Riding a bicycle has become more prevalent in California for its health and environmental benefits. More people are using bikes not only for leisure but also for commuting to work and school.

Unfortunately, Fresno can be a dangerous city for cyclists. When a cyclist is injured in a bike accident due to the negligence of another, making the right decisions afterward can be crucial to their financial, emotional, and physical well-being for months and years to come. An experienced Fresno, CA, bicycle accident attorney can help cyclists through this challenging time by seeking the justice and fair financial compensation they deserve.

In this article:

• What Are the Most Common Causes of Bicycle Accidents?
• What Are the Most Common Crash Injuries?
• Compensation for Injured Cyclists
• Wrongful Death in a Cyclist Accident
• What Insurance Covers Bicycle Collisions?
• What is Comparative Fault and How Can it Affect My Personal Injury Claim?
• What is the Statute of Limitations for a Bicycle Crash in California?
• Benefits of Hiring a Fresno Bicycle Accident Attorney
• Fresno Bicycle FAQs

Bicycle safety is often affected by the following reasons:

• Driver Error: Many motorists lack the knowledge of how to safely share the road with cyclists. Since bicycles are considered vehicles in California, drivers must yield the right of way to cyclists accordingly. When a driver fails to do so through negligence, such as driving while impaired or distracted, it can result in the cyclist suffering a severe injury or being killed. In these cases, the responsible motorist can be liable for subsequent losses.
• Manufacturer Defects: Bikes are sometimes manufactured with less durable materials to maximize profit margins for the company. However, this can compromise the rider’s safety when a bike is sold with a defective part or equipment, such as faulty frames, brakes, pedals, and wheels. When a bicycle defect causes an accident, the bike manufacturer may be held financially responsible through a product liability claim for damages.
• Road Defects: Accidents involving cyclists may also be caused by the failure of the government entity to maintain roads and bicycle lanes. When a government entity fails to ensure roadway safety for drivers and cyclists, it can be held financially liable for a collision caused by a road defect. Common road hazards include insufficient lighting at night, poorly configured intersections, potholes, and cracks or bumps on the sidewalk or road.

Due to cyclists’ limited physical protection when sharing the road with motor vehicles, cyclist crashes can result in some of the most severe injuries on the spectrum. These include:

• Abdominal Trauma: Several types of internal injuries in the abdomen may be suffered in a bike crash. These include traumatic hernia, pancreatic trauma, rupture of the spleen, and contusions of the large or small bowel.
• Bone Fractures: A cyclist is often propelled over the bike’s handlebars in an accident. When the body strikes the pavement, it is common for the cyclist to suffer bone fractures. Many of these require surgery to repair, which can force a person to miss time from work while they recover.
• Brain Injuries: Cyclists may suffer concussions, brain contusions, intracranial hemorrhages, or skull fractures from their head hitting the pavement or another object in a crash. The shearing forces of a collision can leave a cyclist with temporary or permanent brain damage from a concussion. A traumatic brain injury may also be sustained in an accident and manifest with various symptoms. These include memory loss, confusion, nausea, cognitive difficulties, and behavioral changes.
• Chest Injuries: The chest can sustain injuries to the lungs, shoulders, collarbone, and rib fractures, especially if a car runs over a bicycle rider. Crush injuries can prove fatal in some cases, such as flail chest.
• Facial Scarring: Lacerations, fractures, and scarring to the face are common in bicycle injury cases. When facial disfigurement is severe, it will often require cosmetic surgeries to restore appearance and function.
• Spinal Cord Injuries: The spinal column can sustain severe trauma in a crash. This can lead to a host of medical complications, including loss of function and incomplete or complete paralysis. These are devastating injuries that can significantly impact a cyclist’s life.

The amount of compensation that an injured individual can collect is based on several factors. These include whether the motorist and cyclist were at fault for the collision, the severity of the injury, whether the injured rider has suffered a permanent disability, and the reports of a medical expert. 

