Bicycle Accident Claim: Hit by a Car While Riding

A cyclist hit by a car is, for insurance purposes, a person injured by a negligent driver. The driver's bodily injury liability coverage pays, up to its limit, for medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, and the damaged bike and gear. Fault must be established, exactly as in a car-on-car crash, and the driver's insurer will investigate it.

Most cyclists do not know that their own auto policy follows them onto the bike. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage in most policies covers the named insured and household members when struck by a motor vehicle, whether they were driving, walking or cycling. If the driver fled or had a minimum policy, that coverage is often the largest source of recovery. Medical payments coverage on an auto policy may also pay early bills.

In no-fault states, personal injury protection usually extends to a cyclist struck by a car, sometimes through the cyclist's own auto policy and sometimes through the striking vehicle's policy, and health insurance pays what is left. Who is primary depends on the state. A cyclist with no auto policy in the household relies on the driver's insurer and their own health coverage.

The right hook: a driver overtakes a cyclist and turns right across their path. The driver had a duty to yield to traffic already in the lane, and the cyclist is almost always in the right. The left cross: an oncoming driver turns left in front of a cyclist going straight. The driver turning across traffic must yield, and this is the most common serious bicycle crash. The dooring: a parked driver opens a door into a passing cyclist. Most states make the person opening the door responsible for checking first.

Rear-end collisions, where a driver strikes a cyclist from behind, are the most dangerous and are usually clear fault, with the driver's insurer arguing visibility: no lights at night, dark clothing, no reflectors. Many states require a front white light and rear red reflector or light after dark, and a cyclist without them in those states can be assigned a share of fault.

Intersection crashes where the cyclist is accused of running a sign or light, riding against traffic, or riding on the sidewalk where it is prohibited are the contested ones. Position on the road is argued constantly: whether the cyclist was required to use a bike lane, was entitled to take the full lane, or was too far into traffic. The answer depends on state law and the specific road, and evidence of exactly where the cyclist was is what decides it.

Helmet laws for adults exist in no state, though many states require them for riders under a certain age. The insurer's argument that an unhelmeted cyclist contributed to a head injury is available only where state law allows it, and a number of states expressly prohibit using helmet non-use as evidence of negligence. Where it is allowed, it applies only to head injuries, not to a broken leg, and only reduces, not eliminates, the claim.

Bike lane arguments turn on whether the state requires cyclists to use an available lane and what exceptions exist. Most states that require lane use allow leaving it to avoid hazards, to pass, to turn, or when the lane is blocked. A cyclist outside the lane for one of those reasons is not at fault for being there. Photographs of the lane's condition, parked cars in it, or debris are the evidence.

Sidewalk riding, riding against traffic, and failing to signal are the other common assertions. Whether each is a violation depends on local ordinance as much as state law, and whether it caused the crash is a separate question. A cyclist on the sidewalk hit by a driver who did not look before pulling out of a driveway is a shared fault argument, not a bar, in most states.

Suppose you were riding in a marked bike lane in daylight when a driver overtook you and turned right into a parking lot entrance, striking your front wheel. You went over the hood, breaking your collarbone and wrist, and the bike was destroyed. Surgery on the wrist, eight weeks of recovery and physical therapy produced $38,000 in medical bills and $6,000 in lost wages. The bike and gear were worth $2,800. The driver carried a $100,000 liability policy.

The driver's insurer initially suggested you were riding too fast in the lane for the driver to see you. Your attorney obtained the parking lot's camera footage showing the driver passing you two seconds before turning without signaling. The fault argument ended. The claim was presented with the bills, wages, property loss, a surgeon's note on residual wrist stiffness, and photographs of the injuries, and settled within the policy limit.

If the driver had carried a $25,000 minimum policy, that limit would have been paid quickly and the balance of the claim would have gone to your own auto policy's underinsured motorist coverage, had you carried it. A cyclist without an auto policy would have had only the $25,000 and health insurance. All figures are hypothetical.

Cyclists are often moved, treated and gone before anyone records the scene, and the driver's version becomes the only one. The steps below keep the evidence.

• Call the police and stay until they arrive if you physically can; make sure the report records the driver's details and the position of the bike and car.
• Get the driver's license, insurance and plate, photographed, and the names of witnesses, before anyone leaves.
• Photograph the bike where it fell, the car, the lane markings, any bike lane and its condition, and your injuries.
• Keep the bike, helmet and clothing as they are; do not repair or discard them, since they are evidence of the force and direction of impact.
• Get medical care the same day, even for injuries that seem like road rash, and describe the mechanism of the crash.
• Check your own auto policy, and any household member's, for uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage and medical payments.
• Report the crash to your own auto insurer if you have one; the UM claim may require prompt notice.
• Preserve any bike computer, GPS or camera data, which records speed and position.

Comparative negligence is the main variable, because insurers almost always assert some cyclist fault. Pure comparative states such as California and New York reduce the claim by the cyclist's share with no cutoff. Most states bar recovery at 50 or 51 percent. Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia bar recovery for any fault, which makes lighting, lane position and signal compliance decisive in those states, and is why cyclists there are advised to document their own compliance.

No-fault rules decide who pays the early bills. In Florida, Michigan, New York and New Jersey, PIP generally covers a cyclist struck by a motor vehicle, through the cyclist's own policy or the vehicle's, and a pain and suffering claim against the driver requires meeting the injury threshold, which serious bicycle injuries usually do. Michigan's system also provides substantial medical coverage to cyclists hit by cars through the motor vehicle's insurer.

Helmet and equipment laws vary by state and city and affect the fault argument as described above. Deadlines run from the crash: one year in Tennessee and Kentucky, two in Texas, California, Florida and Georgia, three in New York and North Carolina. Claims against a city for a road defect that contributed, such as a grate or pothole, usually require notice within months and have their own rules.

Bicycle claims are often undervalued because the injuries are serious, the vehicle damage is trivial, and the insurer has a fault argument ready. The evidence that answers the fault argument, footage, witness accounts, the position of the bike, and the cyclist's own data, is time-sensitive, and the coverage picture, with the driver's policy and the cyclist's own UM coverage, has to be worked out early. Most personal injury attorneys work on contingency.

Ask Legal Matters is a free claim-review request service, not a law firm. Requests may be shared with independent attorneys and legal services partners who handle inquiries in your state, and an attorney must evaluate the facts before anyone can say what the claim is worth. If you were hit by a car while riding, you can request a free claim review.

• Car Accident Claims in the United States: The Complete Guide
• Pedestrian Accident Claims: Rights, Fault and Compensation
• At Fault in a Car Accident? Comparative Negligence Explained
• What Is the Average Car Accident Settlement? What Sets the Value
• Back and Neck Injury Settlement After a Car Accident: Factors
• Can I Sue for a Slip and Fall? Premises Liability Explained
• Can I Sue My Employer for a Work Injury? Workers' Comp vs Lawsuit
• Can You Sue for Emotional Distress? The Three Legal Routes

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