Langston & Lott, PLLC
Mississippi Bicycle Accident Lawyer
Mississippi Bicycle Accident Lawyer
A bicycle crash can turn a routine ride through Booneville, Tupelo, or another Northeast Mississippi community into a serious injury claim involving medical treatment, missed work, and questions about who should pay for the resulting losses. A Mississippi bicycle accident lawyer at Langston & Lott, PLLC can investigate the collision, examine the available evidence, handle communications with insurers, and pursue a claim when another party may be legally responsible.
Langston & Lott, PLLC has served Mississippi communities since 1964. With offices in Booneville and Tupelo and more than 60 years of legal history, our attorneys handle serious injury and litigation matters for people throughout Northeast Mississippi and surrounding areas.
If you or a family member has been injured in a bicycle collision, call (662) 728-9733 to discuss the circumstances with our team.
Why Choose Langston & Lott for a Bicycle Accident Claim?
Langston & Lott has practiced in Northeast Mississippi since 1964, and we still try cases in the courts where our clients live. Our Booneville office sits in Prentiss County, and our Tupelo office in Lee County, both inside Mississippi's First Circuit Court District, which also covers Alcorn, Itawamba, Monroe, Pontotoc, and Tishomingo counties. Knowing how a bicycle case moves through those courtrooms shapes how we investigate one from the first week.
Casey Langston Lott, our managing partner, is admitted in Mississippi and Alabama and practices in personal injury, wrongful death, motor vehicle, and products liability matters, which are claims brought against the maker of a defective product. That range matters in a bicycle case, where the responsible party may be a driver, a commercial carrier, or the manufacturer of a component that failed.
We are built around litigation rather than volume claim handling, which means we prepare serious cases for trial from the outset. We also handle claims across the Golden Triangle and the Mississippi Delta, and we treat every client the way we would want a member of our own family treated.
If you are looking for a Mississippi bicycle accident lawyer who handles serious injury litigation, call Langston & Lott at (662) 728-9733.
What Bicycle Laws Apply to Riders in Mississippi?
Mississippi law gives bicyclists many of the same roadway responsibilities that apply to other road users, while also establishing rules specific to bicycle operation. Understanding these requirements can matter when we investigate whether a traffic violation contributed to a collision or when an insurer attempts to assign fault to an injured cyclist.
- Obey traffic laws: Bicyclists must follow applicable traffic signals and signs. Bicyclists also generally must travel in the same direction as other traffic rather than riding against the flow of traffic.
- Ride in the proper roadway position: Under Mississippi Code § 63-3-1307, a bicyclist traveling more slowly than normal traffic generally must ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb. The statute provides exceptions, including when a bicyclist is passing another vehicle or bicycle, preparing for a left turn, avoiding a hazard, or traveling on a roadway where the lane is too narrow to share with a motor vehicle safely.
- Do not ride more than two abreast: Mississippi law generally permits bicyclists to ride no more than two abreast on a roadway, except when riding on a path or portion of the roadway designated for bicycles. This rule can become relevant when determining the position of multiple cyclists before a collision.
- Use proper signals: Bicyclists must use appropriate hand and arm signals to communicate turns, stopping, and changes in direction when required by Mississippi law.
- Use required lighting at night: Mississippi law requires that a bicycle have a front lamp emitting white light and a rear reflector or lamp visible from at least 500 feet when riding at night. These requirements are intended to make bicyclists more visible to approaching and following traffic.
- Stay off interstate and limited-access highways: Bicyclists are not allowed to ride on interstate highways and other limited-access highways where bicycle travel is prohibited.
These rules do not give motorists permission to disregard bicyclists or their own traffic obligations. Under the John Paul Frerer Bicycle Safety Act, motorists must leave at least 3 feet of clearance when passing a bicyclist and must keep that distance until they have safely passed the cyclist. This requirement gives drivers a specific standard to follow when overtaking someone riding a bicycle.
If you were injured in a bicycle collision and an insurer is pointing to an alleged violation of a bicycle rule, call us so we can examine the circumstances and determine how the law applies to your claim.
Common Causes of Bicycle Accidents in Mississippi
Bicycle crashes can result from many circumstances, and identifying the specific sequence of events is more useful than assuming responsibility based on the fact that a bicycle was involved. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data identifies failure to yield the right of way and low visibility as leading factors in fatal bicycle crashes. Motorists, bicyclists, roadway conditions, and other factors can all play a role.
- Distracted driving
- Failure to yield the right of way
- Unsafe passing
- Turning across a bicyclist’s path
- Speeding
- Driving under the influence
- Opening a vehicle door into a cyclist’s path
- Failure to check for bicycles before changing lanes
- Poor roadway conditions
- Inadequate lighting or visibility
A collision can happen within seconds, particularly at intersections where drivers, bicycles, pedestrians, and turning vehicles share limited space. Determining what each person did immediately before the impact can help establish how the crash occurred.
