Long Island is densely populated, and traffic can be awful at times. Many people avoid traffic jams by taking their bikes everywhere. Unfortunately, negligent drivers do not always like sharing the road with bike riders, and accidents sometimes occur. If you are hurt, you may need emergency medical attention and a lawyer.
After a bike accident, get help immediately. Contact the authorities and get an ambulance if you need one. Otherwise, have someone take you to the hospital right away. Your damages may include significant monetary costs for medical expenses and property damages, in addition to intense pain and suffering. Proving your claims may be challenging, but having the right evidence and records from the incident will help us. Since a bike accident with a vehicle is still an auto accident, your claims may be covered by insurance, but you may also choose to file a lawsuit.
Get a free initial case evaluation from our bicycle accident lawyers with The Carrion Law Firm by calling (631) 910-7493.
What to Do After a Bicycle Crash
Bicycle crashes can be terrifying, and it might be tempting to panic. Immediately after a collision with a vehicle, you should remain calm, stay at the scene, and call for help. Do not ride your bike home and then go to the hospital. Stay at the scene until the authorities arrive. Leaving the scene before the authorities arrive may complicate your case later.
Next, exchange insurance information with the driver who hit you while you wait for help. Also, get the names of others nearby who might have seen the accident. They might be called upon to testify if you end up taking your legal claims to court.
If you can, take pictures of the accident scene. You should try to get pictures of the car that hit you, your damaged bike, your injuries, and the people who are present during the accident. Accident scenes are usually cleaned up quickly by the police, and evidence may be lost. Your photos should help preserve important details.
After getting medical treatment, call a lawyer to discuss the best way to get financial compensation. You will likely be dealing with significant costs and immense pain, and you deserve compensation.
Recoverable Damages in a Bike Accident Case
After a bike crash, you might be contending with painful injuries, a damaged bicycle, and significant mental distress. All of this must be considered when calculating your damages.
A major factor in your damages will likely be economic losses. Your medical bills from receiving treatment for your injuries are likely substantial. You should also claim the cost of repairing or replacing your damaged bike. If you lost other personal belongings, their value should be accounted for, too.
If your injuries are severe, you might not be able to return to work. Some people are so badly hurt that they cannot work again for the foreseeable future. In such a case, you can claim your lost earnings as part of your economic damages.
Another major part of your damages will stem from non-economic injuries. This usually accounts for things like bodily pain, mental distress, suffering, humiliation, and other personal, painful experiences. Since these damages are more subjective, the jury normally decides what compensation they deserve.
Proving damages may require evidence of costs, like receipts, bills, or credit card statements. For more subjective damages, you may have to testify about how the accident affected you physically and mentally.
Who May Be Responsible for Your Bicycle Accident
Responsibility for a bicycle accident might not be clear, and a lawyer can help you figure things out.
The driver who hit you may be held responsible. Drivers owe a duty of care to drive with reasonable safety under the circumstances while obeying the traffic code. If they did something to violate this duty (e.g., speeding, running a light, ignoring signs), they may be held liable.
In other cases, more than one driver might be at fault, especially if your accident happened as part of a larger traffic incident. Our bicycle accident lawyers may review details of the accident to determine if other drivers should be held accountable.
If the defendant was working for their job when the accident happened, their employer may also be liable for your damages. Under the legal theory of respondeat superior, employees may be held vicariously liable for injuries caused by negligent employees acting in the course of their normal job duties.
For example, if you were riding your bike when you were struck by a taxi driver, delivery driver, or someone else who drives for work, their employer may be included in the case.
Using Insurance to Cover a Bicycle Accident on Long Island
Although you may have been on your bike when the accident happened, you may still file an auto insurance claim because a car was involved. If you file a claim, you must do so in accordance with New York’s no-fault insurance laws.
According to I.S.C. § 5104(a), car accident victims – including those who are struck while riding bikes – must file claims with their no-fault auto insurance that all drivers must carry. If you have auto insurance, talk to your attorney about how to file your claim.
If insurance does not work for you, you may file an injury lawsuit, but only if you have a “serious injury.” Under § 5102(d), a serious injury includes significant disfigurement, dismemberment, death, fractures, the loss of a fetus, the permanent loss or limitation of bodily systems or functions, or non-permanent injuries that stop you from doing normal daily tasks for at least 90 days.
Many people ride bikes because they do not have cars or auto insurance. In that case, you can file a third-party claim with the driver’s insurance.
Evidence and Records to Support Your Bike Accident Claims
There may be numerous records pertaining to the accident that we can use to support your claims in court.
