Bike Accident Lawyer

We can help after your bicycle, scooter or motorcycle accident!

Bike Accident Lawyer in New York – Motorcycles, scooters and bicycles have become a common means of travel in New York and the number of riders is rising each year. As opposed to automobiles, motorcycles and bikes render their riders to much more vulnerable to severe injuries since:

• motorcyclists, scooters and bicycles are constantly exposed to direct impacts,
• their 2-wheel base makes motorcycles and scooters much less stable,
• bikes, motorcyclists and scooters are smaller and more susceptible to greater damage from lighter collisions.

Because of their small size, motorcycles and scooters are also less visible on the road than other vehicles so other drivers may not always yield the right of way. Further, motorcycles are especially susceptible to dangers from road defects like potholes, construction and drainage. Such conditions are all too common in New York and can be far more dangerous to a motorcyclist than to a car driver.

Often, motorists like truck and bus drivers cause personal injury in bicycle accidents by failing to share the road, forcing cyclists off the road or into a collision. Most bicycle accidents in New York involve contact with a motor vehicle that:

• failed to yield the right-of-way,
• suddenly turned into the path of a cyclist (left turns in the path of an oncoming cyclist) or
• overtook a bicyclist misjudging the space needed to pass safely.

Bicycle accidents may also occur due to factors like defective roadway maintenance including potholes, road debris and poor visibility. Motorists opening car doors directly into cyclists’ path or a pedestrian being struck by a bicycle messenger/delivery person is a very common scenario in New York. Bicyclists are obligated to follow the same road rules and fall under the same statute as the operators of all other vehicles pursuant to New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law. A bicyclist may be considered a pedestrian under the No-Fault Law in New York and becomes eligible for No-Fault coverage.

Does automobile insurance cover bicyclists?

Driver’s No-Fault insurance covers bicyclists and pedestrians in New York State. Motor Vehicle Accident Indemnification Act (MVAIC) may cover your accident in case of a hit-and-run or uninsured crash.

Automobile policies often cover bike injuries. In case of an accident, the automobile driver’s insurance may cover the accident.

If you are struck by an insured car driver, you are entitled to medical benefits through the driver’s No-Fault benefits.

In case of a hit-and-run or uninsured accident, if you are a resident of New York, you may apply for benefits under MVAIC.

Limited Time To File A Bike Accident Claim in New York

NY State statute of limitations (the time allowed to file a lawsuit) is limited to three years. That time may be even shorter (90 days) if your claim is against the City of New York or a municipality.

It is also important to remember that street conditions could change, which will lead you to lose evidence that could help explain to what happened in your incident.

An experienced attorney can provide the expertise and assistance necessary in capturing the evidence to pursue your bike accident claim in New York.

Hire Bike Accident Attorneys in New York

In New York, the most common laws for protecting motorcyclists and bicyclists include

• banning children under the age of one year from being passengers on such vehicles
• requiring protective headgear for bicyclists under fourteen years of age
• other bicyclists are not mandated to wear a helmets

During direct impact, helmets are proven to help prevent head injuries by reducing the force of impact and spreading this force. However, helmets are not designed to withstand rotational injuries, so impacts resulting from angular or rotational acceleration can result in subdural hematoma (SDH) and diffuse axonal injury (DAI). These brain injuries can result in chronic intellectual debilitation or even death.

Those injured in bicycle accidents face unique legal challenges under the laws of New York which require specific knowledge and experience as it concerns the rights of bicyclists. Attorneys at 1-800-HURT-511 have years of experience representing victims of bike accident and their families in all 5 boroughs of New York City and beyond.

Rise of Bicycles in NYC

Recently New York City has experienced a renaissance of bicycle riders in New York City primarily because of the popularity of the bike-sharing service Citi Bike. The increase of bike riders in NYC has caused an exponential increase in bike accidents and deaths.

At the beginning of July, after 15 cyclists had been killed, the New York Police Department announced a two-week crackdown on policies that protect cyclists. During this period, the police department reported that 5,673 summonses for vehicles parked in bike lanes were handed out — a 96% increase compared to the same period last year. After the 17th cycling death this year, Mayor de Blasio announced that over the next five years an additional $58.4 million will be targeted to building more bike lanes and providing better enforcement in high-risk areas.

Historically, the calculation of bicyclist activity in New York City was centered on counting the number of bicycles entering and exiting the core of the city. However, cycling has grown and matured dramatically as a mode of transportation since the first counts were conducted in 1980.

New Yorkers are using bikes for a much wider variety of trips, making it even more difficult to assess bicycle use in the City. In an effort to better understand the widening breadth of cycling, the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) partnered with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) to include several questions about cycling in DOHMH’s annual Community Health Survey.

