Prioritize your health and safety by moving off the road and receiving medical attention after you get hit while biking. If a driver hit you while riding your bike, you may be able to recover compensation for losses through an insurance claim, so it’s a good idea to exchange contact information with the driver.
If you aren’t sure what to do after you get hit while biking, contact a bicycle accident attorney. Our attorneys can help you gather evidence and prove you deserve a fair settlement.
Take Care of Yourself First After a Bike Accident
Your immediate actions after a bike accident should include:
- Moving to safety if possible
- Seeing a doctor even if you feel okay
- Taking steps to protect your rights
As a cyclist, you are especially vulnerable on the road after an accident, so relocate if you can. If not, stay put and wait for help.
Once you have a chance, have a doctor evaluate you. You might assume that since you feel fine, you are fine. Unfortunately, some injuries aren’t immediately apparent, like whiplash or traumatic brain injuries. Even scrapes can become infected and require additional attention.
If you’re worried about bills, hearing “better safe than sorry” can feel like a privilege you can’t afford. However, you might feel the consequences of whiplash up to five years after the accident, according to BMC Public Health. Infections can turn life-threatening. Fighting any of these conditions can leave you unable to work. Get care now to avoid greater losses later.
Protect Your Future by Acting Right Away
Taking care of yourself means also considering your future self. To protect your damages through a claim or lawsuit, make sure to:
- Report the accident to both the local authorities and insurers
- Take photos of the scene, debris, location, weather, and road conditions
- Gather contact information for everyone involved, including witnesses
- Obtain and keep police reports, medical records, and other documentation
- Don’t fix your bike, toss any debris, or clean your clothes, as we can use this for evidence
These initial steps can come in handy later if you need to take action to cover your bills. Something as simple as waiting too long to report an accident can cause a claim or suit to collapse. Likewise, your clothes and bike could tell a story about the accident and your injuries.
If you aren’t sure what’s important, document it anyway. It’s better to have too much than too little evidence.
Insurance Can Cover Bicycle Crashes, So Get Insurance Information
Despite what some cyclists assume, insurance can factor into a bicycle accident. The driver’s insurance policy could cover your injuries and losses.
Likewise, your own car insurance could extend to a bicycle accident. This is sometimes the case when a driver flees the scene. Your policy could provide some benefits in a hit-and-run.
How to Talk to Insurance Companies After a Bike Accident
While with initial evidence gathering, we said to err on the side of gathering more, when it comes to talking to insurers, the opposite is true—err on the side of sharing less.
What to do after getting hit while riding a bike includes:
- Provide your identifying information
- Ask for the driver’s info and insurance coverage
- Report the crash but avoid a recorded statement
- Stick with basic facts
- Don’t apologize or make guesses or claims about your injuries
In many instances, you aren’t required to provide a recorded statement to insurance. An adjuster will ask follow-up questions, including some that might seem innocuous. Insurers probe you to find reasons to lessen or avoid their financial responsibility.
Gather Evidence of Getting Hit While Biking
Insurance adjusters may conduct their own investigation into your bicycle crash, but that doesn’t mean you should leave all the evidence collecting to them. In fact, it’s often in your best interest to compile and protect evidence.
Any of the following could help illustrate that the driver who hit you violated their duty of care, causing injuries that affected your life. Some pieces of evidence are easy to obtain, like testimony from friends and family, while others might prove more difficult, like phone records. Your personal injury lawyer can help procure some forms of evidence.
Evidence from the Accident
To piece together what caused you to get hit while biking, you could use evidence like:
- Video from traffic cameras, security cameras, or witnesses’ phones
- Witness statements from other drivers, cyclists, or bystanders
- Police reports and traffic violation citations
- Accident reconstruction by experts in bicycle crashes
- Phone, texting, email, and social media records
- Blood alcohol concentration and drug tests
More specialized evidence might come into play. For instance, if a commercial truck hit you, your legal team might obtain their transportation logs or investigate their company’s hiring practices.
Evidence of Your Injuries
Receiving medical care not only safeguards your health but also your potential settlement. You could use evidence such as:
- X-rays, MRIs, CT scans, blood tests, and other diagnostic reports
- Diagnosis and treatment notes from your doctor
- Physical therapy plans and assessments
- Receipts for over-the-counter medications and medical equipment
- Prescription medication, including long-term prescriptions
- Records of office visits for follow-ups, specialists, and alternative care
This evidence is multifunctional, as it demonstrates the severity of your injuries, how long you need to recover, and how much you already paid for treatment.
Evidence of Other Losses
To pursue damages for lost income, pain and suffering, and mental health consequences, compile proof like:
- Employment records such as missed work or changes to workload
- Accounts from friends, family, and coworkers about your condition
- Records of counseling, prescriptions, and diagnoses
You May Want to Reach Out to a Bicycle Accident Attorney
You can hire an attorney at any point after the accident, whether you call while still on the scene or months later after an insurance company has offered a low settlement.
Attorneys can help with any of the above steps and, in many instances, take over the casework completely. This is particularly helpful if you suffered catastrophic injuries, as is often the case for cyclists.
Lawyers can also help you sidestep common mistakes, like falling for adjuster’s traps or missing important filing deadlines. Even paperwork errors can cause delays, an avoidable problem with an attorney’s assistance.
Work With Our Bike Injury Attorneys With Decades of Experience
Our bicycle accident lawyers have obtained several million-dollar recoveries for clients just like you. We look out for you through every stage of your case. If you aren’t sure what to do after getting hit while biking, call Domingo Garcia to receive free information through a consultation.
