R. Sebastian Gibson
If you’ve been seriously injured a bicycle accident anywhere in Orange County from Huntington Beach to Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, CA, Irvine, Anaheim, Fullerton or Santa Ana, or if you’ve been in a bicycle accident in San Diego from El Cajon to Chula Vista, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Del Mar, Carlsbad or Escondido or if you’ve been hurt on your bike in Fullerton, San Bernardino, Redlands, Palm Springs or Palm Desert, it could be you’ve been wondering if the California state legislators are thinking up any new laws to try to prevent bicycle accidents.
I last heard that California that the state’s legislators were truing to pass new legislation to prevent bicycle accidents (not really, but it made for a good article) and I wanted to know what rules might prevent these accidents in the future, so I called one of my state Senators.
“So is the law against using cell phones to text going to apply to bicycle riders?” I asked.
“Only if some court considers them to be motorists” the Senator stated. “We like to leave these laws vague and subject to interpretation so lawyers have something to do with their time.”
“What else are you thinking about outlawing?” I asked.
“For one thing, no more riding bicycles down to the beach or in the mountains,” the Senator said.
“Why are you outlawing that?” I asked.
The Senator looked at me like I was crazy. “Because that’s where a lot of the bicycle accidents happen.”
“Are you prohibiting anything else?” I asked.
“No more children on bicycles,” the Senator said.
“You mean as passengers behind their parents?” I asked.
“No more children on bicycles at all,” the Senator said proudly. “We expect this will drastically cut down on bicycle accidents involving children.”
“Well, duh,” I said. “If children can’t ride bicycles, the only bicycle accidents that will cause injuries to children are when adults ride their bikes into them.”
“And we’re going to make that a lot harder to do too,” the Senator said.
“How are you going to do that?” I asked.
“By making adults walk their bikes,” the Senator said.
“This is ridiculous,” I said. “There’s an energy crisis going on and you numbskulls want to do away with bicycle riding.”
The Senator took offense. “We’re just trying to help the automobile industry.”
“By outlawing bicycle riding?”
“By having adults drive their children to school,” the Senator said.
“What?”
“Think about it,” the Senator said. “If kids can’t ride their bicycles to school, what are they going to do, especially if you cut back on bus service.”
“Walk?”
The Senator frowned. “We were thinking more along the lines of parents driving more, buying more new cars, fewer accidents to kids on bicycles….”
“Not going to happen,” I said.
The Senator listened worriedly.
“Families don’t have the money anymore to buy a new car.”
“We’re still going to prohibit bicycle riders from playing video games on their bikes,” the Senator said.
“I think kids can live with that,” I said.
“What about cell phones and texting?”
“Have to think about that,” the Senator said.
If you’ve been injured in an accident involving a bicycle and want to know what rules actually apply to bicycle riding, call the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson.
News – On October 1, 2008, Governor Schwarzenegger banned motorists from texting, writing or reading messages on electronic devices. The law goes into effect January 1, 2009. It does not appear to apply to bicyclists but still may prevent accidents from happening when drivers of cars are texting instead of looking out for bicyclists.
If you’ve been injured in a personal injury or bicycle accident in Orange County, San Diego, in the Inland Empire, Palm Springs or anywhere in Southern California, we have the knowledge and resources to be your Newport Beach Personal Injury Lawyers, and Huntington Beach Bicycle Accident Attorneys. For this reason, be sure to hire a California law firm with personal injury lawyers who are ready to serve you in areas such as Fullerton, Irvine and Riverside so you are properly represented and get the compensation you deserve.
If you’ve been injured in a bicycle accident and want to know more about your rights and what you are entitled to, call the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson, or visit our website at http://www.sebastiangibsonlaw.com and learn more about how we obtain great personal injury settlements from insurance companies. You can also call us to speak directly to Sebastian Gibson about any auto, motorcycle, truck, pedestrian, car or bicycle accident, the loss of a loved one in a wrongful death or about a dog bite injury with no charge for your consultation.
