Pursuant to California Vehicle Code 21212, bike helmets are not required for adult cyclists in the State of California. The lack of a helmet does not necessarily mean your injury claim should be reduced.
Don’t let an insurance company blame you for an injury caused by their negligent driver.
If you were hit by a vehicle on a bike, contact us today for a free, confidential consultation. We are cyclists ourselves and during your consultation, we’ll provide you with your best legal options.
Can I Seek Compensation After a Bicycle Accident If I Wasn’t Wearing a Helmet?
Yes. You can still demand compensation from a careless driver if you are struck while on a bike, even if you don’t have a helmet on. The fact that you didn’t use a helmet doesn’t excuse reckless motorists from liability if they strike your bike.
If a driver’s mistake causes you to suffer injury, you are empowered to seek help to pay for your medical bills and other hardships. You should also receive support while you are healing and can’t go to work to earn paychecks. Your non-economic damages, such as the pain you endure and the emotional hardships you are put through are also the at-fault driver’s responsibility. Non-economic damages can include the frustration cyclists feel when they can’t get back on their bikes for weeks or months.
In some cases, a car insurance adjuster may attempt to argue that your injuries wouldn’t have been as severe if you’d had a helmet on. This would be a tactic used to try to lessen the amount of support the insurer would provide to you.
However, your California bicycle accident lawyer would fully investigate your case and use the evidence to keep the finger of blame firmly on the driver. Your attorney would seek the maximum in compensation available for your recovery and make sure you had the support to cover any medical care needed in the future.
California’s Bicycle Helmet Laws in Accidents
Adults aren’t legally required to wear helmets when they ride in the street or along a road in California. Only those under 18 years old must put on a helmet while riding a bike.
Some smaller communities in California do require helmets for all bicycle riders, but those statutes aren’t backed by any state law.
Helmets are proven to reduce the severity of bicycle accident injuries and can leave victims with shorter recovery times. Helmets can literally save lives. However, when a rider without a helmet is forced into an accident, the driver to blame should never get a free pass.
Compensation For Bicycle Accident Victims
Your bike accident attorney fights back when insurance companies try to downplay the seriousness of your injury or try to blame you for what happened.
Your lawyer is also an extra layer of security when checking over the settlement offers insurance companies make. Your lawyer makes sure you don’t accidentally sign away your rights for a “lowball” settlement. These inadequate settlements aren’t enough to cover all of your recovery costs and could leave you and your family to pay for some expenses out of pocket. That’s unacceptable.
Your lawyer demands compensation for every hardship you’ve endured, including support for some factors you may not have known could earn you more:
- Past and future medical bills.
- Past and future lost earnings.
- Any permanent disfigurement.
- Any permanent disability.
- Travel costs to doctor’s appointments.
- Pain and suffering.
- Emotional trauma.
- Repairs to Bicycle or Replacement.
Contact a Lawyer Serving California Bicycle Accident Victims
If you or a loved one has suffered a serious injury in a bike collision caused by a careless driver, discuss your case with a skilled California Bicycle Accident Attorney as soon as possible. Bicycle accident victims should never be left to face the costs of recovery alone, no matter if they were wearing a helmet or not.
Contact Maison Law to make sure you are clear on the rights you have as a victim and the benefits that are available to you and your family. We offer a free, no-obligation case evaluation to all bicycle accident victims and their families. We want to make sure victims get the support they need to recover and return to the road again.
If you feel we can help you earn more for your injury, you won’t need any upfront money to hire us. We don’t get paid unless we win your case for you. Then our fee comes out of the settlement check an insurance company provides.
