This article was written by our law firm partner, and Stuart, Florida bicycle accident law attorney, Tim Nies.

There is no doubt that bicycling in Stuart, Port St. Lucie and throughout the Treasure Coast, while less expensive than driving and, to many, more enjoyable than driving, there is equally no doubt that bicycling poses more dangers than driving on or roads. Cars, pickups, trucks, and buses are safer modes of transportation because the vehicles fully enclose their drivers. Bicycle riders, on the other hand, may only have a helmet to help protect them. Any bicyclist injured in Martin or St. Lucie country, Florida due to the carelessness or recklessness of others should speak with an experienced bicycle accident law attorney about legal options.

Stuart Bicycle and Bicycle Accident Laws

Under Florida’s bicycle laws, a bicycle is legally defined as a vehicle and has all of the privileges, rights, and responsibilities on public roads (other than highways/expressways) that a motor vehicle operator does.

Bicyclists in Martin and St. Lucie counties may ride out of the bike lane in the travel lane for their own safety on narrow roads to avoid obstacles or pavement hazards, or to prepare for a left turn. A bicyclist in Florida may use the full lane even while traveling substantially below the speed of traffic if the lane is too narrow for both a car and a bicycle to share.

The problem in Florida is that while bicyclists may share the road with cars, trucks, and motorcycles, drivers of motor vehicles oftentimes do not respect these privileges of Florida’s bicyclists. How often do you see motorists crowding bicyclists out when they are operating on a road, which the bicyclists have an equal right to be on as a driver of a car? Contact a Florida bicycle accident law attorney for more information on Florida’s bicycle laws.

Proving Negligence in Stuart Bicycle Crash Cases

Just because bicyclists in Stuart have an increased risk of injury than motor vehicles or motorcycle operators, does not mean that any motorist who strikes a bicyclist is at fault.

To hold a motorist financially liable for a Florida plaintiff’s injuries and losses, an experienced bicycle accident law attorney must establish that the motorist had a duty of care to the injured bicyclist, that the motorist breached that duty, that the car/truck/motorcycle operator caused the crash and that the crash resulted in the bicyclist sustaining damages.

What if a Motorist Leaves the Scene of a Bicycle?

All too often drivers who strike bicyclists leave the scene of the accident. If a motorist leaves the scene of an accident, you may be able to file a claim against your uninsured motorist policy for your car, even though you were not driving your car. Contact a Florida bicycle accident lawyer for more information to determine if your auto insurance policy may cover your injuries if the negligent driver fled the scene of the accident.

Recoverable Damages After a Florida Bicycle Crash

Recoverable damages for bicycle accidents in Stuart, Florida, just like car accidents, usually fall into two categories: economic and non-economic.

Economic damages after a Florida bicycle accident center around expenses such as:

• Loss of wages, such as missing work while recovering, attending medical appointments, etc.
• Loss of future earning capacity
• Out-of-pocket expenses

In Florida, non-economic damages in bicycle accident cases include damages such as pain and suffering, loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life, mental anguish, permanent disability, scarring, and others.

Steps to Follow after a Stuart or Port St. Lucie Bicycle Accident

If you are involved in a bicycle crash, call 911 right away. If you are able to do so, safely, collect all evidence at the scene of the crash. Take photographs and videos using your mobile phone of the roadway, your bicycle, the motor vehicle involved in the bicycle accident, and your injuries.

If the negligent driver left the scene, write down the license plate number to provide the police. If anyone stopped to check up on you, ask them for their name and telephone number. Write down the license plate of the witness. Oftentimes, the only photographs that may be available to use at mediation or trial, after a crash, are the photographs taken at the scene of the crash. For example, at the time this article was written, the author used multiple photographs taken by the injured client’s husband at the scene. Without these photographs, the case would not have settled at the amount the case settled for. Make sure to send the photos to your email, or text to another in case the photos on your cellular are accidentally deleted.

Do not discard your bicycle after the crash. Your Stuart Florida bicycle accident law attorney will want to inspect and photograph the bicycle and may use it at trial.

After a Florida bicycle accident, a skilled and experienced personal injury law attorney can help fight for the compensation you deserve.

Talk to a Stuart Florida Bicycle Accident Law Attorney Today

Call the trial attorneys at Van Riper and Nies Attorneys, P.A., a Florida veteran-owned following a bicycle crash. Hiring an attorney early will help you hold the negligent motorist financially responsible for your harms and losses. If you were injured on a bicycle while working, you may also file a separate claim against the negligent driver, in addition to a workers’ compensation claim.

At Van Riper and Nies Attorneys, our Stuart Florida bicycle law attorney, Tim Nies, a former insurance company trial lawyer, and Christian Van Riper, a former prosecutor and resident of Stuart, Florida for more than 45 years, will outwork the insurance company lawyers hired by the negligent driver’s insurance companies.

Call our Stuart, Florida trial lawyers at 772-283-8712 for a free consultation and to discuss legal options, including litigation, bicycle accident settlement possibilities, and trial. From our Stuart office, our personal injury law attorneys represent injured bicyclists in Stuart, Hobe Sound, Jensen Beach, Palm City, Port St. Lucie, Sewall’s Point, and Fort Pierce.

If you are injured, and it is difficult for you to come in for a free consultation, do not worry, our trial attorneys will meet with you at our home. We will not send an assistant, paralegal, or an “investigator,” as many other injury law firms do, to simply sign clients up. Be wary of those personal injury law firms. You will meet with our trial lawyers, Tim Nies or Christian Van Riper, personally. Our paralegals are not permitted to sign clients up. Our skilled paralegals, Sarah, a personal injury paralegal for nearly 20 years, and Sandra, who earned a degree, are top paralegals whose jobs are to assist our attorneys Christian and Tim at trial, not to just sign up clients before other attorneys do.

Our attorneys also represent injured motorcycle operators in motorycle accident cases.