Greenville Bicycle Accident Attorneys

Bicycles are an economical and enjoyable way to get around in the warmer months, but they also leave their riders vulnerable to injury. If you’ve been injured in a bicycle accident because of someone else’s negligence, find out if you are due compensation.

If you’re reading this, you may be dealing with a serious injury from a bicycle accident you didn’t cause. You may be in pain. You may be unable to work and worried about paying the bills. You are probably unsure whom to ask for guidance about a bicycle accident claim.

We are here to help with free legal advice. Call our Greenville bicycle accident attorneys today.

Don’t put it off another day because you’re worried you’ll need cash to pay for answers to your bicycle accident questions. Call and schedule your free legal consultation as soon as you’re able.

Protect Yourself When Riding Your Bicycle

When a bicycle is hit by a motor vehicle, the cyclist is the one who comes out the loser. But there are precautions you can take to reduce your chances of getting into an accident.

• Ride with traffic: Bicycles are considered vehicles and thus must obey traffic laws. If you break this law, you’ll be putting yourself in danger and at risk of liability should an accident occur.
• Make sure you’re as visible as possible: Make motorists around you aware of your presence with bright, reflective clothing.
• Be vigilant: Use a bike mirror and make it a practice to really check it when you get to intersections.
• Pass with care: Don’t pass a car on the right at intersections and driveways, as they may turn right and cut you off, hitting you.
• Always be prepared to brake: It’s important to be mentally prepared for the possibility that you’ll need to stop suddenly because a car cuts you off. This may require you to reduce your speed at intersections, for example, just in case
• When in doubt, walk your bike: Sometimes, the safest thing to do is walk your bike across an intersection as a pedestrian. Note that riding from the sidewalk into the crosswalk is not a good idea, because cars won’t expect your sudden entry into the crosswalk.
• Stay out of the blindspot: Make sure you’re not hanging out in the blind spot of the cars you share the road with when you’re coming up on them from behind or waiting with them at traffic lights.
• Be careful about right of way rules: If you violate these rules while riding your bike, not only can you get hurt, but you can be found at-fault for the accident. If this happens, the motorist could turn around and sue you.

How Our Greenville Bicycle Accident Attorneys Can Help Your Claim

A common mistake people make when considering filing a bicycle accident claim is thinking they’ll save money if they move forward without a lawyer. This is almost always not the case. Hiring a lawyer will provide you with two main benefits:

• You get to rest and recover while a legal professional gives you the best chance for the compensation you are due
• Hiring a lawyer protects the value of your claim in many ways, enabling you to collect more in compensation

Let’s look at the ways our Greenville bicycle accident attorneys can help to protect your claim’s value

• Your lawyer will have the skill to investigate your accident. This provides your claim with supporting evidence and serves to identify all liable parties who should be pursued for compensation
• An attorney is going to know how to determine your damages to make sure you factor in all the compensation you are due
• An attorney will be able to spot insurance company attempts to damage the value of your claim and avoid them
• Your lawyer will be able to guide you in reviewing settlement offers, taking the stress out of making critical decisions about your claim
• Having an attorney tells the insurance company they can’t drag your claim through delay tactics and denials. They’ll be on notice that if they refuse to consider a fair settlement in good faith, they’ll be sued
• Your lawyer can actually take them to court in a lawsuit if it becomes the only way to bring you the compensation you deserve for your bicycle accident damages

Mistakes You Can Avoid

In addition to the many ways hiring the right bicycle accident attorney can protect your claim, there are ways you, too, can help to preserve its value.

Get to the Doctor

Don’t make the mistake of assuming you are okay if you don’t immediately feel injured after the accident. The human body’s fight or flight response is very real and can temporarily dull pain and boost strength and energy. Don’t assume you are okay; seek out a doctor to tell you so.

When you go to the doctor, any injuries you have will be put on record, providing you with strong evidence to support your claim. The closer this record is to the date of the accident, the stronger your proof that the accident caused your injuries.

