Vero Beach Bicycle Accident Lawyers
Vero Beach, FL
Auto accidents can wreak havoc on your health, your livelihood, your family, and your finances. Insurance companies today work tirelessly to protect their own interest and to avoid paying victims the fair compensation they deserve. Our attorneys are committed to putting our years of experience to work fighting for you.
Despite bicycles being popular throughout Vero Beach, Florida, many motorists do not respect cyclists’ rights or look out for them while driving. Negligent drivers can cause bike accidents, resulting in serious injuries and even death.
If you were hurt in a bike crash that a careless motorist caused, you have rights. A bicycle accident lawyer from Gould Cooksey Fennell Law Firm can help you seek compensation for your medical bills, lost income, and other losses from the at-fault driver’s liability insurance policy. Contact us today for a free consultation.
How a Bicycle Accident Lawyer Can Help You
An experienced lawyer from Gould Cooksey Fennell Law Firm can help you navigate every aspect of your claim. When you hire us for your bike accident claim, we can help by:
Discussing Your Legal Rights and Options
Our lawyers have extensive experience handling bicycle accident claims. We can discuss the details of your accident case, gathering information about:
- How the accident happened
- Who caused the accident
- Your injuries
- How the accident has impacted your life
- Your insurance coverage
Your bike lawyer can discuss the process of filing a legal claim and what that might look like in your particular situation.
Investigating Your Case
Our bicycle injury lawyers can launch an immediate investigation into your case to determine who is at fault. This investigation may involve:
- Returning to the accident scene to see if there is any physical evidence and to get a sense of the environment
- Reviewing any pictures you provided of the crash
- Interviewing witnesses
- Reviewing the crash report
- Requesting your medical records and reading medical reports to learn about the extent of your injuries
- Requesting video surveillance from traffic cameras or nearby businesses
Your lawyer can also evaluate documentation regarding your damages.
Notifying All Negligent Parties
When you hire a personal injury lawyer, they can notify all at-fault parties and their insurance companies that they are representing you. They can also indicate that the parties accountable for your accident should not have communication with you or direct contact with them. This can help prevent the insurance company from trying to take advantage of you in the situation.
Handling the Insurance Companies
Insurance companies are notorious for getting accident victims to do or say something that justifies the insurance company’s denial or low evaluation of their personal injury claims. Common tactics include:
- Asking injury victims to give a recorded statement to get information to use against them later
- Minimizing injuries and getting bicycle accident victims to agree with this assessment
- Asking for blanket medical release forms to find a pre-existing injury to blame the current injuries on
- Pretending to be friendly to get the victim to trust them only to violate this trust later
An experienced bicycle accident lawyer will be familiar with such tactics and can manage communication with the insurance company and responsible party to safeguard your rights.
Preparing a Demand Letter
After your bike accident lawyer gathers information about the full extent of your damages, they can prepare a demand letter that provides details about the accident, why the insured is the responsible party for the accident and the amount of compensation you are demanding in exchange for giving up your right to sue.
Negotiating for Fair Compensation
The insurance company responds to the demand letter, typically by denying it or offering a lowball settlement offer. Seasoned bicycle lawyers can often negotiate for more financial compensation.
Preparing for Trial
While most cycling accident claims are resolved through an insurance settlement, it may be necessary to file a bicycle accident lawsuit if the insurance company refuses to agree to a fair settlement.
Our lawyers can capably manage every aspect of your claim from beginning to end. Learn whether you have a viable personal injury claim when you contact us for a free, no-obligation case review.
Who Is Responsible for My Bike Accident?
When you hire a dedicated bicycle accident attorney from our law firm, you can trust that we will fully investigate your case and identify all parties at fault for your injuries. Depending on the circumstances, responsible parties may include:
- Negligent motorists who were distracted, impaired, speeding, or otherwise driving in an unsafe manner
- Bike manufacturers, if a defect in the bike contributed to the accident
- Helmet manufacturers, if the helmet failed to provide the safety it purported to
- Property owners, if the bicycle accident occurred on private property that was poorly maintained, including driveways, parking lots, or sidewalks
- Governmental entities, if the accident occurred because of poor infrastructure or dangerous roads
An experienced personal injury attorney can gather evidence to establish fault and the full extent of your damages.
Monetary Compensation Recoverable in Bike Accident Claims
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the costs of bicycle injuries and deaths from crashes are more than $23 billion in the United States annually. This includes costs for healthcare, lost work productivity, and estimated costs for lost quality of life.
