Hartford Bicycle Accident Lawyer

Hurt in a Bike Accident in Hartford? Contact Our Injury Lawyers Today

Bicycle accidents often send victims to the hospital. Some of the major causes of accidents are road defects, negligent drivers, and defective bicycle parts. Helpfully, a Hartford bicycle accident lawyer at Etemi Law can analyze whether you have a legal right to seek compensation. If so, we can gather evidence in support of your claim and negotiate effectively with the defendant or their insurance company.

Call us to find out more. Our firm offers free consultations so you can find out more about what steps to take after a crash and whether we are a good fit for your legal needs.

Bicycle Accident Injuries: Serious and Expensive to Treat

Bicycle accidents can lead to major injuries:

• Road rash and other abrasions: Your skin can be peeled back and require surgery, including skin grafts. Many victims struggle with scarring once their wounds heal.
• Nerve damage: You can land on your arm and damage the nerves. Pay attention to any numbness or weakness in your arms or hands. Nerve damage might improve with rest, though some damage is permanent.
• Fractures: Any bone could shatter in a collision, including those in your legs and ribs. Some victims need surgery to screw or hold together bone fragments so they can fuse back together.
• Concussions: Even a helmet cannot fully eliminate the risk of a concussion when you land on your head.
• Neck injuries. Whiplash is common when a bicyclist is hit, and you can notice a stiff neck and intense headaches.
• Back injuries: Any number of back injuries can lead to disability, including narrowing of the spinal channel, herniated discs, and spinal cord injury.

Go to the hospital after a crash. Unfortunately, the cost of medical care has skyrocketed over the past 20 years, but you need to begin receiving treatment as soon as you can.

Are Helmets Required in Connecticut?

Connecticut requires that children under the age of 15 wear a helmet. The helmet should meet specifications for the American National Standards Institute or the Snell Memorial Foundation’s Standards. The helmet should also fit the child’s head for bicycle safety.

Everyone should wear a helmet, which can reduce fatal head injuries by more than 50%, and reduce the risk of traumatic brain injuries. This is probably the single easiest thing you can do to reduce your risk of a serious head injury and other bicycle injuries.

Who Can You Sue for Compensation after a Bicycle Accident?

While working with a Connecticut bicycle accident attorney, you are entitled to compensation when someone else is at fault for your crash with a motor vehicle and causing serious injuries and other catastrophic injuries.

Negligent Motorists

Too many motorists are careless when out on the road. Motor vehicles can crash into cyclists because of the following behaviors:

• Pass much too closely
• Cut off a bicyclist in the bike lane
• Tailgate
• Drive too fast
• Fall asleep behind the wheel
• Text and drive
• Fail to observe surroundings

A key problem is finding sufficient evidence to show a driver was negligent or not following all traffic laws. Our Connecticut bicycle accident attorneys recommend that you call the police after the collision and get information from any witnesses who saw what happened.

Road Defects and Hazards

A defective road might cause a crash. For example, bicycle riders can immediately lose control when they hit a deep pothole or other road defect. Or another motorist might crash into you because the stop sign is missing or obscured by tree branches. Poor road markings can also cause confusion, especially if the bicycle lane is set up improperly.

We need to see the condition of the road to determine what role a defect played in your crash. Call the personal injury lawyers at Etemi Law quickly. If possible, take a photograph of any hazard with your phone so we can see the condition of the road the day of your crash.

Bicycle Defects

Defective parts can also render a bicycle impossible to control. Imagine if the brakes failed on the bicycle, or the chain separated from the bicycle. You will probably crash, and the defect is to blame.

These defects could form the basis of a legal claim. You might sue:

• A rental company if you rented a bicycle and the company did not properly maintain their bike;
• The bicycle manufacturer for a design or manufacturing defect that existed when you bought it;
• A repairman for doing poor repair work on a bicycle.

Etemi Law knows the right way to bring these product liability cases. Ideally, we want to look at the bicycle to see if we can pinpoint a problem with it. Wait to fix your bicycle until you meet with us, and whatever you do, don’t throw it away.

