More and more people have taken up bicycling for recreational use and, increasingly, as a primary vehicle for commuting and/or urban transportation.  When bicyclists are involved in a collision with a motorized vehicle, the results are predictably serious.  Our lawyers feel very strongly about protecting the rights of bicyclists.  Certainly cyclists have an obligation to operate sensibly and within the law.  However, when they do so, the fact they can be more difficult for other motorists to see is no excuse for not seeing them.  This is especially true because they are for the most part unprotected.  Bicyclists have a legal right to be on the streets, roads and highways and the failure to provide them those rights results in legal responsibility of the motorist.  Since the injuries are often serious, we work closely with our clients' doctors in order to have a full and complete understanding of the extent of the injuries, the potential for recovery, the impact on wage-earning potential, and the future.  We then include those factors in the evaluation we present to the insurance company or if necessary, the jury.  We always develop each case on the assumption that it will go to trial, even though the insurance companies settle many of the cases we handle.