Bicycle Accidents in Green Bay
Dealing with injuries after a bicycle accident is always a challenge. Trying to obtain fair compensation is even tougher. Even if the accident was straightforward, collecting damages rarely is.
An experienced Green Bay bicycle accident attorney from Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers can take you through the damage recovery process. With a legal professional by your side, your chances of obtaining fair compensation increase dramatically.
Don't try to tackle the legal aspects of your bicycle accident case without assistance. Call us for your free consultation with our Green Bay bicycle accident lawyers today.
Injured in Green Bay? Get Nicolet.
Why Choose Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers
Since bicycle riders are much less protected than vehicle drivers, they often suffer severe injuries. Surgeries, rehabilitation, and long-term recovery become a part of their lives. Dealing with legal issues while getting your health back to normal is nearly impossible.
At Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers, our Green Bay personal injury lawyers have handled hundreds of bicycle accident cases and know exactly what our clients need.
Besides continuous support throughout the case, we can:
- Conduct an independent investigation and collect evidence.
- File all the personal injury documents correctly and on time.
- Build a strong case and present it to the insurance company.
- Conduct all negotiations with insurance adjusters.
- Argue your case in court if necessary.
- Explain all the nuances of the case to you and your family.
- Provide valuable advice to maximize the compensation.
We have extensive knowledge of how local insurance companies and courtrooms work. This helps our attorneys achieve excellent results for all clients, even when other law firms reject them.
Injured in Green Bay? Get Nicolet.
If you aren't sure whether your case has merit, you can contact us to find out at any time. Our conveniently located office on Riverside Drive is near the intersection of WIS 172 and WIS 57. For your convenience, we arrange in-person and virtual case evaluations. Both options are free.
Bicycle Accident Compensation
How much is your case worth? Since bicycle accidents usually lead to severe injuries, the compensation can be high. However, the final amount depends on many different factors.
The Severity of Your Injuries
The extent of sustained injuries is the key factor that affects the compensation amount. The purpose of compensation is to help bring your life back to what it was before the accident. While this isn’t always possible, financial recovery can greatly improve your quality of life.
The more hurt you are, the longer it takes to recover. This leads to higher medical bills, rehabilitation costs, lost wages, and much more. A fair settlement should cover all of these expenses.
The Extent of Pain and Suffering
Besides obtaining compensation for physical injuries, you can also recover damages for pain and suffering. These non-economic damages may be harder to prove. However, they are usually much higher than economic damages.
If, after the accident, you sustain a permanent disability, it affects your enjoyment of life. The insurance company or the judge can agree to compensate you for this. While financial compensation can’t always fix the problem, it can improve your quality of life.
Quality of Evidence
To prove your right to recover damages, you need extensive evidence. Evidence in bicycle accident cases varies from photos of the accident scene to personal journals that demonstrate pain and suffering.
Collecting and vetting evidence can be complicated. Some of it may even hurt your case. That’s why an attorney’s consultation comes highly recommended.
An experienced bicycle accident lawyer doesn’t just help you collect the necessary evidence. They keep you from making unfortunate errors.
Expert Witnesses
When proving the extent of your injuries and mental anguish, physical evidence is rarely sufficient. You would need to secure testimonies of expert witnesses.
These people are usually medical professionals who can testify about:
- The prospected length of your recovery
- The severity of your disability
- The need for at-home care
- The extent of your emotional suffering
All of the above affects the size of your compensation. Finding and hiring these witnesses isn’t always easy. At Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers, we know exactly which expert witnesses in Green Bay can help make your case.
Negotiation Process
If you are going up against the at-fault party's insurance company, you must prepare for time-consuming negotiations. No matter how strong your case is, the insurance adjuster will try hard to minimize the settlement.
Even if you have legal experience, you cannot achieve the best settlement result. (Smart lawyers rarely handle their own cases.) That's one of the main reasons to have a bicycle accident attorney on your side.
Insurance Limits
No matter how extensive your injuries and evidence are, you can only recover as much compensation as the insurance limits allow. In Wisconsin, the minimum liability insurance requirement for drivers is $25,000 for the injury of one person.
Even if your damages exceed $25,000, the insurance company can’t pay you more. In this case, you would need to sue the driver for the rest of the amount directly. This involves filing a lawsuit.
Punitive Damages
In some cases, the judge may award punitive damages. This can happen in cases involving intentional disregard for the safety or rights of others—for example, if the driver that crashed into your bicycle was under the influence.
Punitive damages punish the at-fault party. The money goes to the victim. However, Wisconsin caps punitive damages. Their size can't exceed twice the compensatory damages or $200,000, whichever is greater.
Wrongful Death Damages
If you lost a loved one in a bicycle accident, you can recover compensation for:
- Pre-death medical assistance
- Funeral and burial expenses
- Loss of consortium and emotional support
- Loss of inheritance and financial support
Wrongful death cases are somewhat different from personal injury cases. However, they still require strong evidence, proof of negligence, expert witness testimonies, and more.
