As more people choose to walk or ride bicycles for transportation or leisure, the risk of pedestrian and bicycle accidents has increased. These accidents can result in severe injuries or even fatalities, leaving victims and their families with physical, emotional, and financial hardships. Pedestrian and bicycle accidents often occur when drivers fail to yield at crosswalks, open car doors without looking first, are distracted, intoxicated, or are driving recklessly. Fortunately, New Jersey personal injury law provides legal protection for victims of pedestrian and bicycle accidents. Here’s what you need to know. Negligence and Liability Under New Jersey law, drivers have a legal obligation to exercise reasonable care while operating their vehicles, paying attention to their surroundings, including when sharing the…

In late June of 2017, a teacher was biking down a hill when she lost control of her bike, receiving fatal injuries. In Hawthorne, New Jersey, a school teacher was riding down one of her biking routes, when she began going a little too fast. As she was going down a steep hill, she realized it was too late to stop the bike. Upon hitting the brakes in an attempt to gain control, she was flipped over the handlebars and thrown on the ground. She was still alive at the time that the medics arrived on the scene, but when she made it to the hospital, she passed away due to her injuries. Police have made it clear she was…

Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that “there are more than 450,000 injuries associated with bicycles that landed people in ERs in 2016.   The most frequent diagnoses were contusions/abrasions (23.0%), fractures (21.7%), and lacerations (15.4%)”. While only 1% of all trips taken in the U.S. are by bicycle, bicyclists face a higher risk of crash-related injury and deaths than occupants those of motor vehicles.  Whether you bike to work or school; to save money or time; to preserve your health or the environment; to explore your community or get to your destination, there is always an opportunity to review some tips on how to ride safely and perform maintenance on your bike. Effective interventions to reduce injuries and fatalities to bicyclists include the following…