Can I Sue if I Was Riding My Bike on the Sidewalk and Was Hit By a Car?
Riding a bicycle has been shown to reduce stress and improve your mood. Sadly, each year, over 40,000 individuals are injured while riding their bikes, with approximately 1,000 fatalities. While liability may be clear when a cyclist is following the rules of the road, can you pursue compensation if you were riding your bike on a sidewalk?
In short, yes. Since Pennsylvania provides similar protections to pedestrians and bicyclists, a cyclist will still be entitled to compensation even if breaking a traffic law. However, compensation will be reduced based on the cyclist’s degree of fault. In this blog, our Pennsylvania bicycle accident attorneys discuss how liability is determined when a motorist hits a bicyclist, as well as Pennsylvania bicycle laws.
Establishing Liability
Negligence occurs whenever a person behaves with less care than a person of ordinary intelligence, causing another to suffer harm. It can be broken down as follows:
- Duty: Each road user has a duty to follow traffic rules and regulations
- Breach: A road user violates their duty of care when failing to comply with traffic regulations
- Causation: To prove that the defendant’s (motorist’s) actions caused your injuries, a causal link must be drawn between the defendant’s actions and the harm suffered.
- Damages: As a result of your injury, you sustained measurable losses such as lost wages, medical expenses, and bicycle repair costs.
Evidence establishing the motorist’s negligence is key to a successful claim. Photographs of your injuries and the damage to your bike, video footage of the incident, and eyewitness testimony can help authorities piece together what happened.
Pennsylvania Bicycle Laws
Pedal cyclists are given the same rights as motor vehicle operators, with the following laws being placed in effect in Pennsylvania:
- Cyclists may ride on the shoulder of the road in the same direction as traffic.
- Cyclists may travel on the right-most travel lane on a multi-lane road, in the right lane on a two-lane road, and anywhere on the right side of the roadway if there is no center line.
- Cyclists cannot ride more than two abreast (side-by-side).
- Cyclists may move to the left lane when passing, preparing to make a left turn, or avoiding an obstruction in the roadway.
- Motorists need to allow four feet of space between their vehicles and cyclists, with passing permitted in no-passing zones.
- Motorists should check for cyclists in the travel or bike lane before opening their doors when parked on the side of the street.
While a cyclist is not permitted to ride on a sidewalk, if a motorist drives onto the sidewalk illegally, the bicyclist will be entitled to the entirety of damages sustained. If the bicyclist shares fault for the accident, then the cyclist’s damages will be reduced based on their percentage of fault. This is known as the doctrine of comparative negligence. If the plaintiff is determined to be more at fault than the defendant, then they will be barred from recovery. When you work with our personal injury attorneys, we will conduct an investigation into the incident to evaluate how liability should be distributed.
Hit By a Car While Biking? Consult Our Pennsylvania Bicycle Accident Attorneys Today
The Pennsylvania bicycle accident attorneys at HGSK Injury Lawyers are aware that the circumstances behind an accident can be complex. If the insurance company is attempting to pin you with liability for your bicycle accident, our legal team would like to hear from you. With over 400 years of combined experience, our legal team knows the ins and outs of insurance claims and how to submit a winning claim. Let us put our abilities, knowledge, and insight to work for you. To schedule your free consultation or to simply learn more, contact us online or give us a call at (267) 551-8782 today.