Bicycle Accidents matters in Davis
A city built for bikes, but not crash-proof
Davis earned its reputation as Americas premier cycling city, home to the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame and miles of dedicated greenbelt paths, bike lanes, and the famous campus bike circles. The flat terrain, mild weather, and student population mean tens of thousands of bicycle trips every day. Yet all that ridership shares the road with cars, and crashes happen where the two meet.
The greatest danger is at intersections and driveways where drivers cross or turn across a bike lane. Along Russell Boulevard, Covell Boulevard, Sycamore Lane, and Anderson Road, a driver turning right across a bike lane, opening a car door into a rider, or failing to yield when leaving a parking lot can cause severe injury. The downtown grid near G Street and the campus edges along First and A Street pack cyclists, pedestrians, and turning vehicles into tight spaces. Even on Davis well-designed infrastructure, a single inattentive driver can put a rider in the hospital.
What the law says about cyclists
In California, a bicycle is treated as a vehicle and a cyclist has the same rights and duties as a driver. A motorist who fails to yield, follows too closely, or turns across a rider's path is generally at fault. The dooring of a cyclist by a carelessly opened door is the driver's or passenger's responsibility. California also follows pure comparative negligence, so even a rider found partly at fault can still recover, reduced by their share. Insurers sometimes blame the cyclist reflexively, which a careful investigation with witnesses, scene photos, and vehicle data can rebut.
Injuries and immediate steps
Cyclists have no metal cage around them, so crashes commonly cause fractures, road rash, shoulder and collarbone injuries, and traumatic brain injuries even with a helmet. Get checked at Sutter Davis Hospital, or the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento for major trauma. Photograph the bike, the roadway, and the vehicle, and collect witness names. Preserve your damaged helmet and bike as evidence.
Resolving a Yolo County bicycle claim
A driver's auto insurance generally covers an injured cyclist's medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering, and your own UM/UIM coverage may apply if the driver was uninsured. Most claims settle, but if needed a suit is filed in the Yolo County Superior Court in Woodland. MMG Law Firm serves cyclists in English, Armenian, and Russian.
Protecting Davis cyclists
Davis cyclists ride more than almost anyone in the country, and a serious crash can take away not just your health but a daily part of your life. Insurers should not be allowed to brush off an injured rider with reflexive blame. MMG Law Firm investigates each Davis bicycle case carefully, from the dooring on a downtown block to the right-hook turn across a bike lane on Covell Boulevard, and preserves the helmet, bike, and scene evidence that proves what happened. Every client gets direct attorney attention, with consultations available in English, Armenian, and Russian.
Our attorney
How Mihran M. Ghazaryan helps with bicycle accidents
Mihran M. Ghazaryan documents the bike-specific facts insurers prefer to ignore — door-zone collisions, unsafe passing, and right-hook turns — and counters the reflexive assumption that the cyclist was at fault. He gathers the scene evidence, witness accounts, and medical record that put the claim on solid ground, and handles the insurer directly so you can heal.
Types of bicycle accidents we handle
Door-zone collisions
California Vehicle Code §22517 makes opening a door into traffic the responsibility of the door-opener. We frame these cleanly.
Right-hook and unsafe-merge crashes
Drivers turning across a bike lane without yielding. Lane-position and bike-lane markings are central.
Hit-from-behind crashes
Often the most serious injuries. Visibility analysis and reconstruction matter here as much as in any motor-vehicle case.
Damages
What compensation can cover
Every bicycle accident claim is different, but California law allows injured plaintiffs to seek several categories of damages. We build each one with documentation — medical records, wage statements, expert opinions — so nothing is left on the table.
Medical expenses
Emergency care, hospitalization, surgery, rehabilitation, and the future treatment your providers say you'll need.
Lost wages
Income you lost while recovering — and, where the injury affects your ability to work, diminished future earning capacity.
Pain and suffering
Compensation for physical pain, emotional distress, and the ways the injury has changed how you live day to day.
Property damage
Repair or replacement of your vehicle and other property damaged in the incident.
Out-of-pocket costs
Transportation to appointments, medical equipment, household help, and the other expenses an injury forces on you.
How we work
- 1
Free, no-pressure consultation
We listen first. We answer your questions. There is no fee for the initial conversation — and you decide whether to engage us at the end of it.
- 2
Investigation and evidence preservation
Police reports, scene photos, witness statements, vehicle data, surveillance video, medical records. The earlier we collect, the harder it is for the other side to reshape the story later.
- 3
Treatment, demand, and negotiation
We coordinate with your providers, document the full extent of damages — medical, lost income, pain — and present a demand backed by evidence. We push back firmly when an insurer lowballs.
- 4
Litigation when necessary
Most matters settle. When an insurer refuses to be reasonable, we file. Preparing every case as if it will be tried is what makes the settlement number move.
What to do right away
- Get medical attention — concussion symptoms can take days to appear.
- Photograph the bike's resting position, the lane markings, and the vehicle.
- Save the bike, your helmet, and clothing without cleaning them.
- Identify witnesses; pedestrians and other riders often see what police miss.
- Call us before contacting either insurer.
The information on this website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.
Deadlines that matter
Most California personal-injury claims must be filed within two years of the injury (Code of Civil Procedure §335.1). Miss the window and the court will almost always dismiss the case, no matter how strong it is.
Claims against government entities are much shorter — generally a written claim within six months (Government Code §911.2). Crashes involving city vehicles, public buses, or dangerous public-road conditions can fall under this rule.
Exceptions exist in both directions — discovery rules, minors, continuing violations, out-of-state defendants — so don't assume your deadline has passed or that you have time to spare. Call (818) 539-7969 and we'll tell you exactly where you stand.