If you are experiencing a bicycle accident, the first step is always to stop. Whether you hit a parked car and cannot walk, were hit by another cyclist, or had an accident on a bike trail (this would be deemed “on the road”), you must seek immediate medical attention.
After that, things become more complicated. Depending on where it happened and who was involved in the crash, there may be legal complications that need to be resolved before proceeding with other steps – although there are no specific rules or laws governing these situations.
For example, if you are riding a bicycle on the sidewalk and colliding with another cyclist, it would be safe to assume that most crashes are due to negligence. Although the neighboring driver may have the legal right of way (that is, their responsibility for injuries suffered by you is greater than your responsibility for injuries you caused to them), this does not completely excuse them from liability.
If they did indeed have the safety obligation – and did not take it – then they should be held responsible. Furthermore, you can file a personal injury claim in Colorado if you’re the cyclist injured in an accident as well as get legal help from bicycle accident attorneys
Liability and damages are what you’re after. Though answers on how much compensation you may be due are up to your attorney, it’s important to get a crash report from the police as soon as possible after the accident. This is where things get complicated: if your bicycle was stolen at some point during the collision, then there is not only potential criminal wrongdoing involved but also civil issues that need to be dealt with thoroughly.
The same can be said when a cyclist hit by another refuses to press charges. Even if the driver was clearly at fault, if there is no law enforcement record of the accident, the cyclist may be unable to recover damages.
So how do you go about seeing that this doesn’t happen? You will want to get your hands on that police report as soon as possible after the crash. The report not only contains all the necessary information relating to the accident itself, it also has a lot of information about all involved parties, their names and what vehicle they were driving.
More importantly, however, is the collision details – a breakdown of when each person was in the area at that time, as well as what road they were on. If you are the victim, there’s no telling what this detail will reveal. You might discover that an ongoing construction project had closed off a section of the road, or that a car had moved over to another lane – this could be important information in securing compensation.
If you are the aggressor in a bicycle accident, trying to get information on the other party can be far more difficult. Even if he admits fault, you will still need to find out who he is and what information on him is available to you. Fortunately, in cases of automobile collisions, the driver’s insurance will usually supply a wealth of information on their clients.
Though this is not the case if you are involved in a bicycle crash, there are methods you can employ to obtain similar information – especially when the other party’s identity is not quite clear and hence it is advisable to get legal help from bicycle accident attorneys.
One method involves getting reports from your local police department. If you know who the other party was, but not what vehicle they were driving, you can request police reports for the area. In most cases, these reports are published on a daily basis and include information on persons of interest.
If you find someone who matches the description of the cyclist involved in your accident, you’ll have his name and address. If possible, this same method can be employed with certain motor vehicle departments; that way you can find out if there are any other vehicles registered to him.