When you ride a bike you feel a sense of freedom that can’t be achieved in a car. You are able to feel the wind in your hair and feel less tethered to the road than you would in any other vehicle. While a bike offers a unique freedom, it can also lead to devastating injuries if you get into an accident.
Determining liability is a common issue when pursuing a personal injury claim from a bicycle accident. It requires establishing fault for who caused the accident, as well as gathering evidence to support your claim. In this article we will be outlining the steps that you can take to gather evidence and establish liability in a bicycle accident case, as well as what your next steps should be.
Gathering Evidence
Scene Documentation
- Photographs and Videos: After the accident you will need to gather proof, and photos and videos provide the best examples of what happened at the accident. Try your best to take as many photos and videos as possible and include the positions of the bicycle, vehicles, road conditions, traffic signs, as well as any visible injuries or damages to your bike or other vehicles. This visual evidence provides a comprehensive view of the scene immediately following the accident.
- Witness Statements: At the accident scene it is crucial that you gather the contact information of anyone who may have seen the accident occur. These witnesses will be crucial in proving your claim and establishing fault, as they can provide you with valuable third-party accounts that can corroborate your story and version of the events.
- Police Report: If you are involved in a bike accident it is crucial that you call the police to the scene of the accident. This ensures that an official police report will be created. The officer at the scene of the accident will give their objective account of the incident, as well as gather all of the information of all parties involved in the accident, and will issue any citations or charges if someone broke the law.
Medical Records
- Immediate Medical Attention: You should seek medical attention right after the accident, even if your injuries seem minor or if you don’t feel hurt at all. An official medical evaluation will reveal how serious your injuries are and may reveal injuries that had been unnoticed. Getting medical attention immediately will also ensure that a treatment plan has been created and that your path to recovery is ensured.
- Ongoing Treatment: While immediate treatment is important to your case, continuing to go to treatment regularly is crucial. Your injuries, and the treatment that you attend are noted on official medical records, and these official medical records act as the primary evidence to your case. These documents detail the extent of your injuries and prove- that they were directly caused by the accident. Attending consistent medical treatment also shows to an insurance company your injuries are severe and you are committed to your own recovery.
Accident Reconstruction
- Expert Analysis: In complex accident cases an insurance company and an attorney may fight over what actually happened at the accident scene. In these cases an accident reconstruction expert may be needed to analyze the evidence to recreate the sequence of events leading to the accident. These experts utilize physical evidence to help recreate the sequence of events leading up to the accident, as well as the accident. These experts will use physical evidence, witness statements, and their expertise to provide the insurance company and your Utah bike accident attorney with an unbiased analysis of these events.
Gathering Additional Evidence
- Surveillance Footage: Depending on where the accident occurs a business may have security or surveillance footage of the accident. Here at LifeLaw our Salt Lake City bike accident attorneys go to the scene of the accident and look for any possible places for security and surveillance footage. These videos can provide much needed evidence of the accident, and bolster the strength of your case.
- Cell Phone Records: If you suspect that distracted driving may have been the cause of the accident, then your attorney may be able to subpoena the phone records from the involved drivers to determine if they were using their phones at the time that the accident occurred.
Establishing Fault
Negligence
To prove fault in a bicycle accident, you may need to prove that the other parties negligence is what caused the accident. You can prove this negligence by showing:
Causation: Causation in a personal injury case refers directly to the actions someone took being directly linked to the cause of the accident.
Damages: This refers to the damages that you suffered from. This can be medical expenses, lost wages, mental trouble, and pain and suffering from the accident.
Traffic Laws and Regulations
Violations: If you are able to prove that the other party had violated a traffic law or regulation such as speeding, running a red light, or failing to yield the right of way, then you may be able to establish them as at fault for the accident. Traffic violations are strong evidence of negligence and can greatly help your case if liability is disputed.
Comparative Negligence
Shared Fault: In some cases, both parties in an accident are responsible for the accident. This is called comparative negligence. In your injury case it is crucial that you understand how comparative negligence laws work in your state as this will directly determine how much compensation you are able to receive. Here in Utah comparative negligence applies to a 50% threshold. This means that if you are found 50% or more at fault then you will be able to recover nothing from your case. However, let’s say they place you at 20% of the fault for the accident then you would still be able to pursue compensation albeit at a lesser amount.
The Role of Your Utah Bike Accident Lawyer
If you have been involved in a bicycle accident, handling your own case can become very difficult very easily. Insurance companies will try their hardest to devalue and find flaws in your case, this is where a Salt Lake City bike accident lawyer comes into play. Your attorney will:
Evaluate Your Case: Your bike accident lawyer will look through the facts and the evidence of your case to determine its strengths as well as its weaknesses so that they can build the best possible case for you.
Gather Evidence: At LifeLaw Personal Injury our team will collect and preserve all evidence that is crucial to your case. We will gather official police reports, medical records, and even expert testimony to make sure that your case is the strongest that it can be.
Negotiate with Insurance Companies: Despite their commercials claiming to be your best friend, insurance companies do not have your best interests in mind. An insurance company makes their money by pooling all of the monthly premiums they receive from their clients and investing it and collecting interest from these investments. This means the longer they don’t pay you the longer they can keep making money. That is why our Salt Lake City bike accident attorneys will negotiate with them directly. We will handle all negotiations with the insurance to ensure that you get the compensation you deserve.
File a Lawsuit: If your case is not able to be settled, our bike accident lawyers will file a lawsuit on your behalf and will represent you in court to ensure that you are able to get the compensation that you deserve.
Proving fault in a bicycle accident case can be very difficult and can require meticulously gathering evidence as well as an understanding of negligence and traffic laws. Handling your personal injury case on your own can be challenging, and that is where LifeLaw Personal Injury comes in to help. Our attorneys here at LifeLaw will help you every step of the way through your case, gathering evidence, negotiating with the insurance, and building the best case possible for you. If you or someone you know has been injured in an accident make sure to call LifeLaw Personal Injury to get the compensation that you deserve. Call us today for a free consultation and to discuss your options.