The City of Philadelphia is no stranger to bicycle accidents. Sadly, about 500 bicycle collisions happen in Philly every year. Philadelphia has the highest percentage of people biking to work out of all of Pennsylvania’s major cities. It is up to motorists and bicyclists to follow traffic rules and responsibilities to prevent collisions. When motorists ignore the rules, bicyclists pay the price – sometimes with their lives. If you’ve suffered injuries in a bike accident, contact the Philadelphia bicycle accident attorneys at Wieand Law Firm, LLC.
Philadelphia is a city dominated by motor vehicles. Bikers are forced to navigate traffic-congested roads and are rarely have bike lines available. Each municipality has different rules for where bicyclists can bike, specifying whether cyclists must use the sidewalk, street, or certain bike lanes and routes. While biking helps commuters avoid expensive and congested parking garages and avoid and public transit, bikers face serious challenges to their safety.
While change must start with vehicle driver awareness of cyclists on the road and how to share the road with them. Cycling advocates and Philadelphia bicycle accident lawyers agree that “drivers can’t see what they’re not looking for.”
Drivers are often focused on traffic signals, other vehicles on the road, and distractions such as cellphones. With so many things competing for their attention, many drivers fail to look for cyclists. Philadelphia is also notorious for hostile drivers and poorly maintained roads. This can lead to a serious accident involving the cyclists, resulting in catastrophic injuries or even death.
Cyclist safety is at frequently at risk from driver inattentiveness, lack of bike lanes, aggressive drivers, and hazardous road conditions. The problems are costly to victims and their families, whose lives are dramatically altered by serious or life-ending injuries.
As a bicyclist in a collision, you have rights. Protect those rights by gathering as much information about your crash as you can. Call the police if you have injuries or serious property damage or if the driver hit you and ran. Talk to police about what happened, giving your side of the story for the report. Get the police officer’s name and the number of your report. Collect other vital information such as the name and insurance info of the at-fault driver.
Go to the hospital right away after a bicycle accident, whether you feel injured or not. Some injuries might not be immediately obvious – especially considering the adrenaline rush and trauma of the moment. Days or even weeks later, however, you may start experiencing symptoms of a hidden head, brain, spine, or internal injury. The thing you can do for your personal health and safety is to visit the hospital as soon as possible after a collision.
The driver’s insurance company will be in contact with you, sometimes as soon as the day of the accident. The insurance claims adjuster will ask you questions and investigate the case.
Eventually, the insurance company may offer you a settlement. Before you say yes, reach out to Wieand Law Firm, LLC for a free consultation. It may surprise you to find that you could get much more for your damages with a personal injury claim.
You should always call a bicycle accident attorney in Philadelphia, PA if you have catastrophic or life-changing injuries, such as brain damage, paralysis, or a permanent disability. Always call an attorney if a loved one dies in a bicycle accident. When in doubt, pick up the phone. Our team offers free initial evaluations with no obligation to retain our services. You can receive tailored legal advice about your bike accident at no cost – completely risk-free.
A conversation with one of our attorneys could explain the possibility of a lawsuit against the at-fault driver, or the benefits of having a legal professional handle your insurance claim settlement. We can fight for maximum compensation for your medical costs, pain and suffering, emotional trauma, lost wages, and the price of your totaled bike.
A bicycle accident can cause serious injuries. If someone else’s negligence or carelessness is what put you in the hospital, you deserve to fight for fair and just financial recovery. Do so with help from a team of experienced lawyers. Advocating for victims’ rights is what we do. Trust our legal team to give you the advice you need during this dark time. To get in touch with us, call (215) 666-7777 or submit our online form.
Our lawyers can help you recover compensation for your losses if you are injured in a bicycle accident. Each year, around 50,000 people are injured in bicycle accidents in the US. Although bikers make up only 1% of travelers, bicycle crashes cause 2% of transportation related injuries. If you are injured due to the negligence of a motorist or defective street condition, call a Philadelphia bike accident lawyer at the Wieand Law Firm to discuss your legal rights.
An experienced Philadelphia bike accident lawyer can help you overcome the stigma attributed to bikers who are injured in a crash. Bicyclists, by their very nature, are smaller, less visible, less protected and slower than other vehicles on the road. Bikers are more susceptible to being thrown from the bike and suffering a serious injury when a car or truck makes an unexpected movement. For these reasons, defense lawyers often try to blame the cyclist for accident.
