Compensation in a DC bike accident depends on several factors. Moreover, bike accidents can be distinguished from car accident cases in several ways. This is relevant because accidents involving car accidents are more likely to have insurance coverage. If you are injured while riding your bike in DC, you likely will have to rely on whether there is insurance coverage on the adverse tortfeasor. If insurance coverage is not available, you may be out of luck. It is rarely worthwhile to sue a person with no insurance. If they do not have the means to pay for car insurance, they likely will not have the means to pay a significant judgment. Meanwhile, filing a lawsuit is expensive. Accordingly, filing suit is only in your best interest if coverage is available. This has a direct effect on your compensation in a DC bike accident.
When you are injured in a DC bike accident, your injuries may be severe. Thus, we make it our mission to find coverage for your accident and get you the compensation you deserve. Bike accident injuries can be far more extensive than injuries in other accidents. For example, if you are in a truck, your vehicle is probably far heavier than the other. Even if you are in a more compact car, you are protected by modern safety technology like airbags and a steel frame. On a bicycle, the most you have available is a helmet. On the streets of Washington, D.C., more bikers need to wear helmets. This could prevent the fatal injuries some bikers suffer.
Contact our office today for a free consultation if you want compensation for a DC bike accident.
You may be entitled to compensation for any loss or provable suffering related to your bike accident. However, the mere fact that you are entitled to compensation does not mean we can recover it. Suppose that someone with a bank balance of $2.25 batters you while you are on your bike. Consequently, you are in the hospital for a week and rack up exorbitant medical expenses and lost wages because you are too hurt to work. You would be entitled to several thousand dollars, or whatever amount makes you financially whole. Additionally, you would be entitled to noneconomic and punitive damages, which we will discuss below. However, the tortfeasor is uninsured. While drivers in their cars must have car insurance, almost no one has general liability insurance. Thus, that person’s assets and cash are the only things we can use to pay your damages.
The problem in this scenario is the $2.25 in the tortfeasor’s bank account will be insufficient to cover your damages. Accordingly, you can see from the illustration that the entitlement to compensation is not the same as the compensation in a DC bike accident.
Economic damages can be broken down into two general categories. The first is your medical expenses. The second is your lost wages. Taking medical costs first, these are any medical expenses for where you received treatment for injuries caused by the bike accident. This makes sense. If you are injured in a bike accident caused by another party’s negligence, you should not be stuck to pay your medical bills. While you do have health insurance, the reality is that your health insurance does not want to pay those bills either. Accordingly, we can recover medical expenses as economic damages so long as the medical records contain documentation that your treatment is related to your DC bike accident. On this topic, it should be noted that you can also receive compensation for the reasonable transportation you used to get to your doctor appointments.
The second component of economic damages is your lost wages. If you miss time from work because of injuries sustained in your bicycle accident, you can add those missed wages to your claim. To do so, we must do a couple of things. First, our DC bike accident lawyers will provide you with a form to complete showing your time missed from work. We require that your employer sign and date this form confirming that the hours you have listed as missed are accurate. Note that the adverse insurer may look to verify this by reaching out to your employer. The second thing we will need is a note from your doctor confirming that you are unable to work due to injuries sustained in your accident. Without this note from your treating physician, the law does not support reimbursement for time missed from work.
Noneconomic or general damages are the second primary compensation category in a DC bike accident. A lot fits into this category as it is a catch-all of anything related to your pain and suffering that is caused by the accident. Here is the dilemma many clients face. They claim they are mentally traumatized by the bike accident. While this may well be true, as the plaintiffs, the burden is on us to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that you were traumatized. Simply testifying on the witness stand that you can are traumatized is insufficient. Instead, we must pay your doctor to get on the witness stand and testify. Meanwhile, the defense will hire an expert witness to testify that you are not traumatized. They may need to meet with you before the trial.
The other part of pain and suffering is your physical injuries. When you are injured, you deserve compensation in a DC bike accident for your physical pain. For example, if you fracture two ribs because a vehicle struck you while biking in DC, you likely will suffer immense pain for several weeks. It may not be easy to breathe deeply. You may have trouble lying down and sleeping due to the pain. The damages of pain and suffering cover this.
Lastly, noneconomic damages include the inability to perform hobbies. For example, if you typically participate in a recreational sports league and your injuries cause you to miss the championship game, you are entitled to compensation. While it may not be as crucial as lost wages to a jury, a jury understands that a part of life is doing things you enjoy.
Punitive damages are awarded to a plaintiff for compensation in a DC bike accident when the defendant acts intentionally. If the defendant hit you with their car or struck you with a baseball bat while you are biking, causing severe injury, you may be entitled to punitive damages. Punitive damages are designed to punish the defendant and deter others from similar behavior. Unfortunately, punitive damages are not always covered by insurance.
Increasing the value of your compensation in a DC bike accident is done by adhering to the advice given by your DC bike accident lawyer. There is an infinite number of things you can do, and they are all fact-dependent. Here is a general list of ways to increase the value of your case. For more tailored advice, contact our office immediately for a free consultation.
The DC bike accident attorneys at Gelb & Gelb have been practicing personal injury law in DC for 70 years. Call us today for a free consultation and to learn about compensation in a DC bike accident.
Gelb & Gelb, P.C.
N/a
Copyright © 2024 Gelb & Gelb, P.C. All rights reserved.