San Francisco Bicycle Accident Lawyer
Choulos, Choulos & Wyle
Hit and Run Head Injuries Wrongful Death
If you have been involved in a bicycle accident caused by a negligent motorist in California, you need the San Francisco bicycle accident lawyers at the law offices of Choulos, Choulos & Wyle on your side. Our California bicycle accident attorneys know cycling. We also know how to handle any claim for a bike accident injury to the benefit of the cyclist who has suffered head injuries, bone fractures, spinal cord injuries, or other serious injuries.
Preserving Evidence after a Bicycle Accident
Contact the San Francisco bicycle accident lawyers at Choulos, Choulos & Wyle immediately after an accident involving a bicycle and a motor vehicle. The driver of the car or truck is usually at fault. It is important to preserve evidence by
- taking photos,
- documenting road conditions,
- recording data concerning construction sites, and
- obtaining detailed information regarding property damage.
Well-preserved evidence will help us ensure that the fullest compensation available in cases of serious injury or wrongful death.
We are Avid Bicyclists and Zealous Bicycle Accident Attorneys
Our personal injury law firm is more than simply a valuable resource for victims of bike accidents. Our attorneys are avid cyclists, and proud sponsors of the Marin County Bicycle Coalition (MCBC). We know, understand, and will fight for the rights of bicyclists. We have witnessed the tragic result, including cyclist fatality, when automobile drivers have not respected bicyclists’ right to Share the Road. We are prepared to advocate vigorously through bicycle accident lawsuits for the right to compensation for bicyclists.
Many of our clients have recovered ample settlements and verdicts after they had suffered catastrophic injury such brain damage and spinal cord injury. We also represent families of riders of mountain bikes who have been killed in hit and run cyclist / car collisions due to driver negligence or dangerous roadways.
Uncovering the Causes of a Bicycle Accident
The cause of a bicycle accident is not always black and white. CCW looks goes beyond the oversimplified collision factors in the police report. CCW conducts their own investigation, going deeper to uncover if another driver, or a dangerous road, or a defective product caused or contributed to a bicycle accident or to the bicycle rider's injuries.
Inadequate signs or warnings of safeguards, dangerous or defective guardrails, or broken traffic signals can create a trap for even careful drivers. Defective crosswalks or sidewalks can be dangerous to pedestrians and cause pedestrian personal injuries or wrongful death.
Our Attorneys are Here to Help
If you or someone you love was injured in a vehicle-bike collision, you may have a claim against the at-fault driver. Please contact us toll free at 1-877-702-7800 or at 1-415-474-7800 to discuss your injuries with an experienced California bicycle accident attorney.
Choulos, Choulos & Wyle serves clients throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, in Oakland, Sacramento, San Rafael, Santa Rosa, and San Jose; in Santa Clara County, Alameda County, and San Mateo County.
Recent Examples of Our Clients' Success
Bicycle Accident – $3,500,000 Brain Damage Settlement
Our bicycle accident lawyers represented a 40-year-old man who was struck by a car while riding his bicycle on the bike path in Lafayette, California. The elderly man who was driving the automobile also struck a telephone pole and died from severe trauma to his chest. Our client, a husband and father of two daughters, sustained a major head injury, including coma, and permanent brain damage. His past medical bills were more than $500,000. Because of his severe brain damage, our client needed to live in a rehabilitation facility or institution. Experts forecasted that he would never return home or to work again. A doctor form Stanford University, hired by the defense attorney for the driver’s estate, claimed that the offending driver had suffered a sudden heart attack before the crash, which would mean that he was not negligent, and therefore not at fault for striking the bicyclist. Our attorneys were able to show, through our own experts retained at U. C. San Francisco, who microscopically examined slides of the decedent’s heart tissue, that the heart attack occurred after the crash, when the driver hit the pole. Our bicycle accident attorneys achieved a settlement of $3,500,000 against the estate of the driver, after this case was filed in the Contra Costa Superior Court. As a part of our settlement, our attorneys negotiated $1,000,000 for the bicycle rider’s wife, for damages for loss of consortium, or loss of the care and comfort and affection of her husband. Also, as a part of the settlement, our attorneys negotiated an 80% reduction of the workers compensation lien.
Muni Bus vs. Bicycle Accident – $1,300,000 settlement
Our bicycle accident lawyers represented a 38-year-old man who was run over by a San Francisco Municipal Railway Bus while riding his bicycle on the street in San Francisco, California. The bus driver never stopped although our client was standing still near the curb at a bus stop. The bus driver’s only defense was that he never saw the bicycle rider and that the bicycle rider should not have been standing with his bicycle in the bus stop. Our client sustained fractures to his pelvis with major internal injuries, resulting in loss of sexual function. Our client sought past and future medical expenses as well as past and future income loss and pain and suffering for the injuries and for the loss of his sexual function. Our bicycle accident attorneys achieved a settlement of $1,300,000 against the City and County of San Francisco, after this case was filed in the San Francisco Superior Court. As a part of our settlement, our attorneys also negotiated an elimination of our client’s medical lien from San Francisco General Hospital.
Bicycle Accident with Truck – $400,000 settlement
Our bicycle accident attorneys were able to negotiate a $400,000 settlement for a San Francisco bicycle rider, who was run over by a Bob Tail Truck in San Francisco, California. Our client, who was a San Francisco bicycle messenger, was run over by the front and back wheels of a truck, when the truck driver turned right, directly across the path of the bicyclist. Our client was passing the truck on the right when he was first hit, and he suffered serious fractures to his pelvis, as well as serious internal injuries when he fell under the wheels of the truck. Our client was sure that the truck driver did not use his turn signals and that the truck driver could not have been paying attention. The success for this bicycle accident case depended on whether we could prove that the truck driver had actually run over our client twice, because that would prove that he could not have been watching the road. Our client, who was a 22 year old San Francisco man, sought past and future medical expenses and past and future income loss, as well as pain and suffering. The truck driver said that he had signaled the right turn, denied running over the bicyclist twice, and denied fault because the bicyclist had run a stop sign as he passed the truck. Our bicycle accident attorneys, through an accident reconstruction expert, were able to show that the bicycle was actually run over twice, and so we proved that the truck driver could not have been watching as he made the turn. The case was settled after being filed in San Francisco Superior Court. The trucking company was made accountable.
Dangerous Roadway -Bicycle Accident – $200,000 settlement
Our bicycle accident lawyers successfully negotiated a settlement of $200,000 for a San Francisco bicycle rider who was caused to fall and to fracture his hip by a dangerous and defective railroad crossing in Napa County, California. While riding his bicycle on the State Highway in Napa, California, our client attempted to cross the Wine Train railroad tracks, which ran across the roadway at a dangerously oblique angle. Absent getting off his recumbent bicycle, there was no way for our client to avoid crossing these dangerous tracks. When his front wheel got caught in the track, our client fell and broke his hip. The State and the owners of the tracks had been arguing for years about which entity was actually responsible for the dangerous condition on the roadway.
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