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.