When you hire an experienced bicycle accident attorney from Gould Cooksey Fennell Law Firm, our goal is to obtain maximum compensation that will allow you to rebuild your life after a tragic accident. If someone else is responsible for the bike accident, you may be able to obtain financial compensation to help cover the costs associated with the accident through the award of damages. These damages are classified as:
Economic Damages
Economic damages compensate you for actual financial losses that stem from the accident, such as:
- Current and future medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Reduced earning capacity
- Property damage
- Out-of-pocket expenses
Non-Economic Damages
This type of compensation can provide money for non-financial losses you suffer, such as:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium
A bike accident attorney can evaluate your claim and determine the compensatory damages that you may be able to recover.
Who Will Pay for My Medical Expenses After a Bike Accident?
Your personal injury attorney can evaluate the insurance coverage available for your claim. You may have coverage under your auto insurance policy. You may also be able to use your health insurance to initially pay for your medical costs while your claim is pending. Once you receive a settlement, you may need to repay your insurers from the proceeds of your case.
Can I Still Recover Compensation If I Was Partially Responsible for the Accident?
Yes. Florida is a modified comparative negligence state, so as long as you are not more than 50% responsible for the accident, you can still seek compensation for your damages. However, your damages are reduced by your degree of fault. Therefore, if you are found to be 10% at fault for the accident, your damages would be reduced by 10%. You may still be eligible for compensation and you may not know all the factors that contributed to the accident, so it is in your best interest to contact an experienced personal injury lawyer.
How Long Will My Bike Accident Case Take?
The length of your case will depend on many factors, including:
- Whether liability is disputed
- The willingness of the parties to settle the case
- The strength of your evidence
- How long it takes you to reach maximum medical improvement
- Whether your case is resolved through a settlement or is litigated
An experienced attorney can give you a better idea about the potential length of your case after conducting a thorough investigation into your claims.
How Long Do I Have to File a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
The statute of limitations in Florida to file a personal injury lawsuit is two years from the accident date. If you do not file a lawsuit and have not secured a settlement by this point, you can forfeit your right to recover compensation for your claim.
Common Causes of Bike Accidents
Bicycle accidents can happen for many reasons, but some of the most common causes of collisions between bicyclists and motorists include:
- Failure to yield – Bicyclists are to be treated as motorists. However, drivers of motor vehicles may fail to yield to them when turning, merging, or entering traffic, resulting in serious and fatal bicycle accidents.
- Aggressive driving – Motorists may tailgate, honk, or intentionally cut off bicyclists, endangering their lives in the process.
- Unsafe passing – Some motorists get impatient when driving near bicyclists and pass them even when it is not safe to do so.
- Speeding – Speeding motorists have less time to come to a complete stop and avoid hitting a bicyclist once they recognize a hazard.
- Distracted driving – Drivers may be distracted by texting, talking on the phone, eating, or adjusting controls, increasing the odds of cycling accidents occurring.
- Incomplete stops – Some motorists may fail to fully stop at traffic signals or stop signs.
- Impaired driving – Drivers who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol have impaired judgment and faculties, increasing the likelihood of serious or fatal bike accidents.
- Failing to signal – Motorists may fail to use turn signals to indicate their intentions, surprising cyclists and leading to bike accidents.
- Inadequate infrastructure – Some roads are not as safe for bicyclists due to poor maintenance, inadequate signage, or a lack of designated bike lanes, increasing the likelihood of accidents with cars.
- Poor road conditions – Roads with potholes or loose gravel can pose a risk to bicyclists.
Experienced attorneys can investigate the crash and determine why it happened and who is at fault.
Common Types of Bicycle Accidents
Certain types of bike crashes with cars occur more frequently than others, such as:
- Left-turn accidents – Drivers making a left turn at an intersection may underestimate an oncoming bicyclist’s speed, fail to yield their right-of-way, turn in front of them, and cause a bike crash.
- Right-hook accidents – Motorists may fail to come to a complete stop when turning right on a red light or at a stop sign. They may also fail to check for bicyclists and hit them while executing the turn.
- Drive-out collisions – Drive-out collisions occur when a driver pulls out without looking for bicyclists or other traffic.
- Dooring accidents – Motorists may open their doors after parking and forget to check for nearby bicyclists, causing the bicyclist to fall off their bike and suffer severe injuries.
- Sideswipe collisions – When cars and bikes share the road, serious bicycle accident injuries can occur when motorists fail to check their blind spots and veer into a bicyclist’s path.
