Articles Posted in Bicycle Accidents

There is an unfortunate stereotype that says that, whenever there is a court case that involves a seemingly minor accident and a very large award of damages from a jury, the verdict was a result of “slick” plaintiffs’ lawyers, disingenuous plaintiffs’ doctors, and a gullible jury. As is the case in most walks of life, though, assumptions, generalizations, and stereotypes are often wrong.

In reality, there are a lot of situations in which even accidents devoid of high speeds or large vehicles still inflict permanent and life-changing injuries. If you are injured by someone else’s negligence, and that injury leaves you with hundreds of thousands of dollars of medical bills, your bill collectors are not going to ask how fast the other vehicle was going. Whether the vehicle that hit you was going 5 or 105, if the other person was at fault, you are entitled to receive a sum of compensation that fully reflects the totality of the harm that you’ve suffered. To make certain that you’re getting that level of compensation, be sure to retain a skilled San Mateo injury attorney.

In law school, students learn about someone called an “eggshell victim” or “eggshell plaintiff.” This refers to a situation in which the injured person has suffered more severe or extensive injuries than an “average” person might have suffered under the same circumstances. A Sacramento County case recently reported by the Sacramento Bee is a good example. A married couple in their mid 60s were out for a tandem bicycle ride on a bike path in Folsom when they approached two pedestrians from the rear. The husband signaled to the pedestrians with his bicycle bell. After initially stepping to the right, the female pedestrian moved quickly back to the left. The bicycle hit the female pedestrian and crashed on the trail.

Federal statistics show that more than 780 bicyclists lost their lives in crashes with cars, trucks or SUVs in 2017. In addition to those 780+ deaths, hundreds of thousands were injured. In many of these accidents, the driver of the car/truck/SUV is solely to blame. The driver may have been speeding, inattentive, distracted, intoxicated or many other things.

Sometimes, though, the true cause for an accident is more complex. Perhaps a traffic signal malfunctioned. Perhaps the intersection contained severely obscured sight lines or maybe there were other design flaws that played a role in the crash. When that happens, you, as the injured bicyclist, may be entitled to recover significant compensation, not only from the driver, but also from the governmental entity responsible for the unsafe road area where your crash took place. To make sure that you are getting a full and fair recovery that holds accountable all those responsible, be sure that you have a knowledgeable San Mateo bicycle accident attorney on your side.

A non-fatal, though nevertheless tragic, accident from Santa Clara County is an example of this kind of incident. As San Jose Inside reported, two boys – a 6-year-old on a scooter and a 13-year-old on a bicycle – were hit by an SUV as the boys crossed a street to go watch a 4th of July fireworks show. The 6-year-old was thrown some 30 feet through the air and suffered several fractures, including compound ones. The 13-year-old fared much worse, being dragged by the SUV for 30+ feet and suffering multiple seizures. The accident also inflicted a severe traumatic brain injury on the boy that, according to the family’s attorney, would “require special medical care and educational support for the rest of his life,” according to San Jose Inside.

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When you are injured in a bicycle accident that takes place on public property, there may be multiple ways to utilize the legal system. For example, if your accident occurred in a construction area on a public road, you may have a viable case against the government responsible for the road, the construction company doing the work and any other entities directly involved in the job. For reliable advice about whom you should pursue for compensation, be sure to rely on an experienced San Mateo injury attorney who has the experience and skill to get you the positive result you deserve.

S.D. was a man injured in a single-vehicle bicycle accident. According to an NBC 7 report, he was bicycling to work one December morning in 2017, traveling down the southbound bicycle lane of a street in San Diego. That same morning, construction crews were digging several large trenches as part of excavation work they were performing. The bicyclist hit a two-foot-wide ditch in the bicycle lane and the impact threw him from his cycle. When he landed, his head struck a big pile of dirt and rock, which caused the man to suffer injuries.

