Although careless drivers are the main cause of bicycle accidents, there are still chances that a defect found in the bicycle might be the culprit behind your crash. Bicycle safety is highly crucial, and defects found in them can further lead to severe accidents. If you have recently met with a bike accident and left injured, then you may have to be on proper rest and medication for months to recover. Hiring services from a renowned bicycle accident lawyer is recommended if you have found the bike equipment defective and the major cause of the accident.
Filing a lawsuit against the designer or manufacturer of the bicycle is a must to attain valid compensation, given the mental stress and injury at the accident scene you had to face. Learn more as we elaborate on your legal rights, things to follow, and the kind of compensation you can attain out of facing an accident by riding defective bike equipment.
Common Types of Bicycle Defects Causing Accidents
Product defects involving bicycle accident claims fall into the categories below.
- Design Defects
A design defect is a claimable defect when an accident occurs because of riding a poorly designed bicycle. It is either a basic blueprint flaw of the bicycle or the components said to be associated with its overall structure, making it dangerous for the cyclist or other road users to experience the accident scene.
A design flaw can be anything, from an inefficient braking system to a hazardous tier design. Any design that has not been properly designed will only make the bicycle more dangerous to ride, qualifying it for a design flaw. The manufacturer can be held liable for injuries and accidents that have happened because of a design defect.
- Manufacturing Defects
A manufacturing defect is certainly an error that mostly happens during the bike’s construction or assembly phase. It does affect a particular portion of the overall bicycle inventory, like the ones manufactured during a specific month or year and those made in a specific plant.
- Marketing Defects
As a victim facing an accident scene out of riding defective bike equipment, you can file for a product liability claim against the manufacturer, designer, distributor, or seller based on their failure to meet the safety precautions of riding the bicycle in the first place.
They must warn consumers about specific hazards that can cause potential injury or accident during the sale. If the bike is sold without conveying proper instructions for using it, then the designer, seller, or manufacturer is highly liable for damages experienced from your side in the case of a marketing defect.
Possible Ways to Prove a Defective Bicycle Claim
To prove your legal claims, given that you are riding a defective bicycle, you need to showcase that the bicycle had a manufacturing, design, or warning defect. By hiring services from a reputed bicycle accident lawyer, you are well assured of gathering valuable evidence that includes expert testimony to prove your claim that the bicycle was defective in the first place.
The bicycle manufacturer sometimes tries to assign that the fault was made from your side as the rider. This is where the importance of having an experienced bicycle accident lawyer by your side comes in, as they can rightly assess the accident scene and build a strong case portraying valid compensation and proof claiming the major defects as found in the bike equipment.
Conclusion
Never let the medical bills pile up as you wait for the negligent bike manufacturer, distributor, or seller to do the right thing by promoting and selling defective bike equipment to you in the first instance. Get in touch with a bicycle accident lawyer to gather valid evidence, and rightly file your claims to get the compensation you deserve with no fault made from your side to the accident scene.
References:
- https://rhllaw.com/blog/defective-products/defective-bicycle-accident/
- https://www.hallandalelaw.com/defective-bicycle-injury-claims-should-you-sue/
- https://www.theepsteinlawfirm.com/blog/steps-to-take-when-an-accident-is-caused-by-a-bicycle-defect/
