Are you an avid cyclist? Then you may already be quite familiar with all the risks involved in this affair.Imagine this: you are cycling along the road and suddenly you are hit by a car. In just a moment, your life can dramatically change. Bicycle accidents often result in serious injury, disability, and the need for lifelong nursing care. And you deserve fair compensation for your suffering and losses.
Bicycle fatalities are also not that uncommon either and such cases demand compensation for wrongful deaths.
This is why you need to hire our legal team of dedicated Houston bicycle accident lawyers from Calhoun Meredith.
In most of the cases involving bicycle collisions, the claims of bicyclists fall on deaf ears because they are naturally deemed responsible for their suffering by insurance adjusters, even if they were following the traffic laws and stuck to dedicated bike lanes.
But you don't have to worry...
We are your first line of defense against greedy insurance companies that will attempt to impose a settlement that does not cover your economic and noneconomic losses that result from bike accidents.
According to the Transportation Code of the state of Texas, “a person operating a bicycle has the rights and duties applicable to a driver operating a vehicle”. This means that bicycle riders are entitled to the same kind of compensation as a car driver.
However, many bicyclists do not get the maximum relief settlement they are entitled to (under their claims) because they are unable to fight on their own against an automobile insurance company that wants to settle for an unfairly low lump sum.
Professional bicycle accident attorneys will see to it that your personal injury claim and subsequent settlement negotiations help you cover all the economic and noneconomic damages sustained as per the insurance policy of the insurer.
Just keep the statute of limitations (laws dictating limitations for time) in mind, calling an attorney should be your foremost priority.
In some cases, you may carry a part of the fault for the bicycling accident, especially in the city (where the traffic is denser).
You may even think that you were entirely responsible because you were not wearing a helmet when the accident occurred. Here is what an astute Houston bicycle accident lawyer has to say on this topic: Although the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recommends wearing a helmet as one of its top accident prevention advice, it is not mandatory by law.
Moreover, even if you partially share the blame for negligence with the other at-fault party, you are still entitled to compensation. The state of Texas applies the modified comparative fault principle, which means that you receive compensation in proportion to your degree of responsibility if it is determined to be below 51%.
An experienced bicycle accident lawyer in Houston will be able to correctly determine your degree of responsibility and negotiate the maximum compensation you are entitled to when handling your bicycle accident claim.
Injury accident lawyers can also help you prove how unsafe road conditions somehow factored in your accident (if they did).
One of the most common bicycle accident questions is what to do if you were hit by a vehicle while cycling on city streets in Texas.
Here's the answer:
Call 9-1-1 and wait until the ambulance arrives without trying to stand up, as you may have suffered from severe injuries such as soft tissue damage, broken bones, or even spinal cord injury, as is often the case with such accidents. Follow the EMTs recommendation and go to a hospital if they deem it is necessary.
If you are not in a lot of pain, try to collect as much evidence at the accident scene (to prove the other driver at fault), including:
You should retain a bicycle crash attorney as soon as possible. If you are unable to do so, ask a family member to contact Calhoun Meredith law firm for an initial consultation to explore your options with your accident injury claim.
We will step in immediately and handle all the paperwork and negotiations with the driver at fault and their insurer. Thus, all you have to do is focus on getting better, without any worries about the legal fight for your rights.
Since we are aware of all the technicalities used to evade blame for the losses incurred in cases involving bicycles, we'll be more than ready to help you recover all the economic losses such as property damage, medical costs, and special damages.
And, we'll also help you with securing compensation for your pain and suffering.
From the moment we are hired to represent you, we will appoint an experienced attorney to:
We will seek all types of compensations allowed by the law in such cases, including:
Our personal injury attorneys know that big insurance companies will try to minimize your losses and the physical and mental suffering you are going through because of your bicycle accident injuries. This is why we fight aggressively to get justice done and make sure that you get fair financial compensation amounts for all the losses of our clients even for accidents as misunderstood as pedalcyclist accidents.
One of the key impediments most people see in hiring a lawyer to fight their case is the hourly fee they have to pay. When you call Calhoun Meredith law firm to ask how much our advance fee is.
The answer is: nothing!
We work on a contingency fee basis. This means that we are paid at the end of the settlement negotiation or trial (if amicable negotiations fail) out of the compensation awarded to you.
This means that:
Our team of professional bike accident lawyers, at Calhoun Meredith, use the strongest work ethic in dealing with every client. All our consultations are confidential and we are available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week for case evaluations.
We, as your attorneys, will stand between you and greedy insurers who want to pay you as little as possible for your pain and suffering. We use our experience, knowledge of the law, and aggressive negotiation tactics to win fair financial compensation in each case that we handle.
We urge you to contact us as soon as possible after you or your loved one was involved in a bicycle accident with another motor vehicle. In the state of Texas there is a time limit of 2 (two) years from the date of the accident to file a claim, so call us now!