How Dangerous Conduct by an Auto Driver Can Lead to a Serious Bike Accident in Mississippi

In the blink of an eye the driver of an automobile can cause serious injury or death to a bicyclist. For instance, each year California alone has over 130 bicycle deaths and 11,000 injuries to bicyclists. While many states are working hard to improve bicycle and pedestrian paths the dismal statistics will only be lessened through the implementation of stricter bicycle safety laws and increasing awareness among drivers of vehicles.

Although bicyclists fall under the same laws and protections as motor vehicle drivers, the fact remains that it is not safe in many situations to bike alongside a big truck or car. Quite often drivers of passenger vehicles are either unaware of a bicyclist or simply don’t treat them like they would treat other vehicles on the road. Large trucks may not ever see a bicyclist until they have collided with them due to the size of the truck and the blind spots which can occur directly behind or on the side.

Primary Causes of Bicycle Accidents

Unfortunately, driver negligence has been documented as the primary cause of injuries and death to bicyclists. Auto drivers may pull out of a driveway or parking lot directly in front of a bicyclist, causing a serious accident. Many times drivers also fail to yield to a bicyclist, or turn into the bicycle rider. Automobile drivers who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol can also be the cause of a bicycle accident. Further causes of bicycle accidents can be bad weather, inattentive drivers, overly aggressive drivers or drowsy drivers.

Bicycle Safety Codes

Most states operate under certain bicycle codes such as how a bicycle should be equipped during daylight hours as well as what lights and reflectors must be present when a bicyclist rides after dark. The laws spell out the fact that a biker must ride in the bike lane when one is present, as well as when it is legal to leave the bike lane. However, bicycle safety codes can only go so far in preventing accidents and fatalities—motor vehicle drivers must take seriously the fact that they don’t own the road and are bound under law to share it with bicyclists.

Driver Negligence

Many times a bicyclist may be waiting at an intersection and an impatient driver will turn in front of the bicycle. A right hand turn can knock the bicyclist over while a left hand turn can cause the bicyclist to collide with the vehicle. Other times a passing driver will fail to give a bicyclist enough space, either forcing him off the road or sideswiping him with the car’s mirror. Many auto drivers fail to recognize that bicyclists have the same rights and right of way as other drivers and may even use the biking lane as a shortcut. Drivers are also guilty of opening their car doors without looking, knocking a bicyclist over and of believing bicycle brakes are as effective as car brakes. Auto drivers should never assume a bicyclist can stop as suddenly as the car is able to.

Getting Help

If you are a serious cyclist, you run the risk of being involved in a motor vehicle crash as some point. Even if you are extremely safety-conscious, obeying all traffic laws, being fully aware of your surroundings and taking all safety precautions, an unsafe auto driver can still cause you to be seriously injured. If you were injured in a biking accident due to a driver’s negligence, it’s important that you get legal representation as soon as possible following your accident in order to obtain the most favorable outcome. Make sure your bicycle is kept safely until it has been examined to help provide evidence regarding your accident. There is a statute of limitations on personal injury claims such as this, so don’t be left holding a bag full of medical bills, unable to work and support your family.

Call and speak with an experienced Mississippi personal injury lawyer from Barrett Law, PLLC.  Be sure to visit our web blog for more helpful information about your case or call us for a free consultation to answer your important questions.

The attorneys at Barrett Law, PLLC serve people throughout Mississippi including: North Mississippi, Jackson, Hattiesburg, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

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Mississippi Bicycle Accidents: Perception vs. Reality

Each year there are over 600 bicycle fatalities in the United States, and over 50,000 injuries which result from a bicyclist and a car colliding. Although the numbers have actually gone down through the past few years—a seventeen percent reduction since 1998—there are obvious risks associated with riding a bicycle in traffic. When you consider that bicyclists account for one percent of all trips in the United States, yet bicycle fatalities represent just under two percent of all traffic fatalities, you can see that riding a bicycle among the much bigger, much heavier cars, can be a dangerous proposition.