Those injuries were life-changing. The bicyclist suffered a cervical spine injury that left him with permanent quadriplegia. In other words, this previously active person would spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

Bicyclists have certain obligations when they take to the roads. They are required to observe the rules of the road, for example. Additionally, when a road has a bike lane and a bicyclist is traveling slower than vehicle traffic, the bicyclist is required to use that bike lane. This, of course, presents its own potential issue. What if you, as a bicyclist, are using the bike lane as required by the law and you encounter unsafe conditions in your bike lane, which eventually cause you to crash and suffer injuries? What legal options do you have? Whether you’re hurt in a bicycle accident like this or in a different way, you need answers. Be sure to get them from an experienced San Mateo injury attorney.

As reported by the Fresno Bee, D.B. and M.R. were two bicyclists in Fresno County who found themselves in the position of traveling down a bike lane that became treacherous. They were among seven members of the Fresno Cycling Club out for a Sunday morning ride northeast of the city. As the road dropped into a descent, D.B. and M.R. hit an area where the bike lane was covered in sand and gravel.

M.R., who was in front, was unable to stop before hitting the debris. She wiped out and fell into the northbound travel lane, where a passing vehicle struck her. She suffered a broken arm and dislocated shoulder joint, which eventually necessitated two surgeries. D.B. wiped out, too. He suffered a broken wrist and broken finger, requiring surgery to address the finger injury, the Bee reported.

Any time a loved one is killed due to the negligence of another person, it is heartbreaking. It is also a scary time, as the loss of a loved one may, in addition to causing great emotional damage, also inflict financial hardship upon the loved ones left behind. While no sum of money can replace the loss of loved one, an award of compensation may be both proper and necessary to address the possible financial crisis that a loved one’s sudden death might bring about. To make sure your family gets the compensation that you should, be sure to work with a skilled California injury attorney when it comes to handling your case.

A recent Southern California accident demonstrated how harmful alleged negligence behind the wheel can be. According to a Los Angeles Times report, the accident occurred on a straight and unobstructed stretch of Mulholland Highway in Los Angeles County. A Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputy was returning from having responded to a call. A he traveled down the straight stretch of highway, he allegedly sent a personal text message to his wife and also typed on the patrol car’s computer. The patrol car eventually strayed into the bicycle lane and crashed into a bicyclist at roughly 48 mph. The bicyclist slammed into the police vehicle’s windshield.

Although he was wearing helmet, the bicyclist was declared dead at the scene. The Los Angeles government and the cyclist’s family reached a settlement in which the family received payment of $12 million.

As a bicyclist, a pedestrian, or another user of public roads or sidewalks, you are entitled to expect that the roads and sidewalks will be maintained in a safe condition and, if a hazard exists, that you will be appropriately warned about it. When that doesn’t happen, and you get hurt as a result, you may be entitled to compensation. Sometimes, this compensation may be achieved through a judgment and, other times, a settlement. A skilled Southern California bicycle accident attorney can provide you with needed representation in your case, including helping you analyze decisions like settling versus going forward with litigation.

A few months ago, the Los Angeles Times reported on one California bicyclist whose serious injures led to a large settlement. Peter was operating his bike along Valley Vista Road in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles when his accident took place. While pedaling down the road, Peter encountered a large pothole. Unable to avoid the pothole, the bicyclist tried to drive through the hazard. The attempt was unsuccessful, and Peter lost control, with the crash throwing him to the ground. Peter then sued the City of Los Angeles.

In a case like Peter’s, there are certain essential things that you’ll need to accomplish in order to achieve a favorable result. First, you will need to show that the entity you sued was liable for the harm you suffered. In Peter’s case, he presented proof that the pothole was hazardous due to the deficient maintenance of the road and the low lighting in the area of the hole, which made the pothole “a concealed trap” for people like bicyclists, the Times reported.

