Los Angeles Bicycle Accident Lawyer

Were you injured in a bicycle accident in Los Angeles, CA?

At Cohen Injury Law Group, we are plaintiff-focused bicycle accident lawyers preparing every case with experience and dedication.

If a driver opened a car door into your path, turned right across the bike lane, or struck you from behind on a Los Angeles street, you may be facing broken bones, a damaged bicycle, and an insurance company that questions whether you were riding safely. Even a low-speed crash can seriously injure a rider.

We represent cyclists, e-bike riders, and grieving families after crashes caused by careless drivers in Los Angeles. Speak with a Los Angeles, CA bicycle accident lawyer at no cost to find out whether the driver can be held responsible for your injuries.

Bicycle Accident Lawyer Los Angeles, CA

A bicycle accident lawyer represents cyclists who were injured by a negligent driver, a dangerous road condition, or another party’s careless conduct. The lawyer investigates the crash, identifies every source of insurance coverage, and pursues compensation for medical care, lost income, and the effects of the injury on daily life.

The City of Los Angeles recorded 393 bicyclists killed or injured in traffic collisions in 2023, per OTS city crash rankings. A Los Angeles bicycle accident attorney can determine whether a driver, a business, or a public agency is responsible for one of these crashes.

Types of Bicycle Accident Cases We Handle in Los Angeles

Cyclists share Los Angeles streets with passenger cars, delivery trucks, buses, and rideshare vehicles, and each type of vehicle creates different risks. The following crash types make up most of the bicycle cases our attorneys handle in Los Angeles.

• Car accidents. Most bicycle claims involve a passenger vehicle whose driver opened a door into a bike lane, turned right across a rider’s path, or passed without enough space. When a driver leaves the scene, hit-and-run claims often depend on gathering video and witness information quickly.
• Truck accidents. Delivery and commercial trucks have large blind spots along the passenger side. A truck turning right can strike a cyclist who is riding straight through the intersection.
• Rideshare accidents. Rideshare drivers often stop in bike lanes to pick up or drop off passengers. Coverage depends on whether the driver was logged into the app at the time of the crash.
• Bus accidents. Buses pull across bike lanes to reach curbside stops. A claim against a public transit agency requires a written claim within a short deadline.
• Motorcycle accidents. A motorcyclist moving between lanes or along the edge of traffic can collide with a cyclist riding near the curb. These crashes often involve questions about each rider’s speed and position on the road.
• Scooter accidents. Electric scooters and e-bikes travel faster than standard bicycles, and drivers often misjudge their speed. Questions of fault and e-bike liability can involve the driver, the rider, and the manufacturer.
• Premises liability. A cyclist can be thrown from a bicycle by a broken driveway, an unmarked hazard in a parking lot, or debris left on private property. The property owner may be responsible if the owner knew or should have known about the dangerous condition.
• Brain injuries. A cyclist’s head can strike the pavement, a windshield, or a car door, even when the rider wears a helmet. Concussions and traumatic brain injuries may require months of treatment.
• Wrongful death. When a rider is killed, close family members may bring a claim for funeral costs, lost financial support, and the loss of the person’s care and companionship.
• Pedestrian accidents. A cyclist who is walking a bicycle across a crosswalk or standing at the curb may be struck as a pedestrian. Drivers who fail to yield at intersections cause many of these injuries.

Why Choose Cohen Injury Law Group as My Bicycle Accident Lawyer in Los Angeles, CA?

A Client-First Approach to Every Bicycle Claim

Nicholas Cohen describes his approach to personal injury work as hands-on and client-first, a perspective he developed while watching the trial lawyers in his family. He earned his law degree through Loyola Law School while working in legal technology. For an injured cyclist, our approach includes documenting the bicycle, helmet, and riding gear along with the medical records, because equipment damage can help show how the impact occurred.

Peer-Recognized Trial Experience

Wayne Cohen began practicing law in 1991 and holds an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, which reflects peer reviews of his legal ability and ethics. He has taught Trial Skills at The George Washington University Law School since 1993. As a personal injury lawyer in Los Angeles, CA, our firm represents injured cyclists alongside drivers, pedestrians, and other people harmed by negligence.

What Is Important to Understand About a Bicycle Accident Case?

What Should You Bring to Your Bicycle Accident Consultation?

Bring the following items to your first meeting.

1. The police report or report number, which shows how officers recorded the crash and whether they identified a cause.
2. Photographs of your bicycle, helmet, clothing, and injuries, which can show the direction and force of the impact.
3. Medical records and bills from the emergency room and any follow-up providers.
4. Repair estimates or receipts for your bicycle and any gear damaged in the crash.
5. Contact information for witnesses and any letters or messages from an insurance company.

