Salt Lake City Bicycle Accident Attorney

Salt Lake City is a city that welcomes bicyclists with open arms. Unfortunately, bicyclists are still at risk when they take to the road. If you’re a bicyclist who’s been involved in an accident, you know how financially upsetting your losses can be.

You can fight to recover those losses, though, with the help of a Salt Lake City bicycle accident lawyer. 1Law’s team can stand with you as you take your case to civil court. We can help you secure the most possible post-accident compensation available to you.

Salt Lake City’s Expectations of its Bicyclists

Bicyclists may be more vulnerable to accidents than other vehicles. That, however, doesn’t mean all cyclists are given a free pass to legal action. Bicyclists must engage in reasonable roadway behavior if they want to retain the right to file a civil complaint after an accident.

Specifically, bicyclists are expected to ride in the same direction that traffic flows, staying as close to the right side of the road as is safely possible. You must also signal your turns to other motorists and, according to Utah Code Ann. §41-6a-1106, yield to pedestrians at all opportunities.

If you want to file a bike accident lawsuit, you need to indicate that you obeyed all these laws. Comparative negligence laws do allow a Salt Lake City, UT, bicycle accident lawyer to continue pursuing compensation for your accident even if you bear fault for your losses. However, providing evidence of your compliance can make it easier to pursue your case.

“Reasonable” Behavior and Bicycle Accident Liability

Utah may hold its cyclists to certain expectations, but so too does it expect its motorists and pedestrians to behave reasonably on the road. Everyone interacting on a roadway must uphold what is known as a “duty of care.” This duty dictates that all applicable parties must take reasonable care to protect one another from harm.

If you want to claim that another party’s negligence resulted in your accident, you need to prove that said party violated the duty of care they owed you. Our team can help you gather evidence to support your claim, including:

• Eyewitness testimony
• Skid marks and/or debris found at the scene of your accident
• Photo or video footage of the accident
• Professional witness statements from medical professionals, law enforcement, and/or other applicable parties

It’s often best to look at the evidence found at your scene before making accusations of fault. Once we’re able to piece together the story of your accident, we can more effectively bring a complaint naming a particular party before court.

Naming a Party Liable for Your Losses

While motorists are most often blamed for Salt Lake City’s bicycle accidents, there are other parties that can be liable for your losses. These include:

• Pedestrians
• Other bicyclists
• Construction crews
• Government officials
• Property owners
• Bike manufacturers or repair companies

We follow the evidence available at the scene of your accident to the alleged source of your losses. Your complaint has a better chance of moving forward in court if you can support your allegations of fault with evidence asserting a connection between your losses and a particular party.

Utah’s Comparative Negligence Rulings

Several states allow their civil courts to operate on some interpretation of comparative negligence. Utah views its cases through a 50% comparative negligence lens. This means that so long as you’re less than 50% responsible for a bicycle accident, you retain the right to pursue compensation for your losses.

With this in mind, the defense may try to argue that you contributed the bulk of the fault to your bicycle accident. Fortunately, our attorneys can challenge these accusations by presenting evidence of the defendant’s negligence.

Do note, though, that Utah courts will reduce the settlement you can take home by the percentage of fault you allegedly contributed to your bicycle accident.

Contending With a Bicycle Accident Settlement Offer

If you get into a bicycle accident due to the negligence of a construction company or on-duty driver, those parties can be liable for your losses. Even property owners can face legal consequences if the negligence of their property contributed to your losses. In these cases, however, parties with more assets may reach out to you with a settlement offer.

Should you receive a bicycle accident settlement offer, consider bringing it to our office before you accept. There’s a good chance that the first settlement offer you receive undersells the financial value of your case. Salt Lake City bicycle accident lawyers can estimate the full value of your bicycle accident losses and return that estimate to the liable party.

Rejecting an initial settlement offer doesn’t send you straight to trial. Instead, these negotiations allow you to fight for the financial support you deserve. We will only move your case toward a traditional trial if the defendant appears reluctant to provide you with a comprehensive settlement.

Calculating the Value of Your Bicycle Accident Losses

To file a bicycle accident complaint, you need to identify what compensation it is that you’d like to win from your case. Your request for financial support can include:

• Medical expenses related to your immediate care
• The cost of upcoming surgeries or treatment
• Physical therapy and counseling
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional damages and/or PTSD
• Property damage and essential repairs

According to Utah Code Ann. §78B-2-307, you must submit your complaint within four years of your bicycle accident if you want to retain the right to request compensation for your losses. If you don’t think you can submit your complaint within this deadline, contact our team. We can work on a condensed timeline to bring your losses before a county clerk.

Bicycle Accident Attorneys Are Your Advocates

Whether you bring a case against an individual or a corporation, you deserve comprehensive legal support. 1Law strives to provide you with representation that both holds your best interests close to heart and can deftly navigate the legislation that applies to your losses. More specifically, our team challenges a defendant’s tactics while prioritizing your recovery.

If you don’t feel as though you can pursue a bicycle accident case while recovering from your injuries, our attorneys can step in. We can work with accident recreationists and local law enforcement to find the evidence needed to establish liability in your case. We can also find the means needed to support your bid for compensation.

Bicycle accident attorneys in Salt Lake City can represent you throughout negotiations or a traditional trial, depending on which your case calls for. We can keep you updated on your case’s progress while still giving you the space and means to physically recover from your accident. You can discuss your preferred involvement in your case during an initial consultation.

Secure the Funds You Need to Recover From a Bicycle Accident

The risks of bicycling shouldn’t outweigh the joy you take from the process. Bicycles allow you to exercise, commute without emissions, and connect with other active members of your community. If you get into an accident, it may be quite a while before you have the means, let alone the strength, to get back on the road.

The bicycle accident attorney in Salt Lake City can help you address the financial and physical losses you endured in a collision. When you file a civil suit with 1Law, you can request the means to repair your bike and address your health concerns from a liable party. Contact us to discuss what your civil bicycle accident suit could look like.