Almost ninety percent of all bicyclists killed are male, eighty percent of those injured are male and sixty-five percent of those killed are between the ages of 25 and 63—with an average age of bicyclists involved in a crash being approximately thirty-one. The risk of riding a bicycle varies widely depending on the time of day, the rider’s level of experience, the area the bicyclist is riding in, whether there is alcohol involved, however the health benefits of riding a bicycle on a regular basis do somewhat offset the risks.

The Perception Motorists Have of Bicyclists

The majority of people who travel only by car tend to believe, at least to some extent, that cyclists are a rather reckless group who take their lives into their hands every time they hit the streets, and don’t fully recognize the obvious dangers. The truth is, the occasional irresponsible bicyclist who throws caution to the wind, winding in and out of traffic and ignoring pedestrians and traffic laws is the exception rather than the rule.

Most cyclists are alert and respectful of the cars and pedestrians who share the road with them, and use caution and good judgment when they ride through traffic. More public education could go a long way in dispelling the misperceptions people have toward bicyclists, and more care and less distractions on the part of automobile drivers could greatly reduce the incidence of auto-bicycle accidents and fatalities. Most cyclists know to watch out for the distracted, negligent or reckless driver, not to mention swinging car doors and jaywalking pedestrians—not to mention road hazards—but it’s simply not feasible to anticipate every single possibility.

Where Do Most Bicycle Accidents Occur?

Although the majority of bicycle accidents happen in those cities with the highest populations, college towns, especially those in California, rank higher than their population would suggest. Many college students use bicycles as their primary mode of transportation; it’s healthy, it allows them to quickly get from one class to another, and it saves money—something most starving college students appreciate.  Almost seventy-five percent of all accidents involving a cyclist occur at an intersection or in a personal driveway, which suggests that cyclists and auto drivers are fully cognizant of the rules associated with high traffic situations.

How Drivers Can Help Reduce Accidents

Drivers must first and foremost realize that bicyclists are entitled to the exact same rights—and have the same responsibilities—as auto drivers. Drivers need to drive at safe speeds and exercise caution in city situations when traffic is heavy. They should also avoid distractions such as cell phone use or consulting a map while driving, and should be especially alert for bicycle riders before they back out of a driveway, make a turn in an intersection, or open their door into oncoming traffic.

If you have been the victim of an auto-pedestrian accident you have likely suffered serious injuries. Contact a Mississippi personal injury lawyer from our law firm to discuss your case.

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Cycling Under the Influence in Mississippi

While nearly every state has some form of law making it a crime to ride a bicycle while intoxicated, these laws have been challenged due to the fact that a bicycle is not considered a “vehicle” in the strictest sense in most states therefore should not be covered by standard DUI laws. Some states have responded to these challenges by passing separate laws which specifically cover riding a bicycle while intoxicated.  It’s true that the punishment for cycling while intoxicated is substantially less than those of DUI in a motor vehicle, still if you’ve been arrested for CUI, it’s important to hire an experienced criminal defense lawyer who can fight aggressively on your behalf.

Why CUI Laws?

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration reports that over one-fourth of all cyclists killed in 2009 had a measurable BAC, and nearly 25% of those had a BAC of .08% or higher. Because the likelihood that a cyclist will be involved in a crash increases substantially at .05% BAC, states have determined that CUI laws are, in fact, necessary. While some believe the cyclist is only risking harm to himself, so why implement CUI laws, there are instances where a cyclist who was riding while intoxicated could be the cause of a more serious accident. The cyclist could hit a pedestrian, or could cause one car to veer into another with potentially serious consequences, although certainly the cyclist who runs into a car will definitely come out on the short end where injuries are concerned.

