Johns Creek Bicycle Accident Attorneys

Located in Fulton County, Johns Creek has consistently been voted the top suburb in the United States because of its beauty and safety. It’s a place where riding your bicycle through the tree-lined streets can be a relaxing experience — unless you’re involved in an accident. 

Despite the suburb’s safety, traffic accidents are still a concern, especially when it comes to vulnerable riders on the road. In 2020, Fulton County experienced six serious injuries and fatalities involving cyclists, and while that number may appear low, any serious bicycle accident is one too many. 

The team of Johns Creek bicycle accident lawyers at Kaufman Injury Law offers assistance to people who’ve suffered because of a driver’s negligent conduct while on the road. If you’ve been injured while cycling, we could help you get the compensation you deserve. 

Understanding Your Rights After a Bicycle Accident

Georgia is an at-fault state when it comes to collisions, including those in which bicycles are involved. That means the person who holds the highest percentage of fault for causing the accident is the one who has to pay damages. 

Because Georgia has modified comparative negligence laws, you can still recover damages if you were partly to blame for the accident as long as you don’t hold more than 49% of the fault. That means you have to demonstrate that the other party is liable, but how do you do this?

Proving Negligence

For the majority of bicycle accidents, you’ll have to prove that negligence was a factor. The first thing you’ll have to demonstrate is that the other person owed you a duty of care. Anyone behind the wheel of a vehicle owes others on the road a responsibility to drive safely.

Once you’ve established the other party’s duty of care, you have to show that they breached it. Let’s say you’re cycling down Cottage Farm Road, and a car runs through a stop sign because the driver was texting while driving. The driver breached their duty of care toward you by doing something illegal — texting while driving. 

The next step in proving negligence is showing that the person’s actions led you to suffer injuries for which you can be compensated. If the car that ran that stop sign hit you and you fractured an arm, that meets all the requirements for holding them liable for negligence.

Statute of Limitations

It’s important to keep in mind that you don’t have an unlimited amount of time after the accident to file a personal injury claim. In Georgia, you have two years from the day of the crash. There are exceptions, however, which could shorten the time you have, so it’s essential that you contact our lawyers as soon as possible. 

Main Reasons for Johns Creek Bicycle Accidents 

Bicycle accidents can occur for a number of reasons, with driver errors tending to be the most common.

Distracted Motorists

If the driver of a motor vehicle isn’t paying attention while driving, they could easily miss seeing changes in the road. Cyclists are already more difficult to spot because they can easily fall into a car or truck’s blind spots, but if the driver is not paying attention, the risk of an accident rises exponentially. 

Distracted driving may involve texting, eating, changing the radio station, or even speaking with passengers while operating a vehicle. In 2022, 30% of all traffic crashes in Georgia that resulted in serious injuries involved at least one distracted driver.

Speeding

A driver who’s operating a motor vehicle at speeds higher than the law allows can cause a catastrophic accident. Speeding drivers will have less time to react to changes on the road, increasing their likelihood of causing an accident. If a speeding vehicle hits a cyclist, the injuries could be catastrophic. 

Intoxicated Driving

Operating a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol is another cause of bicycle accidents. These substances make drivers more reckless while also impacting their coordination and reflexes. They won’t be able to react appropriately to hazards that appear on the road and could easily veer into the next lane and hit a cyclist. 

Reckless Driving

Reckless drivers are motorists who drive without regard for the safety of others on the road. Behaviors can include intentionally running through stop signs or red lights, racing other vehicles, and rapidly changing lanes. All of these actions can lead to severe accidents. 

Road Conditions

Potholes and road debris are usually not big concerns for cars, but they can cause significant harm to cyclists. Road conditions can cause you to lose control of the bicycle and potentially swerve into other lanes or lose your balance completely. 

Road condition issues also include improper lighting. Even if you have the appropriate gear on your bicycle to make you more visible, roads that aren’t well-lit can increase the chances of a vehicle hitting you.

If road conditions cause the accident, you could hold the parties in charge of road maintenance liable. Usually, those are government entities. 

How a Johns Creek Bicycle Accident Attorney Can Help

If you suffer injuries in a bicycle accident, one of the first things you have to do is hire our team of personal injury lawyers. You never want to file a claim without legal representation. 

Crucially, you may be dealing with significant injuries that don’t allow you to focus on gathering the necessary evidence to demonstrate what happened. We can do this for you. We have years of experience and know what to present to prove that you deserve compensation. 

Perhaps the most complex part of filing a personal injury claim is negotiating with insurance companies. You may have heard insurers state that they’re on your side, but that’s not the case. Their only goal is to find a reason to keep from paying you what you deserve.

To achieve that goal, they could try to pressure you into accepting a low offer and even engage in strategies to delay the claims process. If you have our team of lawyers helping you, you don’t have to worry about negotiations. We will take care of that for you. 

In instances when there are disputes over fault, or we think insurers are dragging their feet, we can take your case to court. We have decades of litigation experience, and we won’t hesitate to use that experience if we think you can benefit from it. 

The entire claims process can be stressful. You need to have the support of people who have been through it numerous times and can guide you. That’s what we offer at Kaufman Injury Law. 

Schedule a Free Consultation With Our Johns Creek Bicycle Accident Lawyers

If you suffered injuries because of someone else’s negligent or wrongful conduct, you could be entitled to file a claim to recover damages. You can get help for paying medical bills and property damage and could even recuperate lost wages. To get fair compensation, you need to hire experienced bicycle accident lawyers. At Kaufman Injury Law, we’ve helped clients recover millions of dollars in settlements and jury awards. We’re fiercely dedicated to each of our clients and will do our utmost to help you get the compensation you deserve. Contact our team of Johns Creek bicycle accident lawyers by giving us a call.