Bicycle accident injuries are often very serious for the bike rider, who lacks the protection of a roll cage, airbag, or seatbelt that a car rider would have.
We meet many injured cyclists who suffer multiple broken bones, soft tissue damage, a traumatic brain injury, or other complex injuries that can take months to heal. In the meantime, the bicyclist may be unable to work, but they’re still expected to pay medical bills and other expenses.
Get Help From a Duluth Bicycle Accident Attorney Today
If you or a loved one are struggling to recover from a bicycle accident, please contact the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm for a free consultation about your case. Insurance companies often make lowball offers or refuse to pay the injured biker’s claim—in some cases, they may even blame you for the accident.
An experienced bicycle accident attorney can help fight to get you the compensation you need to recover from severe injuries.
Are Bicycle Accidents Becoming More Common in Duluth?
In recent years, interest in bicycle riding has grown nationally for a number of reasons. Some people were inspired to find a form of solo exercise during the pandemic, but others wanted to spend less money on gas or reduce their carbon footprint, so the trend has continued.
In fact, the Bureau of Transportation reports that spending on bicycles grew 620 percent from March of 2020 to March of 2023.
While bicycle riding is now a preferred method of transport for many Georgians, there is still a risk of accidents, especially when you ride on or near a road. In Gwinnett County, bicycle fatalities have remained at 0 since 2018, but there was an increase in bike accidents involving serious injuries from 2020 to 2021.
This is likely due to more bikers on the roads. Both pedal cyclists and vehicle drivers should make a point to drive or bike carefully and keep their eyes on the road to lower the risk of a collision.
Who Is at Fault in a Bicycle Accident?
Georgia considers bicycles to be vehicles, and cyclists are expected to follow the same general rules of the road: Signal before turning, indicate a sudden increase or decrease in speed, never bike while under the influence, and ride cautiously in poor weather and/or road conditions. If you fail to follow these rules, you could be partially or totally at fault in an accident.
Later in this article, we’ll discuss how partial fault works in Georgia and how it could affect your case.
Bicycle accidents are not the bicyclist’s fault. You may have been biking carefully and obeying the law when a vehicle hit you out of nowhere.
However, the vehicle’s driver might tell the responding officers a very different story, and if you’re in pain from your injuries, it could be hard to explain your recollection of events clearly. As a result, the police report may be inconclusive, or the officer might incorrectly believe you were at fault.
Although the officer’s opinion on fault does carry some weight, we can challenge a police report if we find evidence to support your version of events.
How Does Modified Comparative Negligence Affect Your Case?
Georgia tort law uses modified comparative negligence to deal with situations of shared fault. In many accidents or personal injury cases, more than one party contributes to the injury.
While it’s still possible for one party to be 100 percent at fault, it isn’t necessary for that party to be found liable. Under modified comparative negligence statutes, an injured person who is less than 50 percent at fault can collect damages from the other party who is more than 50 percent at fault.
The injured party’s percentage of culpability will be deducted from their damages, so they are only responsible for their own share of the fault.
This system is often exploited by insurance companies, who may deny a claim on the grounds that the bicyclist was at fault. The insurance adjusters know they have a good chance of saving the company money with this strategy. Here’s how:
- Some percentage of people will take the insurance company’s word that they are at fault and give up trying to seek compensation.
- If the injured person tries to fight the insurance company on their own, they’re unlikely to win. The insurance adjuster will be well-informed about insurance law and comparative fault law, and they don’t have to prove the cyclist was entirely at fault.
- If they can prove the victim was even 10 or 20 percent to blame, the insurance company still saves money. But if they can make a case the injured party was at least 50 percent at fault, they will pay nothing.
The only scenario in which this tactic usually doesn’t work for the insurance company is the one in which the bicyclist seeks expert legal advice.
An experienced bicycle accident lawyer is also knowledgeable about insurance laws and will work to prove their client had no or minimal fault in the accident. We’re also not afraid to go to court to fight for our clients’ rights.
The insurance company’s representatives, on the other hand, don’t want to go to court unless they are very confident they’ll win. Even then, they would prefer to avoid the time, expense, and publicity involved with a trial, so in most cases, they are willing to negotiate with us for a fair settlement.
What Should You Do if You Were at Fault in a Bicycle Accident?
As we discussed earlier, people are often mistaken about their level of fault in an accident. We’ve met clients who were convinced an accident was their fault because they made a minor error.
In some cases, this mistake had nothing to do with the collision; in other situations, the error contributed to the crash in a small way, but the other party was still primarily to blame. If you think you were at fault or the vehicle driver’s insurance company has denied your claim for this reason, we recommend that you talk to a lawyer before you do anything else.
When Are Bicycle Accidents Most Likely to Happen?
On a national level, bicycle accidents are most likely to occur between 6 and 9 PM during the week and between 9 PM and 12 AM on weekends. This makes sense because it’s easier for drivers to see a bicycle rider in daylight; bikers are encouraged to use reflective clothing and bike lights to reduce risk when riding at night.
However, data on Gwinnett County shows that just over 70 percent of bicycle accidents in the county occur during daylight hours. It’s helpful to know that reflective clothing also makes a cyclist more visible in the daytime, so you should consider reflective patches or jackets any time you ride.
What Are Some Common Causes of Bicycle Accidents?
Here are some of the most prevalent reasons why bicycle/car collisions happen:
- Distracted driving. Making yourself more visible when biking can reduce your risk, but it can’t help you if the driver is staring at their phone or otherwise distracted.
- Distracted biking. Unfortunately, we’ve also seen cases where the bicyclist was texting or not paying attention to their surroundings. Always focus on the road and staying safe when you ride your bike, and wait until you get home to check your messages. Being able to hear vehicles coming is also helpful, so avoid listening to music or podcasts while you ride.
- Impaired driving or biking. Again, consider your bicycle a vehicle. If you wouldn’t drive your car while under the influence, don’t ride your bike that way, either.
- Failure to yield. Either the driver or the biker could be at fault for failing to yield. In some situations, the vehicle driver fails to yield because they didn’t see the bicyclist. In other cases, one or both parties didn’t know who had the right of way. Drivers should also know that they’re required to yield to bikes in marked bike lanes.
- Speeding. Going too fast can be dangerous for a bicyclist, but the risks are even higher when a vehicle driver speeds. Slowing down when driving makes it more likely that you will see a bicyclist or pedestrian in time to stop.
- Running red lights or stop signs. This is often related to visibility—the driver may think the way is clear because they don’t see the bike, so they proceed through the intersection or turn. Whether you’re driving or riding a bike, always come to a complete stop where indicated.
- Opening doors without looking. It’s easy to think you won’t have an accident when your car is parked, but we’ve seen a number of cases where a driver or passenger opened their car door as a bicyclist was riding by. Unfortunately, the impact of the door can seriously injure a bicyclist, so always look before opening your car door.
- Unsafe merging or lane changes. In these cases, the driver often merges into a new lane without realizing a bicyclist is already there.
How Can You Find a Duluth Bicycle Accident Law Firm?
The CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm is always available for a free, confidential consultation about your bicycle accident. We’ll learn about your collision, answer your questions, and explain the options for pursuing compensation.
There is no obligation, and if we take your case, you won’t pay us anything until we win or settle it.
Attorney Ali Awad founded the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm and rapidly expanded it into one of the fastest-growing personal injury law firms in the country. Through his dedication to fighting for injured people and their families, Mr. Awad has recovered millions of dollars in compensation.
In his spare time, he posts informative yet entertaining videos about legal topics for more than a million followers on social media. To work with his expert legal team, call (470) 323-8779 today.