Don’t give the insurance company the chance to suggest that you weren’t injured badly because you didn’t see a doctor. Protect your health and your claim by seeking out a medical exam.

Follow the Treatment Plan from Your Doctor

Another way many people fail to protect their claims is by assuming their treatment plan doesn’t matter one way or the other in their recovery. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Your treatment plan is your doctor’s advice for how you can help yourself recover after you leave the medical facility. It will probably include a collection of approaches, such as medications, elevating an injured a limb, going to occupational therapy sessions, and getting lots of rest.

Your treatment plan is also likely to include activities you may need to stop doing for a while, such as keeping a burn from being submersed in the bathtub or making sure you don’t lift anything over ten pounds for at least ten days.

There are many forms your treatment plan can take. The most important thing is that you stick to it. Following it will not only help you heal, but it will help you protect your claim’s value.

Remember that insurance companies still use investigators. If, for example, an investigator happens to catch you on video raking leaves with a broken hip you should not be standing on, your claim is going to be in trouble.

That’s because if you end up unable to make a complete recovery from your hip injury, the insurance company will be able to point to that video and say you failed to make a full recovery because you didn’t follow doctors’ orders. They’ll claim it’s not their fault, it’s yours.

Your treatment plan matters a lot. No matter how much it ultimately affects how well you heal, it is going to help you or the insurance company regarding the value of your claim, depending on how well you stick to it.

Don’t Allow the Insurance Company to Record Your Statement

Not long after your bicycle accident report is filed, you can expect the insurance company to come calling. They’ll want you to give them a recorded statement about the accident. It’s a mistake to agree to this.

This call is not for the purposes of helping you with your claim. It’s one of the ways the insurance company tries to save money by finding holes in your story. Don’t help them twist your words against you. Handing over all communications about your claim to our Greenville bicycle accident attorneys is the best way to avoid miscommunications that can damage your claim.

Make Finding a Lawyer a Priority

You may feel less than ready to think about finding an attorney in the early days after getting seriously hurt in a bicycle accident. While this is to be expected, it’s going to be helpful to get started as quickly as possible if you intend to pursue a claim (or if you think you may have one but have questions).

It’s true you must file your paperwork on time so your claim won’t be tossed out, but long before that, you need to make sure you don’t miss out on available evidence to support your claim. The sooner you give your lawyer the chance to begin an accident investigation, the stronger your case will be.

Accident scenes disappear quickly as they get cleared away. Evidence can get lost or missed. Even witnesses move on and forget details. The earlier your lawyer can get started, the better chance you have of winning your claim.

If you don’t feel up to looking online for an attorney, you can ask a friend or family member to check out lawyers that practice in your area. They can look at their record of success regarding bicycle accident claims, read online reviews and ratings, and come back to you with recommendations. You can then decide together whom they can call to schedule free legal consultations so you can learn more. You’ll find them more than willing to come to you at your convenience.

Don’t Choose the Wrong Lawyer

As you go through the process of selecting an attorney for your bicycle accident claim, make sure you are looking for what you really need.

If you needed a critical operation, you wouldn’t hire just any surgeon; you’d hire the surgeon with great ratings for the type of operation you need. It’s the same when searching for an attorney. Not every attorney is focused in the personal injury practice area. Make sure you look for a personal injury trial lawyer with a successful record resolving bicycle accident claims, both through trial and through settlements.

Though most bicycle accident claims are resolved through settlements, some need to go to trial to succeed. You need a lawyer who can bring you success in whichever “arena” they must fight to get it.

South Carolina Bicycle Accident Client Story

We are sharing the story below to give you additional information about a bus accident claim. Though we’ve changed names and specifics to protect the privacy of our clients, the information’s helpfulness remains. Please read to the end, and then give us a call to schedule your free legal consultation.

On a sunny April day not too long ago, Marc Carter hopped on his bike and hit the road. He’d always looked forward to his Saturday morning rides, and this one was the most important yet.

