Injury Attorneys
Cycling is becoming more popular, and with the rise in popularity comes a rise in the number of accidents involving bicycles. Frequently, bike accidents are caused by an inattentive driver. In that case, the at-fault driver’s insurance should cover your injuries.
If you have your own automobile insurance, you may use the Personal Injury Protection (PIP)Â benefits of your automobile policy to pay for your medical bills and lost wages even though you were on a bicycle rather than in your car. As long as your injury was caused by a motor vehicle, your motor vehicle insurance policy must provide medical and wage loss benefits.
The Top 3 Most Common Bicycle Accidents that may lead you to needing a Bike Accident Attorneys in Oregon at Andersen & Linthorst law firm and How to Avoid Them
While there is an unlimited combination of contributing scenarios in crashes involving bicyclists and motorists, I have seen a pattern in my many years of examining these occurrences and representing hurt bicyclists. As a bicyclist, if you understand the most common issue areas on the road, and ride properly and defensively, much of these crashes can be prevented. Be aware of these potentially unsafe scenarios, and keep in mind my ideas for preventing these situations while riding.
The Left Hook
The most typical mishap situation in roadway biking is the left hook. A left-turning car stops working to accept the approaching cyclist in the opposite lane, and either runs the bicyclist down outright, or the cyclist hits the turning car’s front guest side fender.
Undoubtedly, the motorist will admit that he just “never saw” the cyclist, or claim it was the cyclist’s fault due to the fact that he/she “simply came out of nowhere” and needed to have been riding too quickly. Generally, of course, neither holds true. The cyclist didn’t “come out of no place” – she or he showed up in the technique the whole time. And he most likely wasn’t going beyond the speed limitation, either. What causes these mishaps is the basic fact that the human brain frequently stops working to “see” smaller objects like bikes since it is truly on the lookout for cars and trucks, trucks, and buses.
The method to avoid these mishaps is easy: never ever presume that an oncoming left-turning automobile can see you. And forget those things about “making eye contact” unless the vehicle driver particularly waves you forward. They might have made eye contact with you and they might not. So flight appropriately. Have a bail out option. And if one isn’t available, slow up and let the turning lorry total its turn. It might decrease the flow of your trip, but it could conserve you from a nasty crash.
The Right Hook
The best hook is the second most typical circumstance, and it can be devastating. A driver passes a cyclist left wing, and then makes a right hand turn directly into the path of the bicyclist without signaling or otherwise examining his right-hand man mirror to make certain that the coast is clear. I never cease to be astonished at how chauffeurs can “forget” about the presence of a slower moving cyclist that they simply passed mere seconds prior to making that right hand turn straight into the cyclist’s course. In my view, it returns to the brain’s non-recognition of the cyclist. The chauffeur can see the bicyclist, but it just does not register in his or her cognitive thought. If you want to learn more about right hooks you may need to reach out to a bike accident attorney in Oregon at the law offices of Andersen & Linthorst.
The T-Bone
The third most typical wreck is when the cyclist just rides out into a street from a cross street or driveway, and fails to accept the cross traffic. For the most part, this is a “failure to yield” situation on the part of the cyclist, not the cars and truck, and fault will usually rest with the bicyclist in terms of a claim for damages. It should go without saying that before entering any road, stop, look, and wait as long as required to make a safe entry into the flow. Your life depends on it.
If you wish to learn more about this topic or other essential details about safeguarding your legal rights in a mishap, call a bike accident Attorney in Oregon at Andersen & Linthorst.
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If you have been injured and you are not sure what steps to take next, call us. We can help.