Tucson Bicycle Accident Lawyer

Biking can be a useful method of transportation, especially for commuters hoping to avoid traffic. Cyclists, however, have little protection from cars and other large vehicles, leaving them vulnerable to accidents.

If you were injured by a reckless driver while cycling, you should speak with a Tucson bicycle accident attorney about your legal options. You may hold the responsible parties accountable by filing a civil suit. Reach out to Zanes Law to discuss your case with a skilled personal injury lawyer.

Traffic Law For Bicyclists in Tucson

Arizona has established bike safety policies that it expects residents to abide by. According to these policies, pikers need to follow traffic laws and remain aware of their surroundings to avoid accidents. Cyclists must also:

Wear a helmet if they are younger than 18 years of age
Remain in the right lane except when turning left
Use bike signals when turning or changing lanes
Yield to the right-of-way to pedestrians
Allow vehicles to pass on two-lane roads if five or more vehicles are behind them

When you abide by these laws, you indicate to insurance providers and other parties that you’ve taken steps to protect your own wellbeing. However, you are still at risk for an accident if other drivers fail to obey the law. Drivers who engage in reckless roadway behavior can subsequently be held liable for your bicycle accident losses.

Identifying Reckless Roadway Behavior

To establish another driver’s roadway liability, you must indicate that said driver engaged in reckless or negligent behavior while behind the wheel. These dangerous behaviors can include:

Failure to stay out of Tucson’s bicycle lanes
Opening car doors into bicycle lanes when those lanes are in use
Driving while distracted
Losing control of a vehicle while driving aggressively
Making illegal right turns
Misjudging the distance between a car and an active cyclist

For a free legal consultation with a bicycle accidents lawyer serving Tucson, call 866-499-8989

Naming a Liable Party in Your Bicycle Accident Complaint

You must prove the liability of a third party to recover compensation. To do this, Tucson bicycle accident attorneys can establish evidence of a named party’s negligence. More specifically, you can claim that:

The driver or other negligent party had a responsibility to the biker
The responsible party breached that duty
The negligent person’s actions caused the crash
The bicyclist suffered injuries in the accident

The best way to uphold these claims is to present evidence of them alongside your complaint. This evidence can include eyewitness testimony, pictures of the accident, and even accident reconstruction.

In most bicycle accident cases, it’s a driver who bears responsibility for a bicyclist’s losses. However, liability changes depending on an accident’s circumstances. Other liable parties can include the bicycle’s manufacturer, local construction crews, and even small businesses. When in doubt, follow the evidence, and you can more readily decide who to name liable in your claim.

Comparative Negligence’s Role in Tucson Bicycle Accidents

A.R.S. § 12-2505 makes it more likely for you to receive compensation after a bicycle accident, even if you bear some of the blame. You can even recover financially if you were more than half to blame for the accident. However, your possible settlement will be reduced by the amount of accident’s fault you can take on.

For example, say that a negligent motorist is assigned 80% of the fault for an accident. Comparatively, you may be considered 20% responsible. In this case, you can receive 80% of the damages award. Because it is difficult to prove liability, it is best to hire a bike accident lawyer who can help limit the blame assigned to the injured party.

Unfortunately, comparative negligence is a double-edged sword in any personal injury case. The insurance company may try to point a figure at you to reduce what they need to pay. You may need to justify and defend your actions in the lead-up to the accident. An experienced attorney can help you beat back any effort by the insurance company to blame you for the crash.

Tucson Bicycle Accident Lawyer Near Me 866-499-8989

Filing a Vehicular Suit vs. Filing a Pedestrian Suit

Motorists pose some of the most immediate threats to the safety of bicyclists on the road. That doesn’t mean that they’re the only danger to look out for, though. You can hold pedestrians and even other cyclists liable for your losses, depending on the nature of your accident.

The baseline of all these cases is “reasonable behavior.” All parties on the road must take steps to protect themselves and other parties from present dangers. For pedestrians, this means looking before crossing the street and obeying traffic signals. For cyclists, this means sharing bike lanes and communicating with other bikers.

If you want to take a pedestrian or cyclist to civil court, be prepared to present evidence establishing both the extent of your losses and the other party’s role in your accident. Because neither pedestrians nor cyclists need to have insurance to be on the street, you’ll need to be prepared to address comparative negligence to prevent a reduced settlement.

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You Have Two Years to File a Bicycle Accident Claim

Bicycle accidents constitute personal injury accidents in the eyes of Arizona lawmakers. As such, you must submit your claim within the deadline the state has established for its personal injury claims.

A.R.S. § 12-542 gives you and a bicycle accident attorney in Tucson two years to gather the information you need to establish your case. You must file your complaint within this two-year period if you want a civil court to consider your losses. If you file your complaint outside of this deadline, your right to compensation may be waived.

You do not have to take the full two years to bring your complaint together. Instead, the sooner you contact an attorney about your bicycle accident, the sooner you can begin your legal proceedings.

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The Trial Process for Your Bicycle Accident Case

If a county clerk approves your claim, you will have the right to summon the party you named liable for your losses to a civil trial. This process begins with discovery. Your attorney can exchange information regarding your case with the defendant and vice-versa. You may even be questioned regarding your role in the accident.

Upon the conclusion of discovery, your civil court will gather a jury and set your first court date. Herein, your attorney can deliver your opening statement and prepare you for witness examination. If you are called to the stand, you can count on your attorney to coach you through the best responses to the defense’s cross-examination.

Once witness examination concludes and evidence is submitted to the court, your attorney can deliver your closing statement. From there, your jury will deliberate and determine whether or not you may receive compensation in return for your bicycle accident losses.

Negotiating for Bicycle Accident Compensation

You do not have to go to trial to win compensation for your bicycle accident. If the party you named in your initial complaint is amenable to talks, you can instead work out a settlement deal through negotiations.

Compensation negotiations let you and your bicycle accident lawyer in Tucson outline your losses directly to the party you named in your complaint. While you may have to negotiate for the support you want, particularly if you can’t back your claim with evidence, this process resolves more quickly than your average trial.

Negotiations are not inherently better than trials. Nor are trials better than negotiations. Instead, these processes tend to work in tandem with one another. If one doesn’t work, you can try the other to better fight for your bicycle accident financial support.

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