Even if you wear a helmet, follow all applicable rules of the road, and ride with the utmost caution, you could still get hurt in a bicycle crash if even one motor vehicle driver acts irresponsibly near you. Luckily, you can take proactive and effective legal action against the person truly responsible for causing it.
Our team of diligent bicycle accident attorneys at Solution Now Law Firm could advocate for you and help you pursue your rightful compensation. We always put our clients first and work diligently to get you a fair settlement while avoiding prolonged court battles whenever possible. Here are some of the most common causes of bicycle accidents in San Mateo that our attorneys could help you file suit over.
When a driver acts recklessly or carelessly behind the wheel, this is known as negligence. If this type of behavior causes an accident, the driver’s negligence can make them liable for someone else’s injuries. Here are some forms of negligence that commonly cause San Mateo cyclist wrecks:
Whether they are looking at their phones, talking to someone else in the vehicle with them, or simply letting their attention wander behind the wheel, distracted drivers are extremely dangerous to themselves and everyone around them. This is especially true if their inattention leads to them colliding with a bicyclist without seeing them or slowing down first.
On top of being illegal, driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs also significantly reduces a driver’s reaction time and fine motor control. This combination can make them much more likely to sideswipe, rear-end, or simply not see a bicyclist riding near them on the road.
While drivers do not always have to yield to bicyclists the same way they should for pedestrians in crosswalks, they are expected to treat bicyclists the same way they treat other motor vehicle drivers, and a failure to give the right-of-way properly to a bike rider can very quickly lead to serious accidents.
While a driver’s negligence behind the wheel is often the cause of a serious collision with a bike, there are some instances in which driving does not cause these crashes.
While not quite as common as some of the other causes of San Mateo bicycle crashes mentioned here, drivers getting out of parked cars will sometimes open their car doors without checking to see if there is an oncoming bicyclist about to crash into that door and be catapulted off their bike as a result.
Most of the time, the person most directly at fault for a bike wreck is either the bicyclist themselves or another person who operated a car or other bicycle near them in a reckless or careless way. Sometimes, though, partial or even primary liability for this sort of incident may lie with a local government body which failed to maintain bike lanes in safe working order and put bikers at unnecessary risk of injury through their negligence.
Even if it seems obvious to you that someone else is to blame for the injuries you sustained in a bicycle crash, it can be challenging to obtain compensation successfully. People who negligently cause bicycle accidents—and the insurance companies representing them—will fight tenaciously to protect their own financial standing. Therefore, you should not fight this alone.
You can seek help from our lawyers at Solution Now Law Firm. Call today to learn more about the common causes of bicycle accidents in San Mateo and whether you might have grounds for legal action in your unique situation.
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