Pedestrian and Bicycle Accidents

When a car strikes someone on foot or riding a bike, the injuries are often devastating. You need attorneys who understand the medical complexity of these cases and have the trial experience to hold negligent drivers accountable.

Pedestrians and cyclists have little-to-no protection in a collision with a vehicle. Traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, broken bones, and internal injuries are common. These crashes disrupt lives, require extensive medical treatment, and raise immediate questions about insurance coverage, liability, and long-term care costs.

Below the Surface

Why These Cases Are Complex

Pedestrian and bicycle accident cases face unique legal and practical challenges. Virginia’s contributory negligence rule allows insurance companies to deny all compensation if they can attribute even one percent of fault to the injured person. Defense attorneys exploit this aggressively, arguing that pedestrians crossed against lights, stepped into traffic suddenly, or that cyclists failed to signal or rode outside designated lanes. These arguments often ignore the driver’s greater duty of care and what they should have seen and done.

Investigation must begin immediately. We gather police reports, witness statements, traffic camera footage, cell phone records, and accident reconstruction analysis when needed. We review municipal records to determine whether road design, inadequate lighting, or poor signage contributed to the crash. We work with medical experts who can document the full scope of injuries and explain future care needs—critical when dealing with traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, or permanent disability.

Insurance coverage is often more complex than it appears. We investigate the driver’s policy, commercial coverage if the driver was working, and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage that may apply. In hit-and-run cases, we explore all available avenues for compensation. Many pedestrian and bicycle accidents result in settlements exceeding initial policy limits because we identify coverage others miss.

Experience Where It Counts

Why Hire Lantz & Robins for Pedestrian and Bicycle Accidents

We have spent months in front of juries handling catastrophic injury cases. That trial experience shapes every negotiation. Defense attorneys and insurance adjusters know we prepare every case for verdict, and that knowledge creates leverage that firms without real courtroom experience simply do not have.

We take on cases involving serious injuries and clear liability. We do not run a volume practice. When we accept a case, we invest the time and resources necessary to build it properly. We visit clients in hospitals and homes. We work directly with medical providers to understand treatment plans and long-term prognosis. We retain accident reconstruction experts, biomechanical engineers, life care planners, and economists when cases require that level of detail.

We are candid about case evaluation. If we believe pursuing a claim is not in your best interest, we will tell you directly. That honesty is part of how we build trust. When we do take a case, clients work with us—not paralegals or case managers handling dozens of files. We stay in regular contact, explain what is happening at each stage, and make sure you understand your options before any decision is made.

Our reputation with referring attorneys reflects the quality of our work. Over five years, we paid over $2 million in referral fees to other firms because other lawyers trust us to handle their clients’ most serious cases. That trust comes from results, communication, and respect for the attorney-client relationship.

Common Types of Pedestrian and Bicycle Accident Cases