Bicycle accidents have caused 961 deaths in the US in 2021 alone. 61% of the fatal accidents involved bicyclists without helmets. This shows the importance of following road rules and safety precautions while riding a bicycle. Bicycling is indeed a fun and healthy activity and a better mode of transportation, but keep in mind that you are not immune to accidents.
Of course, even after taking all the precautions, you might still encounter an accident due to negligence. Luckily, for accidents caused due to negligence, you can take legal action. You can file a lawsuit against the negligent party and recover the losses you incurred as a result of the accident.
When filing a bicycle accident claim, you need to have a lawyer by your side. Mistakes during the claim process can have serious negative impacts on your case. A lawyer can help you avoid that since they have experience handling bicycle accident cases.
To win a bicycle accident case, you need to prove all the elements of a bicycle accident case, which are:
- Duty of Care
- Breach of Duty of Care
- Causation
- Damages
The first thing you need to do in any personal injury case is determine liability. You are going to claim your losses from the at-fault party. So, to do that, you need to know who the at-fault party is.
How to Establish Liability
To establish liability, you need to do many things. Some are simple, some are not. Anyhow, it is better to hire a lawyer to handle your case than try to DIY. Establishing liability involves the following steps.
Gathering Evidence
Hearsay will not work in court or with insurance companies. You need proof/evidence that shows the negligence of the defendant. Evidence gathering might sound like a complex task, but in reality, it is not. Yes, some evidence is hard to collect, but most are not. For example, your medical bills are a great piece of evidence. And it is really easy to collect medical bills.
Take photographs of the accident site, any damage to your property, your injuries, etc. Collect the contact information of eyewitnesses. This is sufficient information that your lawyer can work on.
Witness Statements
Usually, witnesses will have a better idea of what happened and who caused it than the people involved in the accident. Witness statements can help insurance companies, judges, and juries understand what happened. Lawyers can use witnesses to their advantage. They are experts at finding witnesses that confirm your story and bringing them to court. Witness statements can establish liability and fast-forward your case.
Expert Opinions
Expert opinions have a strong presence in bicycle accident cases. Expert witnesses are people who are experts in a field. They don’t need to witness an accident to become a witness. Accident experts can confirm who caused an accident by looking at the accident scene. Even doctors can act as expert witnesses. They can establish the severity of the victim’s injuries, how long they will be out of work, and how much they will spend on treatments.
To establish liability, you will need an expert investigator. They can look at the accident site and note minute elements, such as skid marks, to deduce what happened and who caused the accident.
Conclusion
You can do all the above, or you can just hire a lawyer. A lawyer knows how to establish liability since it is not their first rodeo. In addition, they have powerful contacts, like expert witnesses and private investigators. Private investigators can help to a great extent in establishing liability. So, if you ever get into a bicycle accident, hire a lawyer and focus on recovery. Don’t do it yourself.