When these elements are considered, the injured party may recover economic and noneconomic damages. Economic damages reimburse financial losses such as lost wages and medical bills. Noneconomic damages are more complicated to quantify and are designed to compensate an injured individual for disfigurement, loss of consortium, and pain and suffering. They are calculated based on the severity of the injured cyclist’s injury and his or her life expectancy. 

Punitive damages may be awarded for egregious conduct such as drunk driving. This type of damage is not intended for compensation. Instead, it is designed to punish the responsible party from engaging in similar acts in the future.

Cyclists have little protection and will remain vulnerable to fatal injuries in a bike collision. The surviving family members of anyone who passed away due to someone else’s negligence can seek financial relief through a wrongful death claim. This type of case compensates for the tangible and intangible harms suffered by the decedent’s family. These include reimbursement of medical bills incurred before death, costs of a funeral and burial, lost inheritance, loss of consortium, loss of income for the household, emotional distress, mental anguish, and more. 

Since this can be a challenging legal process for a grieving family, it can be simplified by the guidance and support of a Fresno bicycle accident lawyer with experience handling wrongful death bicycle accident cases. 

To learn more about wrongful death cases, watch the below video.

All too often, cyclists suffer serious injuries caused by the inattentiveness of drivers on the road. Always riding defensively and following the rules of the road are the best ways to protect yourself from harm’s way and to prevent a cyclist collision. A critical step in protecting yourself financially is to purchase uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage on your automobile insurance policy. 

This can help cover damages caused by a driver with little to no insurance. It may also help pay for losses incurred in a hit-and-run bicycle accident. Conversely, a cyclist who does not have a car insurance policy may have other recovery options. If the cyclist lives in a household with someone with this coverage, they may be covered as long as they are not listed as excluded from the policy.

California operates under a system of comparative fault. This means an injured person will receive damages for their injuries reduced by the percentage of negligence apportioned. For instance, if a cyclist is 20 percent responsible for their injuries, then they would be able to recover 80 percent of the compensation awarded due to the comparative negligence doctrine. Since insurance companies often use a cyclist’s unfamiliarity with comparative fault to diminish and devalue claims, it is essential to hire an experienced Fresno bicycle accident lawyer to investigate the facts and evidence of the accident to properly determine liability.

In California, an injured party or surviving family members of a deceased cyclist have only two years from the date of loss to file a personal injury or wrongful death claim. When a case is being filed against a government entity, that time is shortened to 180 days or six months from the time of the incident. For cases involving minors, the statute of limitations is suspended or tolled until the adolescent turns 18. The injured person has a two-year window from that time to file a bicycle injury claim.

A Fresno personal injury lawyer who is experienced in handling bicycle accident cases can help by answering any questions you may have, advising you of your potential legal options, and communicating effectively with insurance companies on your behalf. A Fresno bicycle accident attorney will also investigate the incident independently by using experts such as a crash reconstructionist to help establish liability in your case. This way, your attorney can help ensure you receive the fair compensation you need and deserve.

What if I was in a bike crash and was not wearing a helmet. Do I still have a claim for a head injury I suffered?

Even if a cyclist was not wearing a helmet at the time of a collision, they might still be able to recover for some claims involving head trauma. However, the at-fault driver’s insurer may dispute the claim by hiring experts such as biomechanics to argue that the lack of helmet use constituted the head injury. In these types of cases, it is crucial to retain an experienced injury attorney to protect your right to a favorable recovery.

Were you hurt in a bike crash caused by a negligent driver? Experienced bicycle accident attorney, Ed Smith, has been serving clients of Fresno County, CA since 1982. Call our law firm at (559) 377-7676 or (800) 404-5400 for free, friendly legal advice on how to bring a personal injury claim today.

^{Editor’s Note: updated [cha 10.24.23] Images: “zhivko” and “rawpixel” via Pixabay ds cha [cs 1823]}