Oakland Accident Care is a chiropractic clinic in Downtown Oakland treating motor vehicle collision injuries — whiplash, cervical and lumbar strain, soft tissue injury, hip and shoulder injury and post-traumatic headaches. If a car hit you while you were on foot or on a bike, almost everything written for drivers doesn't apply to you. You have no vehicle damage, possibly no insurance policy of your own, and often no idea who is supposed to pay for anything.
Emergency first. Loss of consciousness even briefly, confusion, vomiting, a headache that keeps worsening, severe or midline neck or back pain, an obvious deformity, or numbness that won't resolve — those are emergency room problems. Call 911 or go to Highland Hospital at 1411 E 31st Street. A pedestrian or cyclist struck by a vehicle absorbs the entire impact with nothing around them, and head injury has to be ruled out first.
This is the part nobody explains, and the assumption that stops people is almost always the same: I don't own a car, so there's nothing for me. That's usually wrong. There are typically several routes, and more than one can apply at once.
The most direct route. The driver who struck you carries bodily injury liability, and it exists precisely for people they injure — including people who weren't in a car.
This is the one people miss entirely. If you own a vehicle, the medical payments and uninsured motorist coverage on your policy often follow you rather than only your car, and commonly extend to you while walking or cycling. Your car being nowhere near the collision doesn't necessarily matter. Read the policy or ask your agent directly, because terms vary.
If you live with a relative who has auto coverage, you may be an insured person under their policy even though you don't drive their car. Worth asking about before concluding there's nothing.
Health coverage can pay for care, though it may later seek reimbursement from any recovery — that's subrogation. Where there's no coverage at all, treatment on a lien means the bill is paid out of a settlement rather than up front.
Hit-and-run is the case that changes the answer. Drivers who hit pedestrians and cyclists leave the scene far more often than drivers who hit other cars. When that happens, uninsured motorist coverage is usually the only route — and it generally depends on there being a documented police report. Report it and get a report number even if you have no plate, no description and no witnesses. Without that report you may have no route at all. Our collision report guide covers how.
A driver is inside a structure designed to absorb collision energy — crumple zones, a seat, a belt, airbags. On foot or on a bike you have none of it. The force goes into your body directly, and then you land.
What we commonly see and specifically examine for:
You have a documentation problem drivers don't have. When two cars collide, a repair estimate exists that describes the force involved. On foot or on a bike, there is no such document. Months later, when someone asks how severe it really was, the only record of that is what a clinician wrote down and measured at the time — range of motion in degrees, orthopedic and neurological findings, and the mechanism of injury.
Photograph your damaged bike, your torn clothing and your helmet before anything is repaired or thrown away. Those are your version of the estimate.
California requires helmets for bicycle riders under 18. For adults, not wearing one doesn't automatically bar a claim — California uses comparative negligence, so being partly at fault doesn't by itself prevent recovery. How that applies to you is a lawyer's question, not ours, and it has nothing to do with whether you should be examined.
Same answer. Comparative negligence means fault gets apportioned rather than switched off. Plenty of people never get treated because they've decided in advance that it was their fault.
The injury pattern is similar and often worse, because speed is higher and there's still nothing around you. How insurance treats it can differ depending on the class of e-bike, or on the rental agreement if it was a shared scooter. Preserve the ride record in the app either way.
No. We treat you whether or not you have one and whether or not you ever hire one. We accept no fee or consideration from any law firm and don't recommend a specific one. If you want counsel, the Alameda County Bar Association runs a State Bar–certified referral service.
This page is general information about how insurance and California law are structured. It is not legal advice, and how any of it applies to your situation is a question for an attorney. Policy terms vary — verify with your own insurer.
Same-day appointments, seven days a week, in Downtown Oakland at 8th and Broadway, a short walk from 12th Street City Center BART. Dr. Ben Glass sees you himself, in English or Spanish. We verify your coverage first and tell you in writing what you'll owe, if anything.
📞 (510) 606-0007 Apply for Care