Denver Personal Injury Attorneys

Personal injuries in Denver can happen in more ways than one. Sometimes an injury occurs on the job because of a negligent third party. Other times it results in painful nerve pain that requires specialized treatment, or it happens while riding a bicycle on a Denver street. Whatever the circumstances, understanding your legal options is the first step toward recovering the compensation you deserve.

At Walker, Billingsley & Bair, our Denver personal injury attorneys help injured residents sort through third-party claims, cervical radicular pain following an accident, and the common causes of bicycle accidents. Below, we explain how these issues work and what you can do to protect yourself and your claim.

When a Third Party Contributes to Your Denver Work Accident

If you were injured in a work accident in Denver, you may be able to pursue a third-party claim in addition to workers' compensation. A personal injury attorney can evaluate your case to determine who was negligent in your work-related accident and whether the negligence involved someone outside of your place of employment.

Any employee who is injured while on the job is entitled to receive workers' compensation benefits. However, the situation becomes more complicated when another party is involved, meaning someone other than the employer or a co-worker. This is why it is important to seek legal help after a Denver work accident.

Overview of a Third-Party Claim

Employees generally cannot sue their employers for injuries that occur while at work if they accept workers' compensation payments. Employers are protected from lawsuits once those benefits are paid, even if the employer was clearly negligent and directly caused the injury. However, in some cases your injuries may have been caused by another person or company that is not related to your place of employment. This may lead you to file what is called a third-party claim. A third party may be negligent for part or all of your injuries, and an attorney can help determine whether that is the case based on the specific circumstances of your Denver work accident.

Compensation in a Third-Party Claim

Workers' compensation benefits will cover your medical expenses and lost wages, but you cannot receive other types of damages such as pain and suffering or mental anguish through workers' compensation alone. You also cannot receive punitive damages, which relate to cases where an injury was caused by extreme recklessness or with intent to harm. With a third-party claim, you may be able to recover damages that go above and beyond your medical expenses and lost wages. This is important in cases where injuries are severe, since there are limits on how much you can receive from workers' compensation alone, and that amount may not fully cover all of your losses. Contacting a Denver workers' compensation and personal injury attorney right away can help you understand what other damages you may be entitled to pursue.

Cervical Radicular Pain After a Denver Accident

Radicular pain, or radiculopathy, is a condition in which the nerves stop working properly. Disease or trauma may cause the condition, which is a malfunction in the root of the nerve. It can result in pain, numbness, weakness, and reduced motor control. Even though the problem occurs in the spinal area, the pain is often felt in other parts of the body. Many cases of radicular pain occur in the cervical spine and result in severe neck pain and other symptoms, which can follow an accident in Denver.

What Causes Cervical Radicular Pain?

In many cases, a herniated disc, usually the result of trauma such as an accident or a fall, causes cervical radicular pain. Radicular pain may also result from arthritis or other types of degenerative bone disease. Material from a ruptured disc can put pressure on the nerve root, compressing it and causing pain.

Traditional Treatments and the Epidural Nerve Block Procedure

Many patients suffering from this condition treat it with conservative therapies first, which may include corticosteroids and pain medication to varying degrees of effectiveness. Treatment may involve injectable options, though some patients take medication orally. Physical therapy may also be part of a typical treatment plan, which might include cervical traction, using either mechanical or manual methods. When conservative treatment fails and the pain becomes intolerable, surgery is often the next step, though there is another option called the epidural nerve block procedure that may provide pain relief.

This procedure involves injection of a corticosteroid into the epidural space of the spine. The physician uses a fluoroscope to allow real-time X-ray images, and a contrast medium helps ensure the needle is placed appropriately when injecting the medication. It involves injection of a local anesthetic along with a corticosteroid into the epidural space, and pain relief is monitored for a set period of time. This procedure is minimally invasive and may be an excellent alternative to surgery. Complications are slight and include risk of infection, slight bleeding, and minor pain around the injection site. It is important to discuss the full range of possible side effects with a doctor before receiving any injection or treatment.

When Another Party Caused Your Accident

Living with cervical radicular pain is not easy. A patient's life can become about pain management, and patients may be unable to work, sleep, or enjoy everyday activities. If you suffer from this condition because of an accident that someone else caused in Denver, it is important to speak to an attorney. You may be able to get compensation for damages such as medical bills for epidural nerve block procedures used to relieve the pain, along with lost wages, pain and suffering, and more.

Common Types of Bicycle Accidents in Denver and How to Avoid Them

The goal is to reduce the number of bicycle accidents to zero. If you are a Denver bicyclist, here are some of the most common types of bicycle accidents, and what you can do to prevent them from happening.

A Right Hook Accident

A right hook accident refers to an accident type where a car that is making a right-hand turn turns into the path of the cyclist. Right hook crashes can happen at intersections, or when pulling out of a driveway or parking lot. Because some drivers fail to use their turn signals, knowing if a driver is going to make a turn in front of you, hooking you, can be challenging.

However, this accident type can be avoided if you are biking consciously. One tip to avoid this accident type is to make sure that when stopped at a red light or stop sign, you always are slightly in front of vehicles in the right-hand lane. This way, the motorist will have you in his or her direct vision. The other way to avoid this is never to pass a vehicle on the right, as it is unlikely that the car will be expecting you if they decide to make a right turn. Instead, always pass on the left.

A Dooring Accident

A dooring accident can be very severe. This accident type occurs when a cyclist is riding in between the lanes of traffic and parked cars on the right-hand side of the road. When a motorist opens a door on the left side of the vehicle unexpectedly, the door may either block the cyclist from continuing forward or slam directly into the cyclist. A car door accident may cause the cyclist to swerve, turning the bike into oncoming traffic.

Dooring accidents can be tough to avoid, especially when the distance between fast-moving traffic and parked cars is minimal. If a bike lane is available separate from the road, always choose this as the preferred route. Otherwise, always stay alert for parked cars, and slow down and pay attention when approaching one.

A Vehicle Turning Left

At an intersection, left-turning vehicles are usually required to yield, unless they have a green turn arrow, to oncoming traffic from the opposite direction. Unfortunately, bicyclists, especially when lighting is poor, can be much harder to see than other cars. As such, a vehicle may assume that the road is clear, and make a left-hand turn directly into or in front of a cyclist passing straight through the light.

The best way to avoid this accident type is to make sure that your bike has a light and that you are wearing bright colors, since this will improve your visibility. Additionally, try to make eye contact with left-turning drivers before proceeding through an intersection. Also, do not ride on the sidewalk, since motorists do not check sidewalks for fast-moving vehicles.

Failure to Yield

The final common type of bicycle accident occurs when the cyclist fails to yield to a vehicle in an intersection. It can be easy to misjudge an oncoming car's speed and distance. Make sure you always exercise caution when proceeding into an intersection. Even if you do have the right of way, double check before entering an intersection to ensure that you are in the clear and that other drivers can see you.