PRACTICE AREA DETAILS
- Lawyer Baskin Jones
- Skills Personal Injury Law
- Location Jackson, MS
- Practice Areas Personal Injury Law
ABOUT THIS PRACTICE AREA
Bicycle Accident Lawyer Jackson, MS: Bicyclists in Mississippi have been on unequal footing with cars and trucks on the roadway for too long. Recently changes in the law provide additional protections for bicyclists in Mississippi and have classified bicyclists as a vehicle for the purposes of passing and yielding the right of way. Those who have been injured when a car hits your bike need to speak with a Jackson Bicycle Wreck Attorney to protect your claim.

What to do After a Bicycle Wreck – From a Mississippi Bicycle Wreck Attorney
If you are riding a bike and are hit by an car or truck what should your next steps be? If you come upon the scene of a wreck where an bicycle rider has been injured what should you do?
This article seeks to answer these questions, and provide a resource that can be printed and taken with you so you will have this information when you need it most.
What to do after a Bicycle wreck with a car or truck.
-
Stay at the scene;
The documentation that will be provided by a police officer are absolutely necessary to make a claim for property damage or personal injury. If you don’t stay at the scene in your vehicle after causing injuries or property damage you may be cited for hit and run. (see Mississippi hit and run statute below.)
-
Get the license plate number of the vehicles involved in the wreck;
This information will be important, and is the only clear identifying information about who owns the vehicles involved in the incident. Any Mississippi Bicycle Wreck Attorney will be very interested in this information because of the need to identify who was in the wreck and who may be responsible for the bike wreck.
-
Get your bearings;
Check on the individuals involved in the wreck and if anyone is unconscious, was thrown from their bicycle, is pinned under an obstacle or has pain in the neck or back. If so, these individuals should not be moved until an ambulance or authorities arrive.
-
Call the police;
If there is a wreck involving injuries or property damage of more than $500.00 then Miss. Code Ann. § 63-3-411 (2014) requires that the driver of the vehicles are required to call the local police department. It is usually best to call.
-
Don’t move the vehicles;
The police officer who arrives at the scene will be gathering information and seeing where the vehicles are located post-wreck may be very important in the officer’s narrative account and diagram of the scene of the wreck. For this reason it is recommended that as much as possible the vehicles be left as they are.
-
Gather information, especially for witnesses;
If there are any witnesses at the scene. Get their names, and cell phone numbers. Third-party witnesses can be very helpful in proving how the wreck occurred because they do not have any vested interest in the wreck. Also gathering insurance information, name, address and phone number for any drivers will be very helpful.
-
Know that anything you say can be used against you in court;
Some insurance policies have limitations on coverage when drivers admit liability or say the wreck is their fault. Generally it is a bad idea to guess who or what caused the wreck, just state the facts of the wreck as you remember them.
Trying to explain how a wreck occurred to anyone other than the officer is usually a no-win situation because anything you say or do may be admissible in court as an “admission” or “statement against interest.” Others often do not have a perfect memory of what was said, but saying nothing about how the wreck occurred will hopefully minimize this.
-
Take Photos;
Several of the scene of the wreck, of your property damage, of your injuries and of any skid marks (or lack thereof) leading up to the scene of the wreck.
-
Refer to your insurance policy;
You have been paying for insurance coverage, if the time comes that you need to make a claim you should use your coverage. Medical payment coverage may provide reimbursements for your medical expenses. Your collision coverage may pay for your own property damage, and if you have uninsured motorist coverage (worth it) then you may be protected even when the other individuals involved in the wreck do not have insurance.
Often we hear concerns about insurance rates rising as a result of making a claim. If you are concerned about this please allow us to provide you additional information on this topic.
-
Understand early settlement offers;
Be careful of immediate settlement offers from an insurance company, some injuries become more pronounced a few days after the wreck. Many claims are settled with early, very low offers which are likely unable to account for the ongoing issues, lost work and pain related to your injuries. At the very least give yourself a period of time to be sure no additional aches or pains emerge.
-
Read every document that the insurance company asks you to sign
Make sure you are not releasing your personal injury claim when dealing with your property damage. Sometimes language releasing a personal injury claim creeps into a release for property damage, and those claims could be released forever.
For more information on Bicycle claims see: Jackson Bike Wreck Attorney resources.
-
Consider getting a free consultation with a Jackson MS Bicycle Accident Lawyer;
A personal injury attorney can explain to you the benefit of being represented in your claim, explain the process and put your mind at ease. Contact us today. 601-272-2406
Contact a Bicycle Accident Lawyer in Jackson, MS
An easy first step is to contact a Jackson Bike Wreck Attorney for a free consultation. Our attorneys are standing by to answer your questions and provide you with a free consultation. Call us today at 601-272-2406or reach us at our contact page.
