Bike traffic collision Personal injury lawyer in South Carolina

Bicycle riders are often unfairly treated as second-class citizens on the road. When they’re involved in an accident, it’s easy for them to be the ones hurt the worst. Fractures, internal injuries, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, and other serious injuries are common in bicycle accidents.

If you’ve been hurt in a bicycle accident in South Carolina, get the legal advice and pursue the compensation you need.

At Wilson & Luginbill, our South Carolina bicycle accident attorneys know what bicycle riders face on the road. We’ve helped bicycle accident victims across South Carolina fight for their rights and their recovery. If you were injured in a bicycle accident, contact us for a free consultation about your case.

Call us or use our online contact options now to find out more about your best legal options for recovery.

How We Build Strong Claims for Bicycle Accident Victims

When bicycle accident victims turn to us, they know that they will get experienced and dedicated representation. After a bicycle accident, we’ll act quickly to secure the evidence and provide the resources that your claim needs.

When we’re working on a bicycle accident claim, we’ll take many steps to secure your claim, such as:

• Investigating the accident and its causes. A bicycle accident can be over before you even know it happened. Those involved in the accident and those who saw the accident may have different views. Our bicycle accident lawyer will work with authorities, investigators, and witnesses to understand what really happened during your accident.
• Working quickly to secure key evidence about your accident. In many accidents, there are important records involved: surveillance camera footage, incident reports, statements by those involved, and many other documents. Our attorneys will secure these important documents before they’re lost or discarded.
• Consulting with crash scene experts to reconstruct and analyze the accident. After a serious bicycle accident, your claim may need the help of experts. These experts can reconstruct the accident and prepare a report that can support your claim.
• Determining the parties who were responsible for the accident. A bicycle accident may be the fault of multiple parties. We’ll work to figure out what happened in your accident and seek to hold all the responsible parties accountable.
• Working with medical and financial professionals to evaluate your injuries and calculate your losses. Many injuries are hard to put a number on. Our attorneys will support your claim by gathering documents about your injuries and helping you figure out how much compensation you need to be made whole.

The bicycle accident victims at Wilson & Luginbill know how to build a claim that works for you. We support our clients in their recovery, and we will work tirelessly to build a compelling and persuasive case. If you’ve been injured in a bicycle accident, contact our attorneys for a free consultation.

Help After Hit-And-Run Accidents Involving a Bicycle

After a hit-and-run accident, bicyclists can be left stranded, injured, and wondering what they’ll do next. If you’ve been involved in a hit-and-run accident, try to get the license plate number of the person who hit you. It’s one of the best ways to identify who hit you. However, sometimes it isn’t possible to do that.

If you’ve been injured in a hit-and-run bicycle accident, our attorneys can help:

• Investigate the accident by gathering video footage, witness statements, and other critical evidence.
• Work with authorities to find those responsible.
• Review available insurance options including your health insurance and uninsured motorist (UM) auto coverage.

If you were involved in a hit-and-run accident while riding your bicycle, don’t give up on your recovery. With hard work and diligence, you may be able to track down the responsible party and hold them accountable for your accident. If not, you may still be able to receive compensation under your auto policy’s uninsured motorist coverage – even though you weren’t driving your covered car in the crash. Our bicycle accident lawyers are committed to seeking compensation for you from every available source.

Compensation for Losses in a Bike Accident

A bicycle accident can leave you seriously injured and wondering how you’ll recover. If you’ve been injured in a bike accident in South Carolina, there may be compensation available. Compensation may include:

• The cost of your medical treatment. Injuries from a bike accident can be serious. A bicycle rider is no match against the weight and power of a motor vehicle. Bicyclists may need emergency treatment, and they may need long-term rehabilitation for their injuries. Bills can add up fast, but a compensation claim may cover the costs of your treatments.
• The income you lose due to your injuries. After a bicycle accident, you may be out of work for quite a while or you may never be able to work again. A compensation claim may include the wages that you lost due to missed work and the cost of lost work opportunities in the future due to your injuries.
• Pain and suffering. You may be left with chronic, lingering pain even after your injuries appear to have healed. A claim may include compensation for your physical pain. A claim may also include compensation for your emotional pain and suffering due to the bicycle accident. Accidents can be traumatic events that leave victims with severe problems such as anxiety, insomnia, and depression. If you’ve suffered emotional pain resulting from a bike accident, you may be able to obtain compensation.
• Loss of consortium. This type of damages attempts to compensate a spouse and families for the loss of care and services provided by the injury victim. If you were injured, and unable to care for your loved ones as needed, you may be able to recover compensation.
• Punitive damages. When a defendant’s conduct was criminal or reckless, punitive damages may be available. These damages can be challenging to obtain, so speak with an attorney to understand if they may be available in your case.

These and other types of damages may be available in your bicycle accident claim. Our bicycle injury attorneys can review the facts of your case, and help you determine what compensation you should pursue.

How Long Do You Have to File a Bike Crash Claim in South Carolina?

In South Carolina, you must file your claim for personal injury and property damage within three years of the accident. Otherwise, your claim will be blocked unless a very narrow exception applies. Known as a statute of limitations, this rule is strictly enforced and rarely can be challenged.

