While cities are becoming more bike-friendly, cyclists still face risks due to the negligence or recklessness of drivers, pedestrians, or officials. If you were injured due to someone else’s negligence, a bicycle accident lawyer handling cases in Chesapeake can help.
The Pendleton Law Team helps accident victims across Virginia get the compensation they need to rebuild their lives. Our personal injury lawyers serving Chesapeake always fight for maximum compensation. Call today for a free case review.
Trusted Bicycle Accident Attorneys Serving Chesapeake
We’re known as the Heavy Hitters® because we fight hard for injured clients and don’t back down. Our personal injury law firm handles serious pedestrian injury cases involving distracted or reckless drivers, unsafe road conditions, and other forms of negligence.
If you were hit while walking, the aftermath can be stressful. When a driver’s careless actions cause an accident, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries and related costs. A personal injury attorney serving Chesapeake will help you understand your options.
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Call The Personal Injury Lawyer Hotline.
804-250-5050
Don’t Trust the Insurance Companies
After a bike accident, it might seem like the insurance company is there to help, but their main goal is to protect their bottom line, not your best interests. They may offer a quick settlement that’s far less than what your injuries and damages are really worth.
In some cases, they might try to blame you for the accident or downplay the seriousness of your injuries to avoid paying full compensation. Do not give statements or accept offers without talking to a lawyer first.
A bicycle accident attorney serving Chesapeake from our team will deal with the insurance company on your behalf and fight to make sure you get the compensation you truly deserve.
Let the Heavy Hitters® Take On Your Case 804-250-5050
How to Distribute Fault in a Bicycle Accident Case
Bicyclists have a responsibility to make themselves as visible as possible while on the road. This means that if they want to bike in the dark, they must wear the appropriate protective gear, including lights and reflective equipment.
What’s more, bicyclists are responsible for their own behavior on the road. This means that you must remain in bicycle lanes when appropriate and applicable. Similarly, you must yield when turning and allow pedestrians and/or motorists to take the right of way when road signs or signals dictate as much.
Failure to abide by bike safety laws in Virginia may deny you the right to compensation in civil court. Virginia’s understanding of comparative negligence is not particularly generous.
If another party can argue that you contributed to your own accident, that assertion of fault can devastate your case. An experienced personal injury attorney from the Pendleton Law Team will protect your rights.
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Injury Lawyers 804-250-5050
Filing a Bicycle Accident Claim in Chesapeake
Whether or not you believe you may be accused of contributing to your accident, you have the right to bring your case to bicycle accident attorneys serving Chesapeake. Our team can take the nature of your case into account and determine what value your case may have.
Presenting Evidence of Your Losses
To begin your case, we need to bring forward evidence elaborating on the nature of the negligence that resulted in your losses.
The evidence a personal injury attorney can use to bring forward a bike accident case can include:
- Photos of your accident
- Video footage from storefronts, dash cams, and/or streetlights
- Physical debris
- Bystander testimonies
- Expert witness statements
- Statements from accident reconstruction experts
- The accident report
- Bills related to your medical care
- Bills related to property damage
- Medical records documenting your injuries (like road rash or, in more severe cases, traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury)
We will look at the raw data from your accident and use it to better understand why your losses occurred. When you have the data you need to back your assertion of liability, however, it becomes easier for you to demand financial support throughout your recovery. Our personal injury lawyers will build an evidence-based case.
Establishing Bicycle Accident Liability
The evidence you find at the accident scene may suggest that unexpected parties bear the fault for your bike accident. While it’s tempting to hold motorists accountable for supposed misconduct on the road, other parties that can be responsible for your losses include:
- Government employees who neglect the road
- Construction crews who don’t mark off dangerous environments
- Corporate parties that park in bicycle lanes
- Bicycle manufacturers
- Bicycle mechanics
- Other pedestrians and/or bicyclists
The nature of fault in your personal injury case depends entirely on the evidence gathered from the scene of your accident. Try not to assert that one party or another bears the fault for your accident before you have evidence of that alleged misconduct.
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Calculate the Value of Your Bicycle Accident Case
Data from the scene of your accident alleges more than the nature of liability in your personal injury case. It also elaborates on the value of your case. After all, a bicycle accident claim aims to ensure that you have the resources to adequately contend with your post-accident losses.
More specifically, you can use evidence to elaborate on the economic damages and non-economic damages of your bicycle accident. The factors that may affect your personal injury claim range from:
- Medical bills
- Future medical expenses
- The value of the property damaged and in need of repair/replacement
- Lost wages or opportunities for alternative employment
- Emotional distress
- Loss of consortium or companionship
- Stress and/or PTSD
- Wrongful death and funeral expenses, as applicable
You can work with our personal injury team from the start to determine how these losses factor into your case. As an accident victim injured by someone else’s negligence, you have the right to recover your losses.
File Your Personal Injury Claim Within Virginia’s Deadlines
Chesapeake considers bicycle accidents as personal injury accidents in the eyes of Virginia’s civil courts. As such, the amount of time in which you may file your bicycle accident case is limited by Code of Virginia § 8.01-243. This statute allows you to take up to two years to bring your case to the attention of Virginia judges.
Unfortunately, this deadline is a strict one. If you attempt to file a bicycle accident claim outside of this statute of limitations, your right to compensation may be denied.
Fortunately, our bicycle accident lawyers serving Chesapeake can work with you starting on day one after your accident. This way, we can get your case before the right parties in the shortest amount of time.
Call an Experienced Bicycle Accident Lawyer Serving Chesapeake Today
The force of a bicycle accident can be disconcerting for anyone. It’s the recovery afterward, however, that can have a long-term impact on your overall well-being.
If you feel you need help recovering from a recent bicycle accident and want to take legal action against the offending party, let the Pendleton Law Team go to work for you. Our personal injury law firm is on your side.
Our bicycle accident lawyers serving Chesapeake understand the strain of your recovery. We will do everything in our power to make the legal elements of those efforts manageable.
For more information about how our attorneys can best serve you, you can schedule a case consultation with our office. We are available to get you on the books over the phone or through our website.
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