What is the Statute of Limitations?

This is the maximum amount of time you get to file a claim. If you were hurt by a driver, then you must file a lawsuit in court within two years of the accident. (Connecticut General Statutes § 52-584). Should you miss this deadline, a defendant can ask a judge to throw your case out of court for being too late.

If you are suing the government for a dangerous road, then you will likely get less time. CGS § 4-148 says you must file a notice of claim within one year of your claim accruing—for most people, that will be one year after the day of the accident.

Call Etemi Law. We can swiftly move to protect your rights. We might need to quickly file a lawsuit if the deadline is approaching. We also know how to file claims against the government.

Our Connecticut Bicycle Accident Lawyer Settles Most Bicycle Accident Cases

Our legal team is able to settle most personal injury cases outside of court. Settling has several advantages. You can obtain compensation much faster, and you don’t run the risk of losing at trial.

However, settlement is a complex process. We typically need to engage in multiple rounds of negotiation. A negligent driver’s insurance company might push back on our request for compensation and make an insultingly low counteroffer. They might claim you aren’t seriously hurt or that you bear some fault for the crash.

Our firm understands the different techniques insurance companies use to minimize the amount of a payout. They could unreasonably delay an investigation or even flat out lie about the insurance contract at dispute. We can counter these tactics.

Financial Compensation for Hartford Bicycle Accidents

A settlement should compensate bicycle accident victims for various damages:

• Emergency medical treatment, including surgery or time in the intensive care unit
• Doctor’s visits, including follow-up visits
• Physical therapy and other rehabilitation after a crash
• Transportation expenses
• Lost income or wages (when you can’t work)
• Bicycle repairs or replacement
• Other damaged property
• Pain and suffering
• Future medical care, including ongoing therapy
• Diminished earning capacity

To find out how much you might request, please call our law office. We can review your injuries and other considerations in a free consultation.

Comparative Negligence in Connecticut

You might have been careless riding a bicycle yourself. For example, you might have turned without making a hand signal, or you could have cut off a vehicle, leading directly to a collision. In these cases, you were badly hurt, but you are partially at fault for the collision.

Connecticut has a modified comparative negligence law. If you are 50% or less to blame, you can still request compensation, but the amount you receive is reduced by your percentage of culpability.

Suppose your fifteen-year-old son shot into traffic and was struck. The careless driver could be 50% to blame and your teen could be 50%. In this case, the claim could be worth $40,000. But because your child is 50% at fault, you receive at most $20,000.

Connecticut’s law also prohibits seeking compensation if you are more than 50% responsible. We call this the 51% law. An accident victim will receive nothing if they are more at fault than the defendant.

Etemi Law always pays close attention to any allegation of fault. You should not give a recorded statement to an insurance adjuster, because you might accidentally say something you shouldn’t. Instead, wait until you’ve hired us to speak with an insurer.

Wrongful Death Claims

Suppose a loved one died in a bicycle crash. You might have the legal right to file a wrongful death claim against the driver who struck and killed them. The deceased person’s estate must file the claim.

A wrongful death claim provides damages for:

• Your deceased loved one’s lost earning capacity;
• Any conscious pain and suffering your loved one endured before passing;
• Reasonably necessary medical bills;
• Funeral expenses;
• Loss of society, affection, and love.

Wrongful death cases are complicated. Let us review whether we can file a case on your behalf. The estate’s personal representative is tasked with filing the case and shepherding it through court, and we can represent the estate.

Arrange a Free Consultation with a Hartford Bicycle Lawyer

Etemi Law has proudly represented members of the Hartford community in many complicated bike accident cases. From start to finish, many cases can settle in a few months, while others take a year or more. Your choice of attorney in a personal injury lawsuit can make a big difference in whether you receive compensation and how long you must wait. Call us to schedule a free consultation for your bicycle accident case. Our bicycle accident lawyers have won millions of dollars for injured victims in Hartford.