In the past, he rode as often as he could get out during the week and on Sundays, but Saturday mornings had always been his “Zen” time to recharge and relax when he still had two days off before the week ahead.

That is, until the baby arrived.

Marc and his wife Stefanie had just had their second child, a little boy named Harlan, after Stefanie’s grandfather. The first three months had been challenging, and the little boy was only beginning to sleep through the night this past week. With three nights of solid sleep under his belt, Marc was starting to feel like himself again, but he hadn’t been on his bike in three long months.

This would be his first Saturday ride since winter. He was grateful the mild South Carolina weather allowed him to ride year-round, for the most part, but the weather had still made his ride schedule spotty. Factoring in the three ride-less months that had followed, Marc was more than ready to get back to his routine.

He left his home on French Lane and rode out into the countryside. The day wasn’t warm yet, and he enjoyed a light breeze as he worked his muscles through twelve brisk miles.

At the end of his ride, he looped around and down through Hidden Hills toward home for his regular cool down. His muscles were tired, but the good tired that promised to go quickly back to their former level of fitness.

It was only 8:30 a.m., and the neighborhood was quiet as Marc rode northeast at an easy pace. A station wagon approached from the opposite direction, stopping randomly before moving on. At first, Marc thought it was lost, but then he realized it was delivering free newspapers with local coupons and promotions. He’d almost forgotten people used to get their newspapers tossed on their doorsteps that way in the “olden days.”

Shaking his head with a smile, he continued past, hoping the guy didn’t thwap him in the face with a paper. Unfortunately, this guy wasn’t about to miss. The car suddenly changed direction again, making an unannounced U-turn around the median, colliding with the bike. Marc took flight.

He woke up in the hospital with a traumatic brain injury and a cracked vertebra in his neck. The doctor told him he would not have survived at all if he hadn’t been wearing the helmet.

Stefanie was beside him, holding his hand and explaining in a soothing voice that he was being kept as still as possible for the time being, to help ensure the swelling in his injuries would subside. When he realized all he could feel below his shoulders was tingling, he nearly panicked, but Stefanie never left him, and she continued to work at keeping him calm and comfortable. It was an awful feeling, but he willed himself to breathe and relax.

The doctors came and went and told Marc they were hopeful about a full recovery. As one week morphed into the next, Marc began experiencing random sensations up and down his arms, a good sign, the doctors said.

His vision randomly blurred, which caused him anxiety, but he was told there was so much in flux between his head and his neck injuries to know yet how far he might recover.

He was grateful that he could speak, though he’d sometimes get overwhelmed with confusion. That too, the doctors said, might be a temporary effect from the trauma of the crash rather than specific damage from his TBI. Brain injuries were tricky, they said. Time would tell, they said.

At the start of the third week, Stefanie’s dad Ken visited Marc and recommended Marc speak to the Greenville bicycle accident attorneys at Christian & Christian. He said they’d helped Stefanie’s mom with a nursing home claim for Harlan, before he’d died.

Marc wasn’t in a mental space to have an opinion about a claim either way at that point, and he politely said so. Ken gently agreed that was, of course, true, but his daughter Stefanie was juggling a newborn and a toddler on her own for the time being, and the only thing that was clear at this point was that Marc was looking at a lengthy recovery.

While filing a claim couldn’t undo the accident, if it succeeded, it could provide for Marc’s care and that of his family, giving them the financial compensation they deserved and needed to survive going forward.

Marc agreed his father-in-law’s input made sense and asked if he wouldn’t mind setting up the free legal consultation. “If they’ll come to the hospital, that is,” Marc said.

“I’m sure they will,” said Ken.

A few days later, South Carolina bicycle accident attorney Josh Christian arrived and sat down with Stefanie at Marc’s bedside. Stefanie did the talking, so Marc could rest and relax his head and neck. She began with their most pressing question.

How much does it cost to hire a bicycle accident attorney?

“The first thing we need to know is how much it would cost to hire your firm,” Stefanie said, her eyes anxious. “I left my job after our second baby was born, and as you can see, Mac won’t be able to return to work for quite some time.”

