If you were injured in a bicycle accident in Baton Rouge, LA due to someone else’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation. Damages in a bicycle accident case can include medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, out-of-pocket costs, and more. A Baton Rouge bicycle accident lawyer with experience handling bicycle accident cases can help you understand your rights and take your next steps toward recovery.
A bicycle accident can involve serious injuries, and your physical and mental recovery is essential. Our experienced attorneys at Mansfield Melancon Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers will do the hard work on your personal injury claim while you focus on your personal health. Contact us if you were hurt in any way in a bicycle accident in Baton Rouge, LA, call us today for a free consultation at (225) 263-4787.
How Mansfield Melancon Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help You After a Bicycle Accident in Baton Rouge
After a bicycle accident in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, you deserve to know what happens next and how to hold the at-fault individual responsible for their actions. In the weeks and months after an accident, you may also face rising medical bills, lost wages, out-of-pocket expenses, and other surprise costs due to your injuries.
A Baton Rouge personal injury attorney will investigate the details of your accident and take other steps, such as:
- Meeting for a free consultation to talk about your bicycle accident and how you were injured
- Investigating the accident and locating witnesses
- Collecting evidence such as police reports, photos, and surveillance video to build your case
- Negotiating with insurance companies to discuss settlement of your bicycle accident claim
- Filing a personal injury lawsuit to pursue monetary damages
- Handling each step of a personal injury lawsuit on your behalf
- Preparing for trial, if necessary
At Mansfield Melancon Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers, our Baton Rouge bicycle accident attorneys will stand by your side as you pursue the financial compensation you deserve. Contact us today to schedule your free consultation.
How Much Does It Cost To Hire a Bicycle Accident Lawyer in Baton Rouge?
Lawyers will usually work on contingency in bicycle accident cases. A contingency fee arrangement means that accident victims can get legal representation without paying upfront for attorney fees. In a contingent fee agreement, an attorney only collects a percentage of the fees if they win a financial award for you.
Your personal injury lawyer will also handle all costs of submitting information to insurance companies, obtaining evidence, hiring experts, filing court papers, and more. These costs of your claim would be paid out of your final settlement or jury award, once secured.
In a contingency case, you don’t pay your lawyer’s fees if you don’t win. This way, you risk nothing financially by pursuing a personal injury claim after a bicycle accident. Our legal team would be happy to talk about how contingent fees work in a bicycle accident. Call today to schedule your free consultation.
How Common Are Bicycle Accidents in Baton Rouge?
Bicyclists are especially vulnerable to severe injuries in any kind of accident. Unlike auto drivers, bicyclists aren’t protected by state-of-the-art vehicles with modern safety measures.
When drivers ignore traffic signs or don’t drive with caution for others’ safety, disaster can strike. The simple physics of a heavy vehicle striking an unprotected bicyclist make these accidents especially dangerous. Many accidents between cars and bicycles will happen due to distracted driving, speeding, drunk driving, and fatigued driving.
According to the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission, hundreds of bicycle accidents happen yearly on Louisiana’s roads – particularly in highly populated areas like Baton Rouge. Bicyclists are encouraged to ride responsibly, be alert for traffic, wear reflective safety gear, and avoid riding while impaired. However, even the most vigilant bicyclist can fall victim to a negligent motorist.
Unfortunately, bicycle accidents happen in Baton Rouge all too often. If you were injured in a bicycle accident, an experienced Baton Rouge bicycle accident lawyer can help you pursue financial recovery.
What Are Common Injuries in Bicycle Accidents?
Bicycle accidents happen in ways that lead to common injuries.
Frequent bicyclist injuries caused by someone else’s negligence could include:
- Broken bones
- Concussions
- Skull fractures
- Knee injuries
- Back injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Internal bleeding
- Soft tissue injuries
- Loss of vision or hearing
- Paralysis
- Wrongful death
If you were injured due to a bicycle accident, you could suffer shock, pain, reduced quality of life, reduced income capacity, and other devastating effects. Through a personal injury claim involving your bicycle accident, our goal will be to address the full range of consequences due to injury – physical, mental, and emotional.
What Is My Bicycle Accident Case Worth?
In a bicycle accident case, you could be entitled to economic damages and non-economic damages.
Economic damages address actual financial losses, such as:
- Medical expenses
- Out-of-pocket costs
- Costs of therapy, counseling, and future treatment
- Lost income
- Reduced earning capacity in the future.
Your personal injury lawyer will gather information about your lost wages, medical expenses, out-of-pocket costs (due to travel for appointments, for example), and other costs.
Non-economic damages refer to the emotional and psychological harm caused by an accident. Mental anguish, pain and suffering, loss of companionship, disability, disfigurement, and other such losses can be included as non-economic damages in your personal injury claim.
What Is Negligence, and How Do I Prove It?
Personal injury claims, including bicycle accident cases, involve the legal theory of negligence. Negligence is the failure to exercise reasonable care in the situation you were involved in. To collect a financial award in your claim, you will first need to show that the other individual was negligent.
The burden of proof for negligence in a personal injury case is “preponderance of the evidence”. A preponderance standard means you have to demonstrate that the other party was more than 50% responsible at fault for the accident or, in other words, that it was more likely than not that they caused your injuries.
In a bicycle accident case, you will need to prove four elements of negligence:
- Duty of Care: Someone owed you a duty of care within a particular context.
- Breach of Duty: The person at fault violated this duty that they owed to you.
- Causation: There is a causal link between the accident and your injuries.
- Damages: You suffered injuries from the accident, reflected by medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering.
Evidence that your attorney will rely on includes:
- Medical bills
- Medical reports
- Photos from the accident scene
- Video surveillance from the accident scene
- Witness statements
- Police reports
- Expert witnesses, including medical experts and accident reconstruction specialists
The Baton Rouge bicycle accident attorneys at Mansfield Melancon Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers will use all evidence available to fight aggressively for your legal rights.
Do I Still Have a Claim if I Was Partially At Fault For the Accident?
Yes., even if you were partly at fault for an accident, you can file a personal injury claim in Louisiana. Under Louisiana’s pure comparative negligence laws, you can recover compensation even if you are partially at fault for the accident.
For example, if you were 30% at fault for a bicycle accident because you weren’t paying full attention, you can still pursue a personal injury claim. However, your financial compensation would be lowered in proportion to your share of fault. So in this scenario, if you would have been entitled to $100,000, your award would be reduced by 30% to $70,000.
Skilled Louisiana bicycle accident lawyers will focus their efforts on maximizing your share of the payout by reducing your liability for the accident. The key thing to remember is that even if you were partially at fault, you should still meet with a lawyer to talk about your personal injury claim.
What Is the Statute of Limitations in Louisiana for a Bicycle Accident Lawsuit?
Louisiana recently extended its statute of limitations for personal injury lawsuits from one year to two years, effective July 1, 2024. Accidents that occurred before that date are subject to the old one-year time limitation.
The clock usually starts running on either:
- The day of the accident
- The day your injuries were discoverable
- The date of a loved one’s wrongful death
A skilled Baton Rouge personal injury lawyer will help you navigate the system and know when to file. There can be an advantage to filing earlier than the deadline, when evidence is easier to obtain and witness memories are still fresh.
Contact a Baton Rouge Bicycle Accident Lawyer For a Free Consultation Today
You might have a right to payment for your losses if you were injured in a bicycle accident in Baton Rouge, LA. The dedicated accident and injury lawyers at Mansfield Melancon Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers have helped many clients just like you get the financial recovery they deserve. Call our Baton Rouge bicycle accident lawyers today to schedule your free consultation.
