Steps to Prevent Bicycle Accidents this Spring

Whether for exercise, recreation, or traveling to work, there are numerous reasons why you might choose to ride a bicycle. Whatever the reason you decide to ride a bike, there are important precautions to take in order to help you avoid being hit by motor vehicles. While these types of accidents can give rise to personal injury claims, allowing you to potentially recover compensation for injuries you sustain, it is much less painful to avoid these accidents in the first place.

Riding in the Road

You are perfectly within your legal right to ride a bicycle in the road, and motorists must share the road with you. Indeed, in many places, you are not even allowed to ride your bicycle on the sidewalk, thus forcing you onto the road. However, when riding in the road, the same responsibilities placed on motorists are placed on bicyclists. Adhering to these responsibilities can decrease the chances that you will be hit by a vehicle.

When entering a road, you must yield to oncoming traffic. It is particularly dangerous when a bicyclist enters the road from a driveway, alley, or from between parked cars. A motorist will not be expecting that in any sort of traffic, including a bike, will be entering from the middle of the block. Before entering the road, be sure to stop and check both ways to ensure it is safe.

It is also safer, as well as required to ride with traffic. Drivers do not expect traffic to be coming from the wrong direction, so riding against traffic can be very dangerous. As a result of the unexpectedness of a bicyclist riding in the wrong direction, coupled with the smaller size of a bicycle, a motorist may not see you approaching.

Riding your bike in a uniform and predictable manner will also help to avoid accidents. This means you should ride in a straight line and avoid swerving. When you wish to change lanes or make a turn, you should use hand signals to alert motorists. It is also important to obey all traffic laws, signals, and signs. In other words, you should ride your bicycle in the same manner as you would drive a vehicle.

Riding at Night and After Drinking

If at all possible, you should avoid riding a bike at night, as motorists often have difficulty seeing bicyclists when it is dark. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that 48% of bicyclist deaths occurred between 4 p.m. and midnight. However, if you cannot avoid riding a bike at night, you should wear bright clothing and some sort of reflective clothing. Further, your bike should be equipped with a headlight and a rear reflector.

It is also helpful to avoid drinking alcohol and riding a bike. Balance, coordination, focus, and reaction time are all affected when a cyclist is under the influence of alcohol. After consuming alcohol, the best choice is find another means of transportation.

If you have been injured as a result of a bicycle-related accident, contact an experienced Las Vegas personal injury attorney. The team at De Castroverde Law Group has the experience to help you with your case today.

Common Causes of Bicycle Accidents

Bicycles can be a great alternative to driving a car or taking a bus around town. Many cities encourage biking to reduce the number of vehicles on the road, and provide bike lanes to keep cyclists safe as they travel.

Despite cities taking initiatives to try to reduce the number of bicycle accidents, collisions between cyclists and drivers continue to occur each day. And tragically, the majority of these accidents are caused by driver negligence or recklessness.

Understanding the most common causes of bicycle accidents can help cyclists and motorists alike take precautions to prevent these devastating collisions. Some of the most common causes of bicycle accidents include:

• Driver does not see the cyclist and makes a left turn
• Driver passes on the left of the cyclist and then makes a right turn into the cyclist’s path
• Driver in a stopped car opens their door into the path of an oncoming cyclist
• Driver enters or exits a driveway or parking lot without first checking for passing cyclists
• Driver strikes a cyclist from behind, usually when traveling around a bend in the road
• Driver makes a left-hand turn without checking for cyclists traveling straight through the intersection

Bicycle accidents often result in serious injuries, so it is imperative that both cyclists and motorists do their part to prevent collisions. Cyclists can help prevent collisions by maximizing their visibility by wearing reflective clothing and attaching lights to their bikes, taking extra precaution when approaching intersections and parking lot entrances, and following all traffic laws. Motorists should constantly be on the lookout for cyclists, check carefully before turning, and make sure that they always share the road with cyclists.

With the increasing popularity of cycling, it is important that motorists and cyclists learn to coexist on the road. If you or a loved one has been harmed in a bicycle accident caused by a negligent motorist, you may be able to seek compensation for your injuries and losses by filing a personal injury claim.

De Castroverde Law Group is a family-run firm that is dedicated to helping accident victims obtain justice, and we can help if you have been injured in the Las Vegas area. Contact our firm to learn about your rights as the victim of a bicycle accident. 

Ride Smart, Stay Safe – Tips for Cyclists

Bike-car accidents are all too common on the streets of Las Vegas and throughout the United States. Although cyclists cannot always predict what motorists may do behind the wheel, there are steps they can take to protect themselves while riding their bikes. Read on to find out how you can stay safe.

Top Causes of Bike-Car Crashes

If you want to keep yourself safe while riding your bike, it’s important to understand the situations in which bike-car accidents most commonly occur.

Left Turns
Nearly half of all bike-car collisions occur when drivers fail to see cyclists traveling straight and make left-hand turns into their paths.

Passing Cyclists
Because cyclists do not travel as fast as passenger vehicles, impatient drivers often speed up to pass the cyclists and then abruptly cut them off, causing a collision.

Right Turns
Similar to left-turn collisions, drivers commonly fail to see cyclists traveling next them, so when they make right turns they collide with the cyclists.

Overtaking Cyclists
When a driver cannot see or fails to notice a cyclist in the lane in front of them, they often hit the back of the bicycle, which can cause the cyclist to be thrown from their bike and severely injured.

Parking Lots and Driveways
When drivers enter and exit parking lots and driveways, they are usually focused on one thing: finding a spot to park. As such, many drivers don’t look carefully and quickly pull straight into the paths of passing cyclists.

Open Doors on Parked Cars
After parking their vehicles along the street, many motorists quickly glance in the side mirror to make sure a car isn’t passing and then throw open their doors and exit their vehicles. In most cases, a quick glance in the mirror isn’t enough to notice a cyclist coming up the street, and opening the door straight into their path could lead to serious injuries.

Safety Tips for Cyclists

• Always wear a helmet
• Wear bright and reflective clothing whenever you bike
• When biking at night, use lights and reflectors on the front and back of your bike
• Bells or other audible signals can make drivers aware of your presence
• Follow traffic laws to reduce the risk of a collision
• Bike defensively – always be aware of what’s happening around you
• Don’t use headphones or earbuds; make sure you can hear horns and cars coming near you
• If a driver makes a left turn into your path, turn with them to avoid a collision
• If possible, avoid biking on streets that have numerous parking lot and driveway exits
• When biking past parked cars, ride at least 3 feet away and be prepared for opening doors
• Always choose the safe route over the quick route

If you have been injured in a bicycle collision in the Las Vegas area, our dedicated accident attorneys at De Castroverde Law Group can help you seek justice and fair compensation from the driver. We encourage you to get in touch with our personal injury team to learn how we can help.