You’re cruising along the streets on your bike, minding your own business, when you get rammed out of nowhere by a car. You’re left with broken bones that put you in the hospital for a month and a ton of medical bills.

No one deserves to be in this predicament, and luckily for you, there are provisions in the law that protect people in such situations. This article will go over those legal options available to bicycle accident victims.

It is strongly recommended that you hire a bicycle accident attorney in order to protect your interests and prevent your medical bills from turning into debt.

What Are Your Legal Options?

To put it simply, anyone in the United States who is injured by another person, whether willfully or by accident, is entitled to compensation under what is called “personal injury law.”

Under this law, victims of accidents are required to be compensated for any damages they suffer from an accident.

Personal injury law covers a wide range of accidents, including workplace accidents, dog bites, and car accidents. The key to this law is proving that the person who caused the damage was negligent in their actions, leading to the damage.

Victims of personal injury, including bicycle accidents, are entitled to compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and emotional trauma they have suffered as a result of the accident.

Without further ado, let’s get into the options bicycle accident victims have.

Hire a lawyer

The first thing that you can do as a bicycle accident victim is hire a lawyer. Lawyers are well-versed in the complexities of the law and have plenty of experience in dealing with similar cases. So they can assist you in filing a personal injury claim and guide you through the whole process.

Hiring a lawyer is not only beneficial; it is recommended because the average American may not be aware of their rights under the law or how to handle things like negotiating with insurance companies. The help of a lawyer will be essential, especially if the case is taken to court.

Lawyers can help you understand your options, file the relevant documents on time, and follow the right court procedure so that your claim is not rejected.

File a personal injury claim

The next obvious legal path available to you is filing a personal injury claim. This claim basically alleges that the defendant in the case caused the accident and is therefore responsible for paying your bills and compensating any other losses you suffered.

In order to prove this, however, you have to establish that the defendant had a duty to behave a certain way and failed to do so, highlighting their negligence. Negligence is an integral component of personal injury law, and if you can’t prove that the defendant was negligent, your claim will be rejected by the court.

There are several pieces of evidence you can use to support your bicycle accident claim, including photos or videos of your injury or the scene of the accident, doctor’s notes and medical prescriptions, and even witness statements. All these documents serve to corroborate your story and can help validate your claim.

Consider a settlement

Most personal injury claims are settled outside court. This means that you don’t have to go through the lengthy process of a personal injury lawsuit, which could take a couple of months.

Typically, the defendant’s insurance provider is the party that pays out the compensation, and you will have to prove your claims to them as well. The assistance of a lawyer is critical in these situations, as they can help you achieve a reasonable settlement amount. Without a lawyer, you may not be awarded the full amount you are entitled to.

If, during the negotiation process with the insurance company, you reach a satisfactory settlement amount, you can settle your personal injury claim outside court.

If settlement negotiations fail, the case will move to court.

Conclusion

There are several legal avenues available to those who find themselves in a bicycle accident. It is important for these victims to hire a good attorney to help them file a personal injury claim and claim their rightful compensation.