A Los Angeles bicycle accident lawyer will go over these materials with you, identify the drivers or agencies involved, and answer your questions. If the facts point to a claim against the city rather than a driver, or to no claim at all, we will say so at the first meeting.

Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Bicycle Accident Cases

Under Civ. Code § 1714, every person is responsible for injuries caused by a failure to use ordinary care, and that duty applies to drivers who share the road with cyclists. Compensation is measured under Civ. Code § 3333, and the damages available in a bicycle case commonly include the following.

• Medical costs include ambulance transport, emergency care, surgery, physical therapy, and future treatment.
• Lost earnings include wages missed during recovery and any reduced ability to work in the future.
• Property losses include the cost to repair or replace your bicycle, helmet, and other equipment.
• Pain and suffering compensates for physical pain, emotional distress, scarring, and the loss of activities you enjoyed before the crash.

Insurers often argue that a cyclist was partly to blame. Under California’s shared fault rules, a rider who was partly at fault can still recover compensation, reduced by his or her percentage of fault.

What Is the Bicycle Accident Case Timeline?

Most bicycle claims move through the following stages after you hire an attorney.

• Our attorneys gather the police report, photographs, video footage, and witness statements in the first weeks after the crash.
• You continue medical treatment while we track your bills, lost wages, and other losses.
• We send a demand package to the insurer once your doctors can describe your long-term prognosis.
• The insurer responds, and negotiations may resolve the claim without a lawsuit.
• If the insurer refuses a fair settlement, we file a lawsuit and the case proceeds through discovery, mediation, and, if needed, trial.

A general case timeline can vary based on the severity of the injuries and whether fault is disputed.

What Are Important Aspects of a Bicycle Accident Case?

Evidence in a bicycle crash disappears quickly. Skid marks fade, damaged bicycles are repaired or discarded, and businesses may record over security video within days. Preserving evidence early, including the bicycle itself, can help establish how the collision happened.

Insurance coverage is another issue that a bicycle accident attorney in Los Angeles, CA will examine closely. A cyclist may be able to recover from the driver’s liability policy, from his or her own auto policy’s uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, or from both.

Finally, the location of the crash matters. A collision caused by a damaged roadway or a missing traffic signal may lead to a claim against a public agency, which has a shorter claim deadline than a claim against a driver.

Most Dangerous Locations for Bicycle Accidents in Los Angeles

Bicycle crashes in Los Angeles tend to cluster on wide, high-speed streets without protected bike lanes. BikeLA’s bicycle safety report and city transportation data identify the following streets as areas of concern.

Dangerous streets:

• Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles is listed by BikeLA as an area of concern.
• The intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Figueroa Street near Exposition Park is another location BikeLA identified.
• Venice Boulevard west of Inglewood Boulevard had 1,203 collisions from 2012 to 2022, and 58 people were killed or severely injured, according to LADOT and Metro.

Intersections also appear in LADOT’s 2024 Vision Zero study, which scores locations using collisions that killed or seriously injured people walking, biking, and driving.

Dangerous intersections:

• Florence Avenue and Vermont Avenue meet in South Los Angeles, where two busy east-west and north-south corridors cross.
• At Avalon Boulevard and Century Boulevard, heavy traffic on Century crosses a major South Los Angeles route.
• Century Boulevard and Main Street form another South Los Angeles crossing on the LADOT list.
• Reseda Boulevard and Victory Boulevard is a wide, multi-lane intersection in the Reseda neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley.
• Balboa Boulevard and Sherman Way, near Lake Balboa, is the second Valley intersection identified in the study.

Reach Out to Cohen Injury Law Group to Schedule a Consultation

Contact us to arrange a free consultation with a Los Angeles bicycle accident attorney. We will review the crash, your injuries, and the insurance policies involved, and we will explain the options available to you. Our fee depends entirely on recovering compensation for you. Bring any photographs, medical records, and insurance letters you have so we can give you an accurate assessment.

Bicycle Accident Statistics in Los Angeles

Thirteen cyclists were killed in traffic crashes in the City of Los Angeles in 2024, out of 308 total traffic deaths in the city, according to NHTSA cyclist data. Statewide, 163 cyclists died in traffic crashes that year, accounting for 4.2 percent of all traffic deaths in California.

Injuries are far more common than deaths. Across Los Angeles County, the OTS county rankings list 1,945 bicyclists killed or injured in 2023. In the City of Los Angeles, 22 of the bicyclists killed or injured that year were younger than 15.

