On Monday, a 14-year-old in Georgia was killed in a bicycle accident involving a motor vehicle. According to police reports, the boy was riding his bicycle when two cars approached him from behind. However, the boy only saw one of the two vehicles. He attempted to change lanes to provide the visible car with the right of way. After changing lanes, he was struck by the second car, and thrown into a ditch. The boy died at the scene of the accident.

Bicycle Commuting (and Accidents) are On the Rise
Bicycling has become an increasingly common mode of transportation for many individuals living in metropolitan cities. As this occurs, there are also a greater number of accidents involving bicycles. For example, according to the League of American Bicyclists, since 2005, bicycle commuting has increased by at least 46% in the country’s 70 largest cities, with some cities observing increases of up to 95%. In Atlanta, approximately 1,654 residents commuted to work on their bicycles in 2010.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that in 2010, there were 618 bicycle related fatalities and 52,000 bicycle related injuries. This amounts to 2 percent of all traffic related fatalities and 2 percent of all traffic related injuries. In 2010, 1.4% of all traffic related accidents in Georgia involved bicycles. The total cost of traffic accidents involving bicycles exceeds four billion dollars per year.

If you or a loved one has been injured, or if your loved one has been killed in a bicycling accident, you should contact a personal injury lawyer immediately. An attorney can help you protect your legal rights. In order to do this, your attorney will review the facts of your case, consult with subject matter experts, communicate with others on your behalf, engage in settlement negotiations, and represent you in court.

A Bicycle Accident Attorney’s Opinion on What to Do If Involved in a Bike Accident

There are several steps you can take at the scene of an accident to help preserve your legal rights and to ensure that you receive the maximum amount in damages for the injuries you sustained.

First, you should contact law enforcement and request a police report. The majority of bicycle related accidents go unreported. This impacts a bicycle accident attorney’s ability to prove that your bicycle accident related injuries were caused by someone else’s negligence.

You should also obtain contact information from other parties involved in the bicycle related accident, as well as, any witnesses to the accident. In addition, it is important that you exchange insurance information with other parties involved in the bicycled related accident.

Finally, it is important that you do not discuss your bicycle related accident with anyone else, including insurance companies before you speak with an attorney.