Bicycle Accidents
Bicyclists: The Road’s Most Vulnerable Travelers
Bicyclists are by nature vulnerable occupants of traffic ways. Bicycling on a sidewalk is generally against the law. Biking in the street, with the flow of traffic, is legal. However, a biker, with no body protection, is no match against a car or truck that collides with him or her. When it comes to the seriousness of injuries inflicted, it does not matter who was right or wrong — the bicyclist inevitably suffers greatly.
Injuries are typically serious, severe, catastrophic or fatal when a bicyclist is run over or involved in a crash with a motor vehicle. If your injuries in a bicycle wreck were relatively minor (such as a broken ankle or a knee injury), you may count yourself lucky to be alive and “in one piece,” yet medical bills may still be very high. You may lose income as you miss time off work while you heal. You will need compensation in order to put your life back where it was before the accident.
On the other hand, if your injuries are catastrophic, you must deal with a lifetime of a lifestyle with limitations. You are likely to incur exorbitant medical bills after suffering a traumatic brain injury, a spinal cord injury, or amputation of a limb badly injured in a bicycle crash. You will require ongoing physical therapy, occupational therapy, rehabilitation, personal care, and expensive equipment and disability accommodations.
Retain an Attorney as Soon as You Can
Legal issues such as right of way can be complex in a bicycle accident investigation. Insurance questions are sometimes problematic. It is essential that you pursue every avenue of financial support. Early involvement of an experienced and knowledgeable personal injury lawyer can help ensure that you tap into all available resources. After a New York City or Long Island bicycle accident, injury lawyers at RGLZ can conduct all the necessary investigation and begin the necessary process of pursuing the compensation you need.
All personal injury cases are handled on a contingency fee basis, so you pay no fees to us unless we recover compensation for you. To schedule a free consultation with a Suffolk County bicycle accident attorney, call 866-639-5567 or we’ll help you get to a better place.
Important Change for Motorized Bicycles: Prior to 2022, motorized bicycles were collected as motor vehicles and classified as motorcycles in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and the Crash Report Sampling System (CRSS), and their operators and passengers were captured as motorists. Beginning in 2022, FARS and CRSS are no longer collecting motorized bicycles as motor vehicles. Consequently, operators and passengers of motorized bicycles will be captured as pedalcyclists when involved in a motor vehicle traffic crash. Any traffic crash involving only motorized bicycle(s) will no longer be captured in FARS or CRSS. In 2021 there were 43 traffic fatalities on motorized bicycles reported to FARS. Of the 43 traffic fatalities on motorized bicycles, 7 were in crashes involving only motorized bicycles.
Key Findings
• In 2023 there were 1,166 pedalcyclist fatalities, accounting for 2.9 percent of all traffic fatalities.
• In 2023 there was a 4-percent increase in pedalcyclists killed (1,166) from the 1,117 pedalcyclists killed in 2022.
• In 2023 an estimated 49,989 pedalcyclists were injured, an 8-percent increase from 46,195 pedalcyclists injured in 2022.
• In 2023 there were an estimated 49,989 pedalcyclists injured, accounting for 2.0 percent of all people injured in traffic crashes.
• In 2023 the pedalcyclist fatality rate per 100,000 people was more than 7 times higher for males than females. The injury rate for pedalcyclists per 100,000 people was 5 times higher for males than for females.
• Alcohol involvement (blood alcohol concentration [BAC] of .01 grams per deciliter [g/dL] or higher) – either for the motor vehicle driver involved in a fatal pedalcyclist crash and/or the killed pedalcyclist – was reported in 34 percent of all fatal pedalcyclist crashes in 2023.
• Twenty-two percent of the pedalcyclists who died in 2023 had BACs of .01 g/dL or higher.
• In 2023 most pedalcyclist fatalities (81%) were in urban areas.