Beginning in 2009, and expanding in 2013, these questions shed light on how frequently New York City residents cycle each day, each week, and each year, as well as for what purpose they bike. The recent introduction of DOT’s Citywide Mobility Survey provides another important data source to better understand the transportation choices of New Yorkers.

By focusing on the cyclist and not the trip, these surveys provide a more holistic approach to quantifying cycling activity, especially when used in combination with national surveys, ongoing bike counts, and Citi Bike.

Researchers say that in order to bring down the number of cycling deaths, cities need to have a complete network of bike lanes, with as many separated from cars as possible.

Building a new bike lane can take weeks or months, and the process can be delayed even further when communities resist these efforts. Polly Trottenberg, the city’s transportation commissioner, told NPR that the city is taking the necessary steps to prevent future deaths and that the circumstances the city is facing are not unique.

“We are all facing a lot of the same challenges,” Trottenberg said, referring to Vision Zero cities in the U.S. “Years where we see fatalities go down. Years where tragically we see fatalities on the rise. Dealing with all the demands on our roadways.“

As time progresses, Uber and Lyft as well as big-box trucks (fueled by the booming e-commerce industry) together pose added dangers for cyclists and strain an already over-congested system. With more people cycling than ever before, setbacks are leading to accidents. According to the NYDOT, the number of daily bike rides more than doubled between 2012 and 2017. Today, nearly half a million cycling trips are made every day.

Since more people are choosing to cycle for a variety of reasons, concerns about their impact on the environment, frustration with public transit and desire to improve their physical health. The city has also been instrumental in encouraging people to bike, including the massive rollout of Citi Bike shares. Over the past few years, the city has on average built 62 miles of bike lanes each year — the largest increase anywhere in the country. But, in a city with more than 6,000 miles of streets, fewer than 1 in 5 has a bike lane.

Bike Accident Lawyer in New York

 Cycling is an undeniably popular form of transportation and exercise in New York. According to the New York City Department of Transportation, approximately 778,000 New Yorkers ride their bikes at least several times per month, while another 272,000 ride at least once per month (DOT). Bicycling is good for you and the environment, but it can also put you at risk of accidents and injuries. According to the NYC Open Data Portal, which compiles data from various agencies, at least 3,835 cyclists were injured or killed in bicycle accidents in New York City in the previous year. Furthermore, according to federal government crash data, hundreds of other cyclists have been killed in bicycle crashes on Long Island and Westchester in recent years.

The cyclists are especially vulnerable to accidents involving motor vehicles and hazardous road defects because they do not have the protection of a car on their daily commutes, so it is critical to understand the common causes of bicycle accidents and how to avoid them in order to avoid unnecessary injuries.

The staff at HURT-511 is aware of the physical, emotional, and financial upheaval that can result from a bicycle accident. Our firm has represented injury victims’ rights for over 2 decades, and we have successfully recovered millions of dollars for them. If you are injured while cycling and believe the accident was caused by someone else’s negligence, you should not hesitate to contact a bike accident lawyer in New York for assistance.

Our consultations are 100% free, and we don’t charge you anything until we win your case. Call us today, chat with us live, or fill out our Free Case Evaluation Form.

Why Hire a Bike Accident Lawyer in New York?

The aftermath of a bicycle accident can be terrifying and overwhelming, and it can be difficult to decide what to do next while you are simultaneously dealing with the financial consequences of the accident. At this point, you might be thinking that the easiest and most straightforward course of action would be to file a claim for personal injury with either your own insurance company or the insurance company of the party who was at fault for the accident, however, bike accidents are tricky and are almost impossible to navigate without a professional bike accident lawyer in New York. Attorneys at HURT-511 can guide you through all of your choices, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each one along the way, and help you obtain financial recovery from the accident.

Our consultations are 100% free, and we don’t charge you anything until we win your case. Call us today, chat with us live, or fill out our Free Case Evaluation Form.

Type of Compensation After a Bike Crash

Bicycle accident victims who have been injured can file claims for financial compensation to help them get back on their feet and deal with the challenging aftermath of their traumatic experience. There is a possibility of sustaining serious injuries, leading to a mountain of medical debt as a result of the multiple procedures, follow-up appointments, and medications, or inability to work, which resulted in a loss of wages for several weeks or even months. Victims of the personal injury accident may also be left with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), severe physical pain, or other forms of physical and emotional suffering.

You always have the right to seek compensation for the injuries and impairments you sustained. The following are some examples of the types of damages that may be suffered by people injured in a bicycle accident:

Medical expenses

If you have to go to the hospital or see a doctor, have an expensive operation, go to follow-up appointments, or take expensive medication, you may be able to recover compensation for these costs through a personal injury lawsuit. These medical costs must be immediately attributable to the accident in question.

