Receiving Maximum Compensation for Traumatic Injuries in a Bike Crash

The only thing worse than being traumatically injured in a car accident is your children being traumatically injured in car accident. It is amongst a parent’s worst nightmares.

A little over a year ago, two parents found this out the hard way. Their children were out riding their bikes when they were hit by a reckless driver who fled the scene (though he later turned himself in), and both faced traumatic injuries from which neither have entirely recovered. The younger of the two siblings has brain damage severe enough he’s lost a “year of his life,” regarding his ability to read and learn in general, as well as his sense of taste and smell. The older child, his sister, needs plastic surgery to reconstruct the bones shattered by the accident.

Pedestrians and cyclists are often catastrophically injured

While the COVID-19 pandemic saw all statistics trending downwards due to the lack of people on the roads, it will not last forever. In 2019 alone, AZDOT reported a total of 129,750 crashes — and over 3,000 of those involved pedestrians or bicycles. There are myriad life-altering injuries one could receive from this sort of accident, including but not limited to the following:

• Loss of limb. Depending on the severity of the accident and your injuries, even if it is not lost at the scene, you may require amputation.
• Paralysis. The idea of losing partial or total mobility of any part of your body is terrifying. Not only that, but victims often require extensive, expensive physical therapy for years following.
• Neck, back, and spinal cord injuries. Both can lead to paralysis and loss of limb, and even if it is not that severe, you may still be at risk for chronic pain and permanent spinal cord damage that requires costly long-term treatment.
• Traumatic brain injuries. Pedestrians are often not wearing helmets and even experienced cyclists are known to forego them for an evening ride. This means a collision could lead to comas, loss of the senses, memory issues, or any other cognitive function. Not only are the treatments and care expensive, but there could be no cure, and no way to restore your brain to the way it once was.
• Scarring and disfigurement. Aside from the serious blow to a patient’s mental health, permanent disfigurement and scarring can do anything from preventing you from working to inhibiting your ability to regulate body heat (in the case of burns). Depending on your circumstances, it may also leave you in need of a permanent caretaker.
• Wrongful death. Of course, the worst injury is the one you or a loved one is unable to recover from. The horrific nature of serious injuries such as the above is their victims sometimes succumbing to them. If this happens to someone you love, you will be stuck with funeral expenses, medical bills, and the debilitating grief a stranger’s careless actions have brought you.

How an attorney can help you seek just compensation after a bicycle accident

The injuries those children, and countless other injured cyclists, received are catastrophic injuries, and they should be treated accordingly. A good, strong case can get all medical bills covered and can provide reimbursement for any home renovations, trainings, or therapies needed to accommodate your new normal. This would include things such as roll-in showers, railings, assistance technology, and more. While this does not undo the damage done to your family, it can at least make recovery easier — and more affordable.

Further, the insurance companies and other entities involved will fight tooth and nail to make sure they pay nothing — or as little — as possible, and they do not care about the consequences of that. Your pain and suffering is simply not their concern, and they will definitely have attorneys. Having your own bicycle injury lawyer means having someone who is fluent in these situations and knows how to protect you and your rights from the greed of any other parties involved.

Time is of the essence. If you or a loved one have been traumatically injured in a car accident, waiting to pursue your case can only hurt it. At Plattner Verderame, PC, our skilled car accident attorneys in Phoenix and Tempe know how to fight for the most compensation possible with the compassion and attention you deserve. Call us today at 602-266-2002 or contact us for information that can change your life.