Clovis Bicycle Accident Lawyer

Your Attorney — Sarwinder Dhanjan

Sarwinder Dhanjan is the founding attorney of Dhanjan Injury Lawyer. He handles every case personally — you work directly with him from the first call through final resolution. Attorney Dhanjan is admitted to the State Bar of California and is active in Fresno County Superior Court.

Languages: English | Spanish | Punjabi | Hindi

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Your Rights as a Cyclist Under California Law

California Vehicle Code section 21200 gives cyclists the full rights and duties of vehicle operators. The Three Feet for Safety Act under Vehicle Code section 21760 requires drivers to maintain at least three feet of clearance when passing a cyclist — a violation establishes negligence per se. Dooring is prohibited under Vehicle Code section 22517. When a motorized vehicle enters a designated bike path, the statutory violation establishes negligence per se without additional proof. The California DMV bicycle safety rules document the specific duties drivers owe to cyclists on California roads.

Bicycle Accident Risks in Clovis

The Shaw Avenue commercial strip generates the highest bicycle conflict rate in Clovis — dense signal spacing, shopping center driveway conflicts, and parallel parking creates dooring risk in bike lanes adjacent to commercial development. Intersection collisions at Shaw/Willow (27 crashes) and Shaw/Minnewawa (14 crashes) involve right-turning drivers who fail to check for cyclists proceeding straight. The Clovis trail network intersections where recreational paths cross arterial roads create conflict zones between cyclists and vehicle traffic. Road hazards — potholes, cracked pavement, uneven pavement transitions — affect motorcycles disproportionately compared to passenger vehicles and may create government liability when the City had notice of the hazardous condition.

Evidence in Clovis Bicycle Accident Cases

Bicycle accident evidence includes the bicycle itself — damage patterns and component condition establish impact geometry. Commercial camera footage from the Shaw Avenue corridor overwrites on 30-to-72-hour cycles. In dooring accidents, the physical damage to both the bicycle and the door, combined with the position of parked vehicles relative to the bike lane, establishes the collision dynamics. For road hazard accidents, prior complaint records and maintenance logs from the City of Clovis establish notice — a critical element of the government liability case. We initiate government records requests immediately upon being retained.

Compensation Available in Clovis Bicycle Accident Claims

Bicycle accident compensation in Clovis is frequently underestimated — both by injured cyclists and by carriers who characterize bicycle injuries as inherently less serious than car accident injuries. The physical reality is different. A cyclist in a bike lane on Shaw Avenue struck by a vehicle turning right from a commercial driveway is exposed to the same forces as a pedestrian struck at similar speed — the bicycle provides no structural protection from the vehicle impact. Serious bicycle accident injuries include complex orthopedic fractures requiring surgical fixation, clavicle and shoulder injuries limiting upper extremity function, TBI from head impact, and road rash with deep tissue involvement requiring skin grafting and leaving permanent scarring.

For cyclists whose pre-injury activities — competitive cycling, recreational riding, commuting — were central to their daily life and physical identity, the non-economic damages must capture the specific loss of those activities in addition to generic pain and suffering. We develop this testimony through client interviews documenting the specific cycling activities the victim engaged in before the accident, the training schedules, the community connections, and the role cycling played in managing their health and well-being. That specificity produces non-economic damages testimony that connects with Fresno County jurors rather than floating at a generic level that carriers can dismiss as unsubstantiated.

What To Do After a Bicycle Accident in Clovis

1. Keep the bicycle as evidence — do not repair it. The bicycle’s damage pattern establishes the contact geometry of the collision. Rim deformation, fork bend angle, handlebar displacement, and component damage all tell the story of what occurred. Once repaired, this evidence is gone. Lock the bike and store it until an attorney or expert has documented it.
2. Photograph the exact lane position of the bicycle before it moves. In bike lane cases, tire marks, fluid deposits, and the bicycle’s final position relative to lane markings establish that the cyclist was in the correct position when the collision occurred. These details are critical in right-of-way disputes with drivers who claim the cyclist was outside the lane.
3. Get medical evaluation that day. Rib fractures from impact with vehicle structures, clavicle fractures from fall impact, and TBI from road or vehicle contact are the most common serious bicycle accident injuries. All are underappreciated at the scene and require same-day imaging to document.
4. Identify any dash cameras from vehicles at the scene. Vehicles stopped at signalized intersections during peak commercial hours on Shaw Avenue frequently have dashcams. These witnesses may have captured the collision from a perspective that commercial cameras did not. Ask drivers at the scene if their vehicles have dashcams and request their contact information.
5. Report road hazard defects to the City of Clovis that same day. If a pothole, cracked pavement, or inadequate bike lane marking contributed to the accident, the six-month Government Claims Act deadline began running at the moment of the accident. Reporting the defect creates a public record and is the first step in the government liability claim.

