San Francisco was named the second most bike friendly city in the United States in 2016. However, accidents still happen in the city, despite how bike-friendly the city is. San Francisco saw 588 bicycle collisions in 2018, leading to 606 injured people and four deaths, according to UC Berkeley data.
We can help you obtain compensation for your injuries, medical bills, lost wages and more if you were injured in a bicycle accident in San Francisco. We can handle the hassle of dealing with the insurance companies for you so you can concentrate on recovering from your injuries with the help of our network of the finest doctors in the Bay Area. The doctors in our network work on a lien, which means they won’t charge you until your case is finished.
We only charge a percentage of your recovery as our fee. We will not charge you a fee unless we obtain a recovery for you.
Call us now at (415) 526-8949 for a free consultation if you or a loved one was injured or killed in a bicycle accident in San Francisco. You might be able to obtain a financial recovery. You can also fill out the “Do I Have A Claim” form on the right, converse with our live chat or email us at info@personalinjurylawcal.com.
Do I Need A Bicycle Accident Lawyer?
You need experienced bicycle accident attorneys like the lawyers at Nadrich & Cohen by your side if you want to be fairly compensated for your injuries. Insurance companies will not respect you enough to offer you fair compensation if you are not represented by a lawyer.
Dealing with the insurance company is a hassle, but to make things worse, it is dangerous. Adjusters are taught, in painstaking detail, how to trick you into accidentally admitting fault for your accident so the company they work for doesn’t have to pay for your injuries. It is vital that you have experienced lawyers on your side who know how to deal with the insurance companies.
Insurance companies know that we will win in court if our claims progress that far, so our clients’ claims are almost always settled out of court. The insurance companies almost always agree to pay us a fair amount for our clients’ injuries because they know going to court against us is a waste of expensive legal fees.
How Can A Bicycle Accident Lawyer Obtain A Recovery For Me?
Battle-tested bicycle accident lawyers like the attorneys at Nadrich & Cohen can obtain a recovery for you by proving that your bicycle accident occurred because of someone else’s negligence.
California Civil Code Section 1714 (a) holds those who cause injuries via negligence responsible for those injuries.
California juries are instructed to define negligence as failing to use reasonable care in order to prevent harm from occurring. Juries are instructed that acting and failing to act can both be negligent. Juries are instructed that one should do what a reasonably careful person would and one shouldn’t do what a reasonably careful person wouldn’t; to do otherwise is negligence.
California juries are instructed that, to prove a negligence claim, the following must be proven:
- The defendant was negligent
- The plaintiff was harmed
- The negligence of the defendant played a substantial role in harming the plaintiff
We’ve been representing Bay Area bicycle accident clients since 1990. We have developed an extensive contact list of the best bicycle accident investigators and reconstruction experts in the Bay Area in that time. Insurance companies virtually always settle out of court when they see our names on a claim because, between our experience and our network of experts, they know they don’t stand a chance against us in court.
San Francisco Bicycle Laws
San Francisco Transportation Code, Sec. 7.2.12 forbids anyone age 13 or over from riding bicycles on the sidewalk. The fine for a violation of this is $100.
You Can Still Obtain A Recovery Even If You Broke A Law
California is a comparative fault state. This means that, for example, in a two-party accident, one party can be held 70 percent at fault and the other party can be held 30 percent at fault. Payouts are reduced accordingly in these cases.
Juries in California are instructed to determine a plaintiff’s percentage of fault for an accident and reduce their damages by that percentage.
This means that if you are struck by a car while riding your bike on the sidewalk in San Francisco, a jury finds you were 40 percent at fault for riding on the sidewalk, and the same jury finds the driver of the car 60 percent at fault for hitting you while he was distracted by his cell phone, your damages would be reduced by 40 percent, but you would still obtain a recovery even though you broke the law. You should still call a bike accident lawyer if you were injured in a bike accident, even if you think you broke a law.
San Francisco Bicycle Accident Statistics
182 of the 588 bicycle collisions in San Francisco in 2018 were broadside collisions and 137 were sideswipe collisions. 56 of the collisions involved a severe injury.
The most common traffic violation involved in San Francisco bicycle collisions was improper turning, which was involved in 101 of the collisions. 77 of the collisions involved unsafe speed and 63 of the collisions involved a failure to obey traffic signals or signs.
San Francisco Bicycle Accident Lawsuits
You may be entitled to financial compensation if you or a loved one was injured or killed in a bicycle accident in San Francisco. Our no fee promise means we won’t charge you if we don’t obtain a recovery for you, so you will never owe us a single penny out of your own pocket for our services. Call us now at (415) 526-8949 to see why we’ve recovered over $350,000,000 on behalf of clients since 1990.
