Skilled New York Bicycle Accident Lawyer

Fighting for Full Compensation After an Accident

As gasoline prices remain consistently high, the number of bicycle crashes in New York has increased as well. These wrecks usually cause serious or fatal injuries, mostly because bicyclists have almost no protection from onrushing cars.

An aggressive NYC bicycle accident lawyer, can ensure that your rights are upheld. Our team puts first things first. We promptly connect victims with top-notch doctors, bicycle mechanics, and other providers. Usually, these providers charge no money upfront. Then, we evaluate your case and collect evidence that supports your claims. Finally, when the case goes to court, we keep fighting until we obtain the best possible result under the circumstances.

Serious Injury Victims Need and Deserve Compensation

Serious injuries have consequences that may affect you for years. In addition to the physical and psychological suffering after a serious bicycle accident, you may also face the financial fallout stemming from the accident. As a result, some common losses include:

• Medical Expenses: Hospitalization costs about $3,000 per day, so this bill quickly adds up. 
• Physical and Emotional Pain and Suffering: Accident victims, like everyone else, deserve a chance to live their lives as they want to. Unfortunately, due to their injuries, that’s usually not an option. Financial compensation does not change the past, but it does make the future a little brighter for these victims and their families.
• Lost Income: Victims usually cannot work as they recover from their physical and emotional injuries. Furthermore, these injuries are often permanent, at least to an extent. Therefore, an NYC bicycle accident lawyer, usually working with doctors and accountants, must determine how much these injuries will cost in the future, not only in terms of lost income, but in terms of additional medical bills.

Only an experienced NYC bicycle accident lawyer can properly evaluate your case, determine how much compensation is available, and fight to obtain it.

Why Choose Us

At Tucker Lawyers, we’ve helped hundreds of injured people just like you. We understand the stress you feel and know that you need to be sure you’ll get the compensation you need and deserve. Here are just a few reasons people like you choose our bicycle accident lawyer in NYC:

• Our detailed knowledge of New York personal injury laws means we know how to best get you the full compensation you deserve.
• Our extensive experience with injury cases supports the strategy we will develop for your claim.
• We have a strong history of winning results for our clients.
• Past clients describe how we successfully helped them.
• Attorney John Tucker, who leads our team, leverages his skills to guide your case.
• We care deeply about getting you the financial support you need to cover your medical and living expenses.

If you have been struck by a car while riding a bike, and the accident was caused by another driver’s negligence, you should expect the other driver’s insurance company to cover your medical bills, prescription costs, household services, transportation to medical providers, and lost wages.

Common Injuries in Bicycle Accidents

Wearing a helmet, practicing defensive riding, and expecting that drivers aren’t looking for you are all good practices to avoid a bicycle accident. Nevertheless, crashes still happen. When they do, even a helmet may not fully protect you from a brain injury or other serious wound. Among the types of injuries cyclists can get in an accident are:

• Concussions: These injuries occur when the brain collides with the inside of the skull. Though helmets protect against head injuries, bicycle riders who wear them can still suffer a concussion, but it’s likely to be less serious than if they rode helmetless.
• Contusions: Serious brain bruising is hard to diagnose. It can mimic symptoms of a concussion, depending on the region of the brain affected.
• Hematomas: Blows to the skull can cause blood clots between the skull and brain or inside the brain itself. They block the supply of blood (and oxygen) to the brain, which can lead to a stroke.
• Spinal Cord Injury: This can result in temporary, partial, or total paralysis below the injury site. The effects of total paralysis to the spinal cord are often permanent. It often takes years of rehabilitation to fully recover from non-permanent paralysis.
• Internal Injuries: Organ trauma can affect the chest (heart/lungs) and abdomen (liver, kidneys, gastrointestinal system, etc.).
• Bone Fractures: Vulnerable areas include arms, legs, wrists, elbows, and knees. Traumatic bone fractures usually involve compound fractures, where an arm or leg bone pierces skin.
• Soft Tissue Injuries: Road rash is a common injury in bicycle accidents. Other soft tissue injuries can include damage to ligaments and cartilage.

