What To Do After A Biking Accident

Posted on: 5 November 2019

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A biking accident is scary and dangerous. If you are a victim of a bike accident, you may not know how to react. More than likely you will have feelings of disorientation and not know what steps you should take. Here are some things you should remember if you ever get into a bike accident.

Get Medical Treatment

The first thing you must do is get medical treatment right away. Hopefully, at this point, someone has called law enforcement and medical personnel are on the way. If not, be sure to call 911 yourself if you have your phone nearby. You may only need treatment for minor medical issues at the scene. Still, you should go to the hospital afterward to be sure you do not have any additional injuries. You also need to document your injuries with medical reports if you intend to seek compensation for damages.

Do not make the mistake of not going to the hospital, even if you do not feel any pain. Many injuries do not present right away, and you may begin to endure pain later in the day.

If you end up requiring any additional treatment on an ongoing basis, such as physical therapy, you will have to pay for those yourself in many cases. Most insurance companies will not want to pay for injuries if you wait too long to get medical treatment.

Call Your Lawyer

Once you are able to do so, you should call your accident attorney after your accident. You will have to deal with expenses after an accident. If the accident was caused by negligence, you have the right to seek compensation from the negligent party for your damages. While you could try to take on an insurance company yourself, you will have the best results with an attorney. Dealing with insurance is a complex process. Unless you have specialized legal expertise, you can end up with a lower settlement than what you may get with an attorney's help. Your attorney will help make sure your rights are respected and help get you the best settlement possible.

Lay Low

After you have started a case with the negligent party's insurance company, it is important that you lay low and be mindful of your behavior until the case is settled. If you post yourself wake boarding on vacation, for example, the attorney for the insurance company can argue that your injuries are not as serious and not award you with a proper settlement.