Cars, however, are not the only motor vehicles that injure bike riders in California. Trucks, SUVs, 18-wheelers, buses and other commercial vehicles — all of them can cause a bike injury.

Accidents between motor vehicles and bicycles often involve visibility issues:

• People park their car and open the car door, striking a bicyclist they did not see
• Drivers do not look both ways before entering an intersection and hit a bicyclist in the intersection
• Drivers sometimes do not see the bicyclist from the driveway way or parking lot
• Drivers do not yield the right of way at the intersection
• Drivers run stop signs and red lights
• Drivers do not pay attention as they pass the bicyclist
• Drivers sometimes turn directly in front of the bicyclist
• Drivers can be under the influence of drugs or alcohol

If you or a loved one has been injured in a bike accident, you can rely on The Law Office of Michael E. Ripley. Located in San Diego, California, the firm focuses on bike injury cases in The Coast Cities of San Diego, Solana Beach, Encinitas, Del Mar, La Jolla, Oceanside, Carmel Valley, Leucadia, Carlsbad, Pacific Beach and Ocean Beach. The firm dedicates itself to ensuring that bicyclists’ rights on the road are protected. The firm accepts cases in which bicyclists’ rights are ignored by motorists — cars or trucks — or by any other roadway users, such as pedestrians and runners.

Attorney Michael Ripley has the experience and knowhow to handle a variety of bicycle accidents. In advising the firm’s clients, attorney Michael Ripley draws on more than 30 years of experience representing clients in personal injury litigation. He is a seasoned litigator and enjoys the AV rating provided by Martindale-Hubbell.* His previous experience includes working for insurance defense law firms defending cases involving auto drivers, bicycles, and motorcycles. He knows the courtroom well. As a result, you will benefit from his experience in representing both sides of a bicycle injury case in any number of situations, including:

• Hit-and-run accidents, between a car and bicycle
• Bicyclists hurt because a car door is opened in front of them
• Injuries resulting from motor vehicle drivers ignoring a bicyclist’s right of way in an intersection
• Injuries resulting from vehicles veering into a designated bike lane
• Potholes in the road, causing serious injury
• Accidents involving sideswipes
• Bicyclists hurt because of left-turning cars
• Accidents that occur because motorists follow too closely in heavy traffic

Whatever the circumstances, the bicyclist needs to level the playing field with the insurance company by hiring an aggressive attorney who is knowledgeable about bike accidents. The Law Office of Michael E. Ripley provides that type of aggressive representation to its clients. The law firm works with you to maximize your recovery, whether that involves negotiations or whether it involves taking your case to trial.

The Law Office of Michael E. Ripley is located in Carmel Valley one mile by bicycle from Highway 101. Our office on High Bluff Drive in San Diego, California, is open Monday-Friday from 8:30 am to 5 pm. Evening and weekend appointments can be made by appointment. Spanish-speaking services are available. To schedule a free initial consultation, call 858-792-1300

The two-way stop. The four-way stop. The uncontrolled intersection. The stoplight intersection. Regardless of what kind of intersection you may be riding through, your rights as a cyclist matter in California. Just as a driver or a pedestrian is protected by the law, so are you as a biker. The rules of the road apply to both motor vehicles and bicycles alike.

Roadway Design and Visibility

Roadway design can further complicate the already complicated situations at intersections. If not well designed, visibility problems can make intersections uniquely dangerous, even resulting in a fatal bike accident. If a bicyclist should be injured at such a poorly designed intersection, liability for the problem may rest with the property owner or with the government entity. Perhaps the property owner failed to maintain the foliage that obscured visibility or covered the stop sign, for instance. The government entity may be liable for the poor roadway design that caused the accident.

Encinitas Intersection Bicycle Accident Lawyer

When it comes to intersection bicycle accidents, an insurance company knows what it is doing. It hires teams of lawyers to protect the insurance company’s interests. The normal person does not. So you need to talk to your own attorney before talking to the lawyer representing the insurance company.

People injured in a bike accident sometimes make the mistake of thinking that the insurance lawyer is their own lawyer. This is not the case. The insurance company’s lawyer is just that: the lawyer for the insurance company. If your interests and the interests of your insurance company do not match, then that lawyer works to protect the interests of the insurance company, not you.

Statute of Limitations in Bicycle Accident Cases

The term Statute of Limitations refers to the amount of time a person has to sue for their injury. In California, the Statute of Limitations, generally, is two years from the date of the accident. This means that if a personal injury claim cannot be resolved without a lawsuit, the lawsuit must be filed within two years of the date of the accident. Otherwise, the opportunity for a recovery is lost altogether.

If a claim or lawsuit is against a public entity (such as a City, the State of California, or a School District), there must be filed a governmental entity claim within six months of the date of the accident. As with the Statute of Limitations discussed above, if such a claim is not filed within six months, it means that the possibility of making a recovery against a governmental entity will be lost.

*CV, BV, and AV are registered certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards, and policies. Martindale-Hubbell is the facilitator of a peer review rating process. Ratings reflect the confidential opinions of members of the Bar and the judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell ratings fall into two categories - legal ability and general ethical standards.