Los Angeles Bicycle Accident Lawyer: What Injured Cyclists Should Know
Bicycle accidents in Los Angeles can cause devastating injuries because cyclists have little physical protection when struck by a car, SUV, truck, bus, rideshare vehicle, or other motor vehicle. Riders may also be seriously injured in bike-lane collisions, dooring accidents, intersection crashes, hit-and-runs, and crashes involving dangerous roadway conditions.
DAG Law Firm, APC represents cyclists injured in serious bicycle and e-bike accidents in Los Angeles and throughout California. We handle cases involving distracted drivers, unsafe turns, opening vehicle doors, hit-and-run motorists, commercial vehicles, and other serious collisions.
You do not pay attorney fees unless we win your case. DAG Law Firm handles qualifying bicycle accident matters on a contingency-fee basis with no upfront attorney fees. Call (323) 930-2020 or contact DAG Law Firm today to discuss your Los Angeles bicycle accident.
Bicycle Accidents In Los Angeles Can Cause Serious Injuries
Cyclists share Los Angeles streets with passenger vehicles, buses, rideshare drivers, delivery vehicles, commercial trucks, motorcycles, scooters, and pedestrians. A collision can happen on a neighborhood street, major boulevard, designated bicycle route, freeway-adjacent roadway, or within an intersection where several forms of traffic come together.
Even a collision that does not appear severe from the perspective of the motor vehicle can produce significant injuries to a cyclist. A rider may be struck directly, thrown from the bicycle, pushed into another vehicle, or sent onto the pavement.
E-bike riders can face many of the same hazards as traditional cyclists. Regardless of the type of bicycle involved, the circumstances of the impact, available evidence, injuries, and insurance coverage can all become important when evaluating what happened.
Bike Lanes, Intersections And Busy Los Angeles Corridors
Los Angeles continues to develop bicycle infrastructure throughout the city, including conventional bike lanes, protected facilities, paths, and other connections intended to separate or organize bicycle and motor-vehicle traffic. Recent projects have included protected bicycle facilities on Hollywood Boulevard and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Bike lanes can provide dedicated space for cyclists, but they do not eliminate conflicts with vehicles. Drivers may cross bicycle lanes when turning, enter them near driveways, stop in areas used by cyclists, or fail to notice a rider traveling alongside traffic.
Intersections can be especially important in bicycle accident investigations. A driver turning right may cross a cyclist’s path, while a left-turning driver may enter the path of an approaching rider. Disputes may arise over traffic signals, right-of-way, visibility, vehicle positioning, or where the cyclist was riding immediately before the collision.
Bicycle crashes can occur throughout Downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood, Central Los Angeles, the Westside, the San Fernando Valley, South Los Angeles, and other neighborhoods where bicycle and vehicle traffic regularly interact.
Distracted Drivers, Unsafe Turns And Dooring Crashes
A driver who is looking at a phone, navigation system, rideshare application, passenger, or another distraction may fail to recognize a cyclist until there is little time to react. A distracted-driving bicycle accident may involve a vehicle drifting toward a bike lane, turning across a rider’s path, or entering or leaving a driveway.
Cyclists can also be injured when drivers make unsafe turns at intersections. The evidence in these cases may include vehicle positions, traffic signals, surveillance footage, dashcam video, witness accounts, and roadway markings.
Dooring crashes create another distinct danger. Los Angeles cyclists frequently ride alongside parked vehicles, and a driver or passenger may open a door into a cyclist’s path. A rider may collide directly with the open door or attempt to avoid it and fall or enter the path of another vehicle.
Learn more about bicycle accidents caused by distracted drivers in California and dooring bicycle accidents.
Hit-And-Run And Uninsured Driver Bicycle Accidents
A hit-and-run can make a bicycle accident investigation more difficult because the cyclist may initially have little information about the driver, vehicle, or available insurance.
Possible evidence can include witness descriptions, partial license plate information, surveillance footage, dashcam video, vehicle debris, photographs, and information about the direction the vehicle traveled after the collision. Los Angeles’ dense mix of stores, apartment buildings, homes, parking facilities, transit vehicles, and other properties can sometimes provide additional sources of video.
When the driver cannot be identified or lacks sufficient insurance, coverage available through another applicable policy may become relevant depending on the circumstances. Insurance terms and coverage requirements can vary significantly, so no particular source of coverage should be assumed automatically.
Learn more about hit-and-run bicycle accidents in California and California uninsured motorist claims.
Who May Be Liable For A Los Angeles Bicycle Accident?
The driver who caused a collision may be responsible for a cyclist’s injuries, but some bicycle accidents involve additional people, businesses, or entities.
Depending on the circumstances, questions may involve a vehicle owner, employer, rideshare company, trucking company, bus operator, another motorist, or a person who opened a vehicle door into the cyclist’s path. A bicycle crash allegedly involving a dangerous public roadway condition can raise different issues involving a government entity and potentially different procedures or deadlines.
