Long Beach Bicycle Accident Lawyer

The Vehicle Code

The rules drivers break

Vehicle Code 21200 gives a person riding a bicycle the same rights and duties as the driver of a vehicle. The crashes that fill Long Beach emergency rooms come from drivers ignoring that: a right turn across a cyclist going straight, a left turn into an oncoming rider, a pass with inches to spare, or a door opened into the bike lane.

Two sections come up in almost every case. Vehicle Code 21760, the Three Feet for Safety Act, requires a driver to leave at least three feet when passing a bicycle, or to slow down and pass only when it is safe. Vehicle Code 22517 makes it unlawful to open a car door into moving traffic. A driver who did either has already answered the fault question.

Riders are not required to hug the curb. Vehicle Code 21202 lets a cyclist leave the right edge to pass, to turn left, to avoid debris or parked cars, or when the lane is too narrow to share safely with a car. An adjuster who says you were “in the road” is describing your legal position.

Coverage

Where the money actually comes from

The driver’s liability policy pays first. California’s minimum is $30,000 per injured person, which a fracture and a night in the hospital can exhaust. When the driver is uninsured, underinsured, or gone, look at your own household: an auto policy covering you or a family member usually includes uninsured motorist coverage that applies to you as a cyclist or pedestrian, even though no car of yours was involved. Medical-payments coverage on the same policy can cover early bills without regard to fault.

Hit-and-run on a cyclist can be charged as a felony under Vehicle Code 20001 when someone is injured, and Long Beach Police investigate them. For uninsured motorist coverage to respond to a hit-and-run, California requires a report to the police within 24 hours and to your insurer within 30 days, so those two calls are not optional.

Deadlines

Two years, or six months against the city

A lawsuit against a driver must be filed within two years of the crash under Code of Civil Procedure 335.1. When the City of Long Beach or another public entity is part of the fault, a city vehicle, a sunken grate, a missing sign, or a bike-lane defect that threw you, a written government claim is due within six months under Government Code 911.2, before any lawsuit.

The office

How the Law Offices of Patrick S. Aguirre handles bicycle cases

Bicycle cases are built on physical evidence, because riders are usually alone and drivers usually have a story. The office preserves the bike and gear, collects the police report and any citation, canvasses for camera footage before it is overwritten, and identifies every source of coverage, including the household auto policies most riders do not know apply to them. When the offer does not reflect the injury, the case is filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

The office has represented injured people in Long Beach and across Los Angeles County for nearly three decades. The firm now has offices in Long Beach and Downey, and speaks Spanish.