NYC Bicycle Accident Lawyer

Riding a bike is an increasingly popular way to get around New York City, but it’s also one of the most dangerous. If you or a family member has recently been hit by a car while riding your bicycle in NYC, NY, contact the Platta Law Firm.

Our award-winning NYC bicycle accident lawyers can help you seek a substantial monetary award to cover the costs of your medical treatment, loss of income, and suffering.

Since 2007, our law firm has helped injured cyclists and families across NYC stand up to negligent motorists, insurance companies, and government agencies after devastating accidents. There’s a reason our client satisfaction can’t be matched – we get top results time and time again.

To date, we’ve successfully won over $150 Million in benefits, verdicts, and settlements for injury victims like you. You don’t just need to win your case, you need to make sure that you get every cent you deserve. Make our NYC law office your first call. We offer a free, no-obligation case evaluation, so don’t hesitate to reach out to us at 212-514-5100 to arrange a time for yours today.

NYC Bicycle Accident Statistics

An estimated 773,000 New Yorkers ride a bike in the city. City agencies believe that more than 553,000 bicycle trips are made every day. To accommodate riders, New York City has an extensive network of bike lanes – with many more under construction. NYC was once a leader in bike infrastructure innovation, but that’s no longer the case. Many argue that much of NYC’s bike infrastructure is outdated, poorly designed, and located in places where cyclists don’t typically go.

Without proper bike lanes to ride in safely, bike crossing signals, and dedicated parking facilities, cyclists are often forced into traffic with larger vehicles. Accidents are bound to happen – and they do. In 2021, 3,514 bicycles were involved in auto accidents in New York City. That accounted for 3 percent of all traffic accidents citywide. Where do most bicyclists get into accidents? Out of the 3,000+ crashes, there were:

• 687 Queens bicycle accidents
• 1,274 Brooklyn bicycle accidents
• 1,102 Manhattan bicycle accidents
• 3,90 Bronx bicycle accidents, and
• 60 Staten Island bicycle accidents.

NYC crash data reveals that the vast majority of car and bicycle collisions happen at intersections. Some of the intersections with the highest bicycle crash rates include:

• Jay St and Tillary St in Brooklyn
• E 161st St and Morris St in the Bronx.
• 6th Ave and W 23rd Street in Manhattan
• Atlantic Ave and Bedford Ave in Brooklyn
• 58th St and Roosevelt Ave in Queens, and

If you ride a bicycle in New York City, it’s important to exercise caution whether or not you’re using a dedicated or protected bike lane. Accidents can, and still do, happen.

Why You’ll Want Our Award-Winning NYC Personal Injury Lawyers Fighting for You After a Bike Accident

As an injured bicyclist, you need an attorney who will stand up and fight to ensure you’re fully compensated. You also deserve to work with a law firm that genuinely cares about you and your case – not a firm that’ll just treat you like a number on a case file. The Platta Law Firm provides the service of a small firm while achieving results that rival those of firms with dozens of attorneys and paralegals.

Our clients are like family, and we make it our goal to ensure that each person we represent gets the individualized, details representation they deserve. With our law firm in your corner, you’ll have the opportunity you need to heal from your physical and emotional wounds. You’ll also set yourself up for the financial recovery you deserve. Our team is ready to invest whatever resources and time are necessary as we go up against tough insurance companies and defendants on your behalf. We will:

• Investigate your bike crash to determine causation, fault, and liability.
• Get your case ready for trial, in case you’re not offered a fair settlement deal.
• Negotiate with defense counsel, insurance adjusters, and other parties on your behalf.
• Defend against claims that you share responsibility for your bike crash or resulting injuries.
• Work with medical professionals, accident reconstructionists, bicycle designers, and other experts.
• Gather accident reports, photographs, video footage, medical records, witness statements, physical evidence from the scene, and other information that can help us build a strong claim.

Contact our law office in Manhattan, NYC at 212-514-5100 to learn more. We provide a free consultation and are ready to help you schedule a time for yours today.

What are the Leading Causes of Bicycle Accidents in New York City?

Bicycle accidents are largely a result of human error and negligence. People simply aren’t as careful as they should be, and bicyclists suffer the consequences. Some common contributing factors include:

Other factors can contribute to bicycle crashes in NYC, including some that might be outside of a cyclist’s control.