The Philadelphia bike accident lawyers at the Wieand Law Firm have successfully recovered compensation for bicyclists who were injured in a variety of accidents. We aggressively fight for the rights of bikers injured due to:
In most cases, we have found that accidents involving bikers are caused by inattentive or aggressive motorists. A Philadelphia bike accident lawyer will work to prove negligence on the part of the other driver. A bike crash is often the result of a sudden and unexpected movement of a car. It may be a sudden right or left turn into the biker, the opening of a car door, or an aggressive driver trying to pass a bike. Whatever the case, if you are injured because of the neglect or recklessness of another motorists, you are entitled to be compensated for your damages.
The Wieand Law Firm is a full-service law firm committed to representing individuals who have been involved in a bicycle accident. This means that once become our client, we can handle all aspects of your case, including:
Our attorneys will thoroughly investigate the facts of your case. We frequently involve experts in accident reconstruction, medicine, and finance to build a strong injury case showing how your accident occurred and who was at fault.
Hiring an attorney for a bicycle accident personal injury claim allows you to focus on recovery instead of navigating the maze of paperwork involved in filing a claim.
Our firm is pleased to offer a free consultation to any bicyclist injured in Philadelphia, regardless of the circumstances. To speak with a Philadelphia bike accident lawyer at the Wieand Law Firm call 215-666-7777 today.
Always seek medical attention if you are injured. If physically capable, you should also preserve evidence of the accident while at the scene. It is important to take down the license plate number of any vehicle involved as soon as possible! If it’s a Philadelphia taxicab, get the PUC number. If you’re struck by a bus, write down all information available including company name, route and operator’s name.
Call 911/ police so that there is a government record of the crash. This is important because a bike crash victim can help preserve their rights by reporting the crash at the scene. By failing to do report the crash, you may lose your rights. If you did not report the accident, your Philadelphia bike accident lawyer can provide you with a form that you can fill out to file a report.
Take down the name and contact information of any bystander who witnessed the accident, or events before or after the bike crash. Good witnesses (or lack thereof) may make or break your case. Take pictures of the accident scene before moving your bike or the vehicles. Take photographs of any damage to the vehicle or your bicycle. In addition, look around to see if there is a surveillance camera in the area which may have captured the accident on film. It is crucial to get video surveillance footage quickly since it is often only saved for a short period of time.
Improper maintenance of property can greatly impede safety for bicyclists. Here are some common premises liability issues affecting bicyclists:
While seasoned cyclists know to keep an eye out for common hazards, even the most diligent cyclist can suffer a preventable accident due to someone else’s negligence. If you think there was a dangerous condition and an accident was foreseeable or preventable, you should meet with a Philadelphia bicycle accident lawyer to learn about your legal rights.
The Philadelphia bicycle accident lawyers at the Wieand Law Firm see the dangers that cyclists face every day. Our clients come in with stories of close calls, dangerous road conditions and crashes with other motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. Our goal is to advocate for better biking conditions around the area as well as greater awareness for bicycle safety.
Cyclists still have a long way to go to get the acknowledgement they deserve on the road. In addition to motor vehicle accidents and unsafe road conditions, cyclists face other dangers on the road.
We advocate for bicyclists who have had accidents involving:
Cyclists who are hit by an automobile in Pennsylvania, are entitled to have their accident-related medical bills paid through what is known as PIP or “Personal Injury Protection” benefits. A Philadelphia bike accident lawyer at the Wieand Law Firm will guide you through the insurance claims process.
Our lawyers aggressively litigate help you obtain the best possible compensation for your injuries. Your remedy may include compensation for:
The lawyers at the Wieand Law Firm can evaluate your claim and get you the help you need. You have our promise to advocate for you every step of the way.
In the state of Pennsylvania, you may be able to recover a portion of the damages even if you are somewhat at fault. This means if a car flew through a red light and struck you, but you are partially at fault because you were distracted by the bike’s GPS system, you may still be able to recover damages. Schedule an appointment with the bicycle injury lawyers at the Wieand law Firm for a free consultation and learn more about how partial fault may affect your claim.
The number of cyclists killed on the roads has more than doubled from 2019 to 2020. According to the Bicycle Coalition, aggressive driving styles are predominantly the main course of these accidents. Additionally, the number of hit and run incidents involving cyclists has also been on the rise. Most of the accidents do not happen at intersections as most people think, rather they happen in sections of roads wwith higher speed limits.
To discuss your bicycle accident claim with an experienced Philadelphia bike accident lawyer, call the Wieand Law Firm at (215) 666-7777. We are proud to serve residents of Philadelphia, PA, and throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
“All of my interactions at this firm was very friendly and understanding. Brent, my attorney, handled everything very professionally and quickly when issues surfaced. I am very grateful for the help I received. He explained everything in detail and in terms I could understand. I would definitely recommend!”