As a bicyclist, there are certain risks that come with taking to the road on your bike. That is especially true if you are a racing bicyclist. One of the risks that shouldn’t “come with the territory,” though, is the risk of injury or death due to the negligence of a driver of a car, truck, or van. In one recent case, a van driver’s decision to park that vehicle in the path of a group of bicyclists was potentially an action that elevated the risk of harm to the bicyclists and allowed the family of one dead cyclist to pursue their wrongful death claim. Whether you’re bicycling to race or simply as a means of transportation, you may be entitled to damages if you are hurt by a driver’s negligence. You should act without delay to contact an experienced California bicycle accident attorney about your case.

Suzanne, the cyclist whose fatal accident spawned a recent lawsuit, was from Bakersfield but was participating in a road race in Mariposa County in May 2012. During the race, the race organizer had support vans to assist riders. At one point, a support van stopped to help a rider, and the driver parked the van in the road, within a lane designated for racers. When Suzanne and a group of other racers encountered the van in their lane, the other cyclists were able to swerve into a lane intended for vehicle traffic. Suzanne wasn’t able to steer around the van and crashed into it. As she lay on the ground, at least one other cyclist was unable to avoid her and ran over her. The woman died from her injuries.

Suzanne’s family sued the organizer for wrongful death. The family faced some clear hurdles to success in their case. The law says that there are certain types of activities that carry with them a degree of risk. When you voluntarily choose to participate in that activity, you do something called “assumption of the risk.” That means that you have voluntarily chosen to accept the consequences, including possible harm, that can come from taking part in that activity. In other words, if a football player breaks his leg as a result of a regular and legal tackle executed by an opposing player, the injured player is generally not entitled to a recovery for his damages (absent other special circumstances) because he voluntarily chose to take part in the potentially dangerous activity of football.

There are many different rules established by the law (whether through statutes or court cases). Some are very well known, while others are known mostly only by lawyers. One of these rules, called the “going and coming” rule, affects whether the law considers you to be on the job or on your own time when an accident happens. While many people often associate this rule with claims for workers’ compensation benefits, it can also play an important role in your personal injury case, potentially in a negative way. With representation from a knowledgeable California accident attorney, however, you may be able to overcome this rule and still maximize your claim for damages.

One recent case in which this rule had an important impact was the injury lawsuit filed by a bicyclist named Andres. Andres was riding his bicycle in San Diego County when he collided with a vehicle owned by Brian. Andres hit Brian’s vehicle because Brian opened his vehicle door into Andres’ path, and the bicyclist could not avoid the collision.

Clearly, Andres had a potential claim against Brian, alleging that Brian was negligent in opening the door and that that negligence caused the accident. Pursuing only Brian, however, might mean that Andres might not be able to recover a damages award that fully covered all of the harm he suffered.

Many times, a bicycle accident is a result of the negligent conduct of another driver on the road. Sometimes, though, the source of your injuries may have nothing to do with the conduct of any other driver. In a portion of bicycle injury instances, the harm the bicyclist suffers results solely from the presence of a dangerous condition located along the path the bicyclist took. Just like drivers who are injured by such dangerous conditions, bicyclists too may be entitled to compensation, which is why, if you’re injured in a bicycle accident, it pays to consult a California bicycle accident attorney right away. A recent case from Southern California reported by the San Diego Union Tribune illustrates this.

In other recent cases, injured drivers in the Los Angeles area have recovered damages awards based upon a failure to maintain public property properly. The family of a scientist killed at a blind intersection in San Pedro recovered $23 million in 2016. Another intersection in Redondo Beach with sight-line issues was the basis for a former UCLA football player recovering $35 million.

Further south, a bicyclist who was injured in 2014 while cycling in the early afternoon hours along a sidewalk in Del Cerro, a neighborhood in the eastern part of San Diego, recently secured a multi-million dollar settlement for his injuries. The bicyclist’s injuries resulted when he hit an area of the sidewalk that was raised roughly seven inches, due to the growth over time of a tree root. The root’s effect of raising part of the surface had created an incline such that the sidewalk had become, in the bicyclist’s description, a “launching ramp.” In his lawsuit, the bicyclist contended that the dangerous condition did launch him some 28 feet. After that, he allegedly skidded for another 10 feet, the Union Tribune reported.