Insurance Coverage for Bicyclists in Aurora

Unlike when a person drives a car, bicyclists in Aurora are not required to carry insurance. However, bicyclists can benefit from insurance coverage. Consider some of the different options on your insurance policies that may be available.

Types of Insurance Coverage in the Event of a Bicycle Accident

The following policies and/or coverage may provide help for bicyclists who are injured and looking to cover their expenses and losses.

Your own health insurance policy could help cover medical costs, whether it was a trip to the emergency room, hospitalization or rehabilitation services. Keep in mind that you will still be responsible for paying the deductible and copayments.

If the bicyclist is at fault for an accident and causes someone to sustain property damage and/or bodily injuries, some homeowners and renters insurance policies include liability coverage to cover the other party’s damages. Further, if a motorist is responsible for your accident, some homeowners/renters policies may cover damage to your bike that auto insurance doesn’t cover.

If another party is at fault for a bike accident, that person’s auto insurance should cover damages. However, many people carry the minimum amounts of auto insurance. So if the $25,000 bodily injury liability coverage isn’t enough to pay for damages, if you have underinsured motorist coverage for your vehicle, it could take care of the difference (depending on the policy limits).

If the bicycle accident involved someone who has no insurance or leaves the scene of the accident, uninsured motorist coverage could help pay for costs.

Medical payments coverage, also known as Med Pay, is another type of insurance that could help. If you have this on your auto insurance policy, it typically offers around $5,000 in coverage for medical costs regardless of fault. This could take care of any deductibles or other bills such as ambulatory, medication and more.

What to Do If Seriously Injured in a Bicycle Accident

Unfortunately, many times bicyclists sustain serious or even disabling injuries in a collision. Bicyclists should never take for granted that a motorist will be careful when in vicinity of a bike.

Despite dedicated lanes and bicycle-friendly roads throughout Aurora, drivers may not see the bike or just may not be paying attention. While the motorist may be liable in these cases, bicyclists should never take for granted that the other driver will cover losses and costs incurred.

If the injuries are serious, after you receive the proper medical care, the first thing you should do is seek legal advice. An attorney will determine if someone else was at fault and the types of compensation that you may seek.

Your attorney can also help you collect evidence and organize your claim to establish the driver’s fault. If there are issues with covering all of your accident-related expenses, an attorney can also look into other types of insurance that may help.

Some more good guidelines to follow after a bike crash are:

• keep all doctor’s appointments;
• follow doctors’ orders;
• keep track of your pain and the impact of the accident on your life; and
• follow up with the insurance company as required – though your attorney can help with this as well.

Give D.J. Banovitz a call at 303-300-5060 to set up a consultation if you were in a bicycle accident. An avid cyclist himself, he is committed to helping Aurora bicyclists recover fair compensation for their injuries.