Kansas Bicycle Accident Lawyers

Serving Reno County, Sedgwick County, Saline County, Finney County, Ford County, Seward County, and Ellis County

Careless drivers injure bicycles riders far too often in Kansas.  It’s sad when this occurs because many of these bike accidents wouldn’t happen if the automobile drivers were simply more alert. If you are reading this, you may have been injured while riding your bike.  You may be in a lot of pain.  You may be having to deal with continuous medical treatment. You may not be able to work.  You may be having a difficult time finically.  You also may be stressed because you don’t know where to turn for help with your bicycle injury claim. We are here to help you.  We offer free legal advice. Call our Kansas bicycle accident lawyers today. You never have to worry about paying us upfront to get the information you need.  You can contact us anytime to schedule a free legal consultation. Visit our Hutchinson office. This page will teach you some of the basics about your bicycle accident claim.  We will start by explaining some of the most common mistakes we see people make in Kansas.  Then, we will use a story to teach some of the other things you need to know to better understand your claim.  Make sure you read it to the end.

Common Bicycle Injury Claim Mistakes

Unfortunately, there are several mistakes you can make that can slow down or damage your claim.  Please review them all so you don’t accidently have a negative impact on your bike accident claim.

Not Seeking Medical Treatment

Sometimes when people get into a bicycle accident, they don’t realize right away how badly they are hurt because their adrenaline is pumping.  When this happens, people may feel aches and pain here or there, but the adrenaline masks the severity of their injuries. Some people try to be tough.  They decide not to go to the doctors to get checked out.  They think their aches and pains will get better on their own. This is a huge mistake for two reasons.  Number one, you need to get to the doctors to get any medical treatment you need to get on the road to recovery.  Number two, you need to have your bicycle accident injuries documented.  If you wait a few days or a week to go see a doctor then the insurance company is going to use that against you.

Not Following Your Doctor’s Treatment plan

The next big mistake we see people make is they decide not to follow their doctor’s orders.  Their doctor may prescribe physical therapy, a chiropractor, or some other specialty medical care.  Some people get busy. Some people are worried about paying for the medical treatment.  But they simply don’t go. This is another big mistake because the insurance providers will use this information to say the person was not that injured.  They never even followed their doctor’s treatment plan.  Don’t make the mistake of not following your doctor’s orders.  It can damage your claim.  Giving a Recorded Statement to an insurance provider Not long after a bicycle accident you will probably get a call from the insurance provider of the driver that caused the accident.  They will ask to talk to you.  They will try to get a recorded statement from you. I know we have all seen and heard the thousands of commercials that tell us insurance companies are our good neighbors or they tell us we are in good hands. This is not true. One of the worst mistakes you can make early on in a bicycle injury case is talking to the insurance company.  Don’t make this one. Insurance companies are very well trained to get information from you that will help them and hurt you.  The insurance company’s number one goal is to pay you the least amount of money possible.  They will act friendly, but they are not your friend. If they ask for a recorded statement politely say no and then hang up. The insurance adjusters are trained to ask questions in a specific order to make it seem like you are not as hurt as you are. You are under no obligation to talk to the insurance company.  Never agree to give a recorded statement without your lawyer.

Waiting too Long Before calling a lawyer

The next big mistake we see people make is they wait way too long before contacting an attorney.  People think they have years to file a bicycle injury lawsuit.  That may be true but one of the biggest mistakes you can make is not getting to an injury lawyer right away. If you make this mistake, evidence will disappear.  Witnesses will disappear.  Your case will start off on shaking ground and you will most likely make mistakes along the way.

Selecting the wrong lawyer

The worst mistake of all is selecting the wrong lawyer. Lawyers are like doctors.  They have different experience levels.  Different lawyers will get you different results. If you need heart surgery, you are not going to call a foot doctor or an ear nose and throat specialist.  You are going to find the very best heart doctor you can. The same is true for bicycle injury claims.  You don’t want to choose a lawyer that does a lot of different things and doesn’t specialize in anything.  You don’t want a lawyer who prepares wills.  You don’t want the lawyer who handles divorces.  You don’t want the lawyers who takes care of speeding tickets.  That would be a huge mistake. You want to find an attorney that spends all their time helping people with personal injury claims. Finding an experienced personal injury lawyer with a track record of success with bicycle injury claims is first criteria.  But it isn’t the only criteria. The next thing you need to determine is if the personal injury lawyer is a trial lawyer.  A trial lawyer is someone who will prepare your case to go to trial. You will get the best result possible if you hire a trial lawyer because the insurance companies know who the trial lawyers are.  They tend to come to the table with a reasonable offer.  And if the insurance company doesn’t make a reasonable offer, a trial lawyer will take your case to a jury.  The jury will then tell the insurance company what is fair and reasonable.  Believe me when I tell you the insurance company does not want that. Don’t make the mistake of choosing the wrong attorney.  You will get the very best result when you hire an experienced personal injury trial lawyer. Melinda Young assists people with personal injury matters in the following locations: Buhler, Burrton, Cheney, Garden Plain, Haven, Hutchinson, Inman, Kingman, Nickerson, and Sterling.

