When thousands of cyclists are injured in accidents every year, you can bet that many of them weren’t caused by natural disasters.
Negligence is the reason why most cyclists end up hitting pavement.
Knowing how negligence laws apply to bicycle accidents can mean the difference between financial recovery and walking away with nothing after an accident.
Fortunately for victims of negligent drivers, negligence laws favor those who have been injured through no fault of their own.
Take a look at this guide to negligence and bike accidents to learn more.
You’ll learn
- What negligence means with bike accidents
- The four elements you must prove to win
- How comparative negligence may lower your compensation
- The most common driver negligence factors
- Everything you should do after a collision
Table of Contents
What Does Negligence Mean With Bike Accidents?
Negligence simply means that someone acted carelessly.
In a bicycle accident personal injury case, negligence could refer to any driver (or other at-fault party) who fails to take reasonable care on the road. If their negligent behavior causes a collision that injures you…
You may be able to hold them financially responsible for your injuries.
If a driver texts while driving and hits you, they have been negligent in their duty to drive safely. They had a responsibility to operate their vehicle with reasonable care. They breached that responsibility. And you were injured in the collision.
A Bicycle Accident Lawyer in Fort Wayne can determine if negligence was a factor in your bike accident injury claim and advocate on your behalf during negotiations.
Bicycle accidents kill nearly 1,000 people every year, according to the CDC. That’s 999 too many. Along with those deaths, another 120,000 cyclists suffer non-fatal injuries that require emergency room treatment.
Bicycle accidents can be devastating, but you have rights. Negligence laws exist for a reason – to protect injured parties when accidents like these occur.
What Are The Four Elements You Must Prove?
If you plan on pursuing a negligence claim against a driver who hit you, you’ll need to prove four elements. Fail to prove one and your claim won’t succeed.
Proving negligence can be difficult, but here’s what you need to prove:
- Duty of Care. The other driver owed you a duty to drive with reasonable care. All drivers have a legal duty to operate their vehicle in a manner that doesn’t put others at risk of injury.
- Breach of Duty. The driver breached that duty by driving negligently. Speeding, running a red light, or failing to check blind spots are examples.
- Cause. The breach of duty caused the accident. You’ll need to establish that but-for the breach of duty, you wouldn’t have been injured.
- Damages. You suffered damages as a result of the accident. Injury, loss of income, pain and suffering, and property damage fall under this category.
A negligence claim only works if all four of these elements are present.
It’s like building a chain. If one link is broken, the chain breaks.
Say the driver was speeding but you hit a hole in the road causing you to crash. Their negligence did not cause the accident.
How Does Comparative Negligence Affect My Claim?
Say you’re partly at fault for the accident.
Maybe you failed to use your hand signal when turning. Or maybe you were biking without a light at night.
Comparative negligence allows the court to assign fault to you as well. When that happens, your total recovery will be reduced by your percentage of fault.
For example:
The jury decides you were 20% at fault for failing to signal. Your damages total $100,000.
$100,000 – 20% (jury’s determined percentage of fault) = $80,000 award
Your settlement amount would be $80,000 instead of $100,000.
In some states, you can be barred from recovering anything if you were even 1% responsible for the accident. This is known as contributory negligence. If you live in Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, or Washington D.C., you’re subject to these rules.
No matter where you live, it’s important to know which version of negligence law applies to you. It can make or break your case.
Common Types of Driver Negligence With Bike Accidents
Drivers can be negligent in almost every way imaginable.
But some are more common than others. Take a look at these typical forms of driver negligence in bicycle accidents.
Drivers who text and drive. Distracted driving is the cause of numerous fatal accidents each year.
Failure to yield the right of way. Drivers who fail to give cyclists the right of way can cause serious injury accidents.
Dooring. When drivers open their car door without looking for cyclists, they can cause a dooring accident.
Changing lanes without signaling. Unsafe lane changes have caused countless cyclists to be hit by drivers.
Running red lights and stop signs. Rushing through a green light only to hit a cyclist is never excusable.
Speeding in residential areas. Speed limits are there for a reason – to keep everyone safe.
Driving under the influence. Alcohol was involved in over one-third of deadly bicycle collisions.
According to the NSC, more than one in three fatal bicycle crashes involve alcohol. That means driving under the influence is a leading cause of bike accidents.
Keep reading to learn about negligence that isn’t the driver’s fault…
Poor weather isn’t always a cyclist’s fault. When municipalities fail to maintain safe roads, they could be held liable for your injuries.
Negligence can also apply to local governments if they don’t provide safe accommodations for cyclists.
You’ll have to file a government claim if you want to sue the government. These types of claims are different from typical lawsuits and have much shorter deadlines.
Steps to Take After A Bicycle Accident
Car accidents are overwhelming. But your actions after a collision can help or hinder your injury claim.
Do these things after any bicycle collision:
- Call the police. Reporting the accident to 911 allows officers to make a police report. A police report provides valuable evidence for your claim.
- Seek medical treatment. You might feel fine at the scene of the accident. But some injuries are latent and show symptoms later.
- Document your surroundings. Take pictures of your injuries, the damage to your bike, the road conditions, and traffic signs. You should also get the contact information of anyone who witnesses the accident.
- Preserve evidence. Hold onto any damaged helmets, torn clothing, and broken parts of your bicycle.
- Don’t provide a recorded statement. Insurance companies are notorious for twisting cyclists’ words to reduce payouts or place blame on the victim.
These are just a few of the steps you should take after a bicycle collision. There are others, but these will help you now.
Negligence Laws and Bike Accidents: Wrapping Things Up
Bicycle accidents are scary, and sometimes life-changing. Negligence laws are here to protect cyclists from financial burdens that come along with being injured in an accident.
Here’s a quick recap:
- Negligence refers to someone’s careless actions.
- You must prove duty of care, breach, causation, and damages
- Comparative negligence might reduce your settlement amount
- Common driver negligence includes texting and driving
- Document as much evidence as you can after an accident
No one wants to think about being injured in a bicycle accident. But they happen thousands of times a day.
When they do happen, you need to know your rights. Filing a successful negligence claim against a driver who hits you could mean the difference between financial struggle and financial stability.
Don’t wait too long to file your claim, either. Every state has a time limit on how long you have to file a personal injury lawsuit. If you exceed the statute of limitations, you lose your right to sue forever.
Talk to a local personal injury attorney today to learn more about negligence laws that apply to your accident.
