If you were injured in a bike accident in Augusta, you should contact the Chris Hudson Law Group at (706) 863-6600 to discuss the case. You may be eligible for compensation to cover the associated medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
Bicycles are incredibly common in the Augusta area, and some drivers of motor vehicles are negligent about sharing Georgia roads with cyclists. People who are injured and the families of those killed in bicycle accidents can be entitled to compensation for their damages, but insurance companies rarely make recovering very easy.
If you suffered severe injuries or your loved one was killed in a bicycle accident in the greater Augusta area, you are going to want to be sure that you do not deal with an insurance company by yourself. Make sure you contact the bicycle accident lawyers at Chris Hudson Law Group so we can speak to an insurer on your behalf and work towards a fair and full settlement of your case.
Our firm understands that many of these injuries can have possibly lifelong complications, and we will fight to see to it that you are fully compensated for all possible harm your accident has created. You can have us discuss all of your rights with you when you call (706) 863-6600 or contact us online to set up a free consultation.
Do I Need A Bicycle Accident Lawyer?
The one thing that you need to keep in mind right away is that an insurance company is never going to be on your side. No matter how pleasant and legitimately concerned an agent might sound about your well-being, their pledge to take care of you is assuredly an empty promise as all insurance companies are only motivated to settle every single claim for as little as possible.
The State Bar of Georgia states that under the Lawyer’s Creed and Aspirational Statement on Professionalism, an attorney offers faithfulness, competence, diligence, and sound judgment to their clients. A lawyer will strive to represent you as they would want to be served and to be worthy of your trust.
You will know how committed an attorney is to your cause right away because one of the first things they are going to do is commence their own independent and complete investigation into your crash. The lawyer is going to be able to determine the cause of the accident, preserve all evidence relating to the accident, and identify every party liable for the accident.
An attorney is going to be able to determine precisely what your case is worth and submit a formal demand to the insurance company for the negligent driver. A settlement could be negotiated, or the lawyer could file a lawsuit to take your case to trial.
Why Choose Chris Hudson Law Group To Handle My Case?
The top goal of The Chris Hudson Law Group is to help you relax and focus on your recovery. Our firm will immediately step in and handle all of the many concerns you have, and we can also obtain a medical lien for you to continue receiving medical treatment at no upfront cost to you if you are having difficulty affording your ongoing medical care.
While attending Mercer University, Christopher Hudson was honored with the Cali Award for the highest grade in Advanced Legal Writing and the Cali Award for the highest grade in Law Practice Management. He also received an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, which denotes the highest level of professional excellence.
Amanda S. Morris is a former Assistant Public Defender for the Augusta Judicial Circuit from 2008 to 2017.
You should also know that it won’t cost you anything upfront to hire The Chris Hudson Law Group to handle your case. Because we work on a contingency-fee-basis, you won’t owe us anything until we recover compensation for you. Our interests are perfectly aligned, and our goal is to get you the maximum compensation for your bike accident claim. To put it succinctly: we won’t get paid unless you get paid.
Types of Bicycle Accident Cases We Handle
Most bicycle accidents in Augusta involve motor vehicles, and drivers are usually negligent. Some of the most common causes of bicycle crashes in Georgia include, but are not limited to:
- Failure to yield at an intersection
- Failure to stop at a traffic sign or signal
- Loss of control
- Rear-end accidents
- Parking lot accidents
- Backing out accidents
- Left-turn accidents
Another pervasive kind of bicycle accident in more urban areas of Augusta is the “dooring” accident, which involves a driver or passenger opening the door to a motor vehicle into the path of an oncoming bicyclist. Most bicyclists are powerless to avoid collisions in these cases.
It is also possible to bicycle crashes to be entirely isolated incidents involving no other vehicles, but bicyclists are not always at fault for these accidents. It may be possible that a governmental entity is liable for injuries caused by defects in roadways that should have been repaired.
Other accidents could stem from defective bicycle parts, which could make manufacturers liable. Maintenance companies could also be responsible for crashes caused by improper repairs to bicycles.
