Bicycle accidents

Zachary D. Clayton: Your Bicycle Accident Lawyer in Las Vegas

Getting injured in a serious bicycle accident can be a life-altering experience. If you were hit by a car while riding a bicycle, there is a strong likelihood that you’re dealing with significant, potentially-catastrophic bodily injuries. This is because the disparity in weight, propulsion, and protection between someone in a motor vehicle and someone on a bicycle is so vast that the bicycle operator usually bears the brunt of the damage when a collision occurs.

Serious Bicycle Accidents are Quite Common in Nevada

Public data indicates that accidents involving bicyclists occur more frequently in Nevada than the national average. In addition, more than 75 percent of deadly bicycle accidents occur in large cities like Las Vegas. This data makes sense considering bicycling is an extremely popular form of transportation and leisure activity for residents and tourists of the Las Vegas area.

Nationally, an excess of 50,000 bicyclists who are hurt every year due to motor vehicle accidents, and yet only a small fraction of bicycle accidents are reported to police, according to the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center. Furthermore, approximately 726 bike riders lost their lives as a result of accidents involving motorists across the country in recent years. This constitutes roughly two percent of all vehicle-related deaths.

If you or a family suffered a serious bodily injury in a Las Vegas bike accident, you need an experienced personal injury attorney on your side. Why? Because establishing fault in a bike accident case can be quite challenging, especially when liability factors such as crosswalks and bike paths are unclear.

It is incredibly stressful and overwhelming when you’re badly injured in a bicycle accident in Las Vegas. If you find yourself in this situation, you need to seek the help and guidance of an experienced and aggressive Las Vegas bicycle accident attorney. Your injuries could be severe, and the legal issues that you face in bringing your bicycle accident claim against those who are liable to you can be complicated, depending on what caused the accident and what happened during the accident.

For instance, if multiple vehicles were involved in the accident, the legal issues concerning liability are going to be more complex than if the accident involved a single motorist and a single bicyclist. Additionally, liability issues might lie with third parties, such as the motorist’s employer, the motorist’s insurance company, or your own insurance provider, depending on the unique facts of your Las Vegas bike accident case.

Causes of Bicycle Accidents in Las Vegas

The laws in Nevada are designed to protect bicyclists who share the roadways with motor vehicles. For example, there are laws requiring motor vehicles to pass bicyclists with at least three feet of clearance. Besides, there are laws that require motorists to move away from the right-hand lane when passing a bicyclist.

Yet, despite these protective laws, far too many bicyclists are badly injured each and every day.

Bicyclists are forced to be on guard and vigilant when it comes to paying attention to what the vehicles around them are doing. Nevertheless, a collision with a motor vehicle may be unavoidable and occur despite your best efforts to be safe and cautious. The trouble is that bicycles are so much smaller than other vehicles on the roadway. Bicyclists can be difficult for drivers to see.

Some of the most common causes of bicycle accidents include the following:

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• A bicyclist gets rear-ended. Just like motor vehicles can be involved in rear-end collisions, bicyclists can be rear-ended by motor vehicles. This usually happens when the driver is not paying attention to the road or to what a bicyclist is doing. A bicyclist could follow all of the appropriate bike laws concerning wearing the proper reflective gear, having appropriate lights attached to their bicycle, or using the appropriate hand signals to communicate with other drivers. But if a driver is not paying attention, it can result in the bicyclist becoming a victim in a rear-end accident all the same.
• A bicyclist gets hit by a motorist making a right-hand turn. This happens all too frequently when a driver fails to check for or acknowledge that a bicyclist is sharing the roadway. A vehicle could pull out from a side street or parking lot and crash right into the side of a bicyclist who is obeying the traffic laws. Bicyclists are also involved in accidents where a driver and a bicyclist are sharing a road going the same direction and then the vehicle makes a right-hand turn without checking for a bicyclist. Drivers who fail to check their surroundings for bicycles sharing the roadway could be held negligent if they cause harm to a bicyclist.
• A bicyclist gets struck by a motorist making a left-hand turn. There are plenty of bicycle accidents that are caused because a vehicle is making a left-hand turn, and they fail to see an oncoming bicyclist. Traveling in opposite directions when the vehicle makes the left-hand turn, it is possible that the bicyclist was too far away for the driver to see the bicyclist. Because the bicyclist has too much momentum, and no time to stop, the bicyclist can run right into the side of the left-turning vehicle or could get severely hurt by trying to swerve out of the way of the left-turning vehicle.
• A bicyclist collides with a vehicle door. This is commonly referred to as “dooring.” It occurs when a driver exits their vehicle parked on the side of a road and does not check for oncoming bicyclists, as the driver negligently opens his or her vehicle door, it can catch an unsuspecting bicyclist. The bicyclist crashes into the open car door because the bicyclist had no warning that the driver was about to open the door. This a particularly common type of bicycle accident in the city.