Careless driving usually causes these injuries. Wrecks often happen as a parked car pulls out, when a driver turns at an intersection without looking carefully, when a driver is distracted by looking at a device or eating, or any number of other reasons. Because bicyclists are so vulnerable to serious injury when they are involved in a collision with a larger vehicle, one misstep from a driver can carry devastating consequences for someone on a bicycle. When drivers fail to do their part to keep others safe, they are negligent.

How Drivers Can and Should Avoid Bicycle Accidents in New York

Drivers have a responsibility to more vulnerable road users like bicyclists and pedestrians. They should follow the rules of the road and the conduct expected of all New York motorists. When they don’t, tragedy happens. The size of a car causes severe injuries, and even death, for bike riders. Our team evaluates the circumstances of your accident and lets you know what outcome to expect.

Drivers are responsible for these wrecks, in part, because they have the tools to prevent them. The ways drivers can avoid causing a bicycle accident include:

• Being mindful of the presence of bicyclists
• Giving cyclists ample room when sharing the road
• Never veering into bicycle lanes, even if a cyclist’s presence isn’t detected
• Never opening a vehicle’s door into oncoming traffic
• Staying focused on the task of driving and being aware of surroundings.

New York drivers have experience sharing the road with bicyclists. There’s no excuse for negligent driving that threatens the safety of other road users. When drivers fail to keep others safe, they should be held accountable for the harm they cause.

Bicyclists have their own responsibilities as well. Just like riders work to avoid wrecks, we work hard for riders.

FAQs About Bicycle Accidents

A good NYC bicycle accident lawyer is a strong advocate, a solid negotiator, and a resource person for your questions about personal injury cases.

How will I know if injuries from my bicycle accident are serious?

Only a lawyer can properly evaluate your case, and only an experienced doctor can properly determine your medical condition.

Many bicycle crash-related injuries, like head injuries, are difficult to diagnose and treat. Head injuries are progressive. Therefore, without prompt and proper treatment, a relatively minor head injury quickly becomes a life-threatening head injury.

Do I need a bicycle accident attorney to handle my claim?

Absolutely. Usually within a few hours of a wreck, insurance company lawyers are already looking for ways to reduce or deny compensation to victims. Only an assertive NYC bicycle accident lawyer levels the playing field.

An attorney does more than advocate for you and negotiate a favorable settlement. Only an attorney provides solid legal advice, so you can make the best possible decisions.

Do I have to pay any legal fees if I lose my case?

No. Our NYC bicycle accidents lawyer works on a contingent fee basis. Rather than charge money upfront, or if you lose your case, our team is satisfied with a small percentage of your recovery. Furthermore, if you lose your case, you’re typically not responsible for any litigation costs, like filing fees or expert witness fees. At Tucker Lawyers, we assume the financial risk, so victims have access to justice and compensation.

How much is my bicycle accident case worth?

A claim’s worth, or settlement value, is a combination of a victim’s economic and non-economic damages. The settlement value is like the asking price. Settlement negotiations typically involve some give and take. Our legal team ensures that the insurance company does most of the giving.

How long will it take to settle my New York bicycle accident case?

At Tucker Lawyers, the settlement process is often long, because we never look for a quick settlement or an easy way out. Additionally, most insurance companies initially make “lowball” offers which are clearly unreasonable under the circumstances. We patiently negotiate with insurance companies to raise their offers. However, our patience is not unlimited. If we cannot work something out, we don’t hesitate to go to the mat for you.

Reach out to the skilled New York bicycle accident attorneys at Tucker Lawyers, P.C. by calling (516) 399-2364 or by filling out our contact form.

Managing Attorney John. J. Tucker, Esq.

John has personally handled thousands of clients who were victims of another’s negligence and fights relentlessly for their rights. John enjoys bringing closure to a client’s matter so that the injured party can move forward with their life. His background enables him to evaluate complex liability related claims and bring resolution to claims in a record time frame. [ATTORNEY BIO]