If you’re operating a bike in a bike lane, you deserve to feel safe. Unfortunately, city-wide negligence can lead to roadway decay. That decay can compromise designated bike lanes and put you at greater risk for an accident.
Fortunately, you have the right to hold a city and other parties responsible for accidents caused by poorly maintained bike lanes. You can work with a bicycle accident lawyer to outline your claim, estimate the value of the compensation you’re owed, and meet with the parties responsible for your losses. At Hollis Law Firm, our attorney is here to help you seek the compensation you deserve.Â
What Roadway Damage Puts Bikers at Risk?
Several kinds of roadway damage can make bicycle lanes more dangerous to navigate. For example, as the weather starts to cool down, the surface of a bicycle lane can begin to crack. If a city doesn’t address those cracks or develop potholes in a reasonable amount of time, bicyclists can fall victim to devastating accidents.
Because bicycles are considerably smaller than cars, it won’t take a large pothole to do a cyclist in. Even small cracks or aging infrastructure can result in a broken arm, fractured ankle, or traumatic head injury.
What’s worse, some bicyclists may have to swerve into unprotected traffic lanes to avoid damage found in bicycle lanes. If these bicycles try to dodge roadway damage and find themselves victims of a car accident, they have the right to hold the people responsible for roadway care accountable for the losses they sustained.
Watch Out for Debris and Loose Gravel
Unfortunately, roadway debris and gravel can have similarly devastating impacts on a bicyclist’s overall safety. As debris builds up over time, either due to unchecked construction or weather hazards, bicyclists may find themselves having to navigate increasingly unsafe roads or dodge considerable piles of debris.
Losing control on unmarked patches of loose gravel can also cause bicyclists to lose their balance and fall victim to avoidable accidents.
All Bike Lanes Need to Be Clearly Marked
In Missouri and Kansas, bicycle lanes must be clearly marked, keeping in mind the risks associated with roadway damage. Clear signage serves a variety of purposes. First and foremost, it allows bicyclists to make informed decisions about whether or not they want to navigate a bicycle lane that’s under construction or needs revisited attention following a weather incident.
Additionally, signage prevents motorists and other parties from inappropriately using bicycle lanes to navigate down a controlled road. If a bicycle lane goes unmarked, bicyclists may be at greater risk for devastating accidents.
As such, local authorities have a legal obligation to ensure that a city’s bicycle lanes are clearly marked and regularly maintained. Failure to keep up with bicycle lane maintenance can open city officials up to lawsuits, especially if their negligence causes an otherwise avoidable accident.
Holding Authorities Responsible for Bike Lane Damage
Do you have the right to hold city officials or other affiliates accountable for a bicycle accident if a bike lane went unmarked or uncared for? Yes. Local governments must uphold the duty of care they owe bicyclists by consistently maintaining their bicycle lanes and keeping clear signage posted around viable routes.
If you’re injured in an avoidable bicycle accident, you can work with a bicycle accident lawyer to build a claim against city officials and related parties. Pursuing these kinds of claims does not require you to go to civil court but instead gives you the legal right to summon a liable party for settlement negotiations.
Should government officials or other parties refuse to acknowledge your right to financial support, you can take those parties to civil court.
Overcoming Qualified and Sovereign Immunity
Many states offer their government representatives sovereign or qualified immunity. These immunities can make filing a civil lawsuit against the party who failed to maintain an essential bike path harder, but not impossible.
If you want to prevent sovereign and qualified immunity statutes from standing between you and the accident settlement you deserve, we recommend that you contact an experienced attorney as soon as possible after your accident.
We can immediately begin gathering the evidence we need to prove that government officials knew about the dangers of a neglected bike lane ahead of time, thereby arguing that they purposefully violated the duty of care they owed you. We can also help you jump through any other hoops you need to in an effort to bring your claim forward.
It’s Time to Contact a Bicycle Accident Lawyer
Are you struggling to recover from a bicycle accident? Do you think your local government or other parties failed to maintain local bicycle lanes? If so, you can work with our bicycle accident lawyer at Hollis Law Firm to hold these parties responsible for your recovery. Book your bicycle accident case consultation sooner rather than later so you can get the legal support you deserve.
You can schedule an appointment today by filling out this contact form or calling (800) 701-3672.
