Wilkes-Barre Bicycle Accident Lawyers

Usually your own auto policy first, even though you were on a bike: Pennsylvania's first-party medical benefits (minimum $5,000) cover a cyclist struck by a motor vehicle. If you don't carry auto insurance, benefits may come through a household relative's policy or the striking vehicle's insurer, with health insurance often acting as secondary coverage. Everything beyond medical bills — lost wages, your damaged bike, pain and suffering — is claimed against the at-fault driver's liability coverage. We map every available policy at the free consultation.

Call the police immediately and give them everything you remember — vehicle color, make, partial plate, direction of travel — and ask nearby businesses about camera footage before it is overwritten. A hit-and-run does not end your claim: uninsured motorist (UM) coverage on your own or a household member's auto policy can stand in for the missing driver's insurance. We handle the UM claim the same way we would a claim against an identified driver.

Yes. Pennsylvania requires helmets only for riders under 12, so an adult cyclist without one has broken no law. Expect the insurer to argue the missing helmet worsened a head injury; that goes to comparative fault, where your recovery is reduced by your percentage of responsibility rather than eliminated — you recover as long as you were not more than 50% at fault (42 Pa. C.S. § 7102). We push back with the medical record and, where needed, biomechanical analysis of the injury.

The government body responsible for that stretch of road — PennDOT for state routes like Route 11 or Route 309, or the city or county for local streets. These cases move on a different clock: written notice to the government entity is required within six months (42 Pa. C.S. § 5522), and damage caps apply under the Tort Claims Act. We photograph and measure the defect quickly, because road crews often repair it — and erase the evidence — soon after a reported crash.

Yes. Pennsylvania law requires a driver overtaking a bicycle to leave at least four feet of clearance and pass at a careful, prudent speed (75 Pa. C.S. § 3303(a)(3)). Bicycles are vehicles under the code, with the same right to the roadway as cars. A too-close pass that clips a rider or forces them off Route 11 or the Market Street Bridge is strong evidence of negligence, and we look for it in witness accounts, dash-cam footage and the police crash report.

No. Pennsylvania's modified comparative negligence rule (42 Pa. C.S. § 7102) reduces your recovery by your share of fault and bars it only if you were more than 50% responsible. Adjusters routinely overstate a cyclist's fault — claiming you "came out of nowhere" or were outside the bike lane — precisely because every percentage point saves them money. Don't give a recorded statement; let us present the physical evidence and the driver's duties under the vehicle code instead.

Two years from the crash (42 Pa. C.S. § 5524). For an injured child — and young riders are a large share of bicycle victims — the clock generally does not start until age 18 (§ 5533(b)), though the family should not wait: witnesses move and camera footage disappears in weeks, not years. Suit is filed where the crash happened — the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas in Wilkes-Barre or the Lackawanna County court in Scranton for most of our clients. Government-defect claims need notice within six months.

It depends on your medical recovery more than anything else: settling before your doctors can project future care means leaving that care out of the claim. Cases with clear liability and a finished recovery can resolve in months; disputed-fault or serious-injury cases can take a year or longer, especially if suit is filed. We work on a written contingency fee — no fee unless we recover — so the timeline never changes what you pay out of pocket.