Printable Version of these summarized rules: pdf
What to do after a Bicycle wreck with a car or truck.
Keep this information in your travel pack or glove compartment for use after a bicycle wreck. If you would like to speak with a qualified personal injury attorney call us at 601-272-2406.
-
Stay at the scene;
-
Get the license plate number of the vehicles involved in the wreck;
-
Get your bearings;
-
Call the police;
-
Don’t move the vehicles;
-
Gather information, especially for witnesses;
-
Know that anything you say can be used against you in court;
-
Take Photos;
-
Refer to your insurance policy;
-
Understand early settlement offers;
-
Read every document that the insurance company asks you to sign; and
-
Consider getting a free consultation with a Mississippi Bicycle Wreck attorney. 601-272-2406
Miss. Code Ann. § 63-3-405. Duty of driver involved in accident resulting in injury or death or property damage to give information and render aid; liability for rendering a The driver of any vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury to or death of any person or damage to any vehicle which is driven or attended by any person shall give his name, address and the registration number of the vehicle he is driving and shall, upon request and if available, exhibit his operator’s or chauffeur’s license to the person struck or the driver or occupant of or person attending any vehicle collided with.
Said driver shall render to any person injured in such accident reasonable assistance, including the carrying, or the making of arrangements for the carrying, of such person to a physician, surgeon or hospital for medical or surgical treatment if it is apparent that such treatment is necessary or if such carrying is requested by the injured person. No such driver who, in good faith and in the exercise of reasonable care, renders emergency care to any injured person at the scene of an accident or in transporting said injured person to a point where medical assistance can be reasonably expected, shall be liable for any civil damages to said injured person as a result of any acts committed in good faith and in the exercise of reasonable care or omission in good faith and in the exercise of reasonable care by such driver in rendering the emergency care to said injured person.
Even with the new laws protecting bicyclists in Mississippi (John Paul Frerer Act) it is still far too easy for a bicyclist to be hit by a car. Mississippi has recently imposed a three foot of distance when passing law, meaning that automobiles must provide at least three feet of space when passing a bicyclist. This law is meant to prevent additional brain injuries and death due to cars hitting bicyclists.(Bicycle Hit by a Car)
There has been a movement in Mississippi recently to promote vehicles completely changing lanes when passing bicyclists rather than just allowing the minimum of three feet. The reasoning for the statute, and the movement to completely change lanes is good.
On roadways as a bicyclist you may sometimes notice a backdraft as vehicles and big trucks pass by you. The closer these vehicles are to you, the closer these vehicles come to a bicyclist, the more likely the bicyclist is to be destabilized by a truck passing by and crash.
There are many benefits that bike riders enjoy in Mississippi (Bike Safely in Mississippi) today that they did not previously enjoy. First, laws have been passed providing bicyclists increased safety in the state. One such law requires that motorists give bicyclists three feet when passing them on the roadway. Miss. Code Ann. §63-3-1309.
“a motorist shall leave a safe distance of not less than three (3) feet between his vehicle and the bicyclist and shall maintain such clearance until safely past the bicycle.”
Another Mississippi statute explicitly states that bicyclists must be treated as a motorist would treat another vehicle in the roadway and that:
“it is unlawful to harass, taunt or maliciously throw an object at or in the direction of any person riding a bicycle.”
These laws have raised awareness of bicyclists on the road and their rights, hopefully providing a safer roadway for all bicyclists in the state.
There are several general rules to be followed in general bicycle safety in Mississippi.
- Wear head protection;
- Test your bike before beginning to ride;
- Don’t be distracted by music or a cell phone;
- Make sure you are visible;
- wear reflective clothing
- be aware of the necessary requirements for reflectors and flashers
- Be Alert and look for upcoming obstacles;
- Bike the same direction as traffic and obey all the same traffic signals as a car;
- this is opposite from pedestrians who travel against traffic.
Many other safety resources will provide information on how to bike more safely.
We have had several cases where bicyclists have had traumatic injuries due to a car hitting them as they rode their bike. In these cases the bicyclist used their uninsured motorist coverage on their own auto insurance policy to pay for some of their medical bills or damages. These coverages often pay for injuries occurring in cars, or caused by cars. For this reason we tell our clients to look at their policy declarations page for uninsured motorist coverage and to consider maxing out their uninsured motorist / underinsured motorist coverages on their own automobile policy.
