Compensation for Bicycle Accident
How to claim compensation for a bicycle accident?
Do you need to file a claim for compensation after a bicycle accident in Barcelona? The use of bicycles has become increasingly popular, especially in cities like Barcelona, as it is an alternative, lightweight, and economical means of transport that has grown in recent years.
However, although using a bicycle makes it easier to travel to different places, it is not a safe means of transport, because the drivers of vehicles such as buses, motorcycles, cars and even electric scooters are much heavier vehicles that can reach high speeds and that when they collide with a bicycle they usually cause serious damage to the riders.
Often, many drivers are unaware of the right-of-way rules and yield signs when a bicycle is crossing, and the occupation of the bike lane by other vehicles is common, often without the driver even noticing. Many dangerous situations arise on roads, with cyclists improperly occupying lanes and making illegal turns. It's important to remember that when riding a motorcycle or bicycle, any fall can be very serious, potentially causing physical harm to the cyclist.
To claim compensation for a bicycle accident, it is important to consider the following points.
In other words, in bicycle accidents, the riders are usually the most seriously injured victims, because a simple impact can result in very serious injuries.
First, we will have to try to determine, with all available means of evidence—mechanical experts, accident reconstruction experts, photos, videos, the sketch from the police report, witnesses, and so on—that you were not responsible for the accident, but rather that the person responsible was the one who hit you.
It makes no difference whether the bicycle accident resulted in a minor, serious, or very serious injury; whatever the extent of the damage, it is grounds for a claim. In other words, as the victim of a bicycle accident, you have the right to be compensated for the damages you have suffered.
Over the years at Masramon Abogados, we have had experience with insurance companies that tend to minimize the damages caused and always try to discredit the version of events of the victim who suffered the accident. Therefore, if you have suffered an accident as a cyclist, do not hesitate to contact us urgently. We will advise you on how to assert your rights and defend you before the insurance companies to claim your compensation for the bicycle accident.
In most cases, bicycle accidents are usually caused by third parties driving vehicles, buses, or motorcycles. However, when the cyclist is responsible for causing the accident through negligence, due to a failure to respect traffic laws, then we must analyze in detail whether the other driver of the vehicle also violated any rules, because if this is the case, then we could claim compensation.
Sometimes, being a cyclist has caused an accident, but if we analyze the speed at which the other driver was traveling and if we can determine through a...accident reconstruction expertIf the other driver's speed was very high, we could claim compensation in many cases because there is concurrent fault, that is, both drivers are guilty of some infraction.
Currently, due to the large volume of bicycles used in interurban areas such as the city of Barcelona, many riders have specific bicycle rider insurance. This insurance provides legal security to the rider and guarantees that, to a greater or lesser extent, if you have a bicycle accident and are at fault, your insurance company will, in most cases, pay compensation for the injuries or damages caused.
On the other hand, there is also a high number of bicycle riders who do not have specific insurance, and in such cases the bicycle rider, when driving negligently, will have to take responsibility for the compensation that covers the damages.
Calculation of compensation for a bicycle accident
To claim compensation for a bicycle accident, it's important to know that the process is the same as for other accidents (car, motorcycle, electric scooter, etc.). This means that the compensation will be calculated according to the traffic accident compensation scale. Therefore, the recovery time and severity of the injury will be taken into account.
In this regard, it is important to mention that, in bicycle accidents, an assessment of the damages caused, both material and physical, must be carried out, although experience indicates that bicycle accidents can be very serious, since in this type of accident the victim suffers more severe injuries and in many cases the victims of the accident often die, in which case the people responsible for demanding compensation are the relatives.
What can be claimed in a bicycle accident?
If you suffer a bicycle accident, you will be entitled to claim compensation. This compensation will assess the following damages:
The insurance company will assess the bodily injuries suffered and even the psychological damages that may also have resulted from the accident; that is, the same damages will be claimed as in traffic accidents, which must be assessed through the traffic accident scale in force in the year in which the accident occurred.
In other words, if you have suffered injuries from a fall, muscle injuries, head injuries, trauma, days of hospitalization, etc., each and every one of these damages has been assessed in the traffic accident scale and each injury has an assigned value in euros.
Through expert assessors of bodily injury, all injuries and aftereffects suffered can be professionally appraised, making it possible to compete with insurance company experts and facilitating reaching an agreement with them.
When a bicycle accident occurs, there is usually a lot of material damage. This damage must be compensated by the party that was at fault for the accident; therefore, it is damage that you can claim regardless of any injuries you may have suffered.
Material damages may consist of bicycle repair or compensation for the value of the bicycle if it cannot be repaired, helmet, mobile phone, etc.
The financial loss is a concept that encompasses both the actual damage, that is, all the expenses that have had to be paid as a result of the bicycle accident, as well as the lost profits, which would be the economic losses or lawful earnings not received due to having suffered the bicycle accident.
In other words, we must seek full compensation, which includes not only the direct expenses we have incurred, but also the income we could have generated had we not suffered a bicycle accident.
Frequently Asked Questions about Bicycle Accident Compensation
If a bicycle stops in another lane or makes unpredictable movements due to a faulty brake, the cyclist may be at fault. However, if the brakes fail due to a manufacturing or installation defect, the manufacturer may be held liable.
English (UK) 
Espa�ol 
Catal