Were You Recently in a Bike Accident? Call Us Today!
When you get on your bicycle and ride around Los Angeles, it might be a good idea if you attempt to avoid as many intersections as possible. According to accident statistics involving bicycles and cars, only 11 percent of bicycle accidents involve a car colliding with a bicyclist. However, when these accidents take place, 45 percent of the time they occur at intersections. While there can be numerous reasons for the accident, the fact remains most bicyclists struck by cars suffer extensive injuries that require prolonged hospital stays, long-term physical therapy, and much more that results in thousands of dollars in medical bills. If you were riding your bike and were struck by a car at an intersection, make your first call to a Los Angeles personal injury attorney for advice on what to do next.
Bike Accidents
Since colliding with a car can result in devastating injuries for a bicyclist, it is always best if you try to take as many precautions as possible while riding in and around Los Angeles. This should include maximizing your visibility, understanding the rules of the road as they pertain to cyclists, being very cautious when riding through intersections, and learning where some of the most dangerous intersections are located. However, if you do everything necessary to avoid an accident but are still injured by a careless driver, put your case in the hands of a bicycle accident lawyer Los Angeles cyclists rely on to get justice.
Why Accidents Occur at Intersections
As for reasons why accidents occur at intersections between cars and bicyclists, there are many reasons. Unfortunately, many of them are due to a driver who is simply negligent and careless while behind the wheel. For example, many times when a cyclist is struck at an intersection, the car’s driver was distracted from talking or texting on a cellphone. In other situations, drivers were going too fast through an intersection and could not stop in time to avoid hitting the cyclist. Whatever the reason may be for an accident, you are probably dealing with broken bones and other serious injuries that have impacted you and your family. If you need to discuss how to gain compensation for your injuries, make sure you consult soon with an attorney at Grey Law who can advise you on what to do next.
Avoiding Liability
If a car does strike you while you are riding your bicycle, expect the driver to blame you for the accident and do everything possible to make you appear to be at-fault for the accident. To keep this from happening, you should always think about how to avoid liability before you ever set out on your bike ride. For example, if you wear brightly-colored clothing, a reflective vest, and have your bike outfitted with front and rear lamps, it will be difficult for a driver to claim you were not easily visible while on the road. Along with this, you should always ride defensively and be on the lookout for careless drivers. Should an accident take place, there will probably be witnesses to the crash. If they can state you were riding in a safe and reasonable manner, you can probably escape blame for the accident. If questions of liability arise that could point the finger of blame at you, do not hesitate to hire a lawyer that specializes in bike accident cases.
Right-of-Way Rules
When cars and bikes collide at intersections, police and courts will always look to see who had the right-of-way at the intersection. However, this question is not always easy to answer. For example, if the intersection had traffic lights, it is sometimes possible the light’s sensors could not pick up the presence of your bicycle, even if you were doing everything right at the time. Because of this, it may appear you were at-fault for the accident when you were not. Rather than let yourself be held responsible for an accident that was not your fault, work with a personal injury bicycle accident lawyer from Grey Law. By doing so, you will have an experienced attorney on your side who can make excellent use of accident reconstruction experts, who can testify in court and demonstrate how you were not responsible for what transpired.
In the Right and On the Right
If you want to be on the right regarding your accident, you may need to prove you were on the right at the intersection. In situations where an intersection has no traffic signals or relies only on stop signs, the driver on the right is considered to have the right-of-way. This is especially true when vehicles arrive at the same time, but when one vehicle arrives before the other, the first vehicle always has the right-of-way. Since your case may come down to proving you had the right-of-way, let a knowledgeable Los Angeles injury lawyer represent you and help you win your case.
Police Reports
Any time cars and bikes are involved in a crash, it is vital police be called to the scene. Once they arrive, officers will begin speaking to you and the car’s driver to learn what happened, speak to nearby witnesses to the crash, and examine other evidence to make a preliminary assessment of who caused the accident. Once you get a copy of the police report, turn it over to respected, trusted lawyers at Grey Law.
Since a lawyer can be the difference between gaining compensation for your injuries or getting nothing at all, don’t hand over your case to just any attorney. Find a reliable law firm. If you are ready to entrust your case to a personal injury bicycle accident lawyer who will fight hard to help you gain maximum compensation, schedule a consultation immediately with Grey Law.
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