Bike Lane Accidents and Government Liability — Knowing Your Deadlines in Clovis

Two years from the date of injury under California Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. Government entity claims require six months under the Government Claims Act. For statewide context, see our California Bicycle Accident Lawyer page. For the Clovis overview, see our Clovis Personal Injury Lawyer hub. For Fresno, see our Fresno Personal Injury Lawyer hub. Contact us for a free consultation.

Clovis Bike Infrastructure and Road Hazard Claims

Clovis has invested in bicycle infrastructure including Class I, II, and III bike facilities throughout the city. Class I multi-use paths, Class II bike lanes on arterial roads, and Class III bicycle routes on lower-volume streets each create different legal environments when accidents occur. On Class II bike lanes along Shaw Avenue and Herndon Avenue, a driver who crosses into the bike lane without warning is liable for resulting injuries regardless of arguments about the cyclist’s road position — being in a designated bike lane establishes correct road position as a matter of law.

Road hazard claims against the City of Clovis require establishing that the city knew or should have known about the condition and failed to remediate it within a reasonable time. Prior complaint records, prior incident reports at the same location, and the city’s maintenance and inspection records are all discoverable through the government claims process. The six-month government claim deadline under the Government Claims Act must be met before filing suit — and the claim must specifically identify the defective condition and its location with sufficient precision that the city had notice of the specific hazard. We initiate government records requests and preserve the hazardous condition through photographs and measurements immediately upon being retained in road hazard bicycle cases.

What Serious Clovis Bicycle Accidents Are Actually Worth — Beyond the Medical Bills

Every serious personal injury claim in Clovis involves two categories of damages that must be fully documented before any settlement is negotiated. Settling before this documentation is complete is the most common reason seriously injured people underrecover — once a release is signed, the claim is permanently closed regardless of how conditions develop.

Economic damages are the measurable financial losses the accident produced. Medical expenses from the date of the accident through the end of treatment are documented through medical billing records. Future medical expenses — for injuries that require ongoing care, additional surgeries, or lifetime management — must be projected by a treating physician and, in serious cases, by a certified life care planner whose projections are based on the specific treatment plan and the current market rates for those services in the Fresno area. Lost wages are documented through employer records and tax returns. Lost future earning capacity — when injuries permanently reduce the ability to work — requires vocational rehabilitation expert testimony on the specific functional limitations and their impact on the specific type of work the victim performed before the accident.

Non-economic damages are the human cost of the injury — the harm that does not appear on a medical bill. Physical pain and suffering, emotional distress, post-traumatic stress disorder, permanent disfigurement or scarring, loss of enjoyment of activities and relationships that the injury has disrupted, and loss of consortium where a spouse’s relationship has been affected. These damages are not speculative — they are real, recognized compensable harms under California law. Presenting them persuasively requires detailed testimony about the specific impact of this injury on this person’s specific life — not generic descriptions. We develop this testimony through client interviews and, where appropriate, through testimony from treating mental health providers and family members who can corroborate the daily impact.

From Dooring to Intersection Collision — How Clovis Bicycle Cases Reach Resolution

Understanding how claims move from incident to resolution helps Clovis injury victims set realistic expectations and make informed decisions at each stage. The vast majority of claims settle before trial — but the settlement value is determined by the quality of the preparation that precedes it.

