Sherman Oaks Bicycle Accident Lawyer

A driver turns across your path, a car door swings open, or a pass comes so close your handlebar catches the mirror. Then you are on the pavement in Sherman Oaks, and the driver's insurer is already asking why you were riding there. Moe Abdallah Law, P.C. represents injured cyclists in Sherman Oaks and the rest of the San Fernando Valley. Attorney Moe Abdallah takes motor-vehicle injury cases only, answers his own phone, and keeps you updated by call and text. This page covers the streets where bike crashes start here, the California rules that protect riders, how insurers shift blame, what to save from the scene, which hospitals treat riders, and the deadlines that decide whether you can recover. The free review runs 24/7. You owe no fee unless Moe wins.

Where Sherman Oaks cyclists share the road with traffic

Sherman Oaks has no shortage of places where a bike and a car end up in the same few feet. Ventura Boulevard is lined with shops, restaurants and curbside parking. Van Nuys Boulevard and Sepulveda Boulevard carry steady traffic north and south, and Magnolia Boulevard and Burbank Boulevard cross the neighborhood east to west. Coldwater Canyon Avenue climbs toward the hills. Freeway ramps from the US-101 and the I-405 dump fast-moving cars onto the same surface streets riders use. We have not found a published count of bike crashes for any one Sherman Oaks street, and we will not invent one. What we can say is simple, based on how these cases arise. Wherever drivers park at the curb, doors open into riders. Wherever drivers turn right across a bike or left across oncoming traffic, riders get hit. Wherever an on-ramp or driveway crosses a path, a driver looking only for cars can miss a person on a bicycle. Moe maps the exact spot of your crash, then looks for the cameras, witnesses and records that explain what the driver did.

What California law says drivers owe a cyclist

Cyclists are not guests on the road. A person riding a bicycle has the same rights, and the same duties, as a driver under Vehicle Code section 21200. That includes the DUI rules. Three rules come up in Sherman Oaks bicycle accident cases again and again. First, California's Three Feet for Safety law, Vehicle Code section 21760, bars a driver from passing a bicycle with less than three feet of clearance. Since 2023 the driver must also change lanes to pass if another lane is open and it is practical to do so. If three feet is not possible, the driver must slow down and pass only when it is safe. The fine is $35, or $220 if the collision injures the cyclist. Second is dooring. Vehicle Code section 22517 says no one may open a vehicle door into traffic unless it is reasonably safe, and that covers cyclists. Third, a driver turning left must yield to oncoming traffic that is close enough to be a hazard, and a rider on a bicycle counts as traffic. A traffic ticket helps, but it does not decide your claim. Moe proves fault with evidence, not with a citation alone.

When the insurer says you were riding wrong

Expect the blame-the-rider argument, because adjusters often make it. They say you rode in the middle of the lane, you were not wearing a helmet, you ran a light, or you came out of nowhere. California law answers several of those points. A cyclist moving slower than traffic must ride as close to the right edge as practicable, but not when passing, preparing for a left turn, approaching a right turn, or avoiding hazards. A substandard-width lane, one too narrow for a bike and a car to travel side by side, is an exception too (Vehicle Code section 21202). That answers the claim that you rode too far into the lane. On helmets, adults in California have no helmet requirement. Riders under 18 must wear one under Vehicle Code section 21212. Even when fault is argued, California follows pure comparative negligence under Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975) 13 Cal.3d 804. You can still recover if you were partly at fault, and your award is reduced by your share. Moe works to shrink that share with video, measurements and witness statements. One real result, $75,000 after the insurer first offered $900, shows why the first offer rarely tells the full story. Past results do not promise a similar outcome.

Your police report, bike evidence and what to save

LAPD's Van Nuys Community Police Station, 6240 Sylmar Ave., takes reports for Sherman Oaks, and its phone is 818-374-9500. The station page sends traffic matters to LAPD Valley Traffic Division and links to a form for requesting your collision report. Ask for it early and check it for the wrong direction of travel or a missing witness, because a report can lean on the driver's account if you were taken away by ambulance before you could give yours. If anyone was hurt, the driver must also report the crash to the DMV on form SR-1 within 10 days. Keep the bike exactly as it landed if you can. Photograph the frame, the helmet, your torn clothing and the road. Save your phone's ride data or any bike computer and helmet-camera files. Ask Ventura Boulevard shops and homes with doorbell cameras whether they caught the crash, since many systems overwrite video within days. Do not post about the crash online. Moe sends preservation letters quickly, and he asks for the driver's phone and vehicle data when it matters.

Bike crash injuries and the hospitals near Sherman Oaks

You have no steel frame around you on a bike, so crashes cause injuries that car drivers often avoid. Broken wrists and collarbones from bracing the fall, fractured hips and legs, facial and dental injuries, spinal damage, and head injuries that can include a concussion are all common. Road rash can scar. If you hit your head, treat it seriously even if you feel fine, because brain injury symptoms can show up late. Sherman Oaks Hospital at 4929 Van Nuys Blvd. runs an emergency department. Encino Hospital Medical Center offers 24-hour emergency care on Ventura Boulevard, and Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center and Northridge Hospital Medical Center also serve this part of the Valley. For the most serious injuries, Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills is a Level II trauma center. Go to the hospital the same day, tell the doctors every symptom, and keep following up. Insurers use gaps in treatment to argue you were not hurt, and Moe uses your records to prove what the crash cost you.

Hit-and-run, city claims, deadlines and how Moe works your case

Some cyclists are hit by a driver who never stops. Leaving the scene of an injury crash is a crime (Vehicle Code section 20001), but the criminal case does not pay your bills. If the driver cannot be identified and the car touched you or your bike, your own uninsured motorist coverage may apply. You must report to police within 24 hours and file a sworn statement with your insurer within 30 days. If a city road defect caused your fall, the City of Los Angeles may be responsible under Government Code section 835, but only if the dangerous condition and the city's notice of it can be proved. You must then present a written claim to the Office of the City Clerk within six months (Government Code section 911.2), at 200 N. Spring St., Room 395. If the city denies it in writing, you have six months to sue (section 945.6). Against a private driver, you generally have two years (Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1). The nearest Superior Court location is Van Nuys Courthouse East, 6230 Sylmar Ave., which lists a Civil Unlimited clerk's office, and Moe checks the court's Filing Court Locator for the right venue before filing. Moe handles the case himself, and you owe no fee unless he wins.

Talk to a Sherman Oaks bicycle accident lawyer

Call (323) 716-1992 for a free, no-obligation case review. You pay nothing unless we win, and we'll handle the insurance companies for you. Learn more about our bicycle accidents representation →

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