There are many people who ride bicycles around the Bay area. Some ride them as their primary mode of transportation and use them to get to work or go shopping. Others ride them in order to get exercise or simply enjoy the outdoors. However, no matter what reason people have for riding bicycles, when they do many people will need to interact with the other motor vehicles on the road. That means that both drivers and riders need to share the roads to avoid bicycle accidents.

As bicyclists know though not all drivers pay attention to bicyclists and accidents do occur. There are many different ways that accidents can occur, but some are more common than others. Some of the more common causes of bicycle accidents are:

• Drivers pulling out into an intersection when the bicyclist has the right of way.
• Motorists passing a bicyclist on the right hand side of the road either hitting the rider or forcing them to react to avoid being hit and falling as a result or hitting another object.
• Dooring – this is when a car which just parked opens their door while a bicyclist is passing the vehicle and the rider runs into the door.
• Cars making a left hand turn or right hand turn without looking for bicyclists, hitting them when the rider had the right of way.
• Vehicles who are pulling out of a drive way in the middle of a block without checking for bicycles riding on the road.

There are also many other ways that bicycle accidents occur. However, any time that a driver causes a bicycle accident, it can be very devastating for the bicyclist who has little protection between themselves and the road. So, often times the bicyclist will suffer devastating injuries. These injuries can require significant medical treatment, which means significant medical bills as well. This means that the accidents can cause both devastating physical injuries and economic hardships.

Bicyclists in the Bay are who are injured in accidents caused by the motorists on the road may be entitled to compensation though. The compensation can pay for the medical bills, lost income and pain and suffering resulting from the accident. This can be very valuable so the victims can focus on their physical recovery instead of their financial hardships. These can be complicated matters though and consulting with experienced attorneys could be beneficial.