Bicycle Accident Injuries Caused by Dooring

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When you’re riding your bike, especially when you’re using the bike lane appropriately, you should feel safe. Unfortunately, drivers don’t think about bicyclists the same way they think about other drivers. Many drivers consider bicyclists a nuisance, and in some cases, they completely forget that they share the road with bicyclists.

This is often the case with dooring accidents. While drivers may check the lane next to them for motor vehicles, they may forget to look for bicyclists. This leads to dooring, which has become far more common across the United States in recent years. If you’ve been hit by a negligent driver while riding your bike, we can help. Call Reeves & Mestayer at 228-300-2754 to set up a consultation now.

How Does Dooring Happen?

If you’ve ever seen a dooring accident happen, you know it can be brutal. A bicyclist cruises along in the bike lane when someone in a parked car throws their door open in the bicyclist’s path. It’s too late for the bicyclist to stop, and they hit the door at full speed. Depending on the speed they’re traveling, they may simply slam into the door and fall over, or they may be thrown from their bike over the door.

Liability for Dooring Accidents

Dooring has become so incredibly common in recent years that many states have created laws addressing this issue. Luckily, this includes the state of Mississippi. Mississippi Code 63-3-911 addresses opening the door of a stopped motor vehicle.

Per the law, no one shall open a motor vehicle door until it’s safe to do so and will not interfere with the movement of traffic. Additionally, drivers shall not leave doors open any longer than they need to load or unload passengers. Bicycles are considered traffic, and so opening a door in the path of a bicyclist is against the law.

This can make it much easier to establish liability when you are injured in a dooring accident. If the other party engaged in illegal or reckless behavior, it’s hard for them to contest liability.

Potential Injuries

Bicyclists can suffer a wide range of injuries in a dooring accident. Bicyclists have reported broken bones, significant trauma to the neck, head injuries, nerve damage, bruises, and cuts. If a bicyclist is thrown from or falls off of their bike, they could fall into a lane of traffic and risk even more serious injuries. It may also happen that a bicyclist automatically tries to avoid hitting the door and swerves into traffic, which further ramps up the odds of being hit by a moving car. In any of these scenarios, serious or deadly injuries are possible.

After an accident like this, it is crucial to seek medical attention, get the driver’s contact and insurance information, and write down what you experienced as soon as possible. Drivers often try to pin the accident on the bicyclist involved, claiming that the bicyclist should always be ready to avoid obstacles. This is a blatant misunderstanding of their legal obligations as a driver, so don’t be guilted into apologizing or accepting liability.

How an Attorney Can Help

Getting compensation for a dooring accident can be challenging since drivers can be stubborn about admitting fault. Furthermore, insurance companies can be reluctant to pay compensation to injured bicyclists. Working with a personal injury attorney. May give you the leverage and support you need to secure a full and fair settlement.

For the best outcome, seek medical care as soon as possible after an accident. You never know what injuries are lying just below the surface, and medical documentation of your injuries is crucial. From there, you should contact a bicycle accident attorney to talk more about your injuries and explore your legal options. Make sure you bring your medical records, an accident report if you have one, and the driver’s insurance information.

Contact Reeves & Mestayer Today

The team at Reeves & Mestayer wants to help you pursue the full and fair compensation you are owed. Don’t wait a moment longer to get the support you deserve through this time. Schedule your consultation now by calling us at 228-300-2754 or sending us a message online.

Why Is It So Dangerous to Speed in a Work Zone?

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Work zones are one of the most stressful parts of driving—local governments seem to have new projects on deck on a monthly basis, and those projects can slow down your commute or shut down important exits. Additionally, driving in work zones means obeying lower speed limits, and lots of drivers don’t like doing that.

The few minutes you may save by speeding simply are not worth the damage you may cause by driving too fast through a work zone. Learn more about the dangers caused by work zone speeding, and if someone you love has been hurt in a crash, call Reeves & Mestayer at 228-300-2754.

Work Zone Crashes Are Tragically Common

Work zone accidents have increased over the years, leading to avoidable deaths and injuries. In 2019, there were 845 work zone deaths. That jumped to 857 in 2020, despite the fact that the pandemic drastically decreased the miles driven across the country. Over 25% of the crashes in 2020 involved a commercial vehicle and 20% were the result of a rear-end collision. The most important statistic: in 37% of fatal work zone crashes, speeding was a factor.

Construction Workers Suffer High Work Injury Rates

In the majority of fatal work zone accidents, either vehicle drivers or passengers died. However, a full 170 of the people who died were people on foot and bicyclists. A substantial amount of pedestrian fatalities were likely construction workers, who face incredible risks when in a work zone.

In 2020, there were 4,764 total fatal injuries in the workplace. Of those, 1008 were in the construction industry—a full 21%. Construction workers are at immense risk of dying in work zone crashes, as they have little to no protection from serious injuries. Efforts to save a few minutes could lead to an avoidable death.

