The expert San Francisco Bay Area bicycle accident attorney team at Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers knows that proving and presenting your claim to an insurance company or a judge in California can be challenging when you are dealing with your injuries.
We’re here to help. If you’ve got major injuries from a bike accident that required an ambulance, ER treatment, hospitalization or surgery we can help you get the financial compensation you deserve.
If we take your case, you can get back to what matters most to you. We will provide you an efficient, low-stress resolution of your claim. We do all the legwork. We will communicate with the parties involved (police, medical facilities and insurance adjusters), and we take care all of the paperwork. You focus on recovering from your injuries and getting back to your family, your work and your life.
Get Started With A FREE EVALUATIONAccording to the Office of Traffic Safety, San Francisco has more bicycle crashes and deaths than any other large city in California. Even though the City is making numerous improvements to our streets, we sadly still remain #1 for bike accidents.
According to the San Francisco Mass Transit Authority over 70% of severe and fatal traffic accidents in San Francisco occur on just 12% of our city streets. Not coincidentally, many of those same areas are also the most dangerous streets for cyclists in San Francisco as well.
Market Street
Historically Market Street is one of the most dangerous in the city for cyclists and pedestrians. Recent improvements of Market Street have tried to make things safer for cyclists and pedestrians. Improvements include safety pylons that separate the bike lane and raised bike lanes along certain stretches of Market Street making collisions less likely.
Mission Street
Mission Street has become ground zero for a significant number of bicycle accidents in San Francisco. The SFMTA says that bicycle traffic along sections of Mission Street is up 75% in the last 10 years meaning there is a large amount of bicycle traffic in the City. This is obviously a good thing, but when you place more vehicles (even pedal-powered) in a stretch of road that wasn’t designed for such volume, you’re inviting accidents.
Valencia Street
The SFPD responds to dozens of bicycle accidents on Valencia Street each year. The street is so dangerous because, like Mission, it exudes a draw for cyclists in San Francisco. It’s nice and flat, and ironically, due to the clearly demarcated bike lanes, it gives a false sense of security to folks riding bikes. Improvements have been made to Valencia Street, but it’s still a hotbed of bicycle accident activity in San Francisco.
Polk Street
The main north-south throughway into the heart of the city, Polk Street has also seen a significantly increased volume of bicycle traffic, outpacing ridership increases (roughly 3% per year). It’s not surprising that it is also the fourth most dangerous street for bicyclists in San Francisco. Although some great road improvements have been made to Polk, it’s still such a congested area that bike accidents are still a normal part of the “action” on Polk Street.
Many San Francisco bicycle accidents occur at intersections. Below are the most dangerous intersections in San Francisco.
According to San Francisco Police Department data, at least 60% of those injured in a bicycle accident, in San Francisco, are caused by motor vehicles. The top three causes of SF bike crashes are:
As an experienced San Francisco bike accident lawyers we see the results of these horrific crashes every day and know injured cyclists getting the financial support they need is imperative. Check out some of the results we’ve received on San Francisco bicycle accident cases like these:
As you can see from all three of the settlement results above, the cyclist was being “jerked-around” by the other side until they got Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyer law firm on board to put an end to those games. Get Sally and her 5-star rated California bike accident team on your side now before it’s too late!
Accident victims with a lawyer receive an average of 3.5 times more than those who are unrepresented.
If you have been involved in a bicycle accident resulting in a serious injury, you need to contact a San Francisco bicycle injury lawyer that knows the bicycle laws and who will protect your legal rights. Hiring a lawyer is the best way to ensure that you’ll get what you deserve from the person or company that caused your injuries.
While bicycles fall under the California Vehicle Code, which essentially gives them the same rights and responsibilities of any other vehicle on the road, bicycle accidents are often difficult to reconstruct. This can lead to inaccurate determination of fault in police reports, which allows insurance companies to use their own interpretation of events to decline or fight a claim. If you want someone to represent your rights and seek a fair injury settlement, who better than an experienced San Francisco bicycle accident lawyer who understands what it’s like to ride in the urban SF environment?
Sally and others on her team who ride in the City understand the San Francisco cycling community and the challenges it faces when sharing the road with other vehicles. We can relate to the contentious relationship that can exist between cyclists and motorists. Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers’ greatest contribution to the cycling community is their intimate knowledge of the law and insurance claims process of bicycle accidents and their ability to use that knowledge to secure fair and full settlements for their SF bike accident clients.
Perhaps you’ve opened a claim with the insurance company on your own. And, maybe the responsible party (or their insurance company) has offered to pay for your out of pocket medical costs. It might be tempting to just take the money and move on. Don’t be too quick.
If you’ve suffered major injuries, you may be doing yourself more harm than good by going it alone without a lawyer! You need to at least get a free consultation with a personal injury lawyer who focuses on San Francisco bicycle accident cases before making any decisions on how to resolve your case.
Motorists will often offer a quick cash payout to cyclists in hopes that they don’t have to report the accident to their insurance company. Don’t engage in this sort of informal resolution of your bike accident, UNLESS you suffered little or no injury. Even then, you might want to run things by a well-reputed SF bike lawyer. Even if you don’t live in California, but you were injured here, you can hire a California bike accident attorney to help you.
If, on the other hand, you make an insurance claim with the motorist’s insurance carrier, the adjuster will typically offer you a quick low-ball payment. To receive this payment you’ll need to sign a release of all claims, which means you can never open up the claim again. If your injuries are not 100% resolved, you won’t know how they might affect you in the future—or what additional medical care you might need. Can you really afford to get a “quick and easy” settlement with an unknown medical future and a likelihood of more missed days at work ahead of you?
