What you do in the first week after being hit by a car while biking in Cambridge, Massachusetts affects both your recovery and the strength of any claim you may have. Here is a practical, day-by-day walkthrough.
At the Scene (First 30 Minutes)
- Call 911, even if you think you are fine. Adrenaline masks pain, and injuries like concussions or internal bleeding are not always obvious right away.
- Ask for a police response so a Cambridge Police Department crash report gets created. Reports are typically available from the department within one to two weeks of the crash.
- Get the driver’s name, license number, insurance information, and license plate.
- Photograph everything: your bike, your helmet, the vehicle, skid marks, the intersection or road markings, and any traffic signals.
- Get contact information from anyone who saw what happened.
- Say only what is necessary. Do not apologize or speculate about fault at the scene. Even an instinctive apology gets used against cyclists later.
Days 1 and 2
Follow up with a doctor even if you declined transport by ambulance at the scene. Tell every provider clearly that this was a bicycle versus motor vehicle collision, since accurate documentation matters both for your treatment and for any later claim. Do not repair or discard your bike or helmet, even a cracked helmet with no visible injury to you. It is evidence. Photograph any bruising or swelling that shows up over the next day or two, since a lot of soft tissue injury does not look serious until it does.
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Call (617) 683-1983Hit by a car while biking in Cambridge? Get a free case review from a Cambridge bicycle accident attorney. Call 617-683-1983.
Days 2 through 4
Notify your own auto insurer if you have a policy, since this can matter for PIP and uninsured motorist purposes, but be careful about recorded statements. You are not obligated to give a recorded statement to the driver’s insurance company, and it is generally a bad idea to do so before speaking with a lawyer. Stay off social media about the crash and your recovery in the meantime. Insurance adjusters look for posts that seem to contradict a claimed injury, even an innocent one.
Days 4 through 7
Request a copy of the crash report from the Cambridge Police Department once it is available. Start a simple written log of missed work, pain levels day to day, and anything you are no longer able to do normally, since a contemporaneous record like this is more persuasive than trying to reconstruct events months later. If there is helmet camera footage or nearby business surveillance video, try to secure it now. A lot of footage gets automatically overwritten within days.
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Call (617) 683-1983When to Call a Lawyer
Sooner is better than later, ideally before you give any recorded statement. This matters even more if the driver fled the scene, if a defect in the road or bike lane may have contributed to the crash, since municipal claims carry short notice deadlines, or if the insurance company is already hinting that you share some of the blame.
If you were hit by a car while biking in Cambridge this week, a Cambridge bicycle accident lawyer at our firm is glad to talk it through with you at no charge. Call 617-683-1983.
