Victims of bicycle collisions tend to suffer severe and painful injuries due to the relative lack of protection bicycles offer their riders. Bicycle accident injuries often have serious, debilitating, and lifelong effects. To make matters worse, insurance companies frequently make minimal settlement offers or attempt to shift the blame onto the victim in order to avoid taking responsibility.
If you were hit by a motorist while cycling or were involved in any other type of bicycle accident, it’s important that you obtain strong legal representation. At Portner & Shure, P.A., our Vienna bicycle accident lawyers can help you fight for the fair compensation you are owed for your injuries, medical bills, lost wages, and other damages. Our award-winning personal injury team has been successfully representing victims of bicycle accidents in Northern Virginia for over 30 years.
Give us a call at or contact us online today to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation.
Common Causes of Bicycle Accidents in Virginia
Cyclists who travel on bike trails, in bike lanes, and on roads should not have to worry about being hit by a motorist but, unfortunately, this is a very real threat. Bicycle collisions are commonly caused by negligent drivers who are distracted, drunk, or drive too near a bicyclist, turn across the path of an oncoming cyclist, or violate traffic laws. These collisions occur at an alarming rate in Northern Virginia.
There are many contributing factors in the high frequency of bicycle accidents in Virginia. Many drivers are unaware that bicyclists are permitted to ride on the street, pass a vehicle on either the left or the right, and ride through red lights if there is no danger from other vehicles. Additionally, many motorists are unaware of the bicycle laws in Virginia, which have been put in place to help protect them from others on the road.
Sadly, when vehicle-bicycle accidents happen, it is the cyclist who tends to sustain the more severe injuries, as they have virtually no protection against a large, multi-ton vehicle traveling at high rates of speed.
Common Bicycle Accident Injuries
A bicycle provides virtually no protection to its rider. Accordingly, bicycle accident victims tend to sustain very severe, life-threatening, and even fatal injuries.
Some of the most common bicycle accident injuries include:
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Nerve damage
- Broken bones/fractures
- Spinal cord injuries
- Accidental amputation
- Internal organ damage
- Torn ligaments and soft tissue injuries
- Serious bruises, scrapes, cuts, and abrasions
- Road rash (also known as friction burns)
These injuries require extensive medical treatment, including, in some cases, years of ongoing rehabilitation therapy and care. The cost of treating bicycle accident injuries can easily reach hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not millions) and, when victims are unable to work due to their injuries or during their recovery, their financial difficulties can become increasingly more challenging.
Fortunately, Virginia law allows bicycle accident victims to claim damages in order to be compensated for their medical care costs, lost wages, and other damages.
Damages in Bicycle Accident Claims
Virginia law allows personal injury victims to claim both economic and non-economic damages. This means that victims of negligence can seek compensation for financial losses, as well as intangible losses they have suffered as a result of someone else’s careless, reckless, or wrongful actions.
While economic damages including losses associated with an actual, measurable financial cost, such as medical bills and lost wages, non-economic damages include things like pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of quality of life.
How to Prove a Bicycle Accident Claim
In order to be compensated for their injuries, Vienna bicycle accident victims must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the at-fault driver caused the collision. The facts surrounding a bicycle collision are often complex, and insurance companies assert a variety of defenses in order to minimize their responsibility or outright deny responsibility.
Insurance companies often assert the defense of “contributory negligence.” Under this defense, a personal injury victim is precluded from recovering if a civil defendant produces evidence showing that the victim acted negligently prior to the accident and that this negligence contributed to the incident.
Along with this, insurance companies also try to shift the blame onto the victim by asserting the defense of “assumption of risk.” Under this defense, a civil defendant must prove that a personal injury victim had knowledge of a risk, appreciated the risk, and, despite knowing of the risk, undertook an action that caused the injury.
In order to overcome these defenses, it’s important that you seek the skilled representation of a bicycle accident attorney.
How Our Attorneys Can Help You
At Portner & Shure, P.A., our Vienna bicycle accident attorneys have been aggressively representing injured individuals and the loved ones of those wrongfully killed in bicycle collisions for more than 30 years. Over the decades, we have earned a reputation for excellence and success, as evidenced in our numerous awards and accolades, as well as in the many five-star reviews we have received from past clients.
We receive no fee unless we recover a settlement or verdict on your behalf. To learn more, please contact us for a free and confidential consultation. Portner & Shure, P.A. serves clients in Vienna, Fairfax County, and all of Northern Virginia.
