After a serious bicycle injury: should you consider legal action?

Planning for your future

Bicycle crashes can leave a person with devastating, life-changing injuries. Even with the use of helmets, traumatic brain injuries are a frequent outcome in a bicycle crashes. Without the use of a helmet, the risk of brain injury rises significantly. A bicyclist thrown from his or her bike is a risk a spinal cord injury resulting in tetraplegia and paraplegia.

Traumatic brain injury may result from a fracture or a penetration of the skull. Damage to the brain may occur at the instant the head impacts a hard surface, and it may also occur later, as swelling or bleeding within the brain puts pressure on brain structures.

Following a traumatic brain injury in a bicycle crash, significant improvement will continue for 16-22 months following the accident. At one and a half to two years post trauma, a person has largely stabilized; whatever recovery the person has achieved at that time is very likely all that will be achieved. For the rest of one’s life, a person who has suffered a TBI and those responsible for their care will have to work with the limitations of that recovery. It is critical that the victim’s injuries and deficits be carefully evaluated, so that a plan for rehabilitation and care can be developed, including a realistic appraisal of lifetime expenses.

Being thrown from a bicycle at high speed can also result in a spinal cord injury. An injury in the lower spine can result in paraplegia, the loss of use of the legs, imposing severe restrictions in a person’s life. If the paraplegia is permanent, a person must plan their entire life around the restrictions that come with the loss of use of their legs, including permanent use of wheelchairs. Seasoned San Diego bicycle injury attorneys understand the realities of wheelchair use, and the need to redesign and rebuild a home so that a person can use their kitchen, their bathroom and can navigate other spaces.

Injuries higher up the spinal cord can result in tetraplegia, a loss of use of both arms and legs. An individual with tetraplegia may need mechanical assistance to breathe, and 24- hour around the clock assistive care to survive. An experienced San Diego bicycle injury attorney knows what this diagnosis can mean to a person and their family and can help them think through their needs.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured, or if a loved one has died in a bicycle accident, you may be facing serious changes in your health, your lifestyle, your earning power, and your expectations for your and your children’s future.

In the case of a serious injury, your first concern must be getting the best medical and rehabilitative care, and the best possible resolution of your injuries. During this process, as you or your loved one face the changes ahead, you will likely begin to think about how you will deal with the financial consequences.

Should you consider legal action?

Pedalcyclists who are injured as a result of another’s negligence have the right to compensation for damage to their health, their earning power, and the loss of well being. Compensation can include reimbursement for medical and hospital bills, rehabilitation costs, lost wages and earning power, pain, and other physical distress, and psychological suffering as a consequence of injuries and losses. In the case of serious injury such as traumatic brain injury (TBI), or spinal cord injury (SCI), the changes in lifestyle, the need for extensive modifications in the home, and diminished earning power are so extensive that a life planning consultant should be engaged to help calculate long-term medical and financial needs.

Many serious injuries to cyclists are caused by driver inattention or other negligence, or the misconduct of another person, corporation or government entity. Issues of product design, product safety, and highway design defects may have contributed to the bicycle crash. Negligence is conduct which falls below the standard of care established by law for the protection of others against unreasonable risks of harm.

Negligence and misconduct can occur in public settings, in which public employees such as law enforcement personnel fail to take sufficient care. Misconduct is improper, or unlawful conduct motivated by premeditated or intentional purpose or by obstinate indifference to the consequences of one's acts.

If your bicycle injury occurred as the result of negligence or misconduct, an attorney experienced in dealing with bicycle injury cases may be able to achieve a settlement that will recover your medical and rehabilitation costs, both current and future. A settlement may also cover home modifications and future specialized care needs.

If you decide to pursue legal action, you should contact a San Diego bicycle injury attorney as soon as possible for review of your situation. There are deadlines called statutes of limitation, set by laws which regulate the filing of lawsuits which vary state by state. If you or a loved one have suffered a spinal cord injury and feel that negligence or misconduct was involved, you should not delay in contacting an attorney. If the statute of limitations expires, your right to pursue a claim may be forever barred.

The usual arrangement for a bicycle injury case is a contingent fee agreement. In such an arrangement with Casey Gerry’s bicycle injury attorney agrees to be paid only if the client's case is ultimately successful, either by settlement out of court or by a judgment following a court proceeding. Casey Gerry’s bicycle injury attorney then receives a percentage of the final amount recovered. This fee arrangement is helpful for most people who have suffered a serious bicycle injury because it does not require the person bringing the case to pay any money up front.

If you or a loved one has been involved in a bicycle accident, you should immediately contact a plaintiff’s law firm that handles bicycle accidents. When you contact Casey Gerry, one of our experienced San Diego bicycle injury attorneys will discuss your case with you to help you determine the best way to proceed. Casey Gerry would be pleased to be among those that you interview and would be honored to be the firm you select.