Kansas Bicycle Injury Client Story

The names and circumstances of this story have been changed to hide the identity of our client.  The purpose of this client story is to teach you some more things about your bicycle injury case and answer some additional questions you may have.  Make sure you read it to the end.  You will learn a lot along the way.  When you are done, please take advantage of our free legal consultations and get the information you need for your specific case. On a warm Kansas summer night not too long ago, a young mother of three in Wichita, Helen Johnson, needed some odds and ends from the store for a family get together the next day.  Helen thought about taking the truck but then remembered that she wanted to ride her bike more during the week.  Helen was in a friendly competition with her husband to get in better shape and she was winning.  Helen only needed a couple of things so, she decided to take her bike instead of the truck. It was a beautiful night. Warm with a nice summer breeze.  The store was only a short distance away and Helen was taking her time because she was enjoying her bike ride some much.  She was just about to reach the store when out of nowhere a delivery truck racing to back out of a driveway smashed right into her.  Helen never saw the truck coming.  She went flying.  In an instant Helen’s life flashed before her eyes. While Helen lied in the street unable to move, all she could think of was who is going take care of Jim, her husband.  Who is going to take care of her boys – Will, Nate and Johnny?  She began to cry, not because of the pain which was severe but because she was worried about her family.  Within a few minutes the police and an ambulance were there to help get Helen to the hospital. Helen ended up spending two weeks in the hospital. As soon as she was released, she started searching online for a good lawyer to help her with her bicycle injury claim.  She found our law firm online and called our law office. That was the first time we met Helen.  Helen is a special lady.  The kind of person you instantly fall in love with because of her gracious personality. During our initial conversations, Helen had three main questions: (1) How much does it cost? (2) How much is my case worth? and (3) How long is this going to take? You may have the same questions.  Read what we told her to learn more about your claim.

How much does a bicycle injury trial lawyer cost to hire a lawyer?

When Helen came to our office, she was still undergoing medical treatment for her injuries.  As a matter of fact, it looked like she was going to be in treatment for at least another 6 months to a year.  She was looking at possibly a few more surgeries.  She wasn’t able to work and money was tight. One of the very first question Helen asked us was, “How much are you going to charge me?’ We told Helen, “Our law firm doesn’t charge anything upfront.” Helen looked relieved. We told Helen we would fund the entire case.  We would cover all the costs. One of our Kansas bicycle injury lawyers told her we work on what we call a contingency fee basis, which means we only get paid after we successfully resolved her case. Helen said, “That sounds good.  My biggest concern was we might not be able to afford your services.”

How much is my case worth?

As the conversation with Helen continued, Helen asked, “How much do you think my case is worth?” We told Helen that unfortunately it is almost impossible to say early on because we needed to conduct our investigation and we needed to understand her damages first. We told Helen we would start our investigation right away. We would gather all the evidence at the scene of the accident, all the witness statements, and prepare her case. We asked Helen to focus on her medical treatment and recovery.  One of our Kansas bicycle injury lawyers told Helen, “The best thing you can do right now is to follow your doctor’s treatment plan.” We then explained to Helen that we needed her to get to maximum medical improvement. Maximum medical improvement is nothing more than a point at which the doctors say either you are back to normal, or you are not going to get any better.  Your condition will not improve. This is the point when we can confidently say there will not be any more surgeries.  We will know what we can expect in the way of future medical care. At this point we will understand all your current and future economic and non-economic damages. We told Helen, “This is when we will be able to tell her what her bicycle injury case is truly worth.” Helen nodded her head to acknowledge that she understood.

 How long will my bicycle injury accident claim take?

Helen then asked, “How long does will it take to resolve a bicycle injury claim in Kansas?” We explained to Helen this is also difficult to say early on. The reason this is difficult to say early on is because we need to understand two things.  First, we need to understand all her damages.  Second, we need to understand if the insurance company was going to be fair and reasonable. We told Helen we needed her to focus on her medical treatment.  Once we get to the point we described earlier called maximum medical improvement, we will understand all of her damages. We then went on to explain, “Once we fully understood your damages, we will send a demand letter to the insurance company.” “If the insurance company is fair and reasonable, we will be able to resolve the case quickly.” We cautioned her that sometimes insurance companies are not fair and reasonable.  And if this happens, we will have to take her case to trial.  We told her not to worry if this happens though because she would be prepared, and we would be prepared. We told Helen, “We take injury cases to jury verdicts all the time.” “That is the last thing the insurance company wants.  They will probably come to the table in a more reasonable manner after we put the case in suit.” “That’s why you want to hire a trial lawyer.  A trial lawyer will prepare your case as if it is going to trial from day one.” “You will always get the best result if you a hire an experienced bicycle injury trial lawyer.” Helen looked relived again. Helen retained our law office.  We are happy to say we got her eight times more than the insurance companies initially offered.

Call Our Kansas Bicycle Accident Lawyers Today 

We hope this helps you understand your bicycle injury claim a little more.  That said, every case has a unique set of facts and circumstance.  Give our office a call and we will answer any questions you have about your case during our free legal consultation.  Don’t feel like you have to do this all by yourself.  Contact us to get free injury claim advice.