California generally requires motorists passing a bicycle to provide at least three feet of clearance. When a cyclist and passing motorist are traveling in the same lane and another same-direction lane is available, the driver generally must move into the available lane when doing so is practicable, safe, and lawful.
Responsibility still depends on the circumstances of the individual collision. Learn more about who may be liable in a California bicycle accident and California bicycle laws every cyclist should know.
Common Bicycle And E-Bike Accident Injuries
A cyclist can suffer injuries throughout the body when struck by a vehicle or thrown onto the roadway. Potential injuries include traumatic brain injuries, concussions, facial injuries, fractures, shoulder injuries, spinal trauma, hip and pelvic injuries, leg injuries, internal trauma, road rash, dental injuries, nerve damage, and scarring.
Some injured cyclists require emergency treatment, surgery, hospitalization, rehabilitation, or ongoing medical care. Serious injuries may affect employment, mobility, independence, recreational activities, and the ability to return to cycling.
The severity of an injury cannot be determined solely from the appearance of the bicycle or vehicle. Medical professionals can evaluate the person’s condition and determine what treatment may be appropriate.
Learn more about common injuries in California bicycle accident cases and DAG Law Firm’s brain injury practice.
What To Do After A Bicycle Accident
Safety and appropriate medical attention generally come first after a serious bicycle accident. A cyclist should avoid remaining in an active traffic lane or another dangerous location simply to photograph the scene or collect information.
When circumstances make it safe, photographs of the bicycle, involved vehicles, roadway, bicycle-lane markings, intersection, traffic signals, debris, visible damage, and surrounding area may help preserve information about what happened. Witness names and contact information may also become useful.
The damaged bicycle, helmet, lights, clothing, electronics, and other equipment may contain physical evidence. Automatically repairing, discarding, or replacing those items immediately after a serious collision could eliminate information that might otherwise help document the crash.
Cyclists can read more about what to do after a bicycle accident in California.
Evidence That Can Help Explain How The Crash Happened
Bicycle accident claims often involve evidence about both liability and injuries. Police reports, photographs, surveillance video, dashcam footage, witness statements, vehicle damage, bicycle damage, roadway evidence, and traffic-control information may help establish the sequence of events.
Some cyclists may also have GPS, cycling-app, fitness-device, or other electronic information showing their route or movement before a collision. Whether that information is relevant depends on the circumstances.
Medical records can document injuries, symptoms, treatment, rehabilitation, and follow-up care. Employment records may become relevant when injuries cause missed work or affect the cyclist’s ability to perform previous job duties.
Evidence can disappear over time. Video may be overwritten, vehicles may be repaired, roadway conditions can change, and witnesses may become difficult to locate. The importance of any particular evidence depends on what it actually demonstrates.
Compensation, Insurance And Claim Deadlines
There is no standard settlement amount for a Los Angeles bicycle accident. Potential damages can depend on injury severity, medical treatment, future care, lost income, reduced earning ability, permanent limitations, scarring, insurance coverage, responsibility, and other case-specific circumstances.
Learn more about how much a California bicycle accident case may be worth. Cyclists with significant medical expenses can also review information about medical bills after an accident and pain and suffering damages.
Deadlines can also affect a bicycle accident matter. California personal injury lawsuits generally have a filing period measured in years, but exceptions can alter the correct deadline. Claims involving a government entity can require a much earlier administrative claim, including circumstances involving an allegedly dangerous public roadway.
Because bicycle accidents can involve public streets, transit agencies, government vehicles, or other public entities, cyclists should not assume that one general deadline applies to every case. Learn more about California bicycle accident claim deadlines.
Resources And How DAG Law Firm Can Help
A Los Angeles bicycle accident can involve questions about how the crash occurred, who may be responsible, what insurance applies, whether video exists, what happened to the bicycle, and how the injuries have affected the cyclist’s work and daily life. Bike-lane collisions, dooring accidents, hit-and-runs, distracted-driver crashes, commercial-vehicle collisions, and accidents involving public road conditions may each require different evidence.
DAG Law Firm provides additional resources about what to do after a bicycle accident, bicycle accident liability, case value, common bicycle injuries, California bicycle laws, distracted-driver bicycle crashes, dooring accidents, hit-and-run bicycle accidents, and bicycle accident deadlines.
DAG Law Firm, APC represents injured cyclists in Los Angeles and throughout California. We can evaluate the collision circumstances, photographs and video, bicycle and vehicle damage, potentially responsible parties, insurance, medical injuries, lost income, and other accident-related losses.
You do not pay attorney fees unless we win your case. There are no upfront attorney fees for qualifying bicycle accident matters handled on a contingency-fee basis. Call (323) 930-2020 or contact DAG Law Firm today to discuss your Los Angeles bicycle accident.
