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It may be easy to believe that traffic accidents involving bicycles are always the fault of other parties, such as drivers of motor vehicles, but the truth is that cyclists themselves could be held liable in these types of claims. It is not uncommon for an insurer to conclude that a bicyclist was actually the party who was responsible for causing an accident. Itโs important to understand your rights and options if you are injured in a bicycle accident. Arash Law can help explain the complexities of comparative negligence laws in California.
When a bicyclist suffers injuries in any kind of traffic accident in California, they could seek legal assistance. If you choose to work with a skilled personal injury attorney on a valid bicycle accident case, they can investigate the accident and also negotiate with an insurance company to help you pursue the financial compensation to which you may be entitled.
Call us for a free initial consultation to find out if bicyclists could be partly to blame for traffic accidents.
How Bicycle Laws Can Affect Fault And Liability In Traffic Accidents
People who ride bicycles can feel an enormous sense of freedom while they are on the road, but California enforces a number of strict rules for cyclists. California Vehicle Code ยง 21650 establishes that bicyclists must travel on the right side of the roadway in the direction of traffic, except when they are passing, making legal left turns, riding on one-way streets, riding on roads that are too narrow, or when the right side of the road is closed due to construction.
Obeying the rules when sharing the road is very important for bicyclists because violations of state traffic laws can impact liability in these cases. Worse yet, some bicyclists may instead be the ones to be found liable for causing some accidents. If you or someone you know has been injured in a bicycle accident, contact Arash Law to schedule a free initial consultation. Our experienced bicycle accident lawyers can help you understand your legal options and assess whether bicyclists are partly to blame for traffic accidents.
When Is An Accident The Fault Of A Bicyclist?
When a bicycle accident involves a bicycle and a motor vehicle, it is often the driver of the motor vehicle who is found liable for a collision, as drivers are held to a high standard of care to avoid accidents with cyclists. However, bicyclists can be at fault in certain cases, such as instances where they ignore traffic signals, ride on the wrong side of the street, or act negligently.
If a bicyclist is allegedly at fault for causing an accident with a motor vehicle, they may be unable to seek any compensation from the driver. Drivers are once again held to a higher standard in these cases because bicyclists are more likely to suffer traumatic brain injuries or worse, but liability for bicycle accidents can often be very complicated, especially when insurance companies get involved.
California is a purely comparative fault state, meaning that traffic accident victims may be able to pursue compensation even when they bear up to 99% of the responsibility for causing an accident. Under comparative fault, a personโs award can also be reduced by their percentage of fault.
Comparative fault differs significantly from states using contributory negligence because such states may prohibit people from pursuing any compensation when they contributed to their accidents in any way. All bicycle accident victims may find it helpful to understand how state laws operate in the jurisdictions where they plan on filing claims.
Examples Of Negligent Cycling Behaviors
It is again important to remember that virtually all states in the nation have laws relating to bicycles on their books, so bicyclists have to ride in accordance with state law. Bicyclists who engage in illegal maneuvers may face significant challenges in pursuing compensation for injuries and losses caused by motor vehicle accidents.
Some of the most common examples of bicyclist negligence include the following:
- Stopping or rolling through stop signs.
- Riding the wrong way on a one-way street.
- Not riding in the bike lane.
- Running a stop sign or red light.
- Riding on the wrong side of the street.
- Turning abruptly into traffic.
- Riding against the direction of traffic.
- Failure to follow traffic rules at intersections.
- Failure to yield.
- Failing to use lights or reflectors when riding at night.
- Abrupt turns without giving a signal.
- Failing to use proper turn indicators or hand signals.
Riding a bicycle under the influence of alcohol or drugs is the same as a driving under the influence (DUI) offense for drivers of motor vehicles, although it is less likely to result in a criminal case. A bicyclist who was operating under the influence can also be more likely to be accused of being negligent, and NHTSA states that 20 percent of the bicyclists killed in 2018 had blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) of 0.08 or higher, with alcohol use by either a bicyclist, a driver, or both reported in 37 percent of fatal crashes.
Under the โtender yearsโ doctrine, motor vehicle drivers typically face a higher standard of care when accidents involve child bicyclists, as young children cannot be expected to exercise the same level of caution as adults. This doctrine customarily applies to children four years of age and under.
Negligence And Shared Fault
Accidents involving bicycles may center around allegations of negligence on the part of one party involved in the accident, and it will usually be a matter of insurance companies trying to sort out competing claims to determine who should be held at fault for an accident.
Ultimately, everyone operating vehicles on the road, whether they are cars or bicycles, will owe a duty of reasonable care to all other road users. A failure to exercise reasonable care, such as violating a traffic law, can be considered negligence when the act causes injury to another party.
In bicycle-car collisions, any kind of traffic violation by either party involved in the crash will likely be a critical factor in determining fault because the traffic violation often ends up being the cause of the accident. It may be difficult to establish that a party committed certain traffic violations, in which case victims seeking compensation can work with an experienced pedestrian injury or bicycle accident lawyer who can either speak with witnesses or search for local video footage that shows when and how a traffic violation occurred.
The ability to pursue compensation in these kinds of bicycle accident cases often depends on whether a person is seeking damages in a state that practices contributory negligence as opposed to comparative negligence. The system in play can make a big impact on whether a person can claim any damages at all.
Contributory Negligence
In states practicing contributory negligence, a person cannot claim damages when they are at fault for an accident in any way. Even a person who was only 1 percent at fault is still prohibited from seeking compensation.
Only five states practice contributory negligence:
- Alabama
- Maryland
- North Carolina
- Virginia
- The District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.)
Comparative Negligence
A comparative negligence system means that all parties are directly responsible for their proportion of an accident. For example, a person who is 70 percent responsible for an accident can still seek damages, but their award of $100,000 will be reduced by $70,000, and they will receive $30,000.
Comparative negligence may be pure in some states, but many others have limits under which people cannot pursue compensation if they are too much at fault. Others make distinctions between slight negligence and gross negligence.
States practicing pure comparative negligence include:
- Alaska
- Arizona
- California
- Florida
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- New Mexico
- New York
- Rhode Island
- Washington
Multiple states invoke a 50 percent bar rule under which people cannot file claims when they are 50 percent or more at fault for an accident. The states that follow the 50 percent bar rule include:
- Arkansas
- Colorado
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Kansas
- Maine
- Nebraska
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- Tennessee
- Utah
- West Virginia
Other states have a 51 percent bar rule, meaning people cannot file claims when they are 51 percent or more at fault. These states include:
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Montana
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- Ohio
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Texas
- Vermont
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
South Dakota has an older version of comparative negligence known as the slight-gross rule, under which negligence is examined as a matter of being slight in comparison to another personโs negligence, although percentages of responsibility are not assigned. A person may only seek damages if their negligence was slight in comparison to the party they filed a claim against. This raises an important question for bicyclists and motorists alike: are bicyclists partly responsible for traffic accidents, or are they unfairly blamed for accidents caused by motoristsโ negligence?
Injured On A Bike? Get Help From Our Bicycle Accident Lawyers
If you recently sustained serious injuries or your loved one was killed in a bicycle accident, calling an attorney can help you understand how the insurance claims process works and whether you can pursue compensation through it. The key question is, are bicyclists partly to blame for traffic accidents? Arash Law can help investigate what happened and search for evidence you may need to negotiate a settlement or, if necessary, present a case in court. With a valid claim, we could help you pursue compensation that considers the extent of your injuries and losses.
Call us at (888) 488-1391 to schedule a free, no-obligation first consultation with our California bicycle accident attorneys.