Speeding Doesn’t Save As Much Time as You Think

When you’re running late and the minutes just keep ticking, the urge to speed is overwhelming. But when you do the math, speeding saves very little time. Unless you’re on a cross-country road trip, speeding only saves you minutes—if not seconds. Arriving somewhere one or two minutes earlier is not worth the risk. Not only do you risk causing an accident, but you could also incur hefty fines.

Slow Down and Save Lives

When you look at the statistics, it’s clear that speeding in a work zone is reckless and dangerous. It’s hard enough driving in a work zone—people may not know how the lanes have moved, which lanes are closing, what the speed limit is, or if their exit is open. People are already frazzled, and when you add speed into the mix, it becomes even more dangerous. There’s a reason that the speed limit is lower in work zones—the likelihood of an accident is higher, and everyone slowing down makes the road safer for drivers and passengers.

Accidents are inevitable, but you can reduce your risk of being involved in one by slowing down and paying attention to the speed limit. When you feel the urge to speed and make up for lost time, remember that you’ll likely save yourself just one or two minutes. Then, think about if those one or two minutes are worth causing a serious injury, causing a death, or incurring a fine of at least $250 and paying higher insurance rates for years to come. Construction workers and others sharing the road with you deserve to make it home safely, so do your part by slowing down.

Contact the Team at Reeves & Mestayer Today

If you or someone you love is hurt in a work zone accident, you may be entitled to compensation for your losses. It all starts with a free consultation with the team at Reeves & Mestayer. Schedule your meeting with our team now by calling us at 228-300-2754 or reaching out online.

Why You Shouldn’t Give an Insurance Adjuster Your Health History

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You’ve been involved in an accident and now you’re injured. You’re irritated and uncertain about how you will pay for your medical bills, especially if you have to take time off of work. When the other party’s insurance adjuster reaches out to you, it seems like everything will be okay. They’re interested in helping you, and they even want to look at your medical records to see how much compensation you’re owed.

Once you’ve reached this point, the insurance company already has the information they need to reduce your settlement or eliminate it completely. You need an attorney on your side who’s committed to getting the compensation you are owed. Call Reeves & Mestayer at 228-300-2754 to set up a consultation now.

The Health Information Insurance Adjusters Need

In order to validate your statements about your injuries, the insurance company will need some access to your health records at some point. However, the information they need is limited in scope. They truly only need access to the medical records related to your accident and current injuries. This gives them a better understanding of how you were injured, how serious those injuries are, and how you have progressed in your healing process.

The Information They Ask for and How It Can Hurt You

It wouldn’t be a problem if insurance adjusters only asked for your accident-related medical records, but that’s not what they do. They ask you to sign paperwork allowing them full access to all of your medical records, including those that predate your accident.

Why? They are looking for preexisting injuries. Remember that insurance companies aren’t actually looking for how they can pay you a full and fair settlement. They are looking for information they can use to reduce what they pay you. If they can find any preexisting injury that they can tie to your current injuries, they will do so.

They may claim that your current injury only exists because of your preexisting injury, not because of their client’s actions. Unfortunately, they are very good at this. Even if your injuries seem completely unrelated, insurance adjusters seem to find a way to link them to preexisting injuries.

This doesn’t mean that you should hide preexisting injuries from the insurance adjuster. This information will likely still come out at some point, especially if the accident made preexisting injuries worse. However, you have to reveal that information appropriately and at the right time. That’s where an attorney can help.

What to Do When the Insurance Adjuster Reaches Out

At this point, you may be wondering what you should do when the other party’s insurance adjuster reaches out. If they’re only looking for information that they can use to hurt you, what can you say that’s safe?

Nothing. That’s right—you don’t want to say anything to the other party’s insurance company. Instead, you want to hire a personal injury attorney before you talk to the other party at all. You can talk to the insurance company if you choose, but the more you do, the more you risk saying something that works against you. When you hire an attorney right away, you can let them take over communication with the other party’s attorney.

Getting the Compensation that You Deserve

Having a preexisting injury or health condition doesn’t mean that you can’t get fair compensation for your accident. Almost everyone has been injured at some point in their life, and that certainly doesn’t absolve the other party of their negligence. You do need to hire an attorney if you want to avoid the insurance company’s tactics for reducing victims’ settlements.

The sooner you talk to a personal injury lawyer near you, the sooner they can start building your case. Make sure you are upfront and honest about any preexisting injuries, as this gives them the information that they need to negotiate with the insurance company.

Start Your Injury Claim with Reeves & Mestayer

The team at Reeves & Mestayer is here to help you get what you deserve after an accident. Don’t let someone else’s negligence sidetrack your life and your goals. Call us at 228-300-2754 or send us a message online to set up a consultation with our team right now.