Cyclist Killed by Car While Riding in San Francisco
A ten-time world champion cyclist, Ethan Boyes, was killed in San Francisco while training in early April. Boyes competed in a type of cycling known as track cycling, which takes place indoors on a banked track. A New York Times report regarding his death reported that he was lawfully in a bike lane on a heavily used biking trail, but in a place where there is virtually no space or buffers between traffic and cyclists. He was traveling south when a car going in the opposite direction hit him. He was transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. The driver of the motor vehicle was also transported to the hospital with injuries that were not reported to be life-threatening.
Although this incident occurred in a crowded city in California, the roads of South Florida are also hazardous to cyclists. Florida has many of the same problems in terms of overaggressive motorists who do not give cyclists sufficient room even when cyclists are obeying the law, as well as bike lanes with little to no space from vehicles on many roads where there may be bike lanes. Therefore it is up to you as a cyclist to do everything you can to be safe while sharing the road with motor vehicles.
However, if you or a family member still do everything you can to ensure your own safety while riding a bicycle in Florida, but still find yourself in a situation where a motorist refusing to share the road injures you as a result of that motorist’s negligence, then the experienced Florida personal injury attorneys of Schwed, Adams & McGinley are here to ensure that you get the assistance you need to obtain maximum recovery for your injuries.
Sharing the Road with Cars
Under Florida law, bicyclists must obey the same traffic laws that motor vehicles do, but they also enjoy the same rights to the road that motor vehicles do. It surprises many people to learn that a bicyclist can be ticketed for violating the law or causing an accident in Florida. Thus, if you are a bicyclist in Florida, even in South Florida with its heavier traffic and more aggressive drivers than the rest of the state, ensuring that you follow all traffic laws, and in particular obeying all traffic signals, is particularly important to ensuring your safety on the road and ensuring that your chances of being injured in an accident are as low as possible. However, also keep in mind that motorists may not hold up their end of the bargain and follow the laws they are required to follow when bicyclists are present. Therefore, you need to be prepared to go above and beyond what the law requires of you to ensure your own safety.
Contact Schwed, Adams & McGinley
If you are a cyclist and you have been involved in an accident in Florida, you will need an experienced personal injury attorney who has represented cyclists who have been injured by Florida motorists in the past to help you to recover maximum damages for your injuries. Contact the experienced personal injury attorneys at the law firm of Schwed, Adams & McGinley, P.A. today. We have achieved great success in representing clients in collisions between bicycles and motor vehicles, and other situations in which our clients were riding a bike and were injured, during our attorneys’ 150 combined years practicing law. Contact us today at (877) 694-6079 or contact@schwedlawfirm.com for a free consultation regarding your situation.