Austin Bicycle Accident Attorneys
Bike accidents are a terrifying reality all over Austin. Our population skews young and health conscious, our weather is often phenomenal, and we love our bikes here. But mix tens of thousands of bicycles with the nearly one million automobiles registered in Austin, and you end up with too many instances of people being injured, sometimes very badly, by cars.
Hopefully everyone wears a helmet when they ride, but even still – the forces involved when a car impacts a bicycle result in the risk of catastrophic injuries. From broken bones and whiplash to spinal or brain injury, a cyclist who finds him or herself on the pavement after a collision may be facing a very long and expensive process on the way back to being well.
If You’ve Been Injured By A Motorist While Riding Your Bike, We Can Help
Drivers on the road have a duty of care for all people on the roadway. This includes people on bicycles. Unfortunately, many drivers are reckless behind the wheel and do not take care to avoid bicyclists. This is especially bad at intersections with a car making a turn that may not necessarily be looking for a biker coming up alongside them. If you have been injured by a car while riding your bicycle, you need an attorney to help with your serious injuries.
Because a bicyclist has little protection against a car, these crashes often result in significant problems for the bicyclist. Some common injuries include:
- Broken bones
- Traumatic brain injury
- Concussions
- Compound fractures
- Paralysis
- Wrongful death
These injuries require significant medical treatment both immediately after the accident and well into the future. A qualified Austin bicycle accident attorney will know how to properly evaluate an injury and make sure any settlement or verdict covers the cost of medical treatment throughout a person’s life. This way, you can be sure that the money you receive will be sufficient to cover all treatment instead of leaving you in pain later.
Bicycle Accidents Don’t “Just Happen”
If you’ve been hurt by a motorist while riding your bike, you may have the feeling that “these things just happen,” but the fact is that in many cases of car-bike collision, there’s strong evidence of negligence on the part of the driver. Most cyclists are also drivers, and so while you know the importance of situational awareness when you’re on your bike, think about the distraction-heavy environment that the average driver is immersed in while operating a motor vehicle. For starters, there is:
- Texting while driving
- Talking on the phone
- Checking or adjusting GPS direction data
- Choosing music from increasingly complicated audio systems
- Passengers distracting the driver
- Impairment, including drunk, drugged, or tired driving
Think about it. While your safety as cyclist is dependent on keeping a keen eye and ear open to everything, we’ve designed cars to be feature-rich and insular. Missing something important – like a cyclist on the road – is almost bound to happen.
One common way bicycle accidents are fought is to deny that the driver is at fault. They may claim that the bicyclist was ignoring traffic laws or was being reckless in traffic. By contacting an attorney right away, we can begin an investigation into your claim that can help prove the driver was at fault. By identifying and interviewing witnesses, collecting evidence at the scene, and speaking with the responding officer, this evidence can be preserved for your case. This evidence can be easily lost or witnesses may be difficult to find if time is wasted, so contact a lawyer immediately after an injury.
Even if your case seems very straightforward, the insurance company will almost certainly deny your claim or otherwise work to frustrate you. Because these injuries are so serious, they will try to low-ball you or drag their feet to make you desperate to accept anything. An experienced Austin bicycle accident lawyer will fight to get you the money you deserve and force the insurance company to negotiate in good faith. This way, your case will move along as quickly as possible, giving you the money you need for treatment and daily living expenses.
At Law Firm, we understand that a bicycle accident can drastically change a person’s life. We know that these injuries are very serious and may require a lifetime of treatment. We will fight to make sure that you get the money you need to seek the treatment you deserve. This way, you can make your life as normal as possible and do more of the things you love. While life may never be the same, we can put you in the best possible place to have a rich, full life in spite of your injuries.
If you or a loved one has been injured in an Texas bicycle accident, contact a lawyer at Law Firm today. We will hold the responsible parties accountable and focus on getting you the maximum recovery amount possible while you focus on your recovery. If you have been injured in a bicycle accident, contact us right away for a free consultation.