Damage to personal property

Your bicycle and any other personal belongings that were damaged or destroyed as a result of the accident may be eligible for compensation to cover the cost of repairing or replacing them.

Lost wages

In the event of serious injuries or impairments that rendered you unable to work as a result of the accident, you may be entitled to compensation for lost wages.

Rehabilitation expenses

If you were injured in the accident and needed to participate in physical therapy or another form of rehabilitation program as a result of those injuries, the costs associated with those programs should be covered by the settlement.

Pain and suffering

You have the right to seek compensation if the accident has a negative impact on the quality of your life or your mental state caused you to suffer in addition to the physical condition. It may include long-term physical impairment, chronic pain, a change in quality of life, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other mental conditions related to trauma.

Wrongful death

Bicycle accidents do not just cause injuries. They have the potential to cause wrongful death in extreme cases. If the tragedy that led to the passing of a loved one could have been avoided, the loss of that person will feel like an even deeper wound. In situations like these, the person who is in charge of the deceased person’s estate has the legal right to file a lawsuit for wrongful death.

In a lawsuit for wrongful death, the family of a person who was killed in a bicycle accident may be able to recover damages such as the following:

• Costs associated with a burial or cremation.
• Funeral expenses.
• If the family relied on the deceased person’s employment prior to his or her passing, the family is entitled to the deceased person’s wages and benefits.
• Expenses related to medical care in the event that the decedent was seen by a physician or admitted to a hospital before passing away.
• Damages for pain and suffering may be awarded if the death was the cause of the distress.

Types of Bike Accidents in New York City 

Everyone—drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists—should exercise extreme caution when navigating the city’s congested roads. Accidents involving bicycles are all too common in the city of New York due to the high volume of traffic and the presence of thousands of tourists who crowd the streets on a daily basis.

The following are some of the most common types of bicycle accidents that can occur in New York City:

• Stoplight collisions occur when a cyclist or driver enters an intersection while the light is red and collides with another.
• Uncontrolled intersection collisions happen when a cyclist or driver fails to follow the right of way rules of an uncontrolled intersection and collides with another.
• The right hook occurs when a cyclist is traveling on the right side of the road and a driver turns right, causing a collision with the cyclist.
• The left cross occurs when a vehicle turning left collides with a cyclist crossing the street. They occur when a driver or cyclist fails to obey the right-of-way rules at stop sign-controlled intersections and collides with the other.

The specific circumstances surrounding each incident each have their own unique set of contributing factors. Accidents like these are frequently caused by disagreements over who has the right of way, which are then used as evidence in legal proceedings to determine who was at fault. Negligent drivers may also cause bicycle accidents due to:

• Accidentally causing a collision between a cyclist and a car door by opening it without first checking to see if there is enough clearance.
• Driving while distracted in any way, including by texting, talking on the phone, or engaging in other forms of distraction.
• Accidents occurred as a result of poor distance estimation between the moving vehicle and the cyclist, which led to both sideswipes and rear-end collisions.

If the courts determine that any of the aforementioned circumstances applied, then the driver is responsible for the accident involving the bicycle.

How Bike Accident Lawyer in New York Can Help

 Bicycle accidents can result in severe injuries with long-term effects that necessitate extensive medical treatment, regardless of how they occur. Injuries can hinder your ability to engage in normal physical activities, diminish your quality of life, and cause you emotional pain and suffering. If the accident was not your fault, it is unfair for you to have to deal with astronomical costs, incapacitating injuries, and wage loss.

After a bicycle accident in New York, you should seek assistance from an experienced personal injury lawyer in Queens NY. Your lawyer will establish a solid attorney-client relationship and guide you through the settlement filing process. He will review your case and determine how much compensation you are owed by conducting an investigation and calculating your damages.

Our consultations are 100% free, and we don’t charge you anything until we win your case. Call us today, chat with us live, or fill out our Free Case Evaluation Form.

About New York

New York City is a city and port located at the mouth of the Hudson River in southeastern New York state, in the northeastern United States. Its official name is the City of New York, but it has also been known historically as New Amsterdam, the Mayor, Alderman, and Commonality of the City of New York, and New Orange. Its nickname is the Big Apple. It is the most populous and influential metropolitan area in the United States, and it includes the islands of Manhattan and Staten, as well as the western sections of Long Island and a small portion of the New York state mainland that is located to the north of Manhattan. In reality, New York City comprises a large number of neighborhoods that are dispersed throughout the city’s five boroughs (Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island), with each neighborhood displaying a distinct way of life. It is possible that moving from one neighborhood to the next in a city is comparable to traveling from one country to another.

Many people believe that New York City is the most appealing urban center in the United States because it is the most culturally and religiously diverse, commercially driven, and notoriously congested city in the country.