Do you need help with an accident involving a bike? Check out these bicycle accident injury tips, then contact our Phoenix lawyers today.
Choosing a Bicycle Accident Attorney
There are a lot of misconceptions about bicycle accidents and laws that are related to bicyclists. It’s important here in Arizona because our weather is so wonderful and our atmosphere is so great and you’ve got a lot of outdoor folks and cyclists riding up and down main thoroughfares and roadways in our cities, especially here in Phoenix.
In selecting a bicycle accident attorney, you want to make sure it’s someone that has experience with dealing with laws that are specifically related to bicyclists and that have had a degree of success in bicycle accident claims. You also want someone that is a litigator because some of these cases have very traumatic injuries – yes, even life-threatening injuries in some cases – so you want someone that’s experienced, someone that is successful in that area, and someone that is not afraid of the courtroom, that’s not willing to abandon the value of your case because of a fear to take a matter to trial.
Claim Timeline
As with any personal injury claim here in Arizona, and really anywhere in the world, timing is everything. You want to retain adequate counsel early on so that they can keep you abreast of the time frame that it takes to resolve it. Some cases are easily resolved. If you’re on a bicycle and someone hits you, they only have a $15,000 insurance policy, and you’ve had to be helicoptered to one of the local hospitals, well that’s easy to resolve, if the fault is clear, because you’ll get a policy demand. In those cases that are not as clear as that, it could take some time.
What you would want from your lawyer, and what you would certainly get here at Smith and Green, is for your lawyer to keep you abreast of the happenings of the case, so that your case is not resolved prematurely, but also so that your case is not strung along long after you are healed and long after you are back on your feet. There is no specific answer as to how long it will take. Each case is different, based on the facts and the amount of injuries that the bicyclist has sustained. I would urge you to have that conversation.
Claim Value
Values vary based on the amount of injuries sustained, the type of injuries that have been sustained, and the rehabilitation and recovery period that will be necessary following the sustained injuries. If it goes into trial, and this person has done something that has clearly violative of the law that would cause them to have per se liability, then there should be punitive damages. There are a number of factors that could play into this.
Emotional damages and loss of consortium and enjoyment of life are all factors that play into it, even loss of time away from work and family or you lost money from a vacation. All of these things are things that will be considered in valuing the case, so there will be a very open, fluid, candid conversation with one of our lawyers, addressing all of these things, and ensuring that we get the right value for the case. We pursue that either via demand letters with the insurance companies or in litigation, if the matter happens to be filed in court.
Were you or a loved one seriously injured by an automobile while out on a ride and have questions about bicycle accident injury tips? Contact experienced Phoenix Bicycle Accident Attorneys at Smith & Green today for a legal consultation.
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