As a parent you do everything you can to protect your kids, and with the amount of injuries caused by bicycling, its no wonder there are so many safety measures taken for this activity. Sometimes those efforts aren’t enough to protect kids from a careless motorist or a dangerous stretch of road. Many times certain factors that caused the accident aren’t taken into account. That is when you need an attorney who knows how to examine the case from all angles.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that over 600,000 persons suffered bicycle-related injuries serious enough to require hospital emergency room treatment in 1994. Here are some typical cases:
“Karen applied her hand brakes and lost control of her bicycle. She went down an embankment into a creek, and fractured her shoulder.”
“As Jimmy was riding his bicycle downhill, the front wheel of his bicycle suddenly became loose and twisted. Jimmy lost control, fracturing his knee.”
“Bob was riding a bike without a chain guard when his foot caught between the pedal and chain. He fell, suffering a concussion and skull fracture.”
“Michele was riding her bike alongside a friend’s. As her friend moved his bike to the right, the two front wheels collided, causing Michele to fall. She suffered a concussion and fractured a wrist.”
These case histories illustrate some major accident patterns associated with bicycles. They are:
- Collision with an automobile or another bicycle.
- Loss of Control — This occurs because of a number of factors, including: difficulty in braking; riding too large a bike; riding too fast; riding double; stunting; striking a rut, bump, or obstacle; and riding on slippery surfaces.
- Mechanical and Structural Problems — These include brake failure; wobbling or disengagement of the wheel or steering mechanism; difficulty in shifting gears; chain slippage; pedals falling off, or spoke breakage.
- Entanglement of a person’s feet, hands, or clothing in the bicycle.
- Foot slippage from pedal.
Types of common injuries associated with bike accidents range from amputation, blindness, eye injury, head injury, disfigurement, scarring, long term disability, short term disability, paralysis, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury,(TBI),and a long range of fractured bones. Many of these are preventable injuries.
To make bicycles safer, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission developed a mandatory safety standard for bicycles to help eliminate injuries due to mechanical and structural failures.
The CPSC regulations establish strict performance and construction standards for the brakes, wheels, steering system and frame. They require reflectors on the front, back, sides and pedals to make bicycles visible at night; require elimination of uncovered sharp edges and jutting parts; and require brakes on bicycles with seat height of 22 inches or more. New bicycles are required to meet the standards.
If your child has been injured in a bicycle accident of any type and you feel as if you need qualified legal help, please call our office at or contact us at by Email.
Scooter Accidents
By nature, accidents that involve the rider of a motorcycle or motorized scooter are usually severe, resulting in a long road to recovery. Even if the rider is fortunate enough not to be physically impaired from the accident, there is almost always a large property damage claim to be dealt with. Although many times the fault is not the motorcyclist’s, insurance companies have a bias against motorcyclists that makes it difficult to receive fair compensation. Every insurance company strives to pay as little as possible in benefits. We seek to hold the negligent party responsible and claim every penny that is due for the victim of the accident. This includes figuring the future costs of medical bills, time off from work, and any other expenses that could be overlooked. Our clients include people from all walks of life, residents of Florida and the many motorcyclists that visit for events like Daytona’s Bikeweek and Biketoberfest.
With the continuing increase in popularity of gas and electric powered scooters in the United States, there have also been an extremely high number of young people suffering injuries due to involvement in scooter accidents. On June 14, 2005 the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that approximately 10,000 people required emergency room treatment for motorized scooter related injuries between July 2003 and June 2004. The reports also showed that less than 50% of the injury victims were wearing helmets, and even fewer were wearing any other type of protective gear at the time of their accidents.
In a recent six year period, approximately fifty people died as the result of electric or gas powered scooter accidents. The following are recent motorized scooter statistics:
- Approximately 36% of scooter accidents are caused by scooter operators.
- The environment, including ground condition and surface, account for about 35% of all motor scooter accidents.
- Bone fractures occur in about 25% of all scooter related accident injuries.
- Approximately 20% of motorized scooter accidents are the result of scooter defects.
- Approximately 66% of all scooter accident injury victims are under the age of fifteen.
Motorized scooters, used mainly by children, pose some of the same risks that motorcycles pose to adults, including brake failure, defective tires, sharp edges, handlebars that are not secured, and accelerators that stick. The following are links to information regarding motorized scooter recalls:
- Razor Electric Scooters
- Razor Electric Scooters (Battery Charger)
- Fisher Price Lightening PAC Scooters
- Spartan Sports Electric Scooter
In order to prevent your child from suffering serious motorized scooter injuries, it is important to teach him or her to be responsible and safe while operating the scooter. The following are some helpful safety tips that every child should follow when riding a motorized scooter:
- Wear a helmet at all times
- Never allow a second passenger on a scooter
- Ride on smoothly paved roads
- Only ride during the day, when you are the most visible to motor vehicle drivers
If your child has suffered serious injuries as the result of a motorized scooter accident in Florida, please contact us immediately