Rental/Tourism Accidents

There are a lot of great things to do when you visit Boston, and one of the favored activities for many is to rent a bicycle and take a ride through the city or through its many parks. While biking can be a great way to see the sights and to avoid having to drive in Boston traffic, it can also present some dangers. Bike accidents are common in urban areas, for example, and injury or death can result if you crash the bike or become involved in a collision with a motor vehicle.

When bike rental /tourism accidents occur, you may have certain legal rights to compensation against the party or parties who contributed to causing your accident or injuries. These types of cases can become complex very quickly as there may be multiple potential defendants, so it is a smart decision to contact experienced Boston personal injury lawyers for help. For more than 19 years, Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers have been representing injured victims. Let us put our legal experience to work for you. Contact us today at (617) 777-7777 or using our online form to learn how we can help.

In many cases, when you rent a bike from a bicycle rental company, you will be asked to sign a release of liability that absolves the bike rental company of responsibility if you are involved in an accident or if you suffer any injuries while on the bike. However, you assume only known risks when you sign this type of release and if there are defects in the bicycle they rent you that are caused by negligence or improper maintenance, you may be able to hold the bike rental company responsible even after you have signed a liability release. Massachusetts law also requires bike rental places to make helmets available and a failure to abide by this bike safety law can result in liability for the rental agency.

Other potential defendants may also be responsible for your bike accident when you are riding a rented bike as a tourist. For instance, if a motorist is not paying attention when driving and causes you to experience an accident, you may be able to hold that driver responsible provided you can prove that a hypothetical reasonable driver would have taken greater care.

Likewise, if the accident was caused by potholes, debris in the road or negligent maintenance of the roadways, then it may be possible to file a lawsuit against the government entity who was responsible for maintaining or designing the roads. This can present some legal challenges because of doctrines providing the government with limited immunity from suit; however, it is not impossible to sue if the government breached their duty to keep the roadways safe.

If you are riding at a private attraction or on land belonging to an entity other than the government and there are defects on the trails or roadways, a premises liability lawsuit (a suit against the property owner) may be brought more easily since there is no governmental immunity doctrine to impact your case. In these instances, you'd simply need to prove that the property owner breached the required duty to maintain a safe premises.

In any case, once you have proved that someone was responsible for your accident and should be required to pay your damages, you may be able to recover compensation for things such as medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering and emotional distress. Your personal injury attorney can explain to you the types of compensation that may be available and can help you to build your case so you can get the compensation you deserve.

To learn more about how a Boston bicycle accident lawyer can help you after bicycle rental/tourism accidents, contact Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers today at (617) 777-7777 or using our online form.