Sacramento Bicycle Accident Lawyers
- Sacramento, California Bicycle Accident Statistics
- What Should I Do After Having a Bike Accident?
- Common Causes of Bicycle Accidents in Sacramento
- How a Sacramento Bicycle Accident Lawyer Can Protect Your Legal Rights
- Your Lawyer Handles All Communications With the Insurance Company So That You Do Not Say Anything That Could Hurt Your Case.
- Your Lawyer Takes Action to Preserve Crucial Evidence.
- Your Lawyer Demands a Fair Settlement Offer and Handles Negotiations.
- If Necessary, Your Lawyer Takes Your Case to Court.
- Sacramento Bicycle Accident F.A.Q's
Sacramento's
Most Reliable Bicycle Accident Attorneys
Bike accidents can cause very serious injuries. Many victims are permanently disabled by injuries they suffer in a bike accident, and it takes significant compensation to pay for these lifelong losses. You don’t have to fight for the money you deserve on your own. The Sacramento bicycle accident lawyers at our award-winning law firm are here to fight for you.
We deal with the insurance company so that you can focus on making the best recovery possible. We also ensure that your legal rights are protected at every step of the claims process – and, if necessary, in court.
Learn more about bicycle accident statistics, the common causes of these crashes, what you should do after a bike accident, how our attorneys fight to protect your legal rights, and the answers to common bicycle accident questions.
Taxi Cab Company Accident
$1,000,000.00
Settlement in a bicycle versus taxi cab company accident; client suffered lower leg injuries.– JUDD ROSS ALLEN
Sacramento, California Bicycle Accident Statistics
According to Advocacy Advance, a total of 675 bicyclists were killed in the U.S. during 2020, which was a decrease from the 2019 total of 846. However, with traffic reduced by up to 41 percent during pandemic lockdown orders, some experts predicted a greater decrease than was actually seen.
California had the highest number of bicyclist deaths that year, with 118. While this number can be expected in the state with the largest population, it does cause important safety concerns.
Here in Sacramento, we are faced with especially dangerous conditions for bikers. The local Sacramento CBS affiliate reports that Sacramento was the fifth deadliest city in the nation for bicycle fatalities in 2017. With so many bike accidents in California – and specifically in Sacramento – bicyclists must know what to do to protect their legal rights after any accident.
What Should I Do After Having a Bike Accident?
Any accident scene is overwhelming and chaotic, and its effects can make accident victims say things they shouldn’t or even blurt out something that could hurt their legal claims. Our Sacramento bicycle accident attorneys are here to help. Follow these steps to protect both your health and your legal rights after a bicycle collision:
1. Call 911
Sometimes, a driver will ask you not to call 911. They might claim that you can “work it out yourselves” or that the accident “isn’t really that bad.” When they try to persuade you from contacting the authorities, they are protecting their own legal rights – not yours.
A police report is often the most crucial piece of evidence in a motor vehicle accident case. You also do not know if there are any crimes to be investigated. The driver could be drunk, or drugged, or driving without insurance. Only a police officer can issue traffic citations and criminal charges. Proof of these charges is also important evidence in an injury case.
Finally, it is important to call 911 so that you can be checked out medically. You could be injured even if you do not feel hurt right away. Many serious conditions, such as internal bleeding or brain damage, do not show symptoms for hours after an accident occurs. The emergency medical technicians can help you determine whether you need to go to the hospital right away.
2. Get any medical attention you need.
Even if you do not leave the scene of an accident in an ambulance, it is still important to see a doctor as soon as possible. Emergency room doctors know what signs to look for. They can monitor you for changes in blood pressure, neurological changes, or other signs of a serious injury.
Sometimes an emergency room doctor will discharge you quickly without further testing. Even if such a thing took place, your visit was not wasted. Many conditions are made worse by delayed treatment. By being seen right away, you gave your body the best possible chances of recovery, and you also protected your legal rights. The insurance company will not be able to claim that you made your own injuries worse by not getting medical treatment right away.
