How to Get the Compensation You Deserve After a Bicycle Accident

How to Get the Compensation You Deserve After a Bicycle Accident

You are here for legal advice about your personal injury or wrongful death case. Mike Burman at Burman Law offers a free consultation to answer your questions. During your consultation - if you are comfortable - Mike will cover these six key steps with you:

• Preserve important physical evidence so nothing critical is lost
• Interview witnesses and law enforcement
• Take custody of photographs and video
• Impound or take custody of the boat or the contents of the boat
• Provide you with a free case evaluation so you understand what the case is about
• Provide you with a plan of action so you understand how the case will be handled

There is never any pressure. Your consultation within the attorney-client relationship (whether you hire Mike or not) is strictly confidential. Mike will provide legal advice and answer all your questions. and explain traffic laws, so you know what is important about your case. If you are dealing with an insurance company adjuster, Mike will give you advice based on years of experience, and Mike wants to help you.

Mike and the staff at Burman Law understand that starting a personal injury case or wrongful death case after a bike accident or car accident involving a bicycle accident victim can be overwhelming and intimidating. To help you, the friendly legal team at Burman Law average over 10 years of paralegal experience with personal injury claims and wrongful death claims. Your free access to the Burman Law Client Portal means you stay informed. You can contact us through the portal, by phone, by text, or by email. If you contact us on a workday, we almost always can respond to you that day.

You can schedule a consultation with e-bike or bike accident attorney, Mike Burman, by clicking:

• Contact
• Chat
• 1-800-200-1578

For the legal process to work, several steps in a bicycle accident claim must be addressed quickly, especially the preservation of evidence and the location of witnesses against the at-fault party. The police report needs to be checked for accuracy. Medical treatment by specialized medical professionals familiar with bicycle accident injuries should begin. Medical bills and lost wages should be submitted to insurance for payment.

Beginning a case may help prevent other bicycle accidents, and the resulting injuries to riders of electric bicycles, battery-powered bikes, e-bikes, and other bicycle riders.   According to cdc.gov,  there are approximately 1,000 bicyclist fatalities and over 130,000 cyclists that suffer serious injuries in crashes that occur on roads in the United States each year.  If you decide we will be your bicycle accident attorney, our legal team will help you:

• plan for medical expenses not paid by insurance
• plan for lost income and time off from work
• calendar the statute of limitations under state law so you do not miss any time limits
• answer all the FAQs, as well as the questions unique to your case
• meet with surviving family members and explain the legal process
• fill out the necessary paperwork for your insurance policy or insurance claim
• provide advice on your property damage claim for automobile repairs or total loss or the replacement value
• lay the foundation for you to receive a fair settlement amount without the expense and delay of a bicycle accident lawsuit

WHAT TYPES OF BICYCLE CASES DOES BURMAN LAW HANDLE?

We handle every type of bicycle crash case where the negligent driver of the motor vehicle carelessly causes serious injury or wrongful death.  We handle bicycle accidents caused by product liability defects from unsafe helmets or defects that create unsafe bicycles, e-bikes, electric bikes, or whatever the bike is called.  We handled personal injury lawsuits for head injuries and spinal cord injuries.  We handle right-of-way cases and cases involving other common causes of bicycle injury.  We handle cases involving punitive damages and non-economic damages for pain and suffering. Our legal team is also experienced in medical malpractice cases that sometimes arise. We handle or assist with probate matters involving a decedent in a wrongful death lawsuit. We handle loss of consortium cases for the loss of a spouse or minor child. Our experience ranges from semi-trucks and trailers to farm vehicles. Our case values range from tens of thousands of dollars to millions of dollars. We can practice in all federal or state courts throughout Kentucky and Tennessee.  Burman Law is a bicycle accident lawyer with offices in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and Clarksville, Tennessee to better serve you.  

HOW DOES BURMAN LAW DETERMINE FAULT FOR A BICYCLE CASE?

