Irvine Bicycle Accident Lawyer

Proving liability for your recent bicycle accident is just the first challenge you face in your recovery efforts. Next, you will need to prove the full extent of the damages you are claiming from the defendant, and you must prove that those damages directly resulted from the defendant’s actions and not any other cause. In other words, you must establish causation before you can claim any compensation from the defendant.

Your recovery process may begin with an auto insurance claim. California law requires every driver to have auto insurance that includes liability coverage for bodily injury to a single person, bodily injury to more than one person in a single accident, and property damage. However, there is no guarantee that a minimum coverage policy will fully compensate your losses or that the at-fault driver will have insurance at all.

California has one of the highest statewide rates of uninsured drivers, and it’s prudent for drivers to consider adding uninsured motorist coverage to their own policies. If you have purchased this coverage, you may be able to claim against your own policy if an at-fault driver does not have insurance. Otherwise, you will need to file a personal injury suit against the at-fault driver.

The plaintiff in a personal injury suit has the right to claim repayment of any direct financial losses the defendant inflicted. In a bicycle accident claim, these economic damages are likely to include:

• Property damage. You can seek compensation for the cost of repairing or replacing your bicycle as well as any other personal effects lost in the accident.
• Medical expenses. A bicycle accident can easily result in tremendous physical injuries, and the defendant will be liable for the full extent of your immediate and future medical treatment costs resulting from the accident. Your Irvine bicycle accident lawyer can ensure the defendant is held appropriately accountable for the full scope of medical care you require to recover as fully as possible.
• Lost wages. When you are unable to work because of a personal injury, California law allows you to hold the defendant accountable for the income you are unable to earn during your recovery. This also applies to future income you are no longer able to earn if you were left permanently disabled by the accident. Your attorney can help calculate how much you would have been able to earn in the future and add this to your claim.

Once you have an experienced attorney handling your case and calculating the full range of economic damages you can seek from the defendant, you may discover your claim is worth much more than you initially expected. However, you also have the right to seek pain and suffering compensation from the defendant.

This may seem difficult to put into financial terms, but you have the right to seek monetary compensation for the physical pain and psychological distress the defendant caused with their actions. California law does not place a limit on how much you can seek with your claim, but the amount sought should be a reasonable reflection of the severity of the harm you suffered.

Your Irvine bicycle accident lawyer can help determine an appropriate figure based on various details of your case, namely the time it will take for you to fully recover from your injuries, the severity of your injuries, and the manner in which the defendant caused the accident. For example, a plaintiff who has suffered a permanently disabling spinal injury is likely to recover more pain and suffering compensation than a plaintiff expected to make a full recovery.

When you choose Easton & Easton to represent your personal injury case in Irvine, you have a responsive legal advocate ready to help you with every aspect of your recovery efforts. The right attorney can be invaluable for every stage of your case, from gathering the evidence needed to prove fault to uncovering all the various damages you can seek from the defendant who injured you.

The statute of limitations or time limit for filing a personal injury claim in Irvine, CA, is usually two years from the date the injury occurred. This may appear to be more than enough time to file your case, but the reality is that you need to start building your case as soon as possible. It can take much longer than you expect to build your case, so the sooner you connect with an attorney, the more likely you are to meet this important deadline.

The team at Easton & Easton approaches every civil claim we accept with the goal of helping our client recover as much compensation as possible in the shortest timeframe possible. We generally seek to settle our clients’ claims outside of court if we can, but we have the experience and skills needed to represent you in court if litigation is unavoidable.

Q: What Are Common Injuries From Bicycle Accidents in Irvine?

A: The victim of a bicycle accident could potentially sustain multiple serious injuries. A few of the most commonly reported injuries from these incidents include bone fractures, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and internal organ damage. It’s important to remember that traumatic brain injuries are especially serious, and even the highest-quality helmet can only mitigate head injuries, not prevent them entirely.

Q: How Can I Prove Fault for a Bicycle Accident in Irvine?

A: Proving liability for your recent bicycle accident in Irvine could require a combination of several types of evidence, including physical evidence from the scene of the crash, traffic camera video recordings, testimony from witnesses who saw the accident happen firsthand, and various forms of digital evidence. Your bike injury attorney in CA will be invaluable for the help they can provide in building your case.

Q: What Happens if I am Partially Responsible for Causing My Bicycle Accident?

A: California enforces the pure comparative negligence law for any civil claim in which the plaintiff shares fault with the defendant for causing the damages cited in the claim. A plaintiff found partially liable will have a fault percentage assigned, and then they lose this percentage of their case award as a penalty. For example, if you are found 25% at fault, you should expect to lose 25% of your final compensation to reflect this shared liability.

Q: Do I Need to Hire a Bike Injury Attorney in CA for My Case?

A: You are not compelled by law to hire an Irvine bicycle accident lawyer to represent your case, but doing so will significantly improve your chance of success with the claim and the likelihood of maximizing your recovery as fully as state law allows. The right bike injury attorney in CA can make handling every aspect of your case much easier and shorten the time it takes for you to recover your damages.

Q: How Much Does an Irvine Bicycle Accident Lawyer Charge for Legal Counsel?

A: The attorneys at Easton & Easton take personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis. This means our client is not required to pay upfront or ongoing attorneys’ fees; instead, we take only a percentage of the final case award we secure on their behalf as our fee. However, we only collect this contingency fee if we win the case. This billing arrangement allows you to approach your case without fear of paying more for legal counsel than you win in compensation.

The attorneys at Easton & Easton have years of professional experience helping our clients in Irvine through all types of complex personal injury cases, including bicycle accident claims. An experienced bike injury attorney in CA is an invaluable asset for your impending case, and the sooner you secure legal representation, the more likely you are to succeed with the claim. Contact us today to schedule a consultation with an experienced Irvine bicycle accident lawyer.

• • California Bicycle Helmet Laws
  • Average Bicycle Accident Settlement in California