$2,500,000 Settlement for Cyclist Hurt in Accident Involving Access-A-Ride Van
Our client was biking to work when the driver of an Access-A-Ride Van opened his door and hit our client, sending him flying over his handlebars and crashing to the concrete. He developed serious injuries to his hip, knee and back, requiring numerous surgeries. Represented by the experienced personal injury attorneys of BOM, his case settled for $2,500,000.
Court and County
Supreme, Bronx
Plaintiff Description
Our client is a 32-year-old man of Mexican descent who was working as a bike mechanic at the time of his accident; he is married with two daughters.
Description of Case
At the time of the accident, our client was riding his bicycle from his home in the Bronx to his workplace, where he was employed as a full-time bike mechanic. During his ride, he came upon an Access-A-Ride van which was double-parked near the intersection of Third Avenue and 158 th Street in the Bronx neighborhood of Melrose. The roads at this street have one lane of traffic in each direction, with parking on either side of the lanes of traffic.
As he neared the double-parked van, our client held his left arm straight out to signal to the traffic behind him that he needed to ride around the van. As our client passed the double-parked vehicle, however, the driver opened his door directly into our client’s bike, sending him flying over his handlebars and onto the pavement. The driver later testified that he did not see our client before opening the door.
Block O’Toole & Murphy has a long history of winning cases involving public transportation, such as this $3.45 million settlement for a pedestrian who was struck and dragged by an Access-A-Ride bus in Queens. Call 212-736-5300 to receive a free, no-obligation case review – there is no charge until we win your case.
Injuries
At the time our client was ‘doored,’ he was actively pedaling his bike in order to make it to work in a timely fashion. The force of the collision was so violent it threw our client head-first over his handlebars, sending him crashing to the pavement in only jeans and a t-shirt (in New York, only children under 14 are legally required to wear a helmet while riding a bike).
Our client immediately began to feel lower back pain and checked himself into the hospital that same day. He soon began a regiment of conservative treatment that unfortunately brought him no relief from the constant pain radiating into his lower extremities-a telltale sign of traumatic injury to the lumbar spine. Soon an MRI revealed that our client had suffered disc herniations at L4/5 and L5/S1 which were impressing on the thecal sac and narrowing the lateral recesses of the spine. To treat these injuries, our client had to undergo laminectomy, facetectomy and foraminotomy surgery at L4/5.
Our client soon began to experience pain in his right knee which did not improve with physical therapy. An MRI was performed, revealing a Grade II intrameniscal tear of the posterior horn of the medial meniscus, an anterior cruciate ligament sprain, and joint effusion. An arthroscopic meniscectomy and synovectomy were performed on the knee.
Despite his extensive medical treatment up to this point, our client was also experiencing lingering pain in his right hip. An MRI revealed tears of the anterior, superior and posterosuperior acetabular labrum and moderate right hip joint effusion/synovitis. He underwent arthroscopic surgery on his hip and was warned that he would eventually need hip replacement surgery, though he was too young to be eligible for the surgery at the time.
Settlement Amount
$2,500,000
Handling Attorneys
This matter was handled by Partners Scott Occhiogrosso and Daniel P. O’Toole.