An Example – California’s CUI Law

California, in particular, has a specific CUI law which makes it unlawful for a person to ride a bicycle on a highway while they are drunk or intoxicated. This law provides that any person arrested for such an offense can be asked to take a standard breathalyzer test or a blood or urine test for determination of the specific BAC content, however unlike the .08 limit for automobile drivers, there is no such magic number regarding CUI. The suspect may also be asked to complete standard field sobriety tests, although it is widely accepted that field sobriety tests are actually designed to be failed by the impaired and sober alike.  Conviction in California on CUI charges garners a fine of $250, so while it may not seem worthwhile to hire an attorney, keep in mind that such a conviction will go on your permanent record.

Definition of a Highway

One way an attorney can attack the validity of a CUI charge is to challenge whether the cyclist was, in fact, operating their bicycle on a legally defined highway. The standard definition of a highway includes all public streets, but excludes both private roads and driveways, so depending on the circumstances, there may be grounds for dismissal regarding this point.

Definition of a Vehicle

While many states do currently prosecute for bicyclists who operate the bicycle while drunk, more of them are starting to operate under the belief that human-powered machines are simply not considered “vehicles” under the letter of the law. A bicyclist who was convicted in Washington State of CUI appealed, and the Court of Appeals overturned the conviction ruling DUI laws were only intended to refer to drivers of motorized vehicles.

If you were involved in an accident due to a drunken bicyclist, call our Mississippi car accident law firm for a free initial consultation.

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Defective Bicycles Can Mean Serious Injury for Vulnerable Mississippi Bike Riders

Bicyclists are extremely vulnerable when sharing the road with passenger vehicles with a minimum weight of 3,000 pounds, which explains why bicycle accidents send over a half a million people to the emergency room annually.  There are many potential dangers that face bicyclists including unsafe drivers, poorly designed and maintained roadways and even defective bicycles.  Most people never seriously consider the possibility of being involved in a Mississippi bike accident caused by design or manufacturing defects associated with a bike.

Because bicycles provide virtually no structural protection to riders, the impact of a product defect in a bicycle can be extremely serious.  If the frame of the bike is compromised or an operating part of the bicycle fails due to substandard design or workmanship, a bicyclist is virtually unprotected if the bike goes down or the rider loses control and veers into traffic.

Historically, a common defect with bicycles involved instructions and warnings regarding proper use and assembly that were woefully inadequate.  The Consumer Product Safety Commission has imposed safety standards over the years that have helped reduce the number of bicycle accidents and serious injuries resulting from bicycle malfunctions.  Many bicycle models have been subject to recall for defects in their design, manufacture and instructions.

While a product recall can help prevent the potential danger of riding a defective bicycle, these vehicles are sometimes a serious bicycle accident waiting to happen.  Further, sometimes recalls come too late or may even be intentionally delayed to avoid the cost of recall.  If a bicyclist is involved in a bike accident and suffers injury or even wrongful death, the manufacturer, wholesaler or retailer of the bicycle may be liable for any injuries or loss.  Even if a bicycle accident involved collision with a motor vehicle, the bicycle manufacturer may share in the fault for the bicycle accident if a product defect contributed to the collision with the motor vehicle.

In a typical year, there are dozens of bicycles and accessories subject to recall for product defects.  While a bicycle may seem like a relatively simple and straightforward vehicle with few parts that can be defective, there are many bicycle parts that have been defective and subject to recall including:

  • Chains that malfunction
  • Defective brakes
  • Frames with compromised joints
  • Tires that blowout due to substandard manufacturing
  • Cranks that are compromised

If you are involved in a bicycle accident that may have been partially caused by a product defect, you should take the following steps:

  • Get medical assistance and obtain treatment
  • Summon police to the accident scene
  • Obtain insurance and contact information for any witnesses including the driver if you were involved in a collision with another vehicle
  • Preserve your bike in the same condition without repair

A bicycle accident can result in life-altering injuries that mean permanent disability from work and a lifetime of supportive care.  Tragically, almost a thousand bicyclists per year lose their lives in bicycle riding accidents.