Bicyclists Should Carry Uninsured Motorist Coverage
Policies of insurance vary in their language, but our experience so far with Uninsured Motorist and Underinsured Motorist coverages have provided coverage to bicyclists. Additionally, in Mississippi, uninsured motorists coverages stack meaning if there are multiple vehicles on a policy each vehicle will bring its value into a combined (stacked) value that you and the individuals living in your home are able to access when they are injured by a driver who doesn’t have enough insurance coverage.
The language of these policies often provides for injuries to pedestrians, injuries to bicyclists, injuries to passengers and any other injury caused by or in a car. In pedestrian and bicycle wrecks the injuries to the individual are often very serious and require as much of the insurance proceeds as may be available (the policy limits).
How much Uninsured Motorist Coverage can I buy?
Uninsured Motorist and Underinsured motorist coverages are capped based on the amount of liability coverage carried on the vehicle policy. So for instance, if you carry 25,000.00/50,000.00 in liability coverage on your policy then you will only be allowed to carry 25,000.00/50,000.00 in uninsured coverages on each vehicle. For this reason it may be worthwhile to update you liability coverages as you update your uninsured coverages in order to carry an appropriate amount of uninsured motorist coverage.
Uninsured Motorist coverage is the best buy in insurance in my experience. You will be glad that you have covered yourself against the individual that injured you not having nearly enough insurance to provide for your injuries. When you make a claim against an uninsured or underinsured policy you are dealing with your own insurance company. Your insurance company owes special responsibilities to you to investigate any claim you bring, and evaluate the claim quickly. Your insurance is required to gather medical bills and records to an extent and owes you the highest duty, a fiduciary duty. If the insurance company is caught failing to live up to these duties there could be dire consequences for the parent company.
Contact us with any questions
You are welcome to contact us with any questions about your current insurance coverages. If you would like to discuss the types of injuries and damages that could be caused in a bicycle wreck with an automobile, contact us. If you believe you have a claim you need to make against an uninsured motorist policy, contact us, we will be glad to speak with you and our consultations are always free.
For additional information on bicycle and pedestrian resources in Mississippi check out Bike Walk Mississippi.
All over the country individuals continue to choose to use cell phones while operating cars and trucks. Activities like texting, emailing, surfing the internet and even looking up a phone number take the focus and attention of the driver off of the road and allow the unthinkable to happen to a bicyclist. New laws have been passed in Mississippi in order to provide that bicyclists would be more protected and protected on the roadways of Mississippi.Distracted Drivers and Bicycle Wrecks.
The John Paul Frerer Act, enacted in 2010, provides that bicyclists will be given all the benefits of vehicles on the roadway. Additionally the law provides that when passing a bicyclist on the roadway that a driver should provide at least 3 feet of space as the vehicle passes.
Distracted Drivers cause more wrecks
The roadways can be a much more dangerous place for bicyclists today when the focus required to see bicyclists which are roughly 1/3 less visible than cars or trucks is spent consistently fixated on electronic devices.
In order to stop or avoid an obstacle in the road, the driver of an automobile needs time to react. When electronic devices are in the mix in a car wreck involving a bicyclist that time to react is increased dramatically. A recent study by Texas A&M Transportation Institute shows that reaction time is doubled by cell phone use.
Undistracted Drivers
Questions are often raised in wreck cases that are handled by Mississippi Personal Injury Attorneys of whether full attention has been paid to the road or if the driver of the vehicle that caused the wreck with a bicyclist was:
- utilizing a cell phone,
- sending a text message,
- sending a tweet,
- checking email,
- surfing the internet,
- streaming video,
- checking facebook, or
- holding the phone in one hand.
There are methods that skilled attorneys can employ to forensically examine the cell phone of the driver, usage records, call records and other information to prove that an individual was in fact using their cell phone immediately before hurting a bicyclist on the roadway.
Time is working against you if there is any thought in your mind that a cell phone may have caused distraction in a particular bicycle wreck. Chat with our experienced attorneys at any time to learn just how quickly the process of obtaining and preserving this information can begin.
Obeying the law and personal injury
In Mississippi, when a driver injures another while breaking the law and that law was meant to protect from the type of injury that occurs it can be determined as a matter of law that the lawbreaker was negligent as a matter of law. For instance, in Mississippi, if a driver passes a bicyclist and fails to give the appropriate passing cushion of 3 feet and this action causes an injury to the bicyclist then the driver may be found to be negligent per se or negligent as a matter of law.
Mississippi Personal Injury Attorney application
The Injured in Mississippi Blog has a new app providing information on those injured in Mississippi.