29 Dec RECOVERING COMPENSATION AFTER A NEW YORK BIKE ACCIDENT
Have you sustained a serious injury from a New York bike accident? We’d like to help you discover ways to recover compensation whenever that happens.
Understanding New York Vehicle & Traffic Laws
New York is the kind of place where many opt not to drive a car in favor of biking. Unfortunately, this carries some risk of death/injury, as we’ve seen from incident data.
The last full year of data informs us that there were 18,718 biking accidents, eight of which resulted in the loss of life. That’s a rate of more than 51 accidents per day in New York. Clearly, it shows the need for concern over bicyclist safety.
Several issues contribute to these accidents: fatigued drivers, reckless drivers, tailgating, impaired driving, failure to yield, and more.
What do we do when an incident occurs though?
Above all else, we need to be aware of when motorists might violate safety laws. The New York Vehicle and Traffic Laws (VTL) provide some guidelines for determining your eligibility to receive recompense for bike accidents. Here are some of the relevant sections you should know:
- VTL 1146
- Motor vehicle drivers must exercise caution when driving around bicycles, pedestrians, and domestic animals on all roads.
- VTL 1122
- Vehicles approaching bicycles from behind must make every effort to pass the cyclist from the left side while maintaining a safe distance.
- VTL 1123
- Drivers can only pass on the right side of a one-way street, if they are going to make a left turn thereafter, or if there is unobstructed pavement for at least two vehicles. In other words, passing on the right side should be a rare occurrence, since doing so increases the risk of an accident.
We notice that failing to abide by these three general guidelines accounts for more than a preponderance of bicycle accidents in New York. When that’s the case, there’s a strong likelihood that the driver owes the bicyclist restitution. Disputes over the case details may require the intervention of personal-injury attorneys if a case goes to court.
As usual, don’t try to fight such a battle in court by yourself. We urge you to contact us to obtain competent legal counsel and improve your chance of recovering compensation.
Gruenberg Kelly Della wants to help you remain knowledgeable of the basics of personal injury law and all your legal rights therein. More importantly, we want you to know you have reliable advocacy, should these matters go to court. We routinely represent clients who secure very significant settlements for their injuries. If you need legal sponsorship related to a bike accident in New York, call us any time at (631) 737-4110 to find out how we can help you gain damages.