3. If possible, get photos at the accident scene.
Your health and safety should always be the priority at the accident scene. Get out of traffic and find a safe place to wait for the police to arrive. Consult with the EMTs about your medical condition, and if you need to go to the hospital in an ambulance, don’t wait to do so. Speak with the police and give them any information they need.
If you are able to take photos or videos of the accident scene, doing so can be helpful to your lawyer, but do not delay going to the hospital or speaking with the police to do so. Follow all directions and advice from the first responders who come to the scene of the accident. If you are able to use your cell phone to get photos and videos after that, feel free to do so, but only if it can be done safely. Do not step out into traffic or interfere with efforts to clear the street.
4. Look for a Sacramento bicycle accident lawyer as soon as possible.
Once healthcare professions have addressed your medical needs, it is time to start looking for a Sacramento bicycle injury attorney. Securing the services of an attorney is important to get done as soon as you can. The insurance company is likely to call you within 24 hours of the accident.
If they know you have a Sacramento personal injury attorney, they are no longer allowed to contact you directly about the accident. All communications must go through your attorney’s office, which protects you from accidentally saying anything that could hurt your case. Your attorney also works to preserve evidence that might be lost, such as parts of the damaged vehicle.
There are many important things a bike accident lawyer does to protect your legal rights. The sooner you have an injury lawyer fighting on your side, the better protected your legal rights will be.
5. Document your injuries and losses.
Many injury victims have bruises, cuts, and scrapes that go away in the days after an accident. It can be helpful to take photos of these injuries before they fade away. You should also take photos of stitches, casts, and other signs of your injuries. Doing so can help document your pain and suffering for settlement negotiations. You can also document your pain and suffering in a journal.
Note all the ways it has affected your daily life, such as days missed at work, nights when you couldn’t sleep, hobbies you couldn’t participate in, interruptions to your exercise routine, and effects of your injuries on your personal relationships. These details paint a picture of your suffering. They help make a persuasive case in settlement negotiations, and they also make compelling testimony to a jury if your case must go to trial.
Common Causes of Bicycle Accidents in Sacramento
There are many reasons why Sacramento bike accidents happen. The person who is legally responsible (“liable”) for causing your accident also has a legal obligation to compensate you for your injuries and losses, so it is important to find an injury lawyer who knows how to find all potential defendants and prove their liability. Our experienced bicycle collision attorneys know how to find all the parties who owe you money.
What follows are some of the most common causes of Sacramento bike accidents:
Distracted Driving
We have all seen an increase in distracted driving as smartphones have become nearly universal in recent years. Drivers are now tempted to check their phones, tablets, and watches while they are driving. Newer vehicles even have distractions built right into the dashboard, such as navigation programs, entertainment systems, and dozens of apps that are usually right at a driver’s fingertips.
All of these electronic diversions are in addition to the distractions drivers have always faced. Food and drink, grooming, changing the radio, and attending to pets or children can also distract the person who is supposed to be safely operating the vehicle, meaning drivers have never been more likely to take their attention off the road where it belongs. Drivers have a legal obligation to avoid these temptations in order to look out for bicyclists. If they do not, they are liable for any accidents and injuries they cause.
Drunk Driving
For decades, drunk driving has been targeted with heavy campaigning for public awareness and expanded law enforcement efforts. But drunk driving continues to be a prevalent problem in spite of these efforts. NHTSA reports that over ten thousand victims were killed by drunk drivers in the U.S. in 2019. That is one victim every 52 minutes.
These deaths are preventable, and it is important to hold drunk drivers accountable for their behavior. Criminal charges and suspended driving privileges are important deterrents, but injury victims must also hold drunk drivers financially accountable by filing personal injury claims.
Drugged Driving
Alcohol is not the only substance that can impair a driver’s ability to safely operate a motor vehicle. As the opioid epidemic spreads throughout the country, law enforcement officers are seeing more and more cases of drugged driving. According to NHTSA, 56 percent of drivers involved in crashes with serious or fatal injuries tested positive for at least one drug after the accident.
This information was collected between October and December of 2020. It will be interesting to see whether the pandemic had an effect on the rate of drugged driving across the United States. Whether a driver was impaired by alcohol, drugs, a combination of the two, or any other substance, they are liable for injuries caused by their impaired driving.