National data from 2024 shows the following patterns:

• Traffic crashes killed 1,103 cyclists and injured an estimated 52,887 more in the United States.
• Eighty-one percent of cyclist deaths occurred in urban areas.
• Fifty-two percent of cyclist deaths occurred in the dark, compared with 44 percent in daylight.
• Sixty percent of cyclist deaths occurred away from intersections.

What Are Common Types of Injuries in a Bicycle Accident Case?

A cyclist absorbs the full force of a collision, and many riders are thrown onto the pavement or into the vehicle. The injuries below appear often in bicycle claims, and each one affects how the claim is valued.

• Traumatic brain injuries. A rider’s head can strike the ground or the vehicle with great force. Concussions can cause headaches, memory problems, and difficulty concentrating, and more severe brain injuries can cause permanent cognitive changes.
• Fractures. Riders often break their wrists, arms, and collarbones when they try to catch themselves during a fall. Leg and hip fractures are common when a vehicle strikes the side of the bicycle.
• Spinal cord and back injuries. A hard landing can damage the vertebrae, discs, or spinal cord. These injuries range from herniated discs that cause chronic pain to spinal cord damage that results in partial or complete paralysis.
• Facial and dental injuries. A cyclist who is thrown forward may strike the handlebars, a car, or the road with his or her face. Broken teeth, jaw fractures, and facial lacerations may require oral surgery and reconstructive procedures.
• Road rash and skin injuries. Sliding across pavement can remove layers of skin. Severe road rash can become infected, require skin grafts, and leave permanent scarring.
• Shoulder injuries. Riders frequently land on an outstretched arm or shoulder, which can cause dislocations and rotator cuff tears. These injuries may limit lifting and reaching for months.
• Internal injuries. The force of an impact can damage internal organs or cause internal bleeding. These injuries are not always apparent at the scene, which is one reason prompt medical evaluation is important after any crash.
• Emotional and psychological injuries. Some riders develop anxiety, sleep problems, or post-traumatic stress after a crash. These effects can keep a person from riding again and are part of the non-economic damages in a claim.

Los Angeles Bicycle Accident Lawyer FAQs

How much does a Los Angeles bicycle accident lawyer cost?

Injured cyclists do not pay our firm by the hour. Our fee comes from a percentage of any settlement or verdict, and the written agreement you sign states that percentage before work begins. If the claim does not succeed, you owe us nothing for our time. The first consultation costs nothing, and you are not committed to hiring us afterward. During that meeting, we can explain how case costs are handled and answer any other questions about the fee agreement.

Can I recover compensation if I was not riding in a bike lane?

Yes, in many cases. A driver’s duty to use reasonable care toward a cyclist does not depend on whether the street has a bike lane. Many Los Angeles streets have no bike lane, and cyclists ride in traffic lanes and along the curb every day. The question in a claim is whether the driver acted carelessly and caused the crash. A bicycle accident attorney in Los Angeles can review the evidence and explain how the location of the crash affects your claim.

Does it matter if I was not wearing a helmet?

Not wearing a helmet does not prevent you from bringing a claim. An insurer may argue that a helmet would have reduced a head injury, and that argument can affect how fault and damages are calculated. It generally has little bearing on injuries to other parts of the body, such as broken bones or road rash. Our attorneys work with your treating physicians to document how each injury occurred and respond to any argument about shared fault.

What if the driver who hit me fled the scene or had no insurance?

You may still have options. If you carry auto insurance, your policy may include uninsured motorist coverage that applies when you are hit while riding a bicycle. Some household policies also extend this coverage to family members. Report the crash to the police right away, because the insurer may require a prompt report. Our attorneys review every policy that might apply, including coverage that protects you after an uninsured driver causes a crash. A bicycle accident lawyer in LA can also help you file the claim with your own insurer.

What if a pothole or damaged road caused my crash?

A crash caused by a dangerous road condition may lead to a claim against the city, the county, or another public agency. These claims follow special rules. In most cases, the agency must receive a written claim within six months of the crash, and only then can a lawsuit be filed. Photographs of the road defect and the exact location are especially important. You can also report the hazard through MyLA311 so there is a record that the city was notified.

How long do I have to file a bicycle accident lawsuit?

California’s general deadline for an injury lawsuit is two years from the date of the crash. Claims against a public agency have a much shorter deadline, generally six months to present a written claim. Waiting can also make evidence harder to find, since video recordings and witness memories fade quickly. Understanding the filing deadlines that apply to your case is one of the first steps a Los Angeles, CA bicycle accident attorney at our firm takes after you contact us.

