the part of the defendant. A violation of traffic safety laws may constitute a driver’s negligence, while proving a property owner’s breach of duty of care would involve identifying the specific hazards the owner allowed to exist on the property.
What many people don’t realize is that there is still more work to be done in proving negligence. You need to show causation, or that the established breach of duty of care is what caused your bicycle accident. Finally, you need to document that you suffered legally recognizable damages, such as physical injuries, medical bills, lost wages, and potentially pain and suffering.
Proving bicycle accident liability isn’t simple, but you don’t have to do it alone. Having high-quality legal representation from a team like Console & Associates can make the legal process simpler while putting you in a position to recover maximum compensation. A study by the Insurance Research Council found that attorneys get their clients 3.5 times more money, on average, than claimants without lawyers get for themselves.
It’s worth considering speaking to an attorney after any bicycle accident that leaves you with significant injuries. A bicycle accident injury doesn’t have to be catastrophic to pursue a lawsuit; any injury that is serious enough to affect your life through medical bills and pain or physical limitations may provide the grounds for a claim. As soon as you realize that your injuries are serious, you should speak to a bicycle accident attorney.
There are deadlines that apply to bicycle accident claims, and in some instances, victims may have only a matter of months to take action. However, there is another reason you should hire a bicycle accident lawyer as soon as possible. Shortly after the accident, the evidence that proves legal liability for the accident is freshest and easiest to find. When you wait to speak to an attorney, the delay in the investigation can allow crucial evidence in the case to disappear.
Between the medical bills and the lost wages that result when your injuries keep you out of work, a bicycle accident can be financially devastating. Pursuing a claim for compensation is the only way to financially recover from the accident and, often, your best chance for affording the medical treatments you need to make the best physical recovery possible. That’s why the experienced bicycle accident lawyers at Console & Associates make every client our No Fee Promise.
This commitment means we handle claims on a no-win, no-fee basis. You will pay nothing for the initial legal consultation and case review, nothing to advance your claim through the legal process and nothing for legal representation during the course of your case. You pay only a portion of the settlement or jury award in your favor, and if we don’t succeed in getting money for you, you owe us nothing.
When attorneys handle bicycle accident claims on a no-win, no-fee basis, victims can get free legal advice from qualified professionals that can help them decide whether and how they will move forward with a claim for compensation.
Having a bicycle accident attorney on your side makes life after an accident simpler. We can handle all aspects of the legal process, as well as investigating the cause of the accident, answering your questions about typical bicycle accident settlement amounts, and advocating for you at every step. If the defendant is trying to unfairly put the blame on you, you can turn to our attorneys to uncover the evidence in your favor and create a strong case that minimizes your bicycle accident responsibility.
Our attorneys have repeatedly gotten our clients six-figure settlements for bicycle accident injuries that caused serious injuries—and we never charge clients upfront for legal representation. If you’re ready to have your case reviewed at no charge, call (866) 778-5500 for your free legal consultation.
Each state has statutes of limitations, or laws that establish a maximum length of time to take legal action. Depending on state law, you may have just one year or several years, and other deadlines may also apply. For example, the statute of limitations on bicycle accidents in New Jersey is two years, but if your claim involves a government entity, you may have as little as 90 days to give notice of your claim.
To ensure that you don’t miss the statute of limitations, as well as to make sure you can gather the evidence needed to move forward with your claim, you should reach out to a bicycle accident attorney as soon as possible.
After a bicycle accident, different insurance policies may apply, depending on the circumstances of the accident and the laws of the state in which it occurred. For example, if your bicycle accident involved a collision with a car in a no-fault state and you are covered by an auto insurance policy, you may be eligible for personal injury protection (PIP) benefits under your own auto insurance policy.
For other types of damages and in other situations, you would need to seek compensation from another insurance policy, such as that of the at-fault driver, the negligent property owner, or the manufacturer of a defective product.
The easiest way to untangle this complicated situation and start the process of pursuing claims against all relevant insurance carriers is to speak to an experienced bicycle accident lawyer.
When you’re looking for a bicycle accident attorney, you should look closely at the law firm’s history of results handling cases like yours. Bicycle accident claims are unique and complex legal matters, and knowing that the lawyer you choose has experience successfully pursuing compensation on behalf of clients in situations like yours is one way to put your mind at ease.