Low Lighting
Accidents are likely to occur at night, during inclement weather, and any other time that visibility is limited. Conditions of limited visibility include dark locations – like an underground parking garage. Drivers have a legal obligation to be especially cautious when driving in these conditions.
If they hit a bicyclist, they can be held liable for the accident, even if there was poor visibility at the time. Drivers must adjust their habits to current road conditions to make sure they are always keeping a safe watch for other road users.
Product Defects
Sometimes an accident is not a driver’s fault. A bike accident can be caused by defective products. Imagine, for example, that a driver’s new car had defective brakes, and they were unable to stop the car in time. Or imagine that a bicycle had defective pedals that caused the rider to roll into traffic.
These accidents would be the manufacturer’s fault because the U.S. has strong consumer protection laws that require all manufacturers to sell safe products free from defects. If the product has a defect, the manufacturer can be held liable for any injuries it causes.
How a Sacramento Bicycle Accident Lawyer Can Protect Your Legal Rights
Your Lawyer Handles All Communications With the Insurance Company So That You Do Not Say Anything That Could Hurt Your Case.
As soon as the insurance company is notified that you have a lawyer, they are no longer allowed to contact you directly about the case. They must communicate through your lawyer’s office. This rule protects you from accidentally saying anything that could hurt your case.
Claims adjusters are trained to twist your words against you and find any excuse to try to get out of paying you fair compensation for your injuries. The bicycle accident lawyers at our reliable law firm in Sacramento protect you from such communication and defend your legal rights when communicating with the insurance company.
Your Lawyer Takes Action to Preserve Crucial Evidence.
There are many types of evidence that can be destroyed soon after an accident happens. The sooner you hire an injury lawyer, the less chance there is of losing critical evidence that could make or break your case. Consider security footage. Video footage of the accident can be incredibly persuasive evidence in a personal injury case. But security camera footage is routinely erased to make room for new security footage.
If you hire a lawyer as soon as possible, they can investigate the accident scene to look for any cameras that might have recorded the accident and contact the camera owners to ask them to save the footage. Another piece of evidence that is quickly lost is the damage to the vehicle that hit you. Insurance companies work hard to repair vehicles quickly so their clients can get back on the road.
If you wait to hire a lawyer, the car could be repaired before you are able to get any photos or videos. Your lawyer may even want to have an expert accident reconstructionist look at the damage if there are questions about how the accident happened. These are just two of many examples of how evidence can be lost if you do not have an accident lawyer to intervene quickly on your behalf.
Your Lawyer Demands a Fair Settlement Offer and Handles Negotiations.
Most injury victims cannot be expected to know what their cases are fairly worth. The insurance company will almost certainly try to lowball you. It might assert that the collision wasn’t that hard, or that it didn’t produce “enough” property damage to cause injuries, or that other cases have settled for less.
They might even accuse you of exaggerating your injuries. None of these assertions are true just because the insurance company says so. You deserve to get legal advice from someone who is on your side – not a company that is actively working against you for the other driver.
The experienced injury lawyers at Arash Law led by Arash Khorsandi know what a bike accident case is fairly worth. We know what factors affect your settlement, what other similar cases have settled for, and what a jury would be likely to award you after a trial, allowing us to push for a fair settlement offer from the insurance company that fully compensates you for all your losses.
If Necessary, Your Lawyer Takes Your Case to Court.
Sometimes an insurance company will simply refuse to make a fair settlement offer – or even make any offer at all. In these circumstances, your bike accident lawyer may advise you to file a lawsuit against the negligent driver. Such action is what encourages settlements. Insurance companies would often rather pay a settlement offer than incur the expenses of litigation.
Because of this tendency, many injury cases settle as soon as a lawsuit has been filed. The insurance company sees that the victim is serious about taking their claim to court and increases the settlement offer to a fair amount. Unfortunately, some insurance companies still refuse to make a fair settlement offer once the lawsuit has been filed and force the injury victim to proceed through the lengthy litigation process.
Going to court can be overwhelming for anyone – especially if you have never been before. The legal team at our trusted injury law firm will thoroughly prepare you for what will happen before you ever get to court. We walk you through the process step by step, and our bike accident lawyers are by your side through every stage of litigation.