One notable exception to the rule is in cases where an injury victim passes away later due to their injuries. The three-year period for a wrongful death action begins to run after the victim passes away.

Although you have a few years to file a claim, it’s always best to get your claim started as soon as you can. Bicycle accident claims can take time to build. When you get your claim started quickly, you give yourself and your attorney more time to prepare. Give yourself every advantage and contact an attorney as soon as you can after your accident.

Common Causes of Bicycle Accidents in South Carolina

When bicycle riders are on the road, they must be aware of dangers all the time. Unfortunately, even the most attentive and experienced rider may be involved in crash caused by someone else’s negligence.

Some common causes of bicycle accidents include:

• Inattentive drivers. Those operating motor vehicles should always be vigilant. Reality is that they’re often not. When drivers are distracted by cell phones, other passengers, and other sources of distraction, it’s easy for them to strike a bicycle rider and cause injury.
• Turning in front of bicycle riders. Motor vehicle operators may ignore bicycle riders, fail to see them, or they may assume that the bicycle rider must yield. When drivers turn in front of a bicycle rider, they may hit the rider, or the rider may collide with the vehicle that just turned in front of them.
• Opening doors without looking for bicycle riders. Known as “dooring,” this is especially common in cities with curbside parking. Those getting out of cars may not look for oncoming bicycle riders and riders may not have time to stop or avoid the impact.
• Accidents involving dogs. When bicyclists pass by a house, they may be chased by a dog. Bicyclists don’t have the protection of a car, or the speed of a motorcycle to get away. A dog may scare the rider, resulting in an accident, or the dog may attack and bite the rider.
• Unsafe road conditions. All vehicles may suffer in poor road conditions, but bicyclists are especially vulnerable. Potholes, unmarked construction, and incomplete repairs all present serious dangers to riders.

These and many other dangers can cause injuries to bicycle riders. If you’ve been injured, our experienced bicycle accident injury attorneys can review your case and advise you on how you may recover.

Wrongful Death Claims in Bicycle Crashes

Bicycle riders don’t have the protections that motor vehicle drivers do, and when a bicycle is involved in a crash, it’s all too common for the bicycle rider to be killed. It’s a tragic loss of life that can leave family members and loved ones reeling. The support and care that a victim gave are gone, and families can be left struggling to get by.

In South Carolina, the administrator or executor of the victim’s estate may bring a wrongful death action on behalf of surviving family members. A wrongful death claim can be an important step in a family’s recovery, and the claim can help them find the resources they need to rebuild.

A wrongful death claim may include compensation for:

• Medical treatment costs of the victim prior to their passing.
• Lost income and wages that the victim would have provided.
• The pain and suffering that the surviving family members went through as a result of the death.
• Loss of consortium including the care, support, and love that a spouse and family members lost.
• Punitive damages when the defendant’s conduct was criminal or reckless.
• Final expenses for funeral and burial or cremation costs.

After a wrongful death, the survivors often have questions about how to recover just compensation after their loss. A wrongful death claim may help them find the resources they need. If you’ve lost a loved one in a bicycle accident, contact our attorneys to discuss your options.

Tips for Protecting Your Rights After a Bicycle Crash

After a bicycle crash, act to protect yourself and your claim. Get yourself emergency medical attention if needed. Even if you don’t think you have any serious injuries, get a medical evaluation as soon as you can. Many injuries such as TBI, neck injuries and internal injuries may show up only after time has passed. An evaluation can catch problems and minimize the damage.

If you’ve been injured in a bicycle crash:

• Take photos of the accident scene and the surroundings. An accident scene may change quickly, so any details you can capture at the time of the accident are helpful. Lighting, signage, and many important pieces of information may affect your claim. Also, capture key information about the bicycles and vehicles involved in the accident such as damage and license plates.
• Collect insurance information.
• Contact the police about your accident. The police will compile a report about the accident and gather the information that may be important later.
• Collect the contact information for any witnesses to the accident. After an accident, witnesses often leave the scene. Before they do, get their names and contact information if possible.
• Don’t accept blame for the accident and don’t apologize. You may not know exactly why an accident happened, so let investigators allocate responsibility later on. When you make statements about who was responsible, they may cause you problems later, even if they’re not true. An apology may be misinterpreted as an admission of fault.
• Contact a bicycle accident attorney. A bicycle accident attorney knows how to protect you after an accident. Insurance companies, authorities, and the other side may try to contact you or prevent you from obtaining compensation. An attorney will handle your claim and represent you throughout the process while you heal.

Help for Bicycle Accident Victims in South Carolina

The experienced bicycle accident attorneys at Wilson Law Group, LLC understand how serious bicycle accident injuries can be. Injuries can be long-lasting and can hurt you for years to come. There’s no reversing your accident, but there are ways to get you the help you need. Our attorneys proudly help bicycle accident victims pursue the compensation they need to move forward with their lives.

If you have been injured in a bicycle accident, contact us for a free consultation about your case. Call us or contact us online today to discuss your best legal options.