LAS VEGAS BICYCLE ACCIDENT ATTORNEY

Most Common Causes of Bike Accident

The laws in Nevada are designed to protect bicyclists who share the roadways with motor vehicles. For instance there are laws that require motor vehicles to pass bicyclists with at least three feet of clearance, or laws that require motor vehicles to move away from the right-hand lane when passing a bicyclist. Yet even with these protective laws in place, all too many accidents involving bicyclists occur every day.

Bicyclists have to remain ever vigilant when it comes to paying attention to what the vehicles around them are doing. But sometimes accidents involving motor vehicles are unavoidable and happen despite a bicyclist’s best efforts to be safe. The trouble is that bicycles are so much smaller than other vehicles on the roadway. Bicyclists can be difficult for drivers to see. Some of the most common causes of bicycle accidents include:

• A bicyclist is hit by a motor vehicle making a right-hand turn. This happens all too frequently when a driver fails to check for or acknowledge that a bicyclist is sharing the roadway. A vehicle could pull out from a side street or parking lot and crash right into the side of a bicyclist who is obeying the traffic laws. Bicyclists are also involved in accidents where a driver and a bicyclist are sharing a road going the same direction and then the vehicle makes a right-hand turn without checking for a bicyclist. Drivers who fail to check their surroundings for bicycles sharing the roadway could be held negligent if they cause harm to a bicyclist.
• A bicyclist is struck by a vehicle making a left-hand turn. There are plenty of bicycle accidents that are caused because a vehicle is making a left-hand turn and they fail to see an oncoming bicyclist. Traveling in opposite directions when the vehicle makes the left-hand turn, it is possible that the bicyclist was too far away for the driver to see the bicyclist. Because the bicyclist has too much momentum, and no time to stop, the bicyclist can run right into the side of the left-turning vehicle, or could get severely hurt by trying to swerve out of the way of the left-turning vehicle.
• A bicyclist gets rear-ended. Just like motor vehicles can be involved in rear-end collisions, bicyclists can be rear-ended by motor vehicles. This usually happens when the driver is not paying attention to the road or to what a bicyclist is doing. A bicyclist could follow all of the appropriate bike laws concerning wearing the proper reflective gear, having appropriate lights attached to their bicycle, or using the appropriate hand signals to communicate with other drivers. But if a driver is not paying attention, it can result in the bicyclist becoming a victim in a rear-end accident all the same.
• A bicyclist can be hit by a vehicle door. Commonly referred to as “dooring”, when a driver exits his or her vehicle parked on the side of a road and does not check for oncoming bicyclists, as the driver negligently opens his or her vehicle door, it can catch an unsuspecting bicyclist. The bicyclist crashes into the open car door because the bicyclist had no warning that the driver was about to open the door. This a particularly common type of bicycle accident in the city.

Motor vehicles are required by law to treat bicycles the same as they would treat other motor vehicles on the road. But drivers who are involved in accidents with bicycles often claim that they could not see the bicyclist. Due to bicyclists’ small size compared to motor vehicles, there is little to protect bicyclists from serious harm, or even death, during a collision.

For their own safety, bicyclists need to be prepared for drivers not to see them, but that does not mean that drivers are free from liability when it comes to bicyclists. Drivers who cause harm to bicyclists should be held accountable for the damage that they have caused. If you have been injured by a motor vehicle driver, you need to seek compensation from the driver who is liable for your injuries and property damage.