Bicycles share roadways, driveways, and parking lots with vehicles much bigger and heavier than themselves, and this puts bike riders in many dangerous situations. This brief guide to bicycle safety and accidents can help give you information on some of the most common ways accidents happen and give you information on how to handle things if you are the bicycle rider who has been in an accident.
Parking lot accidents
There are a lot of things that come together in a parking lot setting to create a dangerous environment for bicyclists. Parking lots don't have definitive, well-marked lanes for bikes and cars to travel through at all times. Also, bicycles are hard to see, especially to drivers who are backing out when the bikes are traveling in the car's blind spot. Also, bike riders tend to like to cut through areas of the parking lot they shouldn't in order to get across it faster.
Turning accidents
A lot of accidents happen when cars or bikes are turning. Again, the size of bicycles puts them at a big risk when it comes to being involved in an accident when turns are involved. Problems often arise when a car is turning and a bike keeps going because the driver doesn't realize the bike is even there. Also, bikes can turn when the cars are going straight, and the bike rider might miscalculate the speed at which the car is traveling.
Nighttime accidents
A lot of accidents happen during nighttime hours because drivers can't see the bikes. Many of these accidents can be prevented by installing lights on bicycles and by the riders wearing white clothing, reflective clothing, or even clothing that has lights on it as well.
What to do in an accident
In a minor accident, you want to collect information from witnesses, get contact information and vehicle information from the driver of the car, take pictures of the scene if this is possible, and make sure you get checked out to catch any injuries you may not realize you have. In the event of a serious accident, you want to worry about getting medical treatment first. Then, you should see a bicycle accident lawyer who can help you with your legal case. They can take care of things like tracking down witnesses, having pictures taken of the area where the accident happened, and doing the other things that need to be done in a bicycle accident lawsuit if one should take place.
Share12 November 2019
After I was in a car accident, I wasn't sure what I was going to do in the future. I had some really significant back and neck pain, so I started talking with a lawyer about how to recover some of my losses. I began working with an attorney to take care of things, but I was nervous about how the process would unfold. I began working with the attorney to evaluate every component of the incident, and help me to decode the problems I was faced with. We worked on learning more about the lawsuit, and it helped me to make sense of the situation. Learn more about accidents on this blog.