Product Liability in NYC Bicycle Accident Cases

Sometimes bicycles, helmets, and other pieces of safety equipment are defective. Every year, bikes are recalled by manufacturers and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) for a wide range of issues:

Defects can exist because of a problem inherent to a bicycle’s design (e.g., improper calculation or requiring inadequate materials), because of a problem that occurred during manufacturing (e.g., using the wrong part, applying too much pressure and causing the frame to break), or due to a failure to warn consumers about potential risks. Helmets can also be defective, especially if it’s discovered that the helmet is not strong enough to withstand force and protect a rider’s skull and brain during a crash.

While there’s always wear and tear on equipment, riders expect that the products they pay good money for will be safe to ride or wear. What happens when one of those defective products contributes to a bicycle accident or fails to protect a rider in a crash? A company that’s responsible for designing, manufacturing, or marketing the defective bike or bike safety equipment can be held legally accountable.

What Kind of Compensation Can I Get if I’m Injured in a Bicycle Accident in NYC?

Your age, the extent of your injuries, and how your trauma affects your life will affect how much money you might be able to get from a responsible party after a New York City bicycle accident. The compensation you receive will typically fall into two categories: economic damages and non-economic damages. In bicycle accident cases, economic damages are paid to offset the verifiable monetary costs of a crash and resulting injuries. This can include money for:

Non-economic damages are awarded to compensate for the difficult-to-value trauma you experience. Examples include:

Our experienced NYC personal injury attorneys will advocate for you and work hard to ensure that you are compensated for the full extent and scope of your bike accident injuries and trauma.

Bicycle Helmets Save Lives, but Riders are Still Vulnerable to Catastrophic Injuries in NYC Crashes

It’s been proven time and time again that wearing a helmet reduces the likelihood of sustaining a traumatic brain injury or dying in a traffic accident. However, even when riders wear helmets, their bodies can still suffer significant impact and trauma that can fundamentally change their lives forever. At The Platta Law Firm, we’re here to help you seek compensation for all of your bicycle accident injuries, including:

Our compassionate team is also here if you’ve recently lost a close family member in a fatal bicycle accident in New York City. While it won’t heal your wounds or bring them back, the damages recovered in a wrongful death lawsuit can help to offset the financial burdens of your devastating loss.

Is There a Time Limit for Filing a Bicycle Accident Lawsuit in New York City, New York?

New York has a three-year statute of limitations that applies to most bicycle accident lawsuits.

There are some exceptions, like cases involving:

• Wrongful death: two years from the date of a victim’s death
• Injured children: the statute of limitations can be tolled until a child injured turns 18
• Government negligence: 90 days from the date of the accident to file a Notice of Claim with the New York City Office of the Comptroller

Once the statute of limitations expires, the right to file a claim against a responsible party disappears. In turn, you’ll lose out on valuable compensation.

What if I’m Blamed for my New York Bicycle Accident?

You can still recover compensation if you’re partly responsible for a bicycle accident. The state of New York has a pure comparative negligence system – so victims can recover a portion of their damages if they share responsibility. Damages are reduced in direct proportion to degree of fault. Let’s say you’re struck by a car at an intersection. The driver ran a stop sign, but you were texting at the time and not paying attention to your surroundings.

If you’d been more alert, you probably would have noticed the car barreling toward you. So, you’re assigned 20 percent fault for the crash. Your claim is valued at $100,000. You’ll be able to recover $80,000 once your shared responsibility is factored into the equation. Other parties will try to blame you. The more fault that lands on your shoulders, the less money they’ll have to pay for your trauma. Protect yourself against these tactics by enlisting the help of our accomplished NYC bicycle and car accident attorneys. We’ll gather evidence to help disprove claims of negligence and work to minimize any responsibility that’s assigned to you.

Trusted NYC Bicycle Accident Lawyers Ready to Fight for You

You don’t have to try to recover from your severe injuries and fight for compensation in an insurance claim or lawsuit by yourself. The Platta Law Firm is here to offer the support, guidance, and resources you need to get better and achieve the results you deserve. Call our NYC bicycle accident lawyers and benefit from 130+ years of experience and a team that’s won over $100 Million. We offer a free consultation and work on contingency. You risk nothing and pay nothing unless we win your case. Get in touch by calling 212-514-5100 to learn more today.