NYC Bicycle Accident Attorney | Feiner & Lavy Law Firm

There’s nothing like a bike ride to get the doldrums of being cooped up in the house out of your head. Whether it’s a spring morning after a long winter, a mild summer evening, or a gorgeous day watching the leaves change in the fall, a nice ride on a bicycle can be invigorating. And if you’ve put on a few pounds, riding a bike through Manhattan offers incredible exercise.

In the past several years, as any NYC Bicycle Accident Attorney can tell you, the world of biking in NYC has changed. It’s not only the couple on-road or touring bicycles taking a ride up along the river. The city has added bike lanes, Citi Bike stands have popped up everywhere and there are even powered E-Bikes. Cycling in the city is more accessible than ever.

Unfortunately, that creates more opportunities for accidents and injuries. You and an NYC Personal Injury Lawyer are well aware that drivers in New York City can be aggressive…very aggressive. These are the ingredients in a cocktail that can result in accidents and, sadly, the cyclist ends up on the worst end of that encounter. And it’s not just people operating personal cars: hustling taxi and ride-share drivers (Uber, Lyft), pressured operators of delivery vehicles (UPS, USPS, Amazon) and city buses create hazards for cyclists. And there are also distracted pedestrians wandering into intersections or people exiting parked vehicles without looking who can cause a nasty collision. Biking past a construction site or on a poorly maintained city road can expose someone to road hazards that lead to an injury. That refreshing bike ride could be the first step on a trip to the emergency room.

At the Feiner & Lavy Law Firm, we know of people who bike from Brooklyn to Midtown. From the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park is about a six-mile ride and can be done on a single Citi Bike session without incurring extra charges. That puts a lot of Brooklyn commuters within a bike ride of their offices in Manhattan – a nice change of pace from the subway. And with hundreds or even thousands of vehicles passing a cyclist heading across the Brooklyn Bridge and through the streets of Manhattan, to the eyes of an NYC Bike Accident Lawyer this looks like an opportunity for an injury.

What are some of the most common causes of bike accidents?

There can be many different causes of accidents, but these are some of the more common types:

Turning accident: Cyclists are often victims of drivers failing to see or exercise care when making a turn and smashing into a cyclist. This can happen at lights, stop signs or when making turns onto side streets.
Being side-swiped: Although motorists are instructed to “exercise ‘due care’ to avoid colliding with any bicyclist” under New York State law, a driver failing to leave enough space can hit a cyclist from the side.
Dooring: This is when a car or truck door suddenly opens in the path of a cyclist, there isn’t adequate time to stop, and the cyclist collides with a vehicle door.
Being rear-ended: Aggressive drivers can follow a bicyclist too closely, and if the cyclist needs to stop, the driver can ram into a cyclist.
Road hazards: Poorly maintained roads with terrible potholes, crumbling pavement or even unsafe conditions like litter that hasn’t been cleaned in a reasonable time can pose hazards that lead to injury.

How common are injuries to cyclists?

An NYC Bike Accident Lawyer can site a statistic that is very telling: nationally, according to CDC statistics published in 2015, there were more than 450-thousand bicycle-accident related injuries and more than 1,000 deaths in the United States. Those accidents will result in lifetime medical costs and productivity losses estimated at $10 billion. That to us is a very illustrative. It speaks of cyclists killed and injured, the pain and suffering they go through, lengthy time to convalesce, lost opportunity, and family anguish.

What are some of the most common injuries bike riders suffer?

It’s important to get medical attention immediately, even if you don’t feel hurt. Injuries sometimes take time to present and it is important to get checked out.
Get the names of witnesses and people involved in the accident.
Take pictures of the scene with your cellphone camera as soon as possible.
Obtain a copy of any police report.
And most importantly, call Feiner & Lavy at (929) 432-5777 for a free evaluation to see if you have a lawsuit that can help you to recover from your injuries. We are a respected personal injury law firm that has fought for and earned millions of dollars in settlements for our clients.