Cycling is great. No matter what your stance is about the people on the bikes themselves, the act of cycling itself is generally accepted as a fun, healthy, and green way to get around Fulton County.
But we bring up the people on the bikes themselves because, unfortunately, cyclists are a very polarizing part of the population. People either love or hate cyclists, and in a county with middling walkability and cycling infrastructure, road accidents involving bicycles are common.
In fact, bicycle accidents are becoming more frequent. The NSC reports that over the last ten years, the number of preventable deaths from bicycle accidents has gone up by 44%.
In the year 2019, the county seat of Atlanta alone – just one of Fulton’s fifteen cities – saw 23 cyclists meet their end in a motor vehicle accident.
Those who walk away from bicycle accidents alive rarely do so without still being in hot water. Bicycles, because of their low mass and small size, are more prone to damage when in a collision with a vehicle – a scenario that accounted for 95% of cycling accidents in 2021.
It’s quite common for survivors to sustain devastating injuries to the head, neck, spine, or limbs – all injuries that can rack up enormous amounts in medical bills for the cyclist. Factor in Georgia’s contributory negligence system, and acquiring enough money from an insurance claim to cover these kinds of damages can be difficult.
It’s a good thing, then, that a Fulton County bicycle accident lawyer can help.
What Can a Fulton County Bicycle Accident Attorney Do?
As a specialist personal injury lawyer, a bicycle accident attorney primarily assists clients with finding the means and methods to compensate them for injuries in a bicycle accident. This means they are versed in personal injury law, insurance law, traffic law, and much more.
Strictly speaking, “bicycle accident attorney” doesn’t mean they only handle cases involving bicycles. It does, however, suggest that they have a recorded history of success settling cases involving bicycles for their clients.
Building Your Case
A professional bicycle accident lawyer can benefit your case at any stage, starting from building it up all the way to the settlement itself. And it all starts with gathering information to prove your side of the story.
Your attorney will gather relevant information from all possible sources: police reports, medical records, receipts, witnesses, and even your own place of work. All this information will then be compiled and used to determine just how much you can get from the insurer and why.
The best lawyers work promptly because they know the time pressure of putting a case together before evidence trails run cold. And most importantly, they keep you in the loop to make sure you aren’t lost with regard to the state of your case, even with everything else going on in your life.
Determining Fault
Georgia follows modified comparative negligence when it comes to personal injury. What this means is everyone who contributed to an accident has to face a penalty.
In the case of personal injury claims, this penalty comes in the form of diminished claim amounts.
Simply put, Georgia allows accident victims to pursue a claim only when they are not majority at fault for the accident. Any degree of fault parties have will then be deducted from the total value of their claim.
So, if a cyclist collides with a car and is owed $100,000 for financial and non-financial damages, but it is later found that the cyclist was 30% at fault for the accident occurring, they will only be entitled to $70,000.
This is why claimants and insurers alike place a heavy emphasis on determining fault in Georgia. If you can prove that the majority of fault lies with another party, you stand a better chance of getting the maximum value out of your claim.
Insurance companies have a vested interest in proving you contributed more to the accident and have a legal team of their own to back that goal. A bicycle accident lawyer evens the odds as your legal expert.
Confronting the Insurance Company
Most people have enough to do in their day-to-day without an accident throwing a wrench in their routine. When that happens, victims inevitably lose time to their injuries on account of their medical treatment.
They lose out on time for themselves, their family, and their work just to recover. And yet, the insurance system expects victims to make time to file their claims if they want to benefit from their policies.
Not that it’s impossible; it’s definitely doable. But when you should be focused on healing and recovery, you shouldn’t be stressing about whether or not you’ll be able to pay for it all.
Well, having a lawyer on your side means you have someone on your side to pick up the burden for you. We can move important tasks, such as getting updates on the status of your claim, onto our schedules instead of yours so you don’t have to worry.
When the time comes to sit down with the insurance provider and negotiate for the amount they will pay out, your lawyer will be right beside you, standing up for your case. And if your injuries are so severe you can’t even make it to the negotiation, you can trust that your lawyer will look out for your interests as if you were there.
Of course, there will always be the possibility the insurance company either refuses to pay the amount you want or outright denies your claim. Your lawyer will clarify why this is their decision and dispute the denial in your stead.
If the reason for denial is reasonable, such as improperly filed forms, your lawyer will notify you and act quickly to resubmit your claim. Otherwise, they may consider escalating to a lawsuit to get you the compensation you deserve.
Representing You in a Lawsuit
When all other attempts at negotiation have failed, your lawyer may recommend you pursue a lawsuit against the insurance provider or the at-fault party, depending on your bicycle accident case.
Lawsuits tend to be expensive in terms of both money and resources. As a result, claimants and insurers alike tend to avoid taking lawsuits all the way to court.
That said, there are times when a lawsuit is warranted, such as:
- When the insurer denies liability: When this happens, the insurer is likely not convinced that the evidence you have gathered is sufficient to prove you were less at fault than they determined. If your lawyer recommends a lawsuit, they believe the evidence supporting your case is more than enough to get a court to order the insurer to pay out the amount you ask for.
- When the insurer delays your claim: Delayed claims might not always be intentional on the part of the insurance provider, but they are always an inconvenience to an accident victim looking to heal. If the insurance company is taking too long, your lawyer may recommend filing a lawsuit to have the courts speed the process up.
- When the insurer refuses to offer a fair settlement: In this case, the insurance company does not believe that your damages amount to the payout you are asking for. Just as with when the insurer denies liability, you will need to present your case along with supporting evidence in court in order to get the amount you need.
- When the at-fault party is uninsured or underinsured: If your own UM/UDM insurance policy doesn’t cover the damages caused by an at-fault and underinsured/uninsured party, your lawyer may opt that you pursue a lawsuit against them. Of course, they might not have resources on hand to pay for your damages, in which case they will probably have to pay in installments over time.
Again, the odds of a case actually making it to court are low. The threat of an impending lawsuit alone tends to make parties involved more amenable to negotiation and fair offers.
However, if you do end up in court, your lawyer will do their best to make sure you get justice. They will continue to build on your case and fight to prove the extent of your damages and that you are not at fault for the accident.
Work With Fulton County’s Best Bicycle Accident Law Firm: The CEO Lawyer
When you’re in Fulton County and need a sure-fire route to recovery from a bicycle accident, contact the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm. As one of the fastest-growing law firms in the country, the CEO Lawyer has successfully recovered millions of dollars for clients and is ready to do the same for you.
Lead attorney Ali Awad and his team serve clients across multiple states and offer legal services available in both English and Spanish. When Attorney Awad is not working on a case, he can be found online, building bridges and interacting with the community on multiple platforms.
Call the CEO Lawyer today at (470) 323-8779. We offer free consultations with no obligation to work together and zero fees until after we win your case for you.