Do not just settle for what other people (especially insurance adjusters) say you’re owed. Make sure you get the full compensation you deserve with an experienced San Francisco bicycle accident lawyer by your side.
Broken bones
INJURIES REQUIRING SURGERY
OVERNIGHT HOSPITALIZATION
TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY
WRONGFUL DEATH
How do you know if you really need a lawyer? What can a bike accident attorney do that I can’t do myself? Do I have to sue someone if I hire a personal injury firm? Does getting a lawyer automatically mean my case goes to court? It’s these questions and others that keep seriously injured bicyclists from getting the legal help they really need.
But, as a specialized bicycle accident law firm in the San Francisco Bay Area with over 20 years of experience helping cyclists just like you, we can assure you that your recovery from your injuries and getting the financial payout you deserve will be much easier with the backing of an experienced SF bike accident lawyer. In fact, the Insurance Research Council found that:
This vast disparity isn’t because personal injury attorneys inflate the value of your claim. It’s because insurance companies are experts at taking advantage of unrepresented parties to pay the least amount possible.
Not only will having an attorney increase your settlement, it will also increase your peace of mind!
Why risk sabotaging your SF bike accident claim by trying to handle it alone?
Get your no cost, risk-free case evaluation. And get peace of mind.
If at any time within the first 30 days of signing with Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers you are not 100% satisfied with the quality and care of service you receive from our attorneys, we will cancel your contract at no cost so that you can seek different representation. No questions asked.
If you aren't ready to move forward with hiring a lawyer? Want to do a little more research about how to find the best San Francisco bike accident lawyer? Well, we have some things you should be doing in the meantime to help your case.
#1. Get Medical Care Right Away
If you were seriously injured, you were probably hauled off by ambulance to San Francisco General Hospital for emergency treatment. If not, get checked out now! This is important not only for your health, but It will also help you prove your injuries if you ending making a bike accident claim.
Don’t be too worried about the cost of treatment if you are truly injured. In California, reasonable and necessary medical care that arises from injuries caused by an at-fault driver will be paid by their auto insurance once you make a successful claim.
#2. Preserve and Collect Evidence
Hopefully when you were at the scene of the accident, you took photos, got the driver’s contact info, insurance and registration and you had SFPD come out and file a traffic collision report.
Assuming you are no longer at the scene, let’s talk about what you can do now to help build the evidence in your case.
Having solid evidence will make it that much easier to get a good settlement when the time comes. If you end up hiring a San Francisco bike accident attorney, they’ll be able to help you gather and track all the necessary evidence.
#3. Open a Claim with the Driver’s Insurance
Contact the driver’s car insurance carrier (usual via a 1-800 number) to open a bicycle accident claim. Be careful! Anything you say can and WILL be used against you! You probably want to get some advice from an experienced San Francisco bicycle accident lawyer before giving the insurance carrier anything other than the basics like your name and contact information. Whatever you do… do NOT give them your Social Security Number. That is something they’ll definitely use against you.
#4. Do NOT Post about your Bicycle Accident on Social Media
We get it. A serious bike accident isn’t an everyday event for you. You probably want to let your family and friends know what happened and get their support. But you really should NOT post about your bike accident on social media! It could be detrimental to your case.
The driver who caused the accident, their attorney or insurance company will scour your social media accounts to find anything they can to make your case look weak.
Don’t post about your bike accident or your injuries on social media until after you consult with a qualified San Francisco bicycle accident lawyer. They’ll probably instruct you to stay off social too.
#5. Keep Your Bike
Don’t repair or get rid of your bike until your bike accident case has been fully resolved, or until your bike accident lawyer says it’s okay to do so. Your bike is a crucial piece of evidence in the case. Also, repairing/replacing it will likely be paid for by the insurance company. If you absolutely need to get back on your bike, take a bunch of photos of it, have it repaired and save the repair documentation for your case.
#6. Don’t Give Recorded Statements
Insurance adjusters will use all sorts of tactics – including recording every conversation with you – to get you to say something that could minimize your injuries, admit fault or share responsibility for the accident. Here are a few things you can do to avoid damaging your claim:
#7. Hire a San Francisco Bicycle Accident Lawyer
Ok, so we said this was a list of things you should be doing while you are figuring out which lawyer to hire for your bike accident, but now you really need hire someone to help do the heavy lifting and get you a good settlement.
You’ve suffered serious injuries from a SF Bay Area bicycle crash and hiring a San Francisco bicycle accident lawyer is not on the top of your list. But, as time goes by and things get more complicated, you’ll start to understand why it’s a smart idea to get a good lawyer on board.
Hiring a good San Francisco bicycle accident lawyer will allow you to bypass all of these complications, because they are not new to this. This is what they do. Isn’t it time you handed your case over to an expert, so you can get back to what it is you do best?
"I was hit by a car while on my bike and they helped me put my life back together."
"While riding my bike in Golden Gate Park I was struck by a car. Rebecca negotiated a settlement for me that exceeded my expectations."
You can probably tell by now that the difficulty of handling your own bike injury claim can be overwhelming and discouraging. Rather than stress about handling your own case, just get the best from the start. Our team of San Francisco bicycle accident lawyers at Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers has been helping people seriously injured in bike accidents in the Bay Area for over twenty years. We have settled some substantial bicycle accident cases without even having to go to court, but we have also litigated several of these cases across California very successfully.
You can verify all of this by checking out:
Complete Guide on what to do after an accident in San Francisco
Some of what you will get in this guide:
"I highly recommend Sally if you’re in need of a personal injury lawyer."
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If you answered “yes", contact Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers' San Francisco bicycle accident team to see if we can help.
Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers is an all female team of customer-focused, five-star California personal injury attorneys who exclusively handle traffic accident settlement negotiation. They have California offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Jose, and Oakland.