What if my child was injured in a bicycle accident?

When a child is injured, a parent or guardian generally brings the claim on the child’s behalf. California law pauses the two-year filing period while the injured person is a minor, so a child may have more time to file a lawsuit against a driver. That extension does not apply to the six-month claim requirement for public agencies. Medical records from the child’s pediatrician and school absences can help show how the injury has affected the child’s daily life.

Who pays my medical bills after a bicycle accident?

Your health insurance, the medical payments coverage on your own auto policy, or both may pay medical bills while the claim is pending. The at-fault driver’s insurer generally does not pay bills as they arrive. Instead, it pays a settlement or judgment at the end of the claim. Your health insurer may then seek reimbursement from that recovery. A bicycle accident attorney in LA can track these payments and work to reduce reimbursement claims where possible.

Should I talk to the driver’s insurance company?

The other driver’s insurer may ask for a recorded statement, but you do not have to provide one. Adjusters may ask questions designed to suggest that you were riding unsafely or that your injuries are minor. It is generally best to speak with an attorney before giving any statement or signing documents. A Los Angeles bicycle accident lawyer can handle communications with the insurer and make sure your account of the crash is presented accurately.

How long does a bicycle accident case take?

A straightforward bicycle claim with clear fault may resolve within several months after you finish medical treatment. Cases involving serious injuries, disputed fault, or a public agency often take a year or longer, especially if a lawsuit becomes necessary. An early settlement may not cover surgery or therapy that your doctors recommend later. Our bicycle accident lawyers in LA discuss the expected timeline at the start of your case and update you as it progresses.

Important Resources for Los Angeles Bicycle Accident Cases

What Are Important California Legal Resources for Bicycle Accident Cases?

These California statutes set the filing deadlines that apply to most bicycle accident cases. The California Legislature publishes the current text of each statute.

• Code Civ. Proc. 335.1 provides a two-year period to file most personal injury lawsuits.
• Code Civ. Proc. 352 pauses that period while the injured person is a minor, except for claims against public entities.
• Gov. Code § 911.2 sets a six-month window for presenting injury claims to public agencies such as the City of Los Angeles.

What Are Important Local Resources for Los Angeles Bicycle Accident Cases?

Injured cyclists may need to obtain a collision report, receive trauma care, or report a road hazard. Cyclists in Los Angeles can turn to these agencies and facilities after a crash.

• LAPD South Traffic Division: 323-421-2577. This division handles traffic investigations for the 77th Street, Harbor, Southeast, and Southwest areas.
• LAPD Valley Traffic Division: 818-644-8000. This division investigates traffic collisions throughout the San Fernando Valley.
• Northridge Hospital Medical Center: (818) 885-8500. This hospital operates a Level II trauma center and the San Fernando Valley’s only pediatric trauma center.
• MyLA311: 311 or (213) 473-3231. Residents can use this city service to report potholes, broken streetlights, and other street hazards.

Cohen Injury Law Group does not endorse and is not affiliated with any organization listed above. This list is provided for informational purposes only.

About Cohen Injury Law Group

Wayne Cohen and his son, Nicholas Cohen, lead Cohen Injury Law Group from offices in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and Ventura. Wayne has also taught at Pepperdine School of Law, and he has been quoted on legal issues in USA Today and the Boston Globe. Nicholas attended USC before earning his law degree at Loyola Law School Los Angeles.

What Our Clients Say

★★★★★

“I cannot recommend Nick to enough people! Ive been working with him for several months. He always responds quickly to me when I need him and he is very helpful and compassionate! Thanks Nick!”

• Sarah Hallajian

Read more reviews on our Google Business Profile.

Additional Resources for Los Angeles Bicycle Accident Cases

• Hiring a Lawyer vs. Handling Your Own Injury Claim: Real Cost Analysis
• Dealing with Insurance Adjusters: What Not to Say After an Accident
• Should I Accept the First Settlement Offer? Red Flags to Watch For
• Settlement vs. Trial: Which Path Is Right for Your Case?

Contact Cohen Injury Law Group

A bicycle crash can leave you unable to work, ride, or care for your family while you recover. Our firm handles bicycle accident claims across Los Angeles on a contingency basis, so you pay nothing upfront. To discuss your crash with a Los Angeles bicycle accident attorney, contact us and schedule a free consultation. We will review the facts, answer your questions about fault and insurance, and explain the next steps in your claim. You are under no obligation to hire our firm after the meeting.