San Francisco Injury Lawyer Blog

Especially here in the San Francisco Bay Area where there is great beauty and the weather often permits, bicycling has become both a significant mode of transportation and exercise. This area abounds with bikers, triatheletes and those athletes using the bicycle to train for other sports. The problem is that motorists just don't 'see' bicyclists or motorcyclists and their driving actions often support that statement.

I am not sure if it is because the drivers don't want to see bicyclists or motorcyclists and mentally dismiss them or because of bias against them or perhaps some other reason, but over and over again I hear the same testimony. 'I just didn't see her' or 'He came out of nowhere.' This has become a consistent theme among the many bike or motorcycle accident cases I have done over the years.

Our metropolitan areas were never very well designed to accomodate bicyclists and there are many drivers who really do not have a consciousness about bicyclists. San Francisco has taken some steps to study the cause of these accidents in the City and has implemented their solution (San Francisco Shared Lane Marking Study - PDF).

The City sees bicyclists getting 'doored' when a careless motorist has parked and is exiting his or her vehicle, or squeezed between lanes. In addition, I think that drivers of motor vehicles often have little patience for bikers, are in too much of a hurry and can hurt bicyclists badly. Bicyclists can be self centered as well, impeding traffic and frustrating motorists. The combination can be deadly.

I often wonder how it is that the most common cause of accidents involving bicyclists or motorcycles that I see is that motorists in cars or trucks do not see them--even though often times the riders are in plain view. I just finished a classic T Bone bicycle accident at the corner of Bay and Mason in San Francisco. That intersection was flat and open with no visual obstructions. My client was a triathlete and bicycled hundreds of miles each week, wearing the biking garb that many of us have become familiar with here. Sometimes I think these biking clothes themselves are like the confederate flag to some people and can trigger driver reactions alone that manifest in dumb driving responses.

In any event, my client Mark, was crossing Bay Street and a young woman new to the City was crossing Bay in the opposite direction looking to make a left turn. She looked right past Mark in his blue Postal Service lycra, on this clear sunny day and her van caught him mid calf on the left leg fracturing both his tibia and fibula midshaft. She testified that the first that she saw Mark, was when he was on the hood of her van. There was nothing between her van and Mark to impede her vision and this is simply classic for bike/ motorcycle accident testimony.

Although the fractures were the most dramatic of the injuries they were certainly not the only injuries as Mark's other knee had meniscus damage.

The good news was that the trauma surgeon at San Francisco General Hospital, Dr. McClelland is as good as it gets and he was able to insert a rod and other hardware and put Mark together again. The bad news has been that the recovery process has been slow, painful and arduous. Subsequent surgeries were necessary to remove screws and repair the meniscus and with each operation, there is down time and lost time from work--not to mention the inability to train for any triathalons or anything else.

I have worked with other triathletes and dedicated bicyclists in my practice as well as other athletes and their losses are unique and the repercussions can be dramatic. Often their lives integrate many hours of training and effort that has now come to an abrupt halt. This can result in a serious emotional response that includes, anger, depression, frustration and more. Often these changes in attitude and reactions can undermine interactions with others. Relationships often become challenging as the injured person now becomes dependant on others for care and hard to live with. He or she often has a social group that includes other athletes that are out training when the injured athlete can no longer function. If the injury is permanent, relationships can be destroyed and this aspect of the claim and injury is every bit as important as the more dramatic physical aspects.

Depending upon the severity of the injury and length of recovery time, some counseling can be helpful. Serious injuries require a tremendous amount of patience among the circle of people involved with the injured person. This includes their friends, significant other or spouse, therapists, physicians, nurses, etc.