Articles Tagged with Bicycle injury lawyer

Published on:

The meteoric rise of bike share has transformed the streets of Boston in many positive ways with many more bikes on the streets thanks to bikeshare programs like Hubway, now Bluebikes, but they have not been without their share of problems. In the grand scheme, these are good problems to have, but they still must be addressed. Specifically right now, Boston and surrounding communities are being inundated with dockless bikes. This is in addition to the tremendous growth of the city-backed bike share program.

Boston bike accident lawyer

 

Since the the launch of Hubway (now BlueBikes) which expanded from a starting fleet of 610 bicycles and 60 docking stations in 2011, Boston’s bikeshare program has continued to grow to now 1,800 bicycles at more than 200 stations in Cambridge, Somerville and Brookline.

Now, neighboring towns like Arlington and Newton have added their own bikeshare programs, but with the cheaper dockless bicycles of LimeBike, Spin and other dockless bikeshare companies. Along with Arlington and Newton, bikeshare programs now exist in Bedford, Belmont, Everett, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Milton, Needham, Revere, Waltham, Watertown and Winthrop. The bikes cost $1 for every 30 minutes of use, and unlike bikeshare systems used in Boston and other cities, riders don’t have to find a dock to park their rented bikes.

More bicycles in Boston is NOT a bad thing! The question is how these bike access services are going to co-exist and whether the city will embrace the private dockless biking companies (or at least their model) or resist them.

The new bikeshares have created a real problem. Millions of dollars have been invested in the standard bike-share system, with the bright blue bicycles and stationary docking areas growing ubiquitous throughout Boston. Although extremely popular, two issues have arisen that could impact Boston bike share’s future growth:

  • Lagging bike share equity;
  • Swelling numbers of dockless bicycles from private companies sprouting up in communities like Arlington, Medford and Newton, served by Blue Bikes (formerly Hubway).

The sudden explosion of dockless bicycle companies in cities have taken communities like Boston by surprise as they burst onto the stage, and the long-term impact is unclear.

Less concentration (or total lack) of bike share docking stations in outlying communities has been a long-standing problem since the program’s inception. It was always intended to be addressed gradually as the program grew. However, the issue of private companies swooping in with a dockless bike share option seems to have taken everyone by surprise. It’s not just the fact that there is competition. The problem is private investors like Blue Cross Blue Shield have invested in the bicycles, and the docking stations and ant to protect their investment, putting city officials who granted the docked bikeshare programs an exclusive contract in an awkward situation. The question is whether Blue Cross and other companies that have invested in a docked system will have incentive to continue that investment if they are deprived of market exclusivity.

According to the National Association of City Transportation Officials the most recent annual bike share report was the first wherein dockless bicycles were counted, dockless bicycles are used in just 4 percent of rides, but account for 44 percent of all bicycles on the ground in cities, nearly doubling the U.S. bike share footprint. The close of this year will give us a sense of whether these bike companies will crash and burn or adapt and thrive. Continue reading

Published on:

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and our bicycle infrastructure won’t be either. Yet with each victory, we are closer to the reality of safe streets. So it was welcome news that the Cambridge City Council voted recently to keep the protected bicycle lane on Cambridge Street, despite some vocal, if not broad-based opposition.bicycle attorney

It is regrettable that this has become such a contentious issue, with some residents and business owners railing against the loss of nearby parking and narrower traffic lanes. They pleaded passionately for officials to have the lanes removed.

As staunch supporters of better bike access and improved safety for all road users, we do believe in the effectiveness of protected bike lanes. However, we also understand that the process of creating new and better road systems will inevitably involve some trial-and-error. It’s important to carefully weigh everyone’s concerns and help find reasonable solutions and compromise where that is possible. Continue reading

Published on:

Summer is an ideal time to ride a bike, either to commute without having to get into your car or to have fun outdoors while getting some exercise. Unfortunately, more than 900 bicycle riders are killed and close to 500,000 bicycle riders visit emergency rooms over the course of a year, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Riding a bike is risky because you do not have the protections you would have in a car in case an accident happens. Serious injuries or fatalities often result, and more than $10 billion a year is lost due to lifetime medical costs and loss of productivity resulting from bike accidents.injury attorney

Drivers who cause bike collisions can be held accountable for covering the costs of these losses, and victims can work with Boston bike injury lawyers to pursue claims against drivers who cause accidents by behaving carelessly or by not following the rules of the road. Continue reading

Published on:

With school ending for children and the weather getting warmer, the roads are getting riskier. The dangers of many types of motor vehicle accidents increase during the summer months. One particular type of bike accident which is more likely to occur is bicycle collisions involving younger children. bicycle injury lawyers

If a motorist and a child become involved in a bicycle accident, it is important to determine who was at fault and how the crash occurred.  Drives can often be held wholly or partially responsible for bike accidents involving children because drivers have a basic obligation to exercise reasonable caution while driving. If they fail to follow rules of the road and don’t watch carefully for kids, drivers could be held liable of all losses and damages. Continue reading

Published on:

It’s one of those cases where simply no amount of money is going to alter the circumstances or make it right. Still, it’s an action that matters for one Illinois man and his five children, who lost the woman who had been the center of their family. It’s particularly important for the two youngest children, who both have special needs and had relied on their mother to ensure their daily nbicycleeeds were met.

Now, local media reports, decedent’s widower has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the sport utility vehicle driver who struck his wife, who was on a bicycle in a crosswalk, last summer. Plaintiff and his children gave emotional testimony in October when a county judge issued a $150 fine to the driver of that SUV in connection with the crash for failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident. The penalty was pittance compared to the magnitude of the losses suffered by the family, and their attorney noted it was important for the driver to hear from them about what her carelessness had caused.

An attorney for the driver explained her client was deeply shaken by the crash, and has been unable to return to work. Remorse can be healing, but it doesn’t ease the burden now borne by the family, particularly with regard to the care of the two youngest children with special needs.  Continue reading

Published on:

World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, held on the third Sunday of November each year, had special significance for us at BikeAttorneys.com this year. bikememorial

That’s because last year, in October 2015, a former client and talented musician, David Tasgal, was killed when he was struck by a pickup truck while bicycling near his home in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Tasgal, a gifted and accomplished musician on numerous instruments and a beloved teacher of music, was killed in the bicycle accident at the age of 72. 

On November 20th, human-shaped silhouettes were installed throughout Boston and carried along the memorial ride, representing the lives of those lost too soon to traffic crashes. Each of these deaths – including Tasgal’s – was 100 percent preventable. In each case, it is the negligence and general carelessness by motorists that results in needless, tragedies like this one.  Continue reading

Contact Information