New Haven Bicycle Accident Lawyer
Bicycle accidents can cause severe, life-altering injuries resulting in exorbitant medical costs and serious impacts on your life. If you’ve suffered a bike accident in New Haven, you need a reliable bicycle accident attorney on your side. Kennedy, Johnson, Schwab & Roberge, P.C., is committed to pursuing justice and fair compensation for New Haven bike accident victims.
Table of Contents
- Why Choose Kennedy, Johnson, Schwab & Roberge for Your Bicycle Accident Claim?
- Common Causes of Bicycle Accidents in New Haven
- Injuries Resulting From Bicycle Accidents
- What To Do After a New Haven Bicycle Accident
- How Kennedy, Johnson, Schwab & Roberge Maximizes Compensation for Victims
- Frequently Asked Questions About Bicycle Accident Claims
Why Choose Kennedy, Johnson, Schwab & Roberge for Your Bicycle Accident Claim?
After a New Haven bicycle accident, you need a trustworthy lawyer to depend on. KJSR offers top-notch legal services from skilled attorneys with extensive experience representing personal injury clients.
Our firm has received numerous honors and recognitions from various institutions. We’re proud to have been awarded Best Personal Injury Firm in Connecticut and listed among the Best Law Firms in America in 2024. In 2025, we were recognized as one of the Best Law Firms in New Haven and appeared on the Best Lawyers in America list. We’ve built a reputation for securing major results for injured clients, including a recent $16.5 million settlement for a bicyclist who suffered a traumatic leg amputation after being hit by a truck.
KJSR’s excellent attorneys are the driving force of everything we do. Among other accolades, two of our named partners, John Kennedy Jr. and Stephanie Z. Roberge, were recognized as Lawyers of the Year in 2024. Partner Patrick Kennedy was named one of the Best Lawyers in America for personal injury cases. Additionally, Robert Schwab, Louis Annecchino, Brendan K. Nelligan, Michael Kennedy, and Isabelle L. Koch were all included in the 2025 Best Lawyers in America list for their outstanding work in personal injury litigation.
The lawyers on the KJSR team are reliable, experienced professionals ready to work with you on your bicycle accident claim.
Personalized Legal Representation for New Haven Cyclists
At KJSR, we pride ourselves on providing tailored, personalized legal representation to every client rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach. We understand the unique needs of injured New Haven cyclists and put those needs first throughout the legal process. From consultation to negotiation or litigation, we ensure the services we provide help you personally.
John Kennedy Jr.
Founding Partner
“Cases that are thoroughly prepared and ready for trial are the key to achieving settlements that reflect the true damages suffered by our clients.”
Our firm is deeply committed to New Haven’s cycling community. We recognize the hazards that cyclists can encounter in the city and care about improving safe infrastructure for bicyclists. Your customized legal representation reflects our desire to make New Haven’s roads safer for everyone.
Common Causes of Bicycle Accidents in New Haven
Biking in New Haven presents unique and sometimes dangerous challenges. Gaps in city infrastructure, such as unlit roads, dangerous intersections, and unprotected bike lanes, all contribute to serious or deadly collisions.
Many bicycle accidents also stem from driver error rather than road conditions. Driver mistakes that commonly cause New Haven bike and car accidents include the following:
- Distracted driving
- Speeding
- Failure to yield
- Drunk driving/DUI
- Inexperienced drivers
- Reckless driving
No matter the cause of your New Haven bicycle accident, Kennedy Johnson can help. Our attorneys handle bicycle crashes of all types and bring that experience to every case they manage.
How Negligence Causes Bicycle Accidents
Bicycle accidents often result when negligent drivers don’t pay attention to the road. Everyone on the road, whether a driver, pedestrian, or biker, owes a duty of care to others to keep them as safe as possible. Therefore, they must watch out for others, obey traffic rules, and not create obstacles, among other basic tenets of road safety.
When a driver breaches this duty in a manner that causes an injury, they have committed negligence. Negligent drivers can be found civilly liable for the harm they caused others.
Connecticut Comparative Negligence Laws
Generally, a driver whose negligence caused a cyclist’s injuries can be held civilly liable for their damages. However, liability isn’t always that simple. Sometimes, a cyclist may be partially responsible for the accident.
In Connecticut, a cyclist who is partially liable for their injuries can still recover damages from the driver in a motor vehicle collision if the driver is responsible for 51 percent or more of the injury. The plaintiff’s damages will be reduced by their share of the fault.
For example, a plaintiff found at fault for 30 percent of their injuries with damages of $10,000 would receive only 70 percent of that compensation, or $7,000. An attorney can refute any allegations that you are responsible for an accident you didn’t cause.
Injuries Resulting From Bicycle Accidents
Injuries from bicycle accidents are typically more severe than those suffered in car accidents. A bicycle doesn’t provide its rider with external protection, such as airbags, crush zones, and other components that shield car occupants in a crash. This leaves the cyclist’s body to take the entire impact by itself, often resulting in serious injuries and even death.