Every driver has a duty to exercise care for the safety of other persons using the highway. We investigate and prove fault by motorists who:

• Fail to maintain a safe distance when overtaking a cyclist
• Fail to slow to a safe speed when passing a cyclist
• Fail to allow time for safe clearance of a cyclist
• Fail to obey traffic signals (i.e., red lights or stop signs)
• Fail to keep a proper lookout for cyclists in bike lanes
• Fail to pay attention, especially at night or during inclement weather to cyclists
• Fail to perceive a dangerous condition or immediate hazard
• Fail to drive free of impairment by drugs or alcohol
• Fail to stop operating a cell phone while operating an automobile

WHAT DOES BURMAN LAW DO IN A BICYCLE ACCIDENT CASE?

Bicycle accident personal injury and death cases require quick attention from an experienced personal injury law firm. Mike Burman is a personal injury attorney with the staff and financial resources needed to take on any insurance company.  As your bicycle accident lawyer, Mike Burman and his law firm will work quickly to:

• Understand the mechanism of injury causing pain and suffering or death
• Look for hard-to-find injuries, such as brain injuries or labral tears in the hip
• Preserve evidence that could be washed away, destroyed, or lost
• Study traffic patterns and traffic
• Search for CCTv video/audio, ring doorbell cameras, police videos, and business cameras
• Locate and interview witnesses
• Engage experts in accident reconstruction to uncover critical facts
• Download the “black box” speed and distance computer on the “at-fault” vehicle
• Impound the at-fault vehicle and preserve the bicycle

In every personal injury case or wrongful death case, we investigate and preserve evidence. We locate and contact all available witnesses. We notify all necessary parties and insurance companies, notify all lienholders, gather and protect evidence and damages,  prepare a settlement demand, negotiate a bicycle accident settlement, resolve liens, and distribute a fair settlement to you. Automobile injury and death cases require quick attention from an experienced personal injury law firm. Mike Burman is a personal injury attorney with the staff and financial resources needed to take on any insurance company.  As your bicycle accident attorney, Mike Burman and his law firm will work quickly to answer all your questions and learn about your injuries-including those hard-to-find injuries that are oftentimes overlooked, such as traumatic brain injuries or labral tears in the hip.

Once evidence from the scene is secure, we use information technologies to transform this evidence into a visual representation of your bicycle crash to prove the harms and losses behind your injuries. Our in-house media service prepares professional digital charts, blowups, and videos while keeping costs under control. Our goal is to communicate your case so that anyone can “be sure” what happened and “understand” what should be done to right the wrong done to you. We work to provide the insurance adjuster with a thorough evaluation of your case so you achieve a full and fair out-of-court settlement.  But if you must file suit, Burman Law will help prepare your case for trial.  At trial, we will visualize your case to the jury, so the jury understands exactly what happened to you, and how your life changed. In this way, the jury has the power to come back with a verdict to help right the wrong done to you.

INSURANCE COMPANY TACTICS

Insurance companies and insurance adjusters use several tactics to deny claims and pay less than the value of the claim.  Some of the most common we see are:

• Blaming accident victims for their own injuries
• Reducing the value of the case by misinterpreting medical records
• Denying the injuries are related to the bicycle crash
• Making low settlement offers for pre-existing or age-related factors
• Delaying claims as long as possible until you must take a low settlement offer
• Making lowball settlement offers to reduce the amount you think is reasonable
• Telling injury victims they do not need to hire a lawyer

HOW IS BURMAN LAW PAID?

We are paid a percentage of the money recovered in your case.  Many personal injury lawyers now charge a fee of 40% to begin your case.  Our fee has been one-third for more than twenty-five plus years.  We do not spend time or money on expensive television ads, and we pass that savings on to you.  There are no hidden disclaimers.  We are transparent at all times.

