Salt Lake City Bicycle Accident Lawyer

How Our Bicycle Accident Attorneys Can Help

Why Choose Us?

After a serious bicycle accident, it is important for you to find an attorney you not only feel comfortable with but who has the experience and the resources to properly investigate and handle your case.  Here are some reasons why we feel Strong Law is your best choice:

• We are experienced. Attorney Jed Strong, the founder of Strong Law, once worked for GEICO insurance company as one of its in-house attorneys, so he has learned the inner workings of insurance companies. He uses this inside knowledge to help negotiate with insurers and advocate for his clients. He is a strong litigator who has taken numerous cases to trial and obtained exceptional verdicts for his clients.
• We get results and have a long record of success. We have won 98% of our cases, including a $1.1M car accident and a $900k Pedestrian Accident verdict.
• We work closely with and take a personal interest in our clients. You can read our client testimonials to prove it.
• We are available and you can call us 24/7 for emergencies.
• We are licensed to practice in Washington, Oregon, and Utah to better serve all your case needs.
• We negotiate forcefully with insurance companies but are fully prepared to take your case to court, if necessary.
• We offer free consultations to discuss your issues and show you how we can help.

Our Salt Lake City Bicycle Accident Attorney Works for You

When you have our Strong Law legal team on your side, we will start working on your behalf immediately. We will:

• Meet with you to discuss how the accident happened, who the at-fault parties may be, and what type of settlement to go after.
• Ensure you get proper medical care and that all symptoms and treatments are documented.
• Investigate the accident and gather evidence to help prove your claims, such as photographs and videos from surveillance cameras, interviews with witnesses and first responders, and police, ambulance, and medical reports and records.
• Hire experts to reconstruct the accident and determine fault, and experts to testify as to your damages and losses and how your injuries will affect you into the future
• Handle all communications and negotiations with insurance companies to come up with an agreement for a fair settlement.
• Build your case and take it to court, if necessary.

Our Salt Lake City bicycle accident attorneys at Strong Law are fully committed to helping you get the best settlement possible. Call us today at 206-741-1053 to get started while evidence is available and witnesses can be found.

Damages Our Salt Lake City Bicycle Accident Lawyers May Recover

In Utah, bicyclists who have auto insurance and are injured in accidents are covered by no-fault insurance and can file a claim with their own auto insurance provider regardless of who was at fault for the accident. Personal injury protection (PIP) coverage pays up to $3,000 for medical expenses, and a portion of your lost wages for up to 12 months.

However, some bicyclists do not have insurance, and PIP coverage is often not enough to cover serious injuries that require long-term care. In these situations, you can file a lawsuit against an at-fault party for the full damages you received.

Compensation Should Cover All Your Losses

In a successful lawsuit, our Salt Lake City bicycle accident lawyers may win an award for your damages — the expenses and losses you suffered from the accident. We will fight for an award that fully compensates for both your economic or monetary costs and losses, as well as your non-economic damages that do not have a specific dollar value but negatively affect your life.

You may receive compensation for

• Medical and rehabilitation bills and continuing care
• Lost wages, current and projected into the future
• Property damages such as to fix replace your Bicycle
• Costs of modifications to a home, such as to accommodate a wheelchair
• Physical pain and suffering
• Mental and emotional anguish
• Loss of companionship and consortium and quality of life
• Permanent disability
• Disfigurement and scarring.

In some rare situations, Utah law (Utah Code Section 78B-8-201 allows punitive damages as well. These may be awarded only if compensatory or general damages are awarded and it is established that the defendant acted with willful and malicious or intentionally fraudulent conduct. The purpose of punitive damages is to punish a defendant and discourage such actions in the future.

Amounts of Damage Awards

There is a wide range of damage amounts that you may receive in a successful bicycle accident lawsuit, from the thousands to millions of dollars. The amount you may receive depends on the individual factors and circumstances of your case. In general, the more severe injuries that involve permanent damage and require long-term care or result in death often bring the highest settlement awards. Other factors affecting award amounts include the individual jurisdiction, judge, and jury if there is a trial, and the skill and negotiating power of your attorney to come up with an optimum settlement.

