Bicycle Accident Law

Many drivers erroneously believe that cyclists are intruding by riding on the same roads as cars. Believe it or not, this prevalent attitude held by drivers—that bicyclists do not belong on the road—is a key factor in many accidents between bicycles and motor vehicles. This mistaken belief is not as maliciously calculated as it might sound, but it is still dangerous for cyclists. Most often, it is held unconsciously, yet it nevertheless leads drivers to fail to look out for cyclists or compensate for the differences in the way that cars and bicycles operate. And, of course, it’s wrong: bicycles have just as much of a right to occupy the streets as cars do.

Many cyclists have tried different riding styles to counteract this danger. Some cyclists believe that riding their bikes as if they were cars will help drivers to treat them like they belong on the road. Others attempt to offset the danger by assuming that all drivers cannot see them and riding their bikes as if they were invisible. Most cyclists fall somewhere between these two extremes.

No matter what the riding style of the bicyclist may be, the reality is that most drivers are only looking out for other motor vehicles.

Unfortunately, the mere fact that drivers aren’t looking out for bicyclists leads to some of the most common types of accidents involving bicyclists. One example of this is the “right hook,” in which a driver fails to notice or yield to a cyclist traveling parallel to the vehicle, and turns right, directly into the path of the unsuspecting cyclist.

Some drivers overlook cyclists just because of their small size.

The comparatively small size of the cyclist significantly increases the likelihood that the driver will fail to see them. For example, the size difference may result in the failure of a driver to accurately determine the speed of the cyclist before turning left. Very often, the driver turns directly into the path of the cyclist, causing a collision. In other cases, drivers are so focused on the center of the roadway, where they expect to see cars, that they fail to see the cyclist riding carefully in the bike lane or the far right of the roadway.

Even a driver in a parked car can be dangerous to a cyclist.

A parked car can pose great danger to a cyclist when the driver fails to exit with care. One of the most common accidents is the so-called “door hit.” Many drivers are lulled into a careless state by the fact that their car is now parked and their keys are in their hands. Without looking, the driver opens the car door directly into the path of the oncoming cyclist. Not only can the impact of hitting the metal door at a high speed cause grave injury, there is the possibility of even further injury if the cyclist is thrown into a busy road.

Many people fail to recognize the unspoken belief that the roads were “meant for cars only.”

Yet failing to recognize this attitude can not only lead to accidents, it can also lead to an inability on the part of law enforcement, insurance companies and even attorneys to recognize when this assumption is the real cause of an accident. Attorneys should understand that fighting on behalf of an injured cyclist means having an awareness of how this attitude towards cyclists can cause accidents. If the role of this attitude in the victim’s case is not understood and skillfully addressed, the attorney may unwittingly prevent justice from being served.