Bicycle AccidentInjury Lawyers

The Law Offices of Gary Bruce is committed to helping injured cyclists understand their rights and move forward with confidence. Our firm provides clear guidance, compassionate support, and dedicated advocacy so that our clients can focus on recovery while their legal team focuses on the case.

Client-Focused Representation for Bicycle Injury Cases

Every bicycle accident case begins with a commitment to the client. Our firm acts quickly to protect your interests and guide you through the legal process. Clients are kept informed and involved so they can make confident decisions about their case.

When you work with the Law Offices of Gary Bruce, we take clear steps to move your case forward:

Integrity, Experience, and Strong Advocacy

Integrity, honesty, and transparency guide every action taken by our firm. The Law Offices of Gary Bruce believes justice means doing the right thing for every client while pursuing the compensation they deserve. Our Columbus bicycle accident attorneys hold negligent drivers accountable and recover damages for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other losses caused by a bicycle collision.

Local Commitment to the Columbus Community

At the Law Offices of Gary Bruce, we are proud to serve Columbus, Phenix City, and the Fort Benning (formerly Fort Moore) community, helping neighbors on both sides of the river after serious bicycle wrecks.

Our commitment to this community goes beyond legal representation. We proudly support organizations that strengthen Columbus, including the Columbus Clingstones baseball team, the Humane Society and Bark in the Park, and several local veterans organizations. We also support important local initiatives such as Safe Kids Columbus, Trees Columbus, and the Youth Orchestra of Greater Columbus.

For us, being a local law firm means more than practicing law; it means investing in the people, families, and organizations that make our community strong.

“We recently had a substantial settlement for a client who was hit while on the Fall Line Trace. The impact left our client unable to ride ever again. We have also held a construction company responsible for leaving a path dangerously compromised by failing to clean up debris from a work site, allowing mud to cover the road and make the passage unsafe.

If you fall, it might be because someone failed to do what they had a duty to repair.” — Attorney Gary Bruce

Bicycle collisions often occur when drivers fail to properly watch for cyclists sharing the road. In Columbus, riders travel through busy commuter routes, neighborhood streets, and recreational corridors where traffic patterns can create dangerous situations. Some of the most common causes of bicycle collisions we see include:

• Failure to yield at intersections, particularly along busy corridors like Macon Road or Veterans Parkway, where turning vehicles often cross a cyclist’s path
• Distracted driving, which can be especially dangerous on fast-moving roads such as the Manchester Expressway
• Unsafe passing, when drivers fail to give cyclists adequate space, violating O.C.G.A. § 40-6-56
• Right-hook collisions, when a vehicle turns right across a cyclist’s path near commercial areas and shopping centers
• Car doors opening into bike lanes or street shoulders, a risk in more compact areas like Downtown Columbus
• Speeding near parks and recreation areas, where cyclists frequently ride near places such as the RiverWalk or Flat Rock Park

Bicyclists are particularly vulnerable to the distracted driver, even in well-marked crossings. When a driver’s negligence causes a bicycle collision, injured cyclists have the right to pursue compensation for the harm they suffered.

Drivers aren’t the only parties that contribute to bike wrecks. We have dealt with everything from dog attacks to riders losing traction when run-off from construction sites is left unattended. When bike paths are obstructed, damaged, or made dangerous by the negligence of construction companies and other people, riders are the ones who suffer for it.

Accidents on designated bike trails caused by construction companies are often due to the following negligent behavior:

• Failing to keep mud and dirt on their work sites
• Failing to pick up foreign objects and garbage
• Failing to cordon off damaged trails

It’s not just about getting hit by a car; sometimes the injuries occur when people neglect to clean up, and frankly, it’s mostly because they don’t care. After all, it’s only a bicycle path.

Our bicycle accident attorneys recognize that when a bicyclist is hit by a car, truck, or other motor vehicle, the injuries will likely be catastrophic, forever changing the lives of the victim and their family. We are particularly aware of the trails in and around Columbus. Even when lanes are designated for bicycle traffic, drivers sometimes make no effort to yield or cannot see over the front end of their huge trucks.

We offer experienced legal guidance to help our clients overcome the challenges they face following a bike accident. Our attorneys are committed to pursuing full recovery in personal injury claims involving catastrophic bike injuries.

Some of the injuries we frequently assist our clients with include the following:

After any injury, you should seek immediate medical attention and a full evaluation at either Piedmont Columbus Regional Midtown, Piedmont Northside, St. Francis-Emory Healthcare, or a similar facility. This action will not only aid in your recovery and identify any obscure injuries, but it will also create vital medical documentation linking your injuries to the accident.

Even when injuries are well documented and liability is seemingly clear, insurance companies can be difficult to deal with, especially if you are coping with the loss of a family member or confronting catastrophic injuries.

Insurance companies often move quickly after a bicycle wreck and take such tactics as:

• Requesting recorded statements soon after the wreck that may later be used to challenge the claim
• Shifting blame onto the cyclist to reduce or deny compensation
• Downplaying or questioning injuries to minimize the value of the claim
• Pressuring victims to accept a quick settlement before the full extent of injuries is known

We can help level the playing field by handling communications with the insurer, gathering evidence, compiling medical documentation, and pushing back against unfair settlement tactics.

Our bicycle accident attorneys work hard to ensure you are not taken advantage of by the insurance company when pursuing compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, and other damages.“If the other side breaches their duty to drive safely, you have the right to file a claim.” – Attorney Gary Bruce

A common contested area with insurance claims is how you are using the crosswalk at the time of the accident. Georgia law treats bicyclists as either a pedestrian or a vehicle operator based on their actions in the crosswalk. This distinction can directly affect right-of-way and liability.

Walking Your Bicycle in a Crosswalk

When you walk your bicycle through a crosswalk, you are treated as a pedestrian under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-91. This gives you the clear right-of-way in marked crosswalks, meaning drivers must stop and allow you to cross safely. Georgia law requires drivers to remain stopped until you have safely crossed the road, exercising caution to avoid putting you at risk. 

By dismounting, you remove ambiguity about your legal status, making it much harder for a driver or insurance company to argue that you were partially at fault.

Riding a Bicycle in a Crosswalk

When you ride your bicycle through a crosswalk, you are treated as a vehicle under Georgia law. That means you are subject to the same rights and duties as other vehicles on the roadway under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-294. You are expected to obey traffic signals, yield appropriately, and cannot rely on pedestrian right-of-way protections.

Insurers Will Abuse This Distinction

This distinction becomes important after a collision. Drivers still have a duty to exercise due care to avoid hitting anyone, but insurance companies often argue that a bicyclist riding in a crosswalk was not entitled to pedestrian protections. Under Georgia’s comparative negligence rule, that argument can be used to reduce or limit compensation.

This is where we step in. We stop the insurance company from twisting the facts, focus the case on what the driver did wrong, and make sure you are treated fairly under Georgia law, not blamed for something that wasn’t your fault.