If you were injured in a bicycle crash involving one of these circumstances, call us at (662) 728-9733 to have our attorneys review the crash report and the roadway evidence.
What Compensation Can a Mississippi Bicycle Accident Claim Include?
A bicycle accident claim can cover financial losses and the personal toll of an injury. What is available depends on the collision, the injuries, and the applicable law.
Potential damages may include:
- Emergency medical treatment
- Hospital and physician expenses
- Rehabilitation and therapy
- Prescription and medical equipment costs
- Lost wages
- Reduced earning capacity
- Physical pain
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Property damage
Serious injuries can require care long after the emergency has passed, which makes future costs and lost income part of the full picture. If a bicycle collision has affected your health, work, or finances, we are ready to discuss the losses involved.
Our Investigation Process for Bicycle Accident Claims
We begin by building a detailed account of what happened before, during, and after the collision. Our attorneys examine the available evidence, identify unanswered questions, and determine whether another driver’s conduct, roadway conditions, or another factor contributed to the crash.
- Reviewing the Crash Scene and Available Evidence: We start where the collision happened, examining the roadway layout, traffic signals, lane markings, bicycle lanes, signs, lighting, and sightlines, and identifying potential witnesses.
- Obtaining the Police or Crash Report: We obtain the crash report to see how the collision was documented, including the drivers, witnesses, roadway conditions, citations, statements, and the responding officer’s observations.
- Gathering Medical Records and Bills: We collect records, bills, and treatment documentation that establish the nature and extent of the injuries and the care required afterward.
- Documenting Losses: We assemble the wage records, receipts, and cost projections that show the financial impact of the collision.
- Reviewing Insurance Coverage: We identify every policy that may apply, including coverage tied to the vehicle involved, and handle what the insurer asks for.
Our investigation focuses not only on finding evidence but also on identifying information that needs to be preserved before it is lost. At Langston & Lott, PLLC, we can investigate the collision, gather available evidence, document your losses, and assess the circumstances surrounding your injuries. Call (662) 728-9733 or complete our online contact form to schedule a case review with our attorneys.
FAQs: Mississippi Bicycle Accident Lawyer
Here are answers to several questions we commonly address when evaluating bicycle accident claims in Mississippi.
Mississippi uses pure comparative fault, which means an injured rider can still recover money even when the rider carries most of the blame, with the award reduced by the rider’s own percentage of fault. There is no cutoff point in Mississippi, so a cyclist found 90 percent at fault still recovers 10 percent of the damages, a rule codified at Mississippi Code Section 11-7-15. This matters most when an insurer tries to push a share of the blame onto the cyclist after a serious crash.
Mississippi gives most injury claims three years to be filed, a filing deadline lawyers call the statute of limitations. That period runs from the date the claim arises, which in a bicycle crash is usually the date of the collision, and it is set by Mississippi Code Section 15-1-49. A claim against a city, county, or state agency runs on a much shorter schedule, so the deadline should be confirmed early rather than assumed.
Mississippi law specifically addresses electric bicycles. Under Mississippi law, an electric bicycle and its operator generally have the same rights and duties as a bicycle and bicyclist under the state’s bicycle laws. You may initiate a bicycle claim so long as the accident was caused by the negligent actions of another party.
An insurance adjuster, the person who investigates and puts a value on your claim for the insurance company, may request a recorded account of the collision and your injuries. That recording becomes part of the file the insurer uses to decide what the claim is worth, and you are not required to give one before you have counsel. Call us at (662) 728-9733 before you agree to a recorded statement so we can handle that communication for you.
A serious bicycle injury can create financial consequences that continue for years after the first hospital bill. We can review treatment records, work-related losses, and projected future costs to establish the full scope of what the collision took from you. Settling before those long-term costs are known is the most common way an injured rider is left short.
We Can Help With Serious Bicycle Injuries
You do not need to handle an injury claim and insurance communications on your own while you are still recovering. A Mississippi bicycle accident lawyer at Langston & Lott, PLLC can investigate the collision, assess the available evidence, communicate with insurers, and pursue the claim through litigation when appropriate.
Our background in catastrophic injury and complex litigation gives us a foundation for handling bicycle cases that carry long-term consequences. If your bicycle crash caused a serious or life-changing injury, call us at (662) 728-9733 to discuss your circumstances.
Clinton Martin,, Mississippi Bicycle Accident Lawyer
The Latest News
& Updates from
Our Law Firm
What Are My Options After a Hit-and-Run Accident?
If you’ve been involved in a hit-and-run accident in Mississippi, your most important options are to seek immediate medical care, report the incident to law