The City of Pleasanton encourages bicycle riding as a way to lower traffic congestion. They even offer walk and roll events during October to promote bicycle and pedestrian safety for school children. With 338 bicycle routes around this city of more than 70,000, it is evident that bicycling is a popular pastime. 

Additionally, cycling is a healthy alternative to driving, can burn calories and provide great exercise. Despite this, bicycling still poses a number of dangers. Every year, cyclists are injured by drivers who either ignore a rider’s right of way or are negligent. A Pleasanton bicycle accident lawyer can help you obtain fair compensation for your injuries. 

The California Office of Traffic Safety reports that in 2019, the last year that statistics were gathered, 25 bicyclists were either injured or killed in traffic collisions in Pleasanton. Of that number, seven were under the age of 15.

At Autoaccident.com, our Pleasanton bicycle accident attorneys are committed to providing compensation to bicycle riders injured due to negligence. Our investigation of bicycle collisions can provide you with the evidence you need to recover your medical expenses, lost wages and pain and suffering compensation after an accident. We’ve been recovering compensation for injured bicyclists for many years and know how to negotiate with insurance companies to help you get the maximum damages. 

Responsible riding can prevent many accidents, and most cyclists do so. However, the vulnerability of cyclists means they can be seriously injured in accidents. There are some common risky behaviors that drivers of passenger vehicles engage in that can cause injuries or fatalities to cyclists:

• Reckless driving: Running a red light, tailgating, speeding and other types of irresponsible driving can end up causing an accident.
• Impaired driving: Many traffic accidents are caused by drunk or drugged driving. People riding bicycles may suffer serious injuries in this type of situation because of the impaired driver’s lack of judgment and poor reflexes and vision.
• Lack of attention: The use of cell phones and texting while driving is one of the leading causes of distracted driving accidents. Other distractions may include fiddling with the radio or eating and drinking while driving.
• Fatigue: If a driver is fatigued and behind the wheel of a vehicle, an accident with a cyclist is more likely to occur. The result of untreated medical conditions, working shifts that change frequently or staying up late can make you fatigued. Drivers who cause accidents due to fatigue often don’t realize they are too tired to be driving.

By learning the common reasons a motorist causes an accident with a bicycle, drivers can learn how to avoid them. These reasons include:

• Intersection collisions: The highest number of motor vehicle accidents involving bicycle riders (42 percent) happen at intersections. In many of these cases, the bicyclist is legally passing through an intersection or walking their bike across a crosswalk. A Pleasanton bicycle accident lawyer can determine the negligence that caused your crash, which helps you obtain compensation.
• Making a careless right-hand turn: Drivers turning right often don’t have a clear view of oncoming traffic on the left, so this is what they concentrate on. By neglecting to check their right before going into the turn, they can end up striking a bicycle rider.
• Accidents backing up: A driver who forgets to check for bicyclists crossing their path while backing out of a driveway or alley can cause an injury.
• Sideswiping a bicyclist: The Three Feet for Safety law in California is meant to keep cyclists safe. However, a motorist who cuts into the bicycle lane to turn without checking for riders first can cause a sideswipe accident.
• Rear-end collisions: Rear-end accidents account for about 40 percent of all bicycle riders’ incidents. 

It is the job of a Pleasanton bicycle accident attorney to investigate to uncover evidence that will support the client’s claim for compensation. The lawyer then has the opportunity to build a solid case to recover compensation for the client for financial damages. Our team investigates accidents right away by talking to witnesses and checking police reports. Evidence can also be collected in the following ways:

• Reconstruction of an accident by investigators can reveal how a crash occurred and indicate specific types of negligence on the driver’s part.
• California’s three-foot distance rule is essential to consider when accidents involve bicyclists, so investigators check to see if a violation of this law was involved.
• Evidence of the accident may be found by searching through surveillance footage from traffic and business cameras.
• Depending on whether road damage or other negligence contributed to the accident, the government entity may be liable for damages. A lawyer can help you ensure that the claim falls within the statute of limitations. Government claims must be filed within six months of the injury. Government entities have 45 days to respond. The injured person has six months to file a lawsuit if the claim is rejected. There is a two-year deadline for filing a lawsuit if no answer is received. A bicycle accident lawyer from Pleasanton can help by filing the paperwork and negotiating for you to get fair compensation.

As soon as we collect all the evidence for our client’s compensation claim, our lawyers will begin building a compelling case to support it.

Below you will find a video provided by attorney Ed Smith that will help you decide which personal injury lawyer to hire:

When you’ve been injured by a negligent driver, you need help to get the compensation you deserve. When you hire an experienced bicycle accident attorney in Pleasanton, you can be assured that our lawyers will work hard for you to help you get the fair compensation you deserve. For free and friendly legal advice, call us at (925) 428-5220 or (800) 404-5400.

You can also contact us online using the message form. Discover how our injury lawyers have assisted others in recovering compensation following a bicycle accident at Verdicts and Settlements.

Photo attribution: by Pexels from Pixabay 

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