With our free consultation and free case evaluation services, you can discuss your bicycle accident case with Mike Burman in confidence.  Mike will help you understand your rights and give you a plan of action based on real experience.  There is never any pressure.  We put all fees and case expenses in writing.  As a Burman Law client, you will receive our free client portal so you can post anything you want 24/7/365.  We respond to portal messages by the next business day, or sooner.   And you can always contact Mike on his personal cell phone number which he will give you.  Burman Law staff average ten years of paralegal experience.  Mike has more than 25+ years of experience in personal injury and wrongful death involving bicycle accidents and safety in Kentucky and Tennessee.

We would be honored to help you or your loved ones. You can schedule a consultation with Mike by clicking:

• Contact
• Chat
• 1-800-200-1578

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KENTUCKY LAW - § 189.340. Overtaking vehicles, bicycles, or electric low-speed scooters - Traffic lanes - Following vehicles - Exemption for commercial motor vehicle platoon trailing vehicle

(1) Vehicles overtaking other vehicles proceeding in the same direction shall pass to the left of them and shall not again drive to the right until reasonably clear of those vehicles. Vehicles overtaking streetcars may pass either to the right or left when so directed by a police officer, when on a one (1) way street or where the location of the tracks prevents compliance with this section, with regard for other traffic.

(2)

(a) Vehicles overtaking a bicycle or electric low-speed scooter proceeding in the same direction shall:

1. If there is more than one (1) lane for traffic proceeding in the same direction, move the vehicle to the immediate left, if the lane is available and moving in the lane is reasonably safe; or

2. If there is only one (1) lane for traffic proceeding in the same direction, pass to the left of the bicycle or electric low-speed scooter at a distance of not less than three (3) feet between any portion of the vehicle and the bicycle or electric low-speed scooter and maintain that distance until safely past the overtaken bicycle or electric low-speed scooter. If space on the roadway is not available to have a minimum distance of three (3) feet between the vehicle and the bicycle or electric low-speed scooter, then the driver of the passing vehicle shall use reasonable caution in passing the bicyclist or electric low-speed scooter operator.

(b) The driver of a motor vehicle may drive to the left of the center of a roadway, including when a no-passing zone is marked in accordance with subsection (6) of this section, to pass a person operating a bicycle or electric low-speed scooter only if the roadway to the left of the center is unobstructed for a sufficient distance to permit the driver to pass the person operating the bicycle or electric low-speed scooter safely and avoid interference with oncoming traffic. This paragraph does not authorize driving on the left side of the center of the roadway when otherwise prohibited under state law.

(c) The operator of a bicycle or electric low-speed scooter shall not ride more than two (2) abreast on a single highway lane unless operating on any part of the roadway marked exclusively for bicycle use. Persons riding two (2) abreast shall not impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic.

(3) The operator of a vehicle may overtake and pass upon the right of another vehicle only under the following conditions:

(a) When the vehicle overtaken is making or about to make a left turn;

(b) Upon a roadway with unobstructed pavement of sufficient width for two (2) or more lines of vehicles moving lawfully in the direction being traveled by the overtaking vehicle.

(4) The operator of a vehicle may overtake and pass another vehicle upon the right only under conditions permitting such movements in safety. Such movement shall not be made by driving off the roadway unless passing vehicle comes to a complete stop and such movement may be made safely.

(5) No vehicle shall be driven to the left side of the center of the roadway in overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction unless the left side is clearly visible and free of oncoming traffic for a sufficient distance ahead to permit overtaking and passing to be completely made without interfering with the safe operation of any vehicle approaching from the opposite direction or any vehicle overtaken. In every event, the overtaking vehicle must return to the right-hand side of the roadway before coming within two hundred (200) feet of any vehicle approaching from the opposite direction.

(6) The commissioner of highways is hereby authorized to determine those portions of any highway where overtaking and passing or driving to the left of the roadway would be especially hazardous and may by appropriate signs or markings on the roadway indicate the beginning and end of such zones, and when such signs or markings are in place and clearly visible to an ordinarily observant person, every driver of a vehicle shall obey the directions thereof, except as provided for in subsection (2)(b) of this section.

