Cyclist at Law

05/01/2023

All Cyclists Should Get High UM Limits Under Their Auto Policies.

What you do before “it” happens is just as important as what you do after “it” happens.

First, INSURE YOURSELF via auto, health and property damage policies. Here’s why:

The person that hit you might not have any liability insurance. (This is more common than you’d think. Statewide, about 15% of drivers have no insurance. Dallas leads the State in the number of uninsured drivers.).
The person that hit you might not have enough insurance. (The minimum liability limits in Texas are $30,000, and 2 days in the hospital will eat that up.)
The insurance company for the person that hit you isn’t going to pay for your medical treatment up front or on an ongoing basis.

Auto Insurance: If the other driver does not have liability or enough liability insurance, you should have Uninsured/Underinsured (UM) and Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverages under your auto policy. You don’t have to be in your car to be covered by your auto insurance, you just have to be hit by a vehicle.

Get as much UM coverage as you can afford. You will be surprised at the minimal increase of premiums for increasing coverage. (Note: your UM limits cannot be higher than your liability limits.)

If you don’t own a car and ride your bike everywhere, you need this coverage probably more than anyone and you can get it cheap. Call up an insurance agent, and ask them about “non-owners” coverage.

05/01/2023

03/25/2017

Bill and his staff are first class. They were always there to answer questions for me whenever I needed them. My wife dealt with another attorney for an accident she was involved and they the were awful to deal with. I wished we would have gone with Bill on that accident too.

03/20/2017

On average, it will take one month or more to settle your property damage claim, and maybe more. Why so long? Because as opposed to an auto damage claim, a cyclist must document the damages, then educate auto insurers as to the value of the bike because they have no idea about such things, and…

03/14/2017

When I’m on my bike and I see a squirrel, I am prepared for that ignorant creature to try to cross in front of me at the very last second. (I’ve hit a few. Had one go into my spokes.) At times, squirrels seem as if they have it in for cyclists. Pedestrians and runners are

The post…

03/13/2017

The need for both front lights and tail lights is obvious at night, but they are a good idea during the day. Lights help you to see, and even more importantly, to be seen. When vehicle-on-bike accidents happen, the most common reaction of the driver is, “I never even saw them!” Big flashing lights…

03/08/2017

The General Answer: Do not ride on the sidewalk. When it comes to biking on a sidewalk, the most important factor to consider is safety, and in general, it’s not a very safe thing to do for an adult cyclist. A cyclist on a sidewalk faces at least 3 hazards: Pedestrians, children and dogs that…

03/07/2017

Maybe you have noticed these emblems in the roads with a bike and arrows. These are called “sharrows” and they are there to advise motorists that bicyclists use that road. According to the Dallas Morning News, there are now 32 miles of roads with “sharrows.” These in and of themselves are great…

03/06/2017

Too often I handle bike cases where there is just not enough insurance coverage. The minimum required coverage in Texas is $30k, and if you are hit by a car while riding your bike, your losses could be way more than that. More than 15% of drivers in Texas have no liability insurance, and the

The…

03/03/2017

If your only form of transportation is a bike and you don’t have auto insurance, it is important that you get either “non-owner’s coverage” from an auto insurer, or some type of cycling specific insurance (“Velosure”) that can protect you if you are involved in an accident. What Is “Non-Owner’s…