When it comes to cyclists, they are at a perpetual safety disadvantage when they ride down and share the public roadways (often for the lack of separate bike lanes) with larger and much heavier vehicles such as cars, trucks and the like. A crash with a four-wheeler often leads to serious consequences even for motorcyclists. So, we can imagine how much worse it will be for bicycles. Even accidents or collisions which—if they were to take place between two cars or between any two larger vehicles—would’ve led to minor injuries only, can lead to devastating and life-threatening injuries if they involve a bicycle.

Bicycle Accident Injuries

The very nature of the bicycles means it can afford extremely scant protection to the rider in case of a nasty collision. As such, a bicycle-car crash can result in severe and debilitating injuries to the biker and many of these injuries can affect the bikers for the rest of their lives.

The most common (and less severe) types of injuries resulting from a bike and a motor vehicle collision include soft tissue injury and bone fracture. The former can be extremely painful and the impact of the injury may last long; still soft tissue injuries can be cured through physical and adaptive therapy, although it may still take a relatively long time for to recover adequately from the injury.

A bone fracture, on the other hand, will require expensive invasive surgery. Sometimes, a fracture may even require a series of subsequent surgeries to heal properly. However, the cyclist can get away with a fracture or a soft tissue injury only if he is fortunate enough.

Less fortunate ones fall victim to traumatic head injuries or spinal cord injuries. Both these types of injuries can severely impact the life of any person and often, the damages can be permanent: certain types of paralysis (in case of a spinal cord injury) or permanent brain damage (in case of a head injury).

Bicycle Car Crash Accident Legal Help

When a cyclist falls victim to a collision with a car, truck or any large vehicle and if the collision has resulted from irresponsible or unlawful action committed by the other party, the cyclist must seek legal help.

There are many reasons to seek legal help. First of all, during the initial consultation, a personal injury attorney will discuss the specifics of the case with you. Depending on his assessment of the situation, the attorney will be able to tell you whether or not you’ve a strong case and if it is advisable to move forward.

Keep in mind that filing a lawsuit and going ahead with a trial is both financially expensive and mentally exhausting. So, unless you’ve a strong case (i.e. you or your lawyer can prove without any doubt that a violation in the ‘duty of care’ took place on the part of the other party), a lawsuit may drag on for long and in the worst case scenario, you may not be able to receive a judgment in your favor.

This, however, does not necessarily mean that you forfeit your claim for compensation. Sometimes, it may happen (due to various circumstances, including lack of eye-witnesses, anomalies in police report, and other) that both you and your lawyer realize that the other party was responsible; and yet, it may still be difficult to prove so in the court.

In such cases, an experienced personal injury attorney, such as this bicycle car crash accident in NYC, preferably someone experienced in handling bike accident cases, would try to negotiate an out-of-court settlement with the responsible driver or his insurer. This often works since the other party similarly tries to avoid getting involved in a long-drawn out court case.

In fact, an out-of-court settlement is a viable option even when you’ve a strong case. The only difference is that now you are in a better position to claim a proper compensation amount. And this last—how to calculate a fair personal injury settlement estimate, taking account of both monetary and non-monetary damages- is another area where you’ll need the help of an experienced attorney.