If you or a loved one has been involved in a Mississippi bicycle accident and suffered injury or the loss of a loved one, the experienced Mississippi bicycle accident lawyers at Barrett Law, PLLC has been representing those injured by the negligence of others for 75 years.  Our dedicated and caring legal team offers a free initial consultation so that we can evaluate your case.  We invite you to call us today at (662) 834-4443 to see how we can help you seek the compensation that you deserve.

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Bicycle Accident Involving Hundred Riders Shows Danger for Mississippi Cyclists

Sometimes there is simply no way to be safe when riding a bicycle.  Bicyclists often are exposed to bike accident risks in Mississippi because of a lack of visibility so that they are difficult to observe.  A bike rider can compensate for this lack of visibility by wearing bright colored clothes, riding in groups and using rear and front lights at all times.  Unfortunately, there is little a bicyclist can do to avoid a serious Mississippi bicycle accident when a driver crashes into a group of over a hundred bicyclists traveling in a large group.  The Barrett Law Office was founded in 1933 and has learned through many years of experience that bicyclists are inherently vulnerable to the risk posed by unsafe drivers.

A recent bicycle accident in California speaks volumes about the degree of exposure of bicyclists to bike accident risks caused by negligent drivers.  A group of a hundred riders were stopped at an intersection when a driver traveling at sixty miles per hour jumped the curb and ploughed into the group of riders.  Seven bicycle riders were injured in the bike riding accident and four suffered serious injury.  The police are investigating the incident to determine if the driver was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the collision.

This bicycle accident is a tragic example of the degree of exposure faced by bicyclists.  The large group means that they were as visible as bicyclists can be to a motorist.  The bicyclists were also stopped so they should have been easy to see and could not have unexpectedly maneuvered so that the driver could not see them.  The bicyclists also had no opportunity to take evasive precautions to avoid the accident because they were stopped at an intersection when the car ran the cyclists down.

This tragedy shows not only the inability of bicyclists to avoid serious bike accidents in Mississippi when drivers are negligent but also the potential danger of suffering severe injuries.  When even a small passenger vehicle weighing 3,000 pounds ploughs into a bicyclist, the person riding the bike has absolutely no protection from injury.  When the vehicle is traveling sixty miles per hour like the one in the California collision, the result is typically catastrophic injury and even wrongful death.

While it is unclear at this point why the driver jumped the curb driving 60 miles and hour and collided with the group of bicyclists, driver impairment or distraction are common reasons for such accidents.  Despite efforts to curb the deadly practice of drunk driving, Mississippi drunk driving (DUI) arrests increased by more then thirty percent in 2010 compared to just a few years ago.  Over 12,000 people per year are arrested for DUI in Mississippi.  Because of the vulnerability of Mississippi bicyclists, drivers under the influence of alcohol pose a deadly risk to cyclists.

A driver who ploughs into a group of bike riders may also be distracted and fail to focus on the roadway.  Distracted driving accidents are on the rise and rival drunk driving accidents as the leading threat to cyclists in Mississippi.  While many states have moved to prohibit texting while driving and restrict cell phone conversations by drivers, Mississippi has been slow to take such steps.  Although texting while driving is prohibited for new inexperienced drivers, it is permitted for experienced drivers.  Studies have shown that the reaction times of drivers who are texting while driving are comparable to those who are legally intoxicated while driving.

The bottom line is that drivers of motor vehicles have a responsibility to exercise reasonable care for others with whom they share the roadway including Mississippi cyclists.  At Barrett Law Office PLLC, we represent bicycle accident victims throughout Mississippi.  If you or a loved one has been the victim of a Mississippi bicycle accident, we offer a free initial case evaluation so contact us today at (662) 834-2376 to see how we can help.

