Belle Plaine Personal Injury Attorneys

Sudden accidents and injuries can drastically alter lives. In such trying periods, personal injury lawyers are crucial allies. They specialize in representing those harmed by negligence, helping them secure proper compensation. This article examines the vital role personal injury lawyers play in guiding individuals through their claims and aiding in recovery.

Hit and run bicycle accidents are all too common, with over 800 pedalcyclists dying in such incidents in 2015 alone. Often, irresponsible drivers who may be driving under the influence or without a license flee the scene out of fear of reprisal, making it exceedingly difficult for bicyclists to recover financial damages after suffering an accident. There’s no viable excuse for the illegal and unethical act of leaving the scene of an accident. If you or your loved one suffered a bike accident hit and run, you'd likely need to look to your insurance policies to pay for your damages.

Finding the Driver Responsible for Your Accident

If you were hurt by a hit-and-run driver, don’t assume that all is lost. Sometimes, drivers with a conscience come back to turn themselves in. Law enforcement investigation efforts often prove successful, using evidence such as traffic or surveillance camera footage and eyewitness testimonies to identify the driver. You might want to call the local news station and request they cover your story. If they air your hit and run accident story, viewers may be able to tip law enforcement. Once a driver is identified, they will face criminal charges, and you will be able to file a claim with their insurer or sue them directly for the harm you’ve sustained.

Obtaining Compensation after a Hit and Run Bike Accident

If the driver stays put or the police find them after the crash, you would be able to file a claim with the driver’s insurance company to cover your damages. If the driver flees, your damages may be compensable under your auto insurance policy’s uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM).

UM/UIM covers your damages in these instances:
- The driver doesn’t have insurance.
- The driver lacks enough insurance to cover your damages.
- The driver flees the scene.

Coverage is usually extended to include traffic accidents when you are a pedestrian or bicyclist. Not all auto policies include UM/UIM, as it’s an optional coverage in Iowa. If you do carry it, the minimum coverage is $20,000 for each person/$40,000 for each accident. You’ll need to check with your insurance agent to determine what your coverage entails.

The degree of accident fault in a personal injury claim is an individual’s percentage of responsibility for an accident and the losses or damages that occur as a result. If the person who was injured is partially at fault, that degree of fault will reduce the amount of compensation that can be recovered. Iowa lawyers can help Iowa accident victims prove the other party’s liability to pursue fair compensation.

How is Degree of Accident Fault Impacted by Negligence Laws?

Negligence laws vary in each state. In Iowa, they are based on modified comparative fault. Under this standard, a jury or judge would assign a percentage of fault for each party involved in the accident. If an injured person is partially responsible for a crash, this can result in a couple of outcomes. One is that it prevents them from recovering any damages if their degree of fault is more than half (51 percent or higher). The other outcome is that the amount of damages recovered could be reduced if the degree of fault is 50 percent or less. In this case, damages will be reduced by the percentage of fault assigned.

Since a higher degree of fault puts an injured person at risk of receiving a significantly low amount or even nothing at all, it may be in their best interest to seek legal counsel. An attorney may be able to help establish most or all fault with the other party.

What Types of Evidence Can Reduce Someone’s Degree of Accident Fault in a Personal Injury Claim?

Proof is key to establishing the other party’s responsibility for a crash. Some of the evidence that may help includes:
- The accident report
- Photographs of the accident scene
- Eyewitness statements
- Observations from a responding police officer

Helmet Use and Your Bicycle Accident Claim: It Matters

When you’re filing a claim for injuries sustained during a bicycle accident, it’s likely that you’ll have questions about who’s at fault and how fault will impact your settlement amount. What’s more, if you abstained from helmet use, your bicycle accident claim can be affected by this choice.

Iowa Helmet Laws

Whether or not you were wearing a helmet may not be relevant to your claim, given that Iowa is one of 13 states in the nation with no bicycle helmet law. Riders of any age in Iowa do not have to wear helmets. Thus, not wearing a helmet doesn't automatically mean you are negligent or lawless.

Comparative Negligence Laws

However, the fact that there is no bicycle helmet law in Iowa does not mean that the defendant will not try to argue that you acted negligently. Negligence, which determines who’s at fault for an accident, is loosely defined as an act of irresponsible and unreasonable behavior.

It is possible that the defense could make a case that, despite the lack of legal requirement, the importance of a helmet is common knowledge, and therefore not wearing one is unreasonable and unsafe. An allegation of dangerous behavior on your part is particularly relevant if the injuries sustained are head injuries. Injuries to other regions of the body usually don't hinge on whether or not you wore a helmet.

If the driver argues that your actions were unreasonable, then your claim may fall subject to the state’s comparative negligence laws. These laws do not bar a victim from recovering damages when the victim is less than 50 percent at fault for the accident. However, the law does diminish the victim’s recovery amount by their proportion of the blame.

Proving the Negligence of the Other Party

Even if your injury was to the head, it is still possible to hold the other party completely liable. To do so, you will have to demonstrate that, helmet or not, the other party acted negligently and that your injuries would not have been sustained but for these negligent actions.

We Are Here To Help

Remember, you are not alone in recovering from your injuries. We have helped thousands of Iowans through their physical, emotional, and financial recoveries. If you have questions about what you are going through, feel free to call our office for your confidential injury conference. We will take the time to listen to you and give you our advice concerning your injury matter at no cost or risk to you.

Free Book at No Cost 

If you are not ready to speak with an attorney yet but would like to learn more about Iowa injury cases including tips about how you can avoid making common costly mistakes request a copy of our Iowa Personal Injury book which includes 14 myths about Iowa injury cases and 5 things to know before hiring an attorney.

If you have specific questions about your injury matter feel free to call our office to speak with our Injury team at 641-792-3595 or use our Chat feature by clicking here 24 hours a day/7 days per week. Your information will remain confidential and there is no cost or obligation.