Motor Vehicle Accidents

Bicycle Accidents

Auto motorists are encased in 3,000 lb. steel cages with air bags and seat belts.

Bicyclists have a helmet, horn and maybe a rear view mirror.  The average weight of a bicycle is anywhere from 25-to-40 lbs.  These disproportionate facts and figures are obvious.  As a result, cyclists seldom walk away unscathed from accidents with a motor vehicle.
    
As experienced New York and New Jersey bicycle lawyers we know that cyclists often get the short end of the stick from insurance companies.  Studies show that settlements for injuries suffered in cars are up to 30%-to-40% higher than for the same types of injuries suffered by cyclists.
    
In many cases, a cyclist is injured or killed as a result of a motorist’s inattentiveness behind the wheel of a car or truck.  Use of cell phones and texting while driving has made matters far worse for cyclists.
    
Studies also show that a cyclist is killed every 6 hours.  One million children on bikes are badly injured by cars each year.  And kids on bikes who get hit by cars account for almost half of all cycling fatalities in the USA.  
    
How do most of these accidents happen?

Cars turn directly in front of cyclists.  Drivers pay little attention to cyclists when backing out of driveways, pulling out of parking spots or changing lanes to pass other vehicles.  Motorists often fail to yield to their smaller road neighbors at intersections, stop streets and red lights.  
    
The New York and New Jersey bicycle lawyers at Simonson Hess Leibowitz & Goodman have been representing victims in bicycle accident cases for more than three decades.  We have recovered money for our clients in 98% of the cases we have handled.
    
Collectively our partners have well more than one hundred years of experience representing victims of motor vehicle accidents including bicycle accidents. Simonson Hess Leibowitz & Goodman is one of only seven law firms in New York City to be ranked by US News & World Report as a New York Tier 1 law firm in the category of Medical Malpractice Law - Plaintiffs in 2010. One of our lawyers has been recognized in Best Lawyers in America, and three of our partners have been recognized in Super Lawyers.