Common injuries caused by bike accidents include the following:
- Brain injuries
- Head trauma
- Spinal injuries
- Bone fractures
- Organ damage
- Wrongful death
An attorney can help you assess the compensation you may be owed based on the severity of your injuries and the long-term impacts on your daily life. The attorneys at KJSR have extensive experience handling severe bike accident injuries and will fight for fair compensation on your behalf.
The Cost of Bicycle Accident Injuries
The severity of bicycle accident injuries makes them more likely to seriously impact long-term health and financial stability. Bicycle accidents commonly require surgery, which can have extensive recovery times that impede your ability to work. Many injuries also require physical rehabilitation, occupational therapy, and similar treatments over months or years to regain lost functionality.
Medical expenses and lost wages pile up quickly, leaving bike accident victims not only physically compromised but financially unstable.
Bicycle accidents also are traumatic incidents that are difficult to process. Being hit by a car is a terrifying experience that often causes victims physical agony. They may develop PTSD or other trauma-related mental health conditions that leave them completely unable to bike out of fear.
Those who experience mental health effects from a bike accident may be eligible for compensation for pain and suffering. A lawyer will determine the types of damages you could receive based on the accident’s circumstances and fight for fair compensation on your behalf.
What To Do After a New Haven Bicycle Accident
There are basic steps to take after a New Haven bicycle accident to ensure you’re safe and improve your ability to build a personal injury case:
- Seek medical attention. Call 911 and request emergency assistance for any injuries you sustained. Your safety and the safety of other parties is most important.
- Collect information. Get contact and insurance information of any other parties at the scene.
- Gather evidence. Any evidence you can gather from the scene, such as photos, videos, police reports, or eyewitness testimony, will help you build a compelling legal case. An attorney can collect much of this for you as part of your representation.
- Report the accident. If police arrive at the scene, you’ll typically be able to report the accident to them immediately. You also must report any accident resulting in injury to the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles within five days.
- Reach out to an attorney. Promptly contacting an attorney helps protect your legal interests. KJSR’s lawyers are ready to consult with you immediately after an accident to discuss your legal needs.
Talk To a New Haven Bike Crash Lawyer Before Settling With Insurance
After you’ve been in an accident, the next step is filing an insurance claim and negotiating with insurers. Remember that the insurers’ priority after an accident is their bottom line, not what you fairly deserve in compensation. Insurance companies have an incentive to avoid paying out policy limits whenever possible.
This is true even when you’re dealing with your own insurer, such as for an uninsured driver claim. Insurance companies will often make quick, cash-in-hand settlement offers that are significantly lower than you deserve. They will claim that this is a better deal for you than having to go through the entire settlement process.
However, this isn’t true in most cases. A proper settlement process is in your best interest and helps you maximize your compensation. In the most extreme cases, clients have secured millions of dollars on claims that insurers initially tried to pay a few thousand dollars to settle.
Never accept a settlement offer without first speaking to an attorney. A New Haven bicycle accident lawyer can help you assess what your claim is really worth and will negotiate with insurance companies for you.
How Kennedy, Johnson, Schwab & Roberge Maximizes Compensation for Victims
After a bike accident, you need a New Haven bicycle accident attorney you can trust. At Kennedy, Johnson, Schwab & Roberge, P.C., we support our clients and empathize with what they’re going through.
All of our clients get effective, aggressive representation and meticulous case preparation. We are always ready to take your case as far as it needs to go. We handle motor vehicle cases of all types, including truck crashes and motorcycle collisions, so we’re well-versed in the rules of the road and the reasons crashes occur.
We believe that finances should never be a barrier to high-quality, effective legal representation, especially when you’re facing mounting medical bills and lost income after an accident. The attorneys at Kennedy Johnson work exclusively on contingency, meaning we only get paid if we win your case. If we don’t win, you don’t pay us a cent. We never charge up-front retainer fees or surprise you with additional costs.
Don’t wait to contact a bike accident attorney. Call KJSR at (203) 865-8430 or complete our online form today for a free consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions About Bicycle Accident Claims
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How Do I Find the Best Bicycle Accident Lawyer?
When looking for the best New Haven bicycle accident lawyer, it’s important to research all available information about the firm. Case results, client testimonials, and similar evidence of the firm’s successes can indicate that it is the best choice for you. At KJSR, we work hard to be the best bicycle accident lawyers available, and our results speak for themselves.
How Long Do I Have to File a Bicycle Accident Claim in Connecticut?
The statute of limitations for personal injury claims in Connecticut, including bicycle accidents, is two years from the accident date. After the statutory window has closed, you are no longer able to bring a personal injury claim related to your bike accident.
In rare cases, the statute of limitations may be “tolled” to allow you to bring a suit outside of the statutory window. Talk to an attorney about your options and determine whether any exceptions may apply to you.
What Evidence Is Needed for a Bicycle Accident Claim?
Bicycle accident claims are most successful when well-supported by evidence such as photos, videos, police reports, eyewitness statements, and similar information from the accident scene. Additional evidence, such as medical records, documentation of lost wages, and expert witness opinions, can further bolster a claim.
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