If you were injured in any type of bike accident, our bicycle accident attorneys can investigate your case and manage your legal claims.
Common Bicycle Accident Injuries
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 1,000 bicyclists die and over 130,000 suffer injuries in crashes on roads in the United States every year. Bicyclists account for more than 2% of people who die in a crash involving a motor vehicle.
Bike accident injuries can take many forms. Cyclists can suffer traumatic brain injuries when they are thrown over the handlebars during a collision due to a motorist rear-ending them. Serious head injuries can result in long-term disabilities and death.
Bicyclists who are thrown from their bikes can also suffer spinal cord injuries, leading to paralysis and other complications.
Injured cyclists may also suffer from broken bones, musculoskeletal trauma, and orthopedic injuries.
Other common bicycle injuries include:
- Facial fractures
- Broken teeth
- Rib fractures
- Damage to internal organs
- Spinal cord damage
- Nerve damage
- Knee injuries
- Lacerations
- Road rash
- Soft tissue injuries
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
These personal injuries can require emergency medical treatment, surgeries, long hospital stays, and prolonged rehabilitation. Our experienced personal injury attorneys can identify the parties responsible for the accident and fight for the maximum compensation you deserve.
Contact Our Experienced Bicycle Accident Lawyers for a Free Case Review
If you were injured in a bike accident, a bike accident lawyer from Gould Cooksey Fennell Law Firm can handle every aspect of your case so you can focus on your recovery. Our team understands the significant toll an unexpected accident can have on your life. We can help demand the justice and financial compensation you deserve. Contact us today for your free consultation.
FREE PERSONAL INJURY CONSULTATION
- No Fee Until We Win
- $150M+ in Recent Personal Injury Verdicts & Settlements
- U.S. News & World Report Best Law Firms for 10 Consecutive Years
Our firm is here to take that burden off of our clients and handle their claim completely. We will help you get the compensation you deserve.
Notable CAR ACCIDENT Settlements and Verdicts
We’ve recovered over $150 million for our clients. These are real case results from real people who came to us for help. And we got them what they were owed.
Plaintiff was operating a small motorcycle/scooter when a 91 year old man turned left in front of him hitting him essentially head on. As a result of the collision, the Plaintiff sustained catastrophic injuries to his lower body, including snapped femurs and fractures to the spine and pelvis. After a two week trial the Indian River County jury returned an award totaling $9.381 million.
A Brevard County Jury awarded Plaintiff $6.4M against Defendant State Farm, following an accident that resulted in numerous catastrophic orthopedic injuries, including a below knee amputation of the Plaintiff’s left leg.
Plaintiff sustained numerous orthopedic injuries as a result of the negligence of a driver working for the State of Florida Department of Agriculture. At trial, the case resulted in a verdict of $5,582,776.82. Because the government’s damages are statutorily limited to $100,000 under Sovereign Immunity laws, Gould Cooksey Fennell’s Personal Injury Group was forced to fight in the Legislature for several years to pursue the passage of a Claims Bill. Ultimately a Bill was passed for 40 times the statutory limitations.
Indian River County crash resulting in significant injuries to a husband and wife. This matter was resolved prior to filing a lawsuit.
Obtained a Trial Verdict of $1.64 million dollars for injuries sustained by an 86 year old woman in a rollover auto accident on SR 60 in Vero Beach, Florida. After prolonged hospitalization, Mrs. Koebele never fully recovered and an Indian River County Jury awarded $1,170,130 for her injuries and $475,000 for her husband’s consortium claim.
Automobile crash in Vero Beach, FL resulting in cervical injury, including disc herniation to a 22 year old tennis professional.
While stopped at the intersection of US Hwy 1 and Vista Royale Boulevard, the Plaintiff’s vehicle was struck from behind with such force that the rear of his SUV was lifted off the ground and his vehicle slammed into the rear of the vehicle in front of him. As a result of the violent impact, Plaintiff sustained permanent injuries to his cervical and lumbar spine. An Indian River County jury awarded the Plaintiff $1,487,412.99.
While stopped at the intersection of 43rd Ave and 8th Street, Plaintiff was rear-ended by the Defendant, launching her vehicle into another vehicle in front of her. Plaintiff sustained permanent injuries to her right knee and cervical spine, both requiring surgical intervention in the years following the collision. After a nine day trial, an Indian River County jury returned an award of $1,259,090.73.
Indian River County jury awarded verdict against Defendant State Farm following an automobile accident where the defendant Driver was underinsured.
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