An injury case can settle at any point in litigation. A fair settlement offer could come on the morning of trial or even after the trial has begun, so your claim may be resolved at any point. This uncertainty can be frustrating. The litigation process can be lengthy and exhausting, but our legal team is here to support you every step of the way.
Sacramento Bicycle Accident F.A.Q's
Usually, a negligent driver is found to be at fault for causing a bike accident, but there are many potential defendants in a bike crash case. A company could be at fault for manufacturing a defective car or bike.
A parking lot owner could be liable for allowing dangerous conditions (such as hidden potholes) to remain on the property. Our experienced bike accident injury lawyers know how to find all potential defendants to be sure that you get the compensation you are owed for your injuries.
Usually, a negligent driver is found to be at fault for causing a bike accident, but there are many potential defendants in a bike crash case. A company could be at fault for manufacturing a defective car or bike. A parking lot owner could be liable for allowing dangerous conditions (such as hidden potholes) to remain on the property. Our experienced bike accident injury lawyers know how to find all potential defendants to be sure that you get the compensation you are owed for your injuries.
For most injury claims in California, the statute of limitations is two years. This window of time does not mean you can wait two years to hire an attorney. Some deadlines come earlier than two years.
If, for example, you were working while on your bike, you may have a workers’ compensation claim. Those claims must be filed within one year of the accident. And if you have a claim against a government agency, they must be given written notice of the accident well before the statute of limitations has run.
By hiring a Sacramento bike injury attorney as soon as possible, you will protect your legal rights as much as possible and protect yourself from accidentally missing any legal deadlines that apply to your claim.
Bike accident lawyers understand that most clients are not able to pay attorney fees upfront. You are accruing costly medical bills at a time you are likely missing work, and the last thing you need is lawyer bills on top of everything else, which is why most personal injury lawyers work on a contingency.
In this type of arrangement, your attorney agrees to work on your case without any upfront payment, and you agree to pay them a portion of any settlement the attorney secures on your behalf. Doing so helps you get the legal advice you need without worrying about costly attorney fees.
We work hard to ensure that our clients are comfortable with all financial arrangements. Our written fee agreements clearly state what our fees are and what other expenses might have to be deducted. (Common examples are administrative costs, court filing fees, and other expenses that the attorney must advance on your behalf.)
Every case is different. Some cases can be settled quickly because the defendant was clearly at fault, and the insurance company agrees to the amount of your losses. These cases can often be settled in a few short weeks after an accident.
Unfortunately, many bike accident cases are more complicated. The insurance company might dispute their client’s fault or the value of your damages. Your attorney might have to hire expert witnesses to prove what happened, who was at fault, how you have been injured, and the financial and emotional costs of those injuries.
This process can take time. It can be incredibly difficult to wait for your settlement funds when your medical bills are piling up, but be patient! It takes time to prove your case. Insurance companies know that most injury victims need money as soon as possible.
They sometimes use this fact to try to pressure victims into accepting lowball settlement offers with the promise of fast cash. You don’t have to be bullied this way. If you are patient, your lawyer will have time to investigate your case fully and be sure you are getting the compensation you deserve.
Experienced, Aggressive Sacramento Bicycle Accident Lawyers for All Injury Cases
Search online for “Sacramento bicycle accident lawyers” to read some of the many excellent reviews of our acclaimed personal injury law firm. Our injury attorneys have decades of experience handling all types of bicycle injuries, and we know the medical and technical issues involved in these cases.
Our legal team has collected over $500 million dollars for clients across the Golden State. We work in Sacramento and all surrounding areas. Our legal team also serves clients in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Riverside, Bakersfield, Santa Barbara, San Jose, San Diego, Fresno, Sherman Oaks, and throughout California. We have helped many injury victims get the compensation they deserve, and we will fight hard for you, too.
Call (888) 488-1391 today to schedule your free consultation. Don’t wait to protect your legal rights after a Sacramento bicycle accident. The sooner you have an experienced Sacramento bike injury lawyer fighting on your side, the better protected all your legal rights will be.
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