Bicycle accidents can result in a wide range of possible injuries that may include, but is not limited to:
- Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs)
- Spinal Cord Injuries
- Paralysis
- Musculoskeletal Trauma
- Neck Injuries
- Internal Organ Injuries
- Soft Tissue Injuries
- Fractures
- Sprains
- Muscle Strains
- Herniated Discs
- Road Rash
A person riding a bicycle could also suffer fatal injuries in an accident. The family of the victim can often file a wrongful death lawsuit in such cases.
Frequently Asked Questions about Bicycle Accidents
If the insurance company is offering me a lump sum settlement to resolve my case without having to go to court, why should I not accept it?
Even when the insurance company has extended what you consider to be a sizable offer to resolve your case, you need to know that whatever you are being offered is only a fraction of what you are entitled to. You need to take the time to consider all of the different bills you will be paying in the future, not just the ones you are facing right now.
The tremendous risk of accepting a quick settlement is that you will be releasing the negligent party from any further liability, and you will have no legal recourse to obtain any additional damages when your settlement is exhausted. You will want to have a lawyer who can negotiate a just settlement to your case and file a lawsuit if the insurer is unwilling to provide appropriate compensation.
Can I still recover compensation if I was partially at fault for my bicycle accident?
Georgia state law provides that a person can only recover compensation in a bicycle accident so long as they were less than 50 percent at fault for an accident. Insurance companies often try to pin as much blame as possible on victims to prohibit their claims, which again underscores the reasons you should not talk to insurance companies.
You also need to know that even when you can file a bicycle accident lawsuit, the amount you are ultimately awarded can still be reduced in proportion to your degree of negligence. In other words, a person who is awarded $100,000 in a bicycle accident case that they are found to have been 25 percent responsible for will have their damages reduced by $25,000 and receive $75,000.
Will my failure to wear a helmet prevent me from recovering compensation?
Failure to wear a helmet could indeed be used against you, but it does not necessarily impact all injury claims. Many bicycle accident injuries involve other parts of the body to which the helmet would have offered no protection. Furthermore, people who are older than 16 years of age are not required under Georgia state law to wear helmets, so failure to wear a helmet is not considered any kind of violation of the law.
The insurance company will be very likely to argue that head injuries or brain injuries were the result of a failure to wear a helmet, but an attorney can help overcome these arguments by presenting other evidence of why you are entitled to more significant damages.
Bicycle Accidents in Georgia: How Often Do They Occur?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, bicycle trips represent only one percent of all trips nationwide. However, bicyclists account for over two percent of all fatalities in accidents involving motor vehicles.
More than 130,000 bikers sustain injuries, and nearly 1,000 die in crashes yearly. The costs of deaths and injuries from bicycle accidents exceed $23 billion annually. The costs include lost work productivity, health care, and estimates for lost lives and quality of life.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) compiled data from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System. Although child bicyclist fatalities have decreased, deaths of bikers 20 and older have quadrupled since 1975.
In 2020, 932 bicyclists died in motor vehicle accidents. That number represents a nine percent increase from the previous year.
More males die in bike accidents than females. Of all bicyclist fatalities in a single year, 798 were male, compared to 116 females.
In crashes involving bicyclist fatalities by helmet use, 57 percent of bicyclists weren’t wearing a helmet, while 18 percent were. There was no information about the other 25 percent’s helmet status.
The number of bicyclist deaths by month in 2020 includes:
- January – 51
- February – 39
- March – 58
- April – 66
- May – 87
- June – 95
- July – 106
- August – 113
- September – 77
- October – 85
- November – 83
- December – 72
Bicyclist fatalities peaked between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., with 22 percent of deaths occurring during this three-hour period. The hours between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. was the timeframe with the second highest fatalities, accounting for 14 percent of all deaths.
For all age groups, the number of bicyclist fatalities by road type includes:
- Interstates and freeways – 20
- Other major roads – 567
- Minor roads – 312
Contact a Bicycle Accident Attorney from The Chris Hudson Law Group in Augusta
Did you sustain catastrophic injuries, or was your loved one killed in a bicycle accident in Augusta or a surrounding area of Richmond County? Turn to Chris Hudson Law Group, the trusted legal team that so many other injured cyclists have turned to for help when they’ve been hurt. Our Augusta injury attorneys will work tirelessly to help you get justice. Call (706) 863-6600 or contact us online to take advantage of a free consultation.