Articles Posted in Bike Accident

dan-gold-395632-unsplash-copy-300x200During the summer, more kids in San Clemente are outside riding bicycles. Yet even during the months when school is in session, children and teens in Southern California rely on bicycles for recreation, as well as for transportation. According to a recent article in Safety + Health Magazine, more than 2.2 million kids between the ages of 5 and 17 visited emergency departments for bicycle accident injuries between the years 2006 and 2015. That data comes from a recent study conducted by researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital Center for Injury Research and Policy.

The study was published in the journal Accident Analysis & Prevention, and it underscores the need for better safety protocols when it comes to preventing child injuries in bicycle accidents in San Clemente and throughout the country.

Bicycle Accidents Lead to Serious Injuries Among Children

andrew-gook-196871-unsplash-copy-300x200Many Southern California bicycle safety advocates are concerned about the rise in severe and fatal bicycle accidents in the state, according to a recent article in the Los Angeles Daily News. Whether you regularly ride your bicycle in Oceanside or elsewhere in San Diego County, it is important to recognize the risks that cyclists face on the roads and to be sure that you are following safety tips to avoid a preventable bicycle collision. Of course, there are crashes that simply can not be avoided by a bicyclist’s actions no matter how careful he or she may be. When an automobile driver is careless or reckless, cyclists in Southern California can suffer the consequences.

Cycling Accidents and Hit-and-Run Crashes in Southern California

Despite the fact that traffic collisions more generally have been on the decline, the rate of severe and deadly bicycle accidents has been rising. According to the article, fatal bicycle crashes have been occurring at a startling rate, and many of them have been hit-and-run accidents. Now, as the article suggests, the Southern California “local bicycle community [is] in a ‘red alert’ state of anger and fear.

chris-becker-781-copy-300x200Bicycle accidents in Carlsbad happen more often than they should, and according to a recent study at the UC San Francisco, the costs of bicycle collisions are on the rise. According to a fact sheet from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), trips on bicycles account for only about 1% of all trips that are taken in the country each day. Yet proportionally, bicyclists are at higher risk of suffering a serious or fatal injury in a car accident than are motor vehicle occupants.

As the study explains, the recent rise in bicycle crash costs coincides with an overall increase in cycling popularity. While we want to encourage bicycling in the San Diego area for both health and environmental reasons, it is important to weigh the risks and rewards. The study was published in the journal Injury Prevention.

Medical Costs of Bicycle Injuries Increase by Hundreds of Billions in Two Decades

eric-parks-87099-copy-200x300Who is responsible for severe and fatal bicycle accidents that occur in San Diego? The answer to that question depends on the specific facts of the case, but a recent report from NBC 7 News San Diego emphasizes just how important it is to file a bicycle accident lawsuit in Southern California if another party’s negligence results in your injuries. As that report notes, the City Council for the City of San Diego came to a unanimous agreement to pay a $4.85 million settlement to a cyclist who sustained severe and debilitating injuries as a result of an accident caused by uneven pavement.

While many bicycle accidents involve negligent motorists who are not paying attention to their surroundings or motorists who are driving aggressively and strike cyclists, the recent settlement makes clear that matters of premises liability can also affect the rate of bicycle accidents in urban areas.

Details of the Bicycle Accident in San Diego

Walton_Law_Firm_FB_Ads_San_Marcos_Version4-216x300Eric S. is an avid triathlete. In his early 50s, he is a top age group finisher in the triathlons he enters. To train, he spends many weekly hours on his bike on North County roads. It’s not uncommon for him to ride from his home in San Marcos east through Escondido toward the desert, or west through Carlsbad and up to San Clemente. Like most avid cyclists, he has had many close calls with inattentive drivers, and on January 11, 2011 his luck finally ran out.

On that day, Eric was riding his bike in the bike lane of El Norte Parkway in Escondido when he was cut off by a pickup truck. Eric collided with truck, and the impact knocked him off his bike and into a busy traffic lane. Luckily, he wasn’t struck when he hit the ground. The California Highway Patrol who investigated and made a report of the incident, concluded that the driver of the pickup was at fault for this accident when he failed to yield the right of way to Eric in violation of 22107 of the California Vehicle Code.