Dealing with legal matters while you are grieving can be extremely hard. That’s why relatives often choose to delegate legal matters to experienced attorneys.
Legal Experience
Without legal expertise and experience, you will never collect the damages you deserve.
When you negotiate with an insurance company or meet the at-fault party in court, you will face a team of legal experts. If you don't have an attorney in your corner, the chances of recovering reasonable damages are low.
The expertise and experience of a bicycle accident attorney can affect the size of your compensation. Even if you have legal experience in such matters, secure the assistance of your own legal team to go up against the insurance company.
Over the years, our attorneys have helped many people get the compensation they deserve while leaving them enough time and space to recover from injuries.
Bicycle Accidents in Green Bay, Wisconsin
Since Green Bay has a bronze-level bicycle-friendly community designation, many cyclists feel safe when riding their bikes on the city roads. In reality, hundreds of accidents involving bicycle riders happen every year. The majority occurs at the city’s intersections. However, I-43 crashes aren’t a rarity either.
In Brown County, 68 percent of all bicycle crashes happen in Green Bay. While our county has one of the lowest bicycle crash rates in the entire state, dozens of people sustain severe injuries every year.
Unfortunately, Wisconsin laws don’t make wearing a helmet mandatory. That’s why the extent of injuries in bicycle crashes is usually great.
The key to winning your bicycle accident case in Green Bay is local legal experience. At Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers, we know judges who handle civil cases in the area. Our legal teams also have experience dealing with both national and local insurance companies.
Knowing local nuances helps attorneys make educated decisions about building a strong bicycle accident case. Without this knowledge, getting a high compensation can be problematic.
Statute of Limitations
The statute of limitations regulates the time you have to file a lawsuit after a bicycle accident. In Wisconsin, it’s three years from the date of the accident. If your accident involved a motor vehicle, you have two years to file a lawsuit.
Many injured cyclists believe that two years is a long time and put off legal action. In reality, waiting too long could affect the strength of your case. The faster you can collect evidence and conduct an in-depth investigation, the more likely you will obtain fair compensation.
Circumstances of Bicycle Accidents in Green Bay
Most bicycle crashes in Green Bay involve motor vehicles.
Collisions occur due to:
- Distracted driving
- Failure to keep a reasonable distance
- Unsafe lane changes
- Breaking traffic laws
- Driving under the influence
- Driver fatigue
Another way to suffer an injury that may warrant compensation is a fall on a poorly maintained road. In this case, you may be able to sue the local government for compensation. Filing a lawsuit against a government entity is a complex process that requires legal experience.
At-fault parties in a bicycle accident can be:
- Driver, if a driver breaks a traffic law and crashes into your bike, their insurance company makes the payment.
- Employer, if the at-fault driver was working at the time of the accident, the employer’s insurance company may cover the damages.
- Pedestrian, a jaywalking pedestrian could cause another driver to swerve and hit your bicycle.
- Another cyclist, if another bicycle rider breaks a traffic law and crashes into your bike or causes another driver to brake suddenly and hit your bicycle, they could be responsible for your injuries.
During the initial investigation, an attorney can identify the at-fault party. In some cases, there could be more than one person or company responsible for the accident. This could make the damage recovery process more complex.
The common injuries that people sustain in Green Bay bicycle accidents are:
- Head injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Facial injuries
- Fractures
- Whiplash
- Back injuries
In Wisconsin, men are three times more likely to sustain injuries or die in a bicycle crash than women.
Negotiating With the Insurance Company
Most bicycle accident cases involve negotiations with the at-fault party's insurance company. After you collect evidence and file a claim, the insurance company may return a counteroffer. This offer will be much lower than you deserve.
That’s when negotiations begin.
Many people mistakenly believe that an insurance company helps people cover accident-related expenses. In reality, just like any other business, these companies want to make money.
That's why insurance adjusters work hard to minimize the settlement. They may even provide misinformation or purposefully delay negotiations. Without an experienced attorney, many victims settle for far too little.
At Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers, we have experience negotiating with all types of insurance companies, from large players like GEICO and Progressive to smaller local providers like Pagel & Associates.
What to Do After a Bicycle Accident
To build a strong personal injury case after a bicycle accident, you need to:
- Collect all the available evidence, including bills, receipts, photos, and videos.
- Identify the at-fault parties.
- Obtain a copy of the police report and speak with the eyewitness.
- File a claim with the at-fault party’s insurance company on time.
If you didn't collect any evidence at the scene of the accident, don't worry. An attorney can still salvage some important elements after the crash. To keep the evidence as fresh as possible, you need to secure legal assistance shortly after the accident.
Call an Award-Winning Green Bay Bicycle Accident Lawyer Today
Even if your bicycle accident case looks straightforward, you still need to work hard to obtain fair compensation. You cannot do this while recovering from injuries, especially if you lack legal experience.
For two decades, our team of Green Bay bicycle accident attorneys has been helping cyclists get the compensation they deserve. Don’t fight for your rights alone. Fill out our secure contact form or call our attorneys toll-free at (920) 504-3655.