Cycling offers you many benefits as a healthy and environmentally friendly mode of travel. However, accidents can occur when motorists fail to respect your rights to the road. In times of tragedy, our firm’s Columbia bicycle accident attorneys can be critical in helping you recover.
If you or a loved one need to pursue justice after a bike accident, our team at Rikard & Protopapas in Columbia, SC, is ready to stand by your side. Call us for a free consultation to determine what steps to take to pursue maximum compensation for your injuries.
How Our Columbia Bicycle Accident Attorney Firm Helps You After a Crash
If you suffer a bike accident due to someone else’s negligence, you now face many challenges. The road to physical and emotional recuperation is often long and expensive. In addition, you have to find the time to handle the necessary legal requirements.
The process is usually more overwhelming if you’re a cyclist. Bike riders have fewer physical safeguards than cars and can endure more severe injuries. Despite those conditions, you still have to file any claims before the statutes of limitations run out.
You reduce your challenges and stress when working with a capable Columbia bicycle accident attorney from our team. We can help you:
- Complete and submit documentation on time
- Investigate the incident and gather evidence
- Communicate with other parties for you
- Help you calculate the maximum amount of damages you are due
Professional legal guidance also prevents you from making common mistakes that delay or reduce your claim. As a result, you can focus on healing physically, mentally and emotionally.
Common Causes of Bike Accidents
Collisions can occur even though you take every precaution. For example, some areas do not have dedicated cycling routes. Though motorists should share the road, drivers do not always give you sufficient space. A close call is often enough to cause a crash.
Distracted driving can also lead to an accident, as could someone who fails to see your bike due to poor eyesight or carelessness. Other drivers may miscalculate how fast you’re traveling and cut you off.
Dooring is another common hazard. A driver or passenger might open a vehicle door into your path and cause you severe harm. Any of these incidents are a valid reason to call our office and speak with a Columbia bicycle accident attorney.
Injuries That Cyclists Frequently Face
A few cyclists may be able to walk away from crashes with minimal scrapes and bruises. All too often, though, your odds of sustaining life-altering wounds are high.
For example, you may break bones or experience severe burns. Also, hundreds of cyclists die every year in crashes. In such cases, family members have to bring wrongful death suits to a Columbia bicycle accident lawyer at our firm on behalf of the deceased loved one’s behalf.
Other injuries are invisible. The lingering effects of traumatic brain injury, spinal cord damage or harm to an organ may not manifest for days.
A bike injury can also cause intense psychological trauma, affecting your enjoyment of life. Disfigurement, loss of a job or resulting economic problems can trigger depression.
If you were an avid rider before the incident, you might struggle to engage in the activity again, causing intense feelings of loss. Your personal injury attorney from our firm can help you calculate the value of all such injuries.
Your Rights to the Road as a Cyclist in South Carolina
The ideal place to ride your bike is a cycling lane if one is available. Drivers may not block these paths, and a vehicle that needs to cross one must yield to cyclists.
When you do not have a dedicated cycling lane, you may use the regular roadways. South Carolina law mandates motor vehicle operators to share the road with bike riders.
Motorists must keep a safe distance from bikes and may not intimidate you with aggressive driving. A driver does not have to physically strike you to be guilty of causing an accident. Negligent or unsafe maneuvers can be grounds for a case against a reckless driver.
Tips for Reducing the Risk of an Accident While Riding
You may reduce your risk of bike accidents by applying these suggestions:
- Wear reflective clothing with bright colors.
- Only ride a bike that is the proper size.
- Ride defensively around automobiles.
- Avoid distractions.
- Wear a helmet.
Of course, you cannot control what others do. When you need compassionate legal support after a bike crash, our Columbia bicycle accident attorney firm can help.
Steps To Take After a Cycling Accident
If you find yourself in a bike accident, remember the following reminders:
- Get to as safe a location as possible.
- Ascertain your condition and that of others around you if you can.
- Call emergency services and report the event.
- Exchange contact details and insurance information with the other parties.
- Collect and record evidence, such as details about the vehicle, skid marks on the road and the contact information of eyewitnesses.
After an accident, you have three years to file a claim against private parties and only two years for cases against a public institution. That time can pass quickly, and you can lose valuable evidence if you delay.
Our Columbia bicycle accident attorneys will help you avoid missing your window for recovering full compensation.
Types of Compensation We Can Help You Claim for a Bike Accident
You could receive three types of compensation after an accident:
- Economic: Specific expenses for medical recovery and lost property
- Non-economic: Intangible losses that include pain, suffering and mental distress
- Punitive: A dollar amount the court makes the negligent party pay you for extreme carelessness
Talk to a Rikard & Protopapas Columbia bicycle accident attorney to estimate the full amount of damages and fight for justice.
Contact Us for a Free Consultation With a Columbia Bicycle Accident Attorney
At Rikard & Protopapas in Columbia, SC, we understand how important getting enough compensation is after a bike accident. We’re ready to use every tool at our disposal to help you try to recover a maximum settlement.
Call our office today for assistance. Our Columbia bicycle accident attorneys can provide a free consultation to help you determine what to do next.