Maison Law is an advocate for safe bicycle rides for all Visalia bicyclists and we represent them when the carelessness of local drivers leaves them with serious injuries.
Our bicycle accident lawyers are committed to helping victims secure the support they need to recover fully.
Schedule a free, no-obligation case consultation with a real lawyer. To find out what you should demand from an at-fault driver’s car insurance, talk to a skilled, local lawyer and schedule a free consultation.
Visalia Bike Accident Injury Claims Process
STEP 1
Call Us For A Free Consulation
Call us 24/7 with No Obligations
STEP 2
Describe Your Accident Details
We will then discuss your legal options and decide whether to move your case forward.
STEP 3
Retain Maison Law w/ No Upfront Fees
We work on contingency. No attorney fees unless you win your case.
STEP 4
Receive Your Compensation
We will fight for you to earn the highest possible payout for your damages.
Do I need a Lawyer after a Bicycle Crash?
If your accident results in a serious injury and a reckless driver is to blame, you should talk over your case with a skilled Visalia bicycle accident lawyer. Insurance companies will look for ways to blame you for what happened. They’ll also try to limit the support you receive by downplaying how badly you are hurt.
Your lawyer is your protection against this type of treatment. Your lawyer collects evidence and files your injury claim for you. Your lawyer stands firm until you are offered a settlement deal that will pay every hospital and physical therapy bill. Having a lawyer represent your case can mean you take home much more in compensation. And there are no upfront costs to hire a lawyer. Your Maison Law representative isn’t paid unless you win your case. Then our fee comes out of the insurance settlement you receive.
What Our Clients Say
How Many Bicycle Accidents Happen in Visalia Each Year?
California’s Transportation Injury Mapping System (TIMS) reports that over the past five years (2019-2023), there have been an average of 25 bicycle accidents involving injury a year. 2023 saw an uptick in local bicycle accidents. Visalia saw 32 for the year. That was the first time the accident toll had reached above 30 since before the pandemic.
Locally, cyclists enjoy protected bike lanes along Houston Avenue, and normal Class II bike lanes along streets like Mooney Boulevard. And there are many bike trails, such as St. John’s Riverwalk through Visalia.
Where no bike lanes exist, cyclists may have to get out in the normal traffic lanes and share them with fast-moving vehicles. When they do, riders have as much right to the lanes as any driver, but they still contend with daily risks when drivers are careless. Motorists can check texts and veer into bike lanes. Aggressive drivers can make turns in front of vulnerable riders.
A collision can leave bicyclists injured from an impact with a vehicle and the road surface. Maison Law focuses on earning clients the money they need to get the best medical care available for as long as necessary to get them back to the rides they love.
Common Bicycle Accidents
As a bicyclist, you don’t have the protection from impact that the occupants of cars will have. You’re exposed and vulnerable to severe injuries. You’re not afforded the protection of air bags or seat restraint systems either. As history tends to repeat itself, so do bicycle accidents. Here are some of the most common types:
- Vehicles Turning Left: Bicycles present small, low and narrow profiles on roadways. Drivers just don’t see them, or they don’t see them until it’s too late, especially when they’re turning left, and the bicyclist is going straight ahead.
- The Right Hook: The cyclist will be going straight, and the motorist will overtake him or her on the left and then, the motorist will make a right turn in front of the bicyclist.
- Right cross crashes when a vehicle exists a side street, private drive or alley and turns right in front of the bicyclist.
- Getting Doored: This happens when a parked driver opens his or her door to get out of their vehicle. The cyclist has no time to avoid the door and slams into it.
- Rear-End Crashes: Yes, bicyclists get rear-ended too. These are particularly dangerous crashes as the rider can be propelled over the bike’s handlebars.
- Hit-and-Runs: These are legally difficult for bicyclists. By the time that the rider might come to their senses and get their bearings, the motorist is long gone.
- Poor road design or maintenance like steep drop-offs or deep potholes, loose or missing storm sewer grates and covers.
Common Bicycle Accident Injuries
Bicyclists often have little or no time to attempt to avoid an impact with a motor vehicle. With no protection around them, the injuries that they suffer can be permanent and severe. Here are some of the more common injuries that our bicycle accident lawyers in Tulare County see:
- Traumatic brain injuries, even when the bicyclist is wearing a helmet.
- Spinal cord injuries are likely to result in some degree of paraplegia or full quadriplegia.
- Multiple fractures, especially from the pelvis on down.
- Damage to vital organs.
- Facial fractures and serious dental injuries.
- Joint and ligament damage to the spine and extremities.
- Deep cuts and road rash.
Insurance Company and Juror Bias Against Bicyclists
Notwithstanding California law, many people are perfectly willing to assign blame to a bicyclist who was in an accident with a motor vehicle just because that person was on a roadway and using two wheels rather than four. This bias needs to be confronted head-on from the beginning of a claim or lawsuit. That’s how we approach it from the moment that we’re retained in a bicycle accident case.
Hit-and-Runs
Most bicyclists don’t realize it, but if they own a car, and they elect to be insured by uninsured motorist coverage, they’re likely covered when injured as a bicyclist in a hit-and-run that was caused by a motorist. Members of their family who are blood relatives and residents of their household might also be covered as bicyclists or as pedestrians.
Don’t Speak With the Opposing Insurer
Given the law of negligence, the serious injuries that are likely to result from a bicycle accident and the bias against cyclists, bicycle accidents are a complex area of the law. Even if an accident wasn’t your fault, the opposing insurer will have you right where it wants you if you try to represent yourself and give that opposing insurer a statement. Your own words will then be used against you in the future to attack your credibility and devalue your case.
Full Support for Visalia Bicycle Crash Victims
A bicycle advocate at Maison Law creates a complete list of the hardships you’ve suffered in recovery. This can go much further than just the totals on your hospital care and surgeon’s fees. Your bicycle accident settlement check must also include support for your other financial and non-economic damages.
These and other factors will determine the levels of compensation you can expect in recovery:
- Help with medical bills now and those anticipated in the future.
- Expense for physical therapy sessions and any medical equipment necessary to give you as much freedom as possible.
- Estimated lifetime costs if you must adapt to life with a permanent disability.
- Physical pain and emotional trauma suffered in the accident and during a difficult recovery. This might include the anxiety you feel when considering getting back out on a bike and riding in traffic.
- Compensation for a loss of enjoyment of life. Being unable to get back on a bike, at least in the short term. Missing out on family activities.
- Travel costs getting to and from doctor visits and surgery consultations while in a wheelchair or cast.
- A new bike and equipment replacement.
- Full compensation for lost wages and benefits at work while you are healing.
- Wrongful death benefits for families who lose a loved one to a bicycle accident.
Contact a Visalia Bicycle Accident Lawyer
Rather than hurting your case, protect it, and contact us to arrange for a free confidential consultation and case review. You can tell us what happened and how it has affected you. We’re going to answer your questions, too.
After that, we’ll provide you with our legal analysis and advise you on all of your legal options. If we end up entering into a retainer agreement with you, no legal fees will even be due unless we obtain a settlement or award for you.
Contact us right away after being injured in any bicycle accident.
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