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The Heightened Risk to Bicyclists Caused by Dangerous Road Hazards in Mississippi

Dangerous road conditions account for many of the road accidents in our country.  When you are on a bicycle, road hazards can cause pose an increased risk of serious accidents. Road bikes have narrow wheels and lack the stability of a vehicle with four wheels so when a rider hits a pothole, grate in the road, or railroad track, he or she can be in serious trouble.  What a lot of bike riders might not know is that if they are seriously injured due to a road hazard, it is possible to sue the entity that is responsible for the design, construction or the maintenance of the roadway where the hazard is encountered.

A bicyclist has to ride so defensively when on public streets and other roadways that it can be difficult to keep one’s eyes down to catch discrepancies in the road surface.  A rider must watch the traffic around one’s bicycle as well as the road ahead to keep safe while riding.

Road Hazards

There are different types of road hazards a cyclist might encounter which would be insignificant if the rider where in a car, truck or SUV:

  • Potholes and cracks in the pavement
  • Sewer grates and manhole covers
  • Parked cars
  • Train tracks
  • Construction zones, cones, and barriers
  • Loose gravel and debris
  • Flooding water that makes a bikeway slippery

In the case of potholes or damaged pavement, the liability issue will depend on a number of factors including:

  • The length of time the hazard was present
  • Attempts to repair it
  • Complaints made or prior accidents involving the hazard
  • Types of warnings used to warn cyclists of the hazard
  • Reports may regarding the hazard to the public entity responsible for the roadway

Sewer grates have slowly been changed to accommodate bike tires and prevent them from slipping through the openings in the grate, but not all cities have made this effort.  It is a simple fix, and you as a cyclist have the right to ride on safe roads. If the city hasn’t addressed this problem which results in you being injured in a bicycle accident, you may have a right to seek compensation in a personal injury lawsuit.  Similarly, railroad tracks that are should have warnings posted around them, or if they are abandoned, they should be covered over by the local governing authority. When crossed by cyclists, these tracks can be deadly.  If a government or a company could have taken reasonable steps to prevent any of these types of problems, then you might have a basis for a Mississippi lawsuit to recover for your bicycle-related injuries.

If you are involved in an accident caused by one of these types of hazards, it is important that you contact the police to file a police report.  When you are physically able you should take pictures of the hazard or have someone you trust do so.  The chance that you will be able to seek full compensation for your injuries is also increased if you promptly seek medical evaluation and treatment.

Liability

These types of cases can be difficult.  It is almost essential that you enlist the aid of an experienced bike injury attorney due to the complex nature of these cases and the challenge involved proving liability.  Another challenge that may arise when deciding to seek compensation from a public entity that may be liable for your injuries is the preservation of the accident scene. Many times when the city or local government is notified about the accident, they attempt to go out and fix the hazard before investigators can examine it.  This is why it is important that you try and get photos.  Public entities also benefit from limited immunity from lawsuits so it is important to consult and experienced Mississippi bicycle accident lawyer who will be familiar with the special notice of claim and timing requirements involved in Mississippi lawsuits against government entities.

It also is always important to speak to an experienced Mississippi bicycle accident lawyer before you speak with an insurance company adjuster.  While these cases often are settled without going to trial, cases where the victim does not attempt to negotiate with the insurance company without an attorney provide the best chance of a successful settlement or trial verdict.

If you have been seriously injured or a loved one has suffered wrongful death in a Mississippi bicycle accident caused by a road hazard, Barrett Law, PLLC utilizes careful investigation, innovative litigation strategy and zealous advocacy to obtain the compensation that our clients deserve.  Our experienced team of attorneys and staff carefully investigate our clients’ bicycle accidents so that we can help our clients obtain the compensation they need to get their lives back on track after a serious Mississippi bike accident.

Call to speak to a Mississippi bicycle accident lawyer to discuss you legal right for fair compensation.  Barrett Law, PLLC represents bicycle accident victims throughout Mississippi and has roots that reach back 75 years.  We have helped thousands of people just like you so call us today at (662) 834-2376

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