Your Rights after a Bicycle Accident
In Texas, bicyclists have the same rights to use the roads that motor vehicles do. Unfortunately, most motorists don’t understand that and often fail to use appropriate caution when sharing the road. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports about a quarter of a million accidents every year involving auto-bicycle collisions. If you have been hurt by a careless motorist while riding a bicycle, what are your options? What can you do to ensure that you get full and fair compensation for all your losses?
Step #1: Get to a Safe Place
Unless you are unable to move under your own power, you should immediately ensure that you are out of harm’s way…don’t stay in the roadway or even on the shoulder, unless you have protection from oncoming traffic.
Step #2: Get the Medical Care You Need
Once you know you are safe, assess your injuries. Do you need to go to the hospital by ambulance? Be willing to do so. If you are uncertain about your injuries, wait until emergency personnel arrive and defer to their judgment. Even if your injuries seem minor, it’s in your best interests to end the bike ride, contact someone to come and get you, and seek immediate medical attention. That may be at a hospital emergency room, an urgent care facility, or at the offices of your primary care physician.
Step #3: Call 911 and Report the Accident
If you have a cell phone with you, call 911 and give the dispatcher details of the accident. Ask them to send an officer to the scene. When the officer arrives, describe in detail exactly what happened and ask the officer to file a police report.
Step #4: Gather Information
If you can safely do so, gather contact information from all parties involved in the accident, as well as any witnesses, so that your attorney can easily contact them when preparing your case. That includes name, street address, phone number and email address. You should also ask the at-fault driver for the name of his auto insurance provider.
It’s also helpful to take pictures at the scene of the accident. Use your smartphone to get documentary evidence of the damage to your bicycle or the motor vehicle, any injuries you sustained, any weather or road conditions that contributed to the accident, and anything else related to the crash.
Step #5: Hire an Experienced Attorney
The sooner you retain experienced legal counsel, the less risk you’ll have that your claim may be compromised. Your attorney will go to work immediately, gathering and preserving evidence to support your claims. Your attorney can also be your liaison with insurance companies and with opposing counsel, ensuring that you don’t do or say anything that jeopardizes your case.
Contact the Proven Personal Injury Lawyers at Bailey & Galyen
At the law offices of Bailey & Galyen, we understand the devastating impact any type of personal injury can have on every part of your life. We’ll aggressively protect your rights throughout the legal process, acting as your intermediary with insurance companies and as your voice in all meetings, hearings and legal proceedings. Contact us by email or call our offices at 844-402-2992. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