“I completely understand,” Attorney Christian assured her. “Cost is a necessary question, and one we get all the time.

“There is no up-front cost to hiring the firm. We work on a contingency-fee model. This means we front all your case expenses from beginning to end, so we can move forward without the obstacle of your having to come up with money out-of-pocket. When your case concludes, we only get paid if we win your claim.”

Relief washed over Stefanie’s features. “Really?” she asked, wanting to be sure.

“Really,” said Attorney Christian. “And this is a completely free legal consultation. I am here to answer your claim questions, so ask away.”

How much is my bicycle accident claim worth?

“We’d like to know what Marc’s claim is worth. There are so many unknowns right now. How do you determine the value of a case?”

“You’re right, Ms. Carter. Right now, all you’ve got is unknowns, which means we can’t yet give you a reliable claim value. We can, however, arrive at the answer to that question by carefully pursuing two avenues of information.

“The first is the investigation of the accident. We’ll conduct our own investigation to determine all the facts, possibly using an accident recreation specialist to help support Marc’s case.

“A thorough investigation will enable us to accurately identify all responsible parties. For example, was the driver of the car the only person at-fault, or is there a deficiency in the employee screening or training process of the company who employed the driver that contributed to the accident?

“We investigate the facts of the accident and identify the at-fault parties to make sure you have a solid claim and don’t leave out anyone who may be liable for your husband’s injuries.

“The second avenue of information that will contribute to the value of your claim, Mr. Carter, is your damages. These are all the ways your life has been negatively impacted by the accident. To accurately determine your damages, we’ll need you to reach maximum medical improvement,” Christian said.

“Really, this just means that you need to get better. You need to recover as much as you’re going to be capable of recovering. Recovery is now your only job.

“We won’t determine you to have reached maximum medical improvement until your doctors are confident you won’t need any more surgeries. The doctors will also need to be clear on all the ways your accident is likely to impact your life going forward,” said Attorney Christian.

“This can’t be rushed, and I doubt you’ll argue about it being the most important thing for you to focus on right now.

“When you reach maximum medical improvement, we’ll know your damages. We will then combine that information with the information we have from your accident investigation and arrive at a value for your claim that you can count on,” said Christian.

“The good news,” he continued, “is when you hand your bicycle accident claim over to a skilled personal injury trial lawyer, you get to rest and focus on recovery. Our firm can handle all aspects of your claim.”

How long will my bicycle accident claim take?

Stefanie agreed that Attorney Josh’s answer made sense and sounded like it would indeed be reliable.

“How long do you think all of this will take?” she asked.

“That’s going to depend on a couple of factors. The first is how long it takes Mr. Carter to reach maximum medical improvement. We won’t be able to move faster than the speed of your recovery, Mr. Carter,” Attorney Christian said.

“When you get to maximum medical improvement and we arrive at your claim’s value, we’ll send a demand letter to the insurance company. From then on, the timeline of your claim will depend on how the insurance company responds.

“If they are open to the amount we are seeking in compensation, we’ll be set to close your claim and collect your compensation. If they fight us, however, we’ll file your claim in suit and take them before a jury.

“As you may imagine, a trial would extend the timeline of your claim, but our firm is going to fight for your right to compensation, and if we need to take that fight to court, that’s where we’ll go. Therefore, we urge you to make sure that whomever you decide to retain for your claim, you go with a trial lawyer.

Marc and Stefanie were satisfied with the answers they received in their free legal consultation. They retained Christian & Christian, and Attorney Josh Christian won their case in court. The couple was astounded by the amount the jury awarded them.

Call Our Greenville Bicycle Accident Attorneys Today

We hope this page has given you a better idea of what is involved in a bicycle accident claim. No two claims are the same, so please reach out to our Greenville bicycle accident attorneys as soon as you can to schedule your free legal consultation. We want to answer your specific claim questions and fight for your right to be made whole. Call today.