Bicyclists Have the Same Rights and Protections as Motorists

Many people are surprised to learn that motorists are required by Nevada law to treat bicyclists the same as they would treat other motorists on the road. Nevertheless, motorists who are involved in accidents with bicyclists often claim that they could not see the bicyclist. Due to bicyclists’ small size compared to motor vehicles, there is little to protect bicyclists from serious harm, or even death, during a collision.

For their own safety, bicyclists need to be prepared for drivers not to see them, but that does not mean that drivers are free from liability when it comes to bicyclists. Drivers who cause harm to bicyclists should be held accountable for the damage that they have caused.

If a motor vehicle driver has injured you, you need to seek compensation from the driver who is liable for your injuries and property damage.

What Steps Should You Take If You Experience an Accident While Riding a Bicycle?

If you sustained serious injuries from an automobile while you are riding a bike, it is imperative that you obtain medical attention immediately. Nothing else is as important as medical treatment at that moment. You may believe that you’re “fine,” or that whatever pain you are experiencing will fade away on its own. Nevertheless, it falls upon you to have yourself evaluated by a professional.

More often than not, people neglect medical treatment, only to discover that their injuries worsened. For instance, if someone endures any kind of concussion, they might not experience severe pain right after the injury, however, they will gradually see a decline in their performance. Before they know it, such people fall into a coma.

From there, you must have the accident reported to the police. If the camera on your phone is working, you are encouraged to take all the photos that you can, specifically of the injury, your bicycle, and any other relevant aspects about the accident. Such pictures can prove to be helpful evidence as the case develops. You then need to book a consultation with a skilled and experienced injury attorney.

Zachary D. Clayton Protects Victims of Bike Accidents

Our staff of aggressive and skilled personal injury lawyers knows that your life will drastically be altered after you sustain a bike accident. Injuries to your body may be quite serious, possibly even life-changing (for example, lost limbs, paralysis, traumatic brain injuries, etc.). Medical bills that come with the bike accident can prove to be quite costly very fast, whether you have insurance or not.

Our firm’s main focus is to assist victims of bicycle accidents – as well as their loved ones – by getting them the monetary compensation they are entitled to. That way, they can get some kind of justice. If you have been involved in one, you are encouraged to get in touch with your insurance agency to determine if your immediate expenses will be covered by them.

Sometimes, though, bike accident victims learn that insurance companies are hesitant to assist them. That’s because these companies do not look out for your best interests, in spite of what their marketing promotions say. Insurance agencies tend to do everything in their power to refrain from issuing compensation to victims for the sake of optimizing profits.

Our firm of experienced Las Vegas personal injury attorneys bypasses this hurdle by way of diligent and tenacious legal representation. Our firm ruthlessly pursues those who caused your injuries. Based on the bicycle accident’s specific circumstances, numerous parties may be accountable for both property damages and injuries you sustain.

LV Personal Injury Lawyers allocates a substantial amount of resources and time to develop persuasive and strong cases for each client we serve. When necessary, we will enlist the services of accident re-constructionists to evaluate skid-marks, property damage, and other relevant accident scene evidence. Our meticulous and detailed methods also involve reviewing witness statements and police reports. This is done to assemble all available evidence necessary for your claim to be supported.

Insurance agencies are familiar with LV Personal Injury Lawyers. We have a reputation for being trial-ready, particularly when settlement offers are inadequate and unreasonable. Anyone who is injured from a biking accident deserves to be compensated for their suffering. Allow our attorneys to apply their legal skills and experience to your case. Our objective is to get you the monetary compensation you are entitled to after suffering a Las Vegas bike accident.

We Are Laser Focused on Acquiring Optimal Monetary Restitution

As we mentioned earlier, bike accidents can leave victims suffering from serious bodily injuries, which include:

• Numerous bone fractures
• Amputations
• Paralysis
• Traumatic injuries to the brain
• Neck injuries
• Injuries to the spinal cord

That’s why it’s imperative that you book a consultation with an attorney who is capable of getting you the greatest amount of compensation possible. It will be necessary to help you fully recover. Our experienced legal staff will integrate medical testimony for the sake of acquiring monetary compensation for your pain and suffering, lost wages, property damage, hospital bills, and future health needs.

Take Action Now – Get in Touch with LV Personal Injury Lawyers

Our law firm offers a number of benefits to victims of bicycle accidents. For instance, we get paid on the basis of contingency fees. As such, we are not compensated until you are.

Further, when you retain the services of our Nevada accident law firm, you won’t be kept in the dark. We will walk you through every step and keep you abreast of potential practices or problems to bypass when your lawsuit is worked on and reviewed. You can contact us anytime you have questions about various stages of your case.

Take action now by getting in touch with LV Personal Injury Lawyers.