E Bike Rider Hit By Uninsured Motorist

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm Todd Matthews and it's at this point on Wednesdays.
We have presented now for over a decade Ask the
Lawyer with Bruce Elshiner, Attorney for the Injured, largely answering
questions supplied by you, and if you'd like to submit
a question, I'll tell you how to go about that
in just a moment, but first would please help me.
Welcome Bruce Elshiner, Attorney for the Injured.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Good morning, Bruce, Hey, good morning Todd. How are you
doing this beautiful morning? Just fine?

Speaker 1 (00:25):
Just fine? How are you doing?

Speaker 2 (00:26):
I'm doing great, the sunshining, It's a beautiful day.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
Mister positivity back on the broadcast. Always glad to have you,
if for no other reason, just to get that out
of you. But we do also like to pick your
brain when it comes to the law sometimes and somebody's
got an issue that could use a little help with you.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
You ready, I'm happy to help Tdd.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
Okay, let me get you the question here from the
email in my hand. My son was visiting Port Charlotte
and rented an e bike with a few of his
college friends. When he was crossing a street near Murdoch
Circle with the walk signal in his favor. A car
made a sudden right turn and slammed into him. That's
a bad inter section, man. I feel bad for him.

(01:07):
He broke his leg and arm and will need surgery
and therapy. The driver didn't have any insurance. We have
uninsured motorist coverage on our vehicles, but someone told me
e bikes aren't considered vehicles, so I'm worried our coverage
won't help. Can a lawyer clarify whether that's true? So
it sounds like she hasn't reached out to the insurance

(01:29):
company as of yet. I think it's actually smart to
reach out to a legal professional first. But that's just me.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
What do you think, Well, the first thing they should
do is call a experienced personal injury lawyer. And this
is a very interesting situation. Unfortunately, cars don't pay attention
to e bikes and especially when you come to a
intersection and making a right turn, you should always stop

(01:57):
and look for pedestrians or bicycles crossing, and many many
people don't, which creates a very dangerous situation. Yes, but
to answer the question directly, a bicycle is considered a pedestrian. Okay,
so this poor injured person is the pedestrian, and it's

(02:18):
entitled to recover under the family's uninsured motorist coverage.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
Okay, so even an e bike, they're considered a pedestrian, yes.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
Sir, Okay, he could recover all his huge medical bills
past and future. Is lost voyages and his paint and
suffering in the past and in the future. So he
needs to call an experienced personal injury lawyer as soon
as possible.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
And this is an excellent cautionary tail, like you said,
for other bicycle e bike riders, know that the drivers
very frequently are not paying attention to you, and while
they're supposed to stop and give you the right of way,
they might not, and it could end up like.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
This, absolutely, and I've seen it happen many times too many.

Speaker 1 (03:08):
Oh well, in a way, that's kind of good because
that would give you the experience that I would rock
somebody experienced on my side for this kind of a
of a challenge, because you know, the insurance company isn't
going to just you know, start writing checks.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
Absolutely, assurance companies are going to find a reason to
deny the claim.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
Okay, all right, well, good, you've pointed us in the
right direction. I'm confident on that, Bruce, and it sounds
like there is an upside here, so let's start pursuing
it by getting in touch with a legal professional immediately.
And thank you for your time this morning.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
Oh thank you so much, Todd. Looking forward to your
challenging question next.

Speaker 1 (03:42):
Wednesday, as are we you. Take care and have a
good week.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
Thank you, okay, bye bye, bye.

Speaker 1 (03:47):
Ladies and gentlemen. Bruce Elshiner, Attorney for the Injured. Now,
if you'd like to submit a question for future consideration,
all you have to do is go to the station
website and put Bruce in the keyword search box. That'll
take you where you need to go. Well, but if
you've got somebody who has been hurt like we just
heard about, what I would recommend is calling the Port
Charlotte Office of Associates and Bruce al Shiner and do

(04:08):
it right away. Nine four one seven four three seven
seven seven seven nine four one seven four three seven
seven seven seven, and be sure to tell him that
Todd Matthews sent you from Kicks Country ninety two point
nine