Bakersfield drivers send bicyclists to the ground quite frequently with their careless driving. Unfortunately, victims commonly fall on the most critical part of their bodies…the head. They can suffer skull fractures, and the effects can go deeper and cause serious injuries to the brain.
Any injury involving the head and brain can require expensive medical care and weeks of therapy to return to a normal life. That therapy can involve occupational therapy, speech language therapy, and cognitive therapy. Like all hospital care, it’s expensive. Injured riders need to ensure that drivers are held accountable and can’t escape blame.
A Bakersfield bicycle accident lawyer may be an important safeguard for victims. A lawyer protects victims from false accusations and then makes sure they receive what they need to rebound physically and financially. Contact Maison Law Accident & Injury Lawyers of Bakersfield for a free case consultation to find out what’s possible.
Bakersfield Bike Accident Dangers with and Without Helmets
Bakersfield cyclists know how fast local traffic moves and how distracted drivers can be. It’s something riders want to avoid when possible. However, not every trip can be made on the Kern River Parkway Trail or on streets with bike lanes like Panama Lane.
Riders must sometimes get out on local streets without bike lanes and share lanes with motorists who are always in a rush. They can pass riders when there isn’t room, they can switch lanes to make a right turn, and run a cyclist off the road.
Cyclists can break bones, suffer neck and back injuries, and hit their heads on a car or the road surface.
California requires young people below the age of 18 to wear bicycle safety helmets when they ride to reduce the effects of head injuries. Adults 18 and older aren’t required to wear helmets. Everyone should have them on because of the difference they make when riders fall and hit their heads. But victims in collisions can suffer head injuries with or without helmets.
Head Trauma After a Bike Accident
California drivers are supposed to take special care any time they are in close proximity to someone on a bike. They look for children at play on bikes when they cut through Bakersfield neighborhoods and slow down to prevent the possibility of an impact.
Sadly, many drivers don’t even know they must share the lanes with bicyclists when there are no bike lanes available. They can continue on at full speed, only stopping when a rider is on the ground with a head injury.
Victims can end up at Mercy Hospital in critical condition. Emergency room doctors often treat these and other types of injuries to the heads of cyclists.
- Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs) – These are the result of the brain’s function being interrupted by a blow to the head. For cyclists, they can happen in the blunt force trauma of a collision caused by an SUV driver or a fall to the ground, and in some cases, both. Doctors at UCLA Health report that serious TBIs can involve seizures, weakness on one side of the body or both sides, and vision changes. An injury can also bring a prolonged loss of consciousness and structural brain damage.
- Concussions – These are a mild form of TBIs but can still result in a temporary loss of consciousness and memory loss.
- Skull Fractures – Fracture can be hairline in nature. Other injuries might send a piece of the skull into the brain. Brain bleeding can build up life-threatening pressure inside the skull if not drained. A skull fracture can affect brain function, memory, and cause infection.
- Scalp Injuries – Any injuries to the skull would have to go through the scalp. A slide along a rough surface might leave a cyclist’s scalp cut or scraped. A large bump and bruise may occur. Stitches can be necessary, and doctors would watch out for infection. A permanent disfigurement may occur, even leaving places where your hair will not grow back.
These injuries can range from mild and quick-healing to severe, with recovery taking months or years. Of course, the time it takes to get back on a bike will also be important to victims. Injured riders must get the support they need to pay for the best care available. That support must last for as long as necessary.
An experienced lawyer can work with the victim’s doctors to determine how long full healing might take and then demand the level of support needed in a settlement check.
How Much in Support Can Riders Expect After a Head-Injury Accident?
It’s difficult to nail down a reliable estimate of what cyclists may earn after an accident. It would usually hinge on the seriousness of the injury and the length of recovery. A head injury only complicates matters.
These devastating injuries can affect every function in the body and be unpredictable. Victims may always have some form of headaches or
A skilled attorney would need to hear every detail from you about what happened and then investigate the accident. Then a better picture of what you may earn would emerge.
It’s easier to look at the factors that generally decide the size of a bicycle accident settlement check:
- The totals on your current medical bills and the anticipated costs of any care expected to be required in the future.
- The costs of intensive therapy sessions, perhaps involving physical therapy, occupational therapy, and even therapy to help your brain remap function to be able to speak and swallow.
- The estimates on support needed for long-term care if riders suffer a permanent physical disability. This might include the costs involved in home care or nursing care. Renovations on a home to make it more accessible to patients should be added to any settlement.
- The costs for travel to local doctors and specialists outside of Bakersfield. These costs only rise when victims are on crutches or in wheelchairs and can’t drive themselves.
- The calculated losses for victims while they can go to work and earn a paycheck. These losses might also be permanent.
- The value placed on the pain the victim has experienced and the emotional trauma to cope with. This might involve a loss of enjoyment of life, especially for victims who must wait to return to the rides they love. Victims can also become depressed and experience PTSD symptoms stemming back to the moment of impact.
- The cost to replace a bicycle and other damaged property.
Your attorney would file your claim for you and make sure these and other hardships were clearly listed. It’s the way car insurance companies are alerted to what they must take responsibility for and consider when they make their settlement offers.
Your attorney will check over every offer and make sure the amount leaves you covered for any complications that might occur in the future. If the offer doesn’t rise to this level, your lawyer helps you reject the offer and demand more.
Contact a Bicycle Accident Attorney Who Builds Your Case with Powerful Evidence and Fights to Earn You More
If you have a serious injury, like a Traumatic Brain Injury, and a careless driver caused your accident, speak to a lawyer before talking to a car insurance company.
Contact Maison Law Accident & Injury Lawyers of Bakersfield to schedule a free consultation. It’s a confidential, no-obligation review of your case with a real Kern County bicycle accident attorney.
Your full recovery becomes our number one mission. We don’t stop fighting until you are back on your bike and enjoying rides around the city.
We also realize that right after a bike accident, you may not have the money to hire a lawyer. That’s okay. If you hire us, our lawyers don’t get paid unless we win your case for you. Then, our fee comes out of the settlement check you earn from an insurer.