Eric was taken to Palomar Medical Center from the scene of the accident, and complained of right shoulder and arm pain, as well as pain to his lower ribs and chest. He didn’t lose consciousness, but he did hit his head hard enough to crack his helmet.  Several CT scans were taken which showed that Eric suffered a right clavicle fracture and a right inferior scapula fracture, as well as friction burns and multiple contusions to his chest, ribs and back.

darkedinburgh_bike2Are San Diego bicyclists safe from a serious car accident when they head onto the roadways? While a recent article from CBS Sacramento emphasized that a bicycle safety law took effect around this time last year, that report also underscored that many California drivers simply do not know what the law entails or how to share the road properly with cyclists. A recent string of severe and fatal bicycle accidents in the San Diego area makes clear that our state may need to get tougher when it comes to bicycle accident prevention and law enforcement.

Recent Bicycle Accidents in San Diego

When it comes to recent news surrounding serious and deadly bicycle crashes in San Diego, the news simply is not good. For instance, earlier this week, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that a 51-year-old bicyclist suffered serious injuries after being struck by a car in Pacific Beach. The automobile crashed into the cyclist as he attempted to cross Mission Bay Drive. According to a San Diego police officer on the scene, the rider did not attempt to cross the street at a crosswalk or an intersection. In striking the cyclist, the vehicle caused “several abrasions, a broken arm, and a head injury.” The rider was transported to a local hospital by emergency responders. At the time of the collision, the bicyclist was not wearing a helmet.

Do you need to wear a helmet when you’re riding a bicycle? If you want to help prevent the risk of a traumatic brain injury (TBI), it’s important to take precautions when you’re out cycling. Indeed, a recent bicycle accident in the San Diego area left a cyclist with serious head trauma after he fell from his bike while trying to brake on a steep hill.3719978485_e0002bb249

Head Trauma and Bicycle Accidents

According to an article in the Times of San Diego, “a 52-year-old man suffered a serious head injury . . . when he was thrown over the front of his bicycle at the top of Double Peak Park in San Marcos.” The crash occurred just after 9:30 a.m., and the injured cyclist was not wearing a helmet.

Bike-Accident-InsuranceAlthough it’s wintertime, many Californians have the luxury of riding bicycles at any time of the year. However, bicycle accidents can be deadly, especially when they’re caused by distracted or aggressive driving. A recent article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported that a bicycle advocacy group, People Power, is hoping to create “bikeways near highway interchanges” in order to make those intersections safer for cyclists.

While these changes would only affect the Santa Cruz area in the most immediate terms, it’s very likely that bicycle advocacy groups across the state could push for additional measures to make bicycling a safer activity in the San Diego area.

Making Bicycle Transportation Safer

Earlier this month, a cyclist suffered catastrophic injuries after being struck by a wrong-way driver on Fiesta Island, according to a recent story from NBC San Diego.  Other riders in San Diego’s cycling community explained that the victimDSCN1797, Juan Carlos Vinolo, 49, sustained serious injuries after pushing another cyclist out of the way of the oncoming vehicle.  The car accident left Vinolo paralyzed with a severe spinal cord injury.

Wrong-Way DUI Driver Seriously Injures Bicyclists

Vinolo was riding with about thirty other cyclists, members of the San Diego Bicycle Club.  Vinolo’s wife, Emma Irarragorri, told NBC San Diego her husband “is always obsessed with safety when he rides his bicycle.”  When her husband saw the oncoming car, he “instinctively pushed the leader out of harm’s way,” saving that cyclist’s life but suffering serious injuries in the bicycle accident.

Do you regularly bike in downtown San Diego?  Whether you’re bicycling through the city on a weekend or using your bike as a mode of transportation to and from the office, a bicycle accident can lead to catastrophic injuries.  According to a recent article in KPBS News, the San Diego City Council and San Diego County Bicycle Coalition have joined forces to make bicycling a safer activity.  There’s a new San Diego Bike Loop that’s marked by green symbols along the road.  It’s a 7-mile route that will “take riders from downtown to Bankers Hill, Little Italy and San Diego Bay.”

Bicycle
The San Diego Bike Loop is an important step forward in preventing serious bicycle accidents in San Diego County.  If you have been injured in a bicycle accident, however, it’s very important to talk with an experienced San Diego bicycle accident attorney about your case.  Contact the Walton Law Firm today to learn more about how we can help.

Details of the San Diego Bike Loop

Contact Information