From the first call, we begin evidence preservation — litigation hold demands, scene documentation, witness identification. We then guide clients through the medical care process, ensuring consistent treatment and complete documentation. Once treatment is complete and the treating physician has established the long-term prognosis, we prepare a comprehensive demand package — the medical record, economic damages analysis, and non-economic damages narrative — and present it to the carrier. Most serious cases involve multiple rounds of negotiation. When carriers refuse to pay fair value, we file in Fresno County Superior Court at 1100 Van Ness Ave, Fresno, CA 93724 and pursue the case through trial. Our trial-ready preparation standard is what produces full settlement value before trial — and it is what produces full verdict value when trial is necessary.

Building the Evidence Case in Clovis Dooring Accidents

Dooring accidents — where a parked driver or passenger opens a car door into a cyclist’s path — require specific evidence preservation that differs from intersection collision cases. The physical damage to the bicycle’s front wheel, fork, and frame documents the contact point and the force of impact. The door’s position relative to the bike lane — documented through photographs of the vehicle’s parked position and the lane markings before the vehicle moves — establishes that the cyclist was in the correct lane position when the door was opened. In many dooring cases, there is no surveillance footage of the event itself — the incident happens instantaneously and away from commercial camera angles. Witness testimony and the physical evidence of the contact become the primary sources. We preserve the bicycle as evidence and work with bicycle mechanics and, in serious cases, accident reconstruction experts to establish the collision dynamics from the physical damage alone.

The Bike, The Road Hazard, and the Camera Footage — Starting Your Clovis Bicycle Claim

Every serious injury claim in Clovis begins the same way: a conversation with Attorney Sarwinder Dhanjan about what happened, what injuries resulted, and what the realistic path to recovery looks like. That conversation is free, confidential, and available in English, Spanish, Punjabi, and Hindi. There are no upfront costs, no commitment required, and no obligation to retain us after the consultation.

What we do in the first consultation: review the specific facts of the accident, identify every potentially liable party, assess the full insurance stack available for recovery, evaluate the strength of the evidence that currently exists and the evidence that needs to be preserved immediately, and give you an honest assessment of the realistic range of what a well-prepared claim may recover. We do not give optimistic numbers to encourage you to sign a fee agreement — we give honest assessments that allow you to make an informed decision about your case.

If you retain us, we begin work immediately. Litigation hold demands go out the same day. Evidence preservation begins before the automatic overwrite cycles that govern commercial cameras, vehicle data recorders, and electronic logging devices eliminate what currently exists. The window for that evidence is measured in hours — not days. For all Clovis injury matters, contact us at (559) 342-2000, available 24/7, or through the contact form at our contact page. Our office at 2170 N. Winery Ave, Fresno, CA 93703 is 6 miles and 15 minutes from Clovis — the same court, the same county, and the same commitment to full-value recovery that we bring to every Fresno case.

Why Clovis Bicycle Accident Victims Choose Dhanjan Injury Lawyer

Bicycle accident cases in Clovis require an attorney who takes cyclists’ legal rights as seriously as the law does — which is to say, with the same weight as any other road user’s rights. The carrier instinct to minimize bicycle accident claims because “it was just a bike” is a negotiating tactic, not a legal reality. California Vehicle Code gives cyclists the same rights as vehicle operators. The Three Feet for Safety Act creates statutory negligence per se for passing drivers who violate clearance requirements. Dooring is expressly prohibited. Attorney Dhanjan pursues these statutory frameworks aggressively, treating bicycle accident claims with the same preparation rigor as any other serious injury category.

How Clovis Bicycle Accident Claims Resolve

Bicycle accident claims in Clovis with serious injuries follow the same general resolution timeline as motorcycle accident claims — 12 to 24 months for cases with clear liability and significant injury, longer when liability is disputed or catastrophic injury requires extended medical treatment timelines. The key variables are how quickly the liability evidence is preserved and how complete the medical documentation becomes. Cases where the full evidence record was assembled in the first days after the accident — camera footage, bicycle damage documentation, witness accounts — consistently resolve for more than cases where evidence was lost because no one acted quickly enough.

Road hazard bicycle cases involving government liability have a longer resolution track because they require the Government Claims Act pre-litigation process before a lawsuit can be filed. We pursue both the government liability claim and any private party liability simultaneously, coordinating the legal strategies across both tracks to maximize total recovery and avoid procedural missteps that could limit either theory.