Our Bicycle Accident Attorneys Prove Negligence

To win your bicycle accident injury case, your attorney must be able to show that another party, the defendant in the case, was negligent and at fault for causing the accident that injured you. Proving another party was at fault legally involves showing the existence of the following elements:

• Duty – The defendant owed you a duty of care not to cause harm
• Breach – The defendant breached that duty by acting or failing to act
• Cause – This breach caused an accident that resulted in your injuries
• Damages – You suffered damages as a result.

Proving negligence typically involves an in-depth investigation into how the accident occurred and whether other parties acted negligently or violated the law. Depending on the situation, there may be multiple parties who were negligent that we can hold liable for your accident.  These may include:

• Another vehicle driver who was driving while intoxicated or distracted hit you or caused you to crash.
• The manufacturers of the bicycle and its parts if these were defective and failed.
• Road repair companies and municipalities if dangerous conditions or poorly maintained roads contributed to the crash.

Based on the evidence, our investigations, and reports from experts, our Strong legal team will find all possible liable parties, as they all may have assets and insurance that can go toward a settlement.

Bicyclists Must Follow the Laws

To fight your case, insurance companies and opposition attorneys will try to prove that you were negligent and did something to cause or contribute to the accident. In general, bicyclists have the same rights and responsibilities as anyone else on the road. While there is no bicycle helmet law in Utah, everyone who rides a bicycle should wear an approved safety helmet to help prevent serious head and brain injuries.

Utah has taken a leading role in the United States by passing laws protecting the rights of bicyclists on our streets. Bicyclists are considered to be vulnerable users of a highway, and endangering a vulnerable user of a highway is prohibited. Some laws regarding bicycles are:

• Motorists may not pass within three feet of a moving bicycle. In addition, motorists may not attempt to distract a bicyclist to cause injury or force a bicyclist off the roadway (41-6a-706.5).
• Bicyclists should ride in the same direction as traffic.
• Drivers are required to recognize that bikes have a right to share the road and respect their right of way.
• Bikers have the full right to ride on the right-hand side of the edge of the road and may use the roadway as necessary to avoid hazards or where the lane is too narrow for both a vehicle and a bicyclist to travel side by side.

Bicyclists also have responsibilities. This includes obeying traffic signals (41-6a-305); stop and yield signs (41-6a-902); and all other official traffic control devices (41-6a-208); yielding to pedestrians in crosswalks (41-6a-1002); and stopping for school buses with flashing red lights. (41-6a-1302).

Bicycle Accident Attorneys Answer FAQs

After a traumatic Bicycle accident, it is natural to have many questions about your legal options. These are best addressed in your free consultation, but to get started, here are some answers to questions our clients often ask.

Are there time limits to filing a lawsuit?

Yes, Utah has a statute of limitations (78B-2-307), a deadline for filing a bicycle accident lawsuit, that is generally four years from the time of the accident, with some exceptions.  If you fail to file on time, the courts are likely to refuse to hear your case.

What if I am partially at fault for the accident?

Even if you are partially at fault, you may still be entitled to compensation. Under Utah law, U.C.A. 78B-6-817, the jury determines the percentage of fault attributable to each party. As long as you are not more than 49% at fault, you can still obtain a settlement in proportion to the other party’s responsibility for the accident. For example, if you have $100,000.00 in damages and are 20 percent at fault, you can collect $80,000.00.

Should I Talk to the Insurance Company?

No, the less you say to insurance companies, the better. Insurance companies want to pay out as little as possible and use tactics such as making a lowball offer they hope you will accept quickly or trying to get you to admit that the accident was your fault. Tell the insurance company to talk to your attorney, and let Strong Law handle all negotiations to get you the settlement you deserve.

How long will it take to settle my case?

The amount of time it takes to settle your case can vary greatly. In some cases, when injuries are minor, a fault is clear and insurance companies are willing to negotiate, cases can settle in weeks. In other cases, such as when injuries take a long time to resolve or there are multiple defendants, it may take months to settle, especially if the case goes to court.

When you have our Strong Law attorneys on your side, we will be there throughout the entire legal process, answering your questions and keeping you informed.