(7) Whenever any roadway has been divided into three (3) clearly marked lanes for travel, the following additional rules shall apply:

(a) A vehicle shall be driven as nearly as may be practical entirely within a single lane and shall not be moved from that lane until the driver has first ascertained that the movement can be made with safety;

(b) A vehicle shall not be driven in the center lane except when overtaking and passing another vehicle where the roadway is clearly visible and the center lane is clear of traffic within a safe distance, or in preparation for a left turn or where a center lane is at the time allocated exclusively to traffic moving in the direction in which the vehicle is proceeding and is signposted to give notice of the allocation; and

(c) Official signs may be erected directing slow-moving traffic to use a designated lane or allocating specified lanes to traffic moving in the same direction and operators of vehicles shall obey the directions of such signs.

(8) A vehicle shall not be driven in the left lane of any limited access highway of four (4) lanes or more with a posted speed limit of at least sixty-five (65) miles per hour, except in overtaking a slower vehicle, yielding to traffic coming onto such a highway, or when traffic conditions exist which would prohibit safe use of the right or center lanes.

(9)

(a) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this subsection, the operator of a motor vehicle shall not follow another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent, having regard for the speed of the vehicle and the traffic upon and condition of the highway.

(b) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this subsection, the operator of any motor truck, semitrailer truck, bus, or heavy construction equipment unit, when traveling upon a highway outside of a business or residential district, shall not follow within two hundred fifty (250) feet of another such vehicle or equipment unit. This subsection shall not prevent overtaking and passing, nor shall it apply to any lane specially designated for use of motor trucks or semitrailer trucks, buses or heavy construction equipment units.

(c) Paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection shall not apply to a trailing commercial motor vehicle involved in a platoon as defined in KRS 281.010, but shall apply to the commercial motor vehicle leading a platoon.

KY Rev. Stat. 189.340 Overtaking vehicles, bicycles, or electric low-speed scooters - Traffic lanes - Following vehicles - Exemption for commercial motor vehicle platoon trailing vehicle (Kentucky Revised Statutes (2022 Edition))

TENNESSEE LAW - 55-8-175. Riding on roadways and bicycle paths - Penalty

(a)

(1) Any person operating a bicycle upon a roadway at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions then existing shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway, except under any of the following situations:

(A) When overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction;

(B) When preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway; or

(C) When reasonably necessary to avoid conditions including, but not limited to, fixed or moving objects, parked or moving vehicles, pedestrians, animals, surface hazards, or substandard width lanes that make it unsafe to continue along the right-hand curb or edge. For purposes of this section, "substandard width lane" means a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle and another vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.

(2) This subsection (a) does not apply to a certified police cyclist engaged in the lawful performance of duty relating to traffic control.

(b)

(1) Persons riding bicycles upon a roadway shall not ride more than two (2) abreast except on paths or parts of roadways set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles. Persons riding two (2) abreast shall not impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic and, on a laned roadway, shall ride within a single lane.

(2) Subdivision (b)(1) does not apply to a certified police cyclist engaged in the lawful performance of duty relating to traffic control or in pursuit of an actual or suspected violator of the law.

(c)

(1) This subsection (c) shall be known and may be cited as the "Jeff Roth and Brian Brown Bicycle Protection Act of 2007."

(2) The operator of a motor vehicle, when overtaking and passing a bicycle proceeding in the same direction on the roadway, shall leave a safe distance between the motor vehicle and the bicycle of not less than three feet (3') and shall maintain the clearance until safely past the overtaken bicycle.

(d) A violation of this section is a Class C misdemeanor.

History:

Acts 1955, ch. 329, § 75; T.C.A., § 59-876; Acts 1985, ch. 138, § 5; 1989, ch. 591, § 113; 1995, ch. 140, §§ 5, 6; 2007, ch. 81, § 1.

Tenn. Code 55-8-175 Riding on roadways and bicycle paths - Penalty (Tennessee Code (2022 Edition))