First, we should review police accident reports for any information we do not yet have. Police reports are generally inadmissible as evidence because they violate the rule against hearsay. However, police reports may contain details about evidence the police found during their investigation. We can use this information to guide us to admissible evidence.
We may also gather records from the accident scene. Your photos and videos, if you recorded any, may help us prove what happened. We should also check the area around the accident for security cameras. If video footage of the accident exists, it might show us exactly what happened.
To prove your injuries and medical costs, we can use your medical records. Obtaining copies of your medical records should not be a problem, as they are yours and you have a right to them. However, they can take time to assemble, and our team can start working on getting copies right away.
How Bicycle Accidents Can Happen on Long Island
How your bike collision occurred may help us determine who is responsible and where we can obtain evidence.
Many accidents happen in bike lanes. Cars may swerve into the bike lane, striking unsuspecting bike riders. Another possibility is that the driver tried to make a turn and they crossed the bike lane without checking for bike riders.
Bike riders can also be hurt in sideswipe accidents where vehicles swipe against the bike rider. This often happens when a driver swerves toward a bike rider but does not hit them head-on. These accidents can occur at high speeds and are very dangerous.
Some accidents occur with cars parked next to bike lanes. A driver or passenger might throw the car door open right into the path of an oncoming bike rider. The rider might be unable to stop in time to avoid a painful crash.
Can I File a Bike Accident Case if I am Partly Responsible
If the defendant accuses you of somehow contributing to the accident, you can still file a claim, but we may have to deal with a possible reduction of your damages.
First, if the defendant claims that you contributed to the accident, they must present some evidence to back up their claims. If they cannot, the court may not even consider comparative negligence in your case.
New York’s pure comparative negligence law under C.V.P. Law § 1411 holds that a plaintiff who is partially responsible may still recover damages, but their damages may be reduced according to their share of fault. If the court deems you 20% responsible for the bike accident, your overall damages may be reduced by 20%.
In many cases, it is difficult to argue that a bike rider somehow contributed to a collision with a vehicle, but it might be possible. Bike riders who drive in the wrong direction, on roads forbidden to bike traffic, or somehow violate the traffic code might be in trouble.
How Long Do You Have to File a Bike Accident Case on Long Island?
A lawsuit must be filed within a specific amount of time set by the statute of limitations. If you do not file on time, you may be barred from filing your case at all.
According to C.V.P. Law § 214, a personal injury claim must be filed no later than 3 years after the accident. Remember, your time to file begins immediately, and every day you wait to contact a lawyer is one less day to prepare your case.
Certain plaintiffs may have the statute of limitations tolled, giving them more time to file. Tolling may be available for plaintiffs who are minors or under a legal disability that prevents them from filing on their own.
If you were a minor during the bike accident, the statute may be tolled until you are 18, giving you until age 21 to file. If you are under a legal disability, the statute may be tolled until the disability is removed.
Tolling may also be available for the defendant’s absence. This may come up in a hit and run case where the driver flees the scene. The time the defendant is outside the state and beyond the reach of long-arm statutes may not be counted toward the limitation period.
Factors That Determine the Value of Your Bike Accident Case
Injuries and damages are unique in each case. As such, the precise value of your potential claims may be hard to determine without examining numerous factors surrounding your case.
A good indication of the value of your damage is the severity of your injuries. Generally, severe injuries tend to lead to higher damages. While you can still file a case for minor injuries, your damages will probably not be substantial.
Our bicycle accident attorneys should also review the defendant’s behavior. Were their actions outrageous, shocking, or egregious? Did they leave the scene before the police arrived? If the defendant’s actions show a lack of remorse or are otherwise upsetting, a jury may be more inclined to award higher damages.
We must also examine your actions during the accident. If you did anything negligent, avoided getting medical attention, or otherwise made your injuries worse, damages may be reduced.
Can the Driver in a Bicycle Crash Be Criminally Charged?
While accidents between vehicles and bikes are not necessarily crimes, the driver may be criminally charged under certain circumstances.
If the driver was intoxicated when they caused the accident, they may be charged with a DUI. These charges can be quite severe when accidents and injuries are involved.
Criminal charges are also possible if you were injured in a hit and run accident. Once the police locate the driver, they may face serious charges, and your civil case might be put on hold for a bit.
If you believe the driver intentionally hit you, you should inform the police immediately. The driver may face serious assault charges, and the police will undoubtedly investigate.
Call Our Long Island Bicycle Accident Attorneys to Start Your Case
Get a free initial case evaluation from our bicycle accident lawyers with The Carrion Law Firm by calling (631) 910-7493.