When To Contact A Lawyer After a Bicycle Accident

A member of the Strava community gave me a ring yesterday. He had recently been "doored" by someone getting out of their car and had some good questions about when a cyclist might need an attorney so I thought this could be an opportunity to shed some light on when I can help cyclists.

When there's an accident, whether it's due to a bad driver, a pothole, or even a dog without a leash, a cyclist usually ends up in one of the following four scenarios:

(1) The cyclist does NOT suffer a physical injury and the cyclist's bicycle is NOT damaged;

(2) The cyclist does NOT suffer a physical injury and the cyclist's bicycle is damaged;

(3) The cyclist suffers a physical injury and the cyclist's bicycle is NOT damaged; or,

(4) The cyclist suffers a physical injury and the cyclist's bicycle is damaged.

Let's look at these one by one.

(1) No physical injury and no damage to the bike.

No need to call an attorney or anyone else for that matter. Despite having been in an accident, you are extremely fortunate that you can get up and ride away from the incident with your body and bike intact.

However, if you've hit your head quite hard, I would strongly recommend trying to collect information from the other person with whom you've had the accident, assuming you collided with a car, truck, or motorcycle. You might feel okay now, but make sure to get checked out by a physician if you have any symptoms later. If you struck something on the road such as a large pothole, take a pic with your phone, note the location, and carry on.

Actually, if you hit your head, call an ambulance. If you're not a doctor yourself, don't self-diagnose. Head injuries are serious business so don't leave it to chance.

(2) The cyclist does NOT suffer a physical injury and the cyclist's bicycle is damaged.

Again, consider yourself fortunate that you will live to fight another day and, because you don't have a physical injury, you can go home and hop on your spare bike for the next workout.

However, you've got bike damage to handle. If you've had a collision with a motor vehicle, get the driver's insurance info and license. Take pictures of those insurance cards with your phone. If the driver is uncooperative, call the police and ask for a report to be made. Take copious pictures of the damage to your bike and, when you get home, get on the phone, call the other driver's insurance company, and explain you had an accident with one of their insured drivers and you'd like to make a claim for damage to your bicycle.

(3) The cyclist suffers a physical injury and the cyclist's bicycle is undamaged, or (4) the cyclist suffers a physical injury and the cyclist's bicycle is damaged.

Call Stephen Donaldson, Esq., and explain what happened.

Generally, a physical injury that occurs as a result of an accident with a motor vehicle (even though you were on a bicycle) requires that it meet what is considered the "serious injury" threshold. What that means is a whole other blog post but we're usually talking about broken bones, scarring, tears, or worse. Bruising and hurt feelings don't count.

If you've hit the deck in an accident and you manage to get back on your feet and you think you're fine, it's nothing but some scrapes and scratches, it's okay if you don't seek medical attention immediately. I mean, who wants to hop in an ambulance and blow what was a perfect ride before the accident, especially when you think you're okay? I can appreciate that.

However, if you start feeling worse for the wear upon getting home or the next day, call your doctor. Or go get checked out at a local Urgent Care. Find out what the doctors have to say and then give the NY Bike Lawyer a ring and see what he has to say.

I hope that helps. Any questions, just give me a ring. As a pretty serious cyclist myself, I love helping cyclists when they need my help.