California Bicycle Accident Attorney
Irvine Bicycle Accident Lawyer
You love to ride your bicycle. It’s great exercise, it’s a lot of fun and given the speeds at which you can travel, it’s also a relatively efficient mode of transportation. You’ve been riding your bike for years and you’re familiar with the roads in Orange County. You understand the traffic patterns and you know how to minimize the chance that you’ll be involved in an accident. In short, you understand that you need to be cautious, defensive and ready to avoid potential problems at a moment’s notice. You take all the necessary safety precautions, including wearing bright colors and affixing all of the reflective lights and patches you can find.
Even if you do all of this, it’s quite possible that you’ll still be involved in an Orange County bicycle accident. They happen at an alarming rate, and when they do it’s often the fault of the motorist when the driver of a vehicle and a bicyclist collide. If you’ve been injured in a crash caused by a negligent or reckless driver, you’re most likely dealing with a situation that seems all but untenable for several different reasons.
You may be struggling just to get through the day, yet you’re also receiving phone calls, letters, emails or even text messages from people you don’t know who want to “help you put this in the past as quickly as possible.” If you want to rid yourself of all of the stresses of the aftermath of your situation, contact a California bicycle accident attorney at Montevideo Law as soon as possible to schedule a free initial consultation.
Possible Questions In Your Mind
If you were injured in an Orange County bicycle accident, you’re likely fighting to recover in a physical sense while wondering about several different things. If you’re like many of the clients who have worked with Montevideo Law over the years, it’s quite possible that examples of these questions include:
- How did this happen?
- How did that driver not see me?
- I had the right-of-way, didn’t I?
- Who are these people who keep trying to contact me?
- How much is all of this going to cost me?
- When will I be able to get back on my feet?
- When will I be able to work again?
- Will I ever be able to ride a bicycle again?
- If I can someday, will I ever ride again without intense fear?
- How soon before all of this is over?
After days or even weeks of having certain questions circling in your head, the situation can become even more stressful than it would be otherwise.
When you work with Montevideo Law, you can expect the following answers to these types of questions:
- We will reconstruct the accident to determine fault, right-of-way, etc.
- We will deal directly with the people trying to contact you so you don’t have to worry about it.
- We will help you quantify your losses, including those you will incur in the future.
- We will do what we can to put this behind you, but we will not sacrifice justice for expediency.
- We will continue to answer the questions we can answer for you as promptly as possible.
Put bluntly, there are a lot of people whose interests do not necessarily coincide with yours as you deal with this situation. Unless you’ve handled litigation that followed traffic accidents several times in the past, you may not be able to separate your allies from others. A California bicycle accident attorney at Montevideo Law can and will do that for you. You can spend the time you do have available with family and friends and work on your physical and emotional recovery.
Orange County Bicycle Accident Statistics – A Serious Problem
Another thought that may provide you at least some comfort is that you are far from alone with regards to facing this type of struggle. In fact, Orange County bicycle accidents are a serious public safety problem. The University of California, Berkeley, compiles statistics relating to several different types of traffic accidents throughout the state. According to their data, the following statistics describe the problem that was Orange County bicycle accident statistics in 2016:
- Total number of collisions: 995
- Number of people killed: 10
- Number of people injured: 1,013
- Bicycle/pedestrian collisions: 6
- Bicycle/motorcycle collisions: 5
As can be seen, 99 percent of all of the Orange County bicycle accidents that occurred in 2016 involved a vehicle and a bicycle.
The data also reveal that there were certain causes of Orange County bicycle accidents that were much more prevalent than others. The five most common known causes of crashes in 2016, in descending order, were as follows:
- Automobile right-of-way: 25.63 percent
- Wrong side of the road: 22.51 percent
- Improper turning: 13.67 percent
- Traffic signals and signs: 8.94 percent
- Unsafe speed: 6.83 percent
These five leading causes of Orange County bicycle accidents account for nearly 80 percent of all crashes that occurred in 2016. Another 8.64 percent were classified as “unknown,” so almost 90 percent of all accidents occurred for a relatively small number of reasons.
Fight Back Efficiently
You need all of the energy you can muster to overcome your serious injuries. You need all of the energy available to you to take on that fight every day. Stress only harms this overall effort. Remove as much of that stress as possible. If you don’t have to deal with the legal technicalities relating to your crash, the insurance red tape, the insurance professionals or any of the other unfamiliar aspects of your struggle, you’ll free yourself to potentially overcome your pain and suffering that much sooner.
If you’re ready to take a big step towards making that happen, seek the help of a California bicycle accident attorney who understands how to fight relentlessly and successfully for clients. Contact Montevideo Law today to schedule a free initial consultation.