San Diego is one of the best places in the country for cycling. Perfect year round whether coupled with beautiful scenery leads many cyclists to choose to live and work in San Diego County. On any given weekend morning, San Diego bicycle clubs lead rides up the coast or through the mountains. Many professional bicycle riders use the great climate of San Diego to train in the off season.
Unfortunately there are thousands of bicycle accidents in California every year. From dangerous drivers who don’t believe that they have to share the road to distracted drivers who are texting or using social media, there are many dangers facing cyclists.
Rist Law Office has successfully handled a number of bicycle accident cases. Thomas Rist is an avid cyclist who rides almost 5,000 miles a year, so he sees the dangers to cyclists first hand almost daily. Our office believes that having a cyclist for your attorney significantly helps with explaining to claim representatives at insurance companies why the case has value. More importantly, when it comes time to convince a jury that your injuries and damages require compensation, having a fellow cyclist representing you can make all of the difference. Anxiety from riding, loss of enjoyment of life from not being able to ride, and damages to expensive bikes are hard for many attorneys to understand who also do not ride bikes themselves.
In most cycling accidents, the rider suffers severe injuries and the driver of the car that caused the accident might have a few hundred dollars of damages to their car. Even though the proliferation of helmets has helped to reduce the types of injuries cyclists receive, injuries are still significant.
Cycling accidents can lead to:
When we are hired to work on a San Diego Bicycle Accident Case, our office will immediately start to assess whether experts are needed to prove causation and the best strategy to prove damages. We prepare all of our cases as if they are proceeding to trial so that we are fully prepared for settlement discussions or trial if necessary.
There are a number of dangers to cyclists that can cause severe injuries. Some of the most dangerous include the following:
A report from the California Healthline showed that fatal bike accidents were on the rise in California between 2016-2018. Traffic accidents killed 455 cyclists in California in 2018 according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In San Diego County, 15 people were killed riding bicycles between 2016-2018. Cyclists who were not wearing a helmet are much more likely to get injured or die in a crash than those who do wear a helmet while riding a bike.
For more information about our work on bicycle accident cases, or to speak to a lawyer about your case, call us at (619) 377-4660. There is never a charge to discuss a bicycle accident case with a potential client. All cases are handled on a contingency fee basis, which means there is no fee unless your case is settled or won at trial.