Can You Sue Someone for Hitting You on a Bike?

Bicycling is an excellent method of exercise, an eco-friendly mode of transportation, and an enjoyable hobby for outdoorsy folks or nature enthusiasts. However, navigating narrow or lacking bike lanes, busy intersections, or even minding your business when a distracted driver comes along poses serious risks for someone hitting you on a bike. If you’ve suffered injuries and want to know the answer to “Can you sue someone for hitting you on a bike?” Yes. You can. Schedule a free consultation with an experienced San Francisco bicycle accident attorney to explore your legal options to secure compensation for your injuries. You shouldn’t be responsible for absorbing their associated costs.

Legal Grounds to Sue Someone for Hitting You on a Bike

To sue someone for hitting you on a bike, you must prove the motorist, property owner, or another party was at fault for the collision. That means establishing the elements of negligence necessary for bike accident lawsuits to be valid. An attorney uses physical, visual, legal supporting evidence, and expert testimonies to prove the following elements of negligence:

• Duty of Care: The defendant owed a legal duty to exercise reasonable care while operating their motor vehicle on the road with other motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists. This duty includes following traffic laws and safety standards. 
• Breach of Duty: The defendant breached their duty of care by failing to follow traffic laws and other safety regulations, which caused them to hit you on a bike. These breaches can include negligent and intentional acts.
• Causation: The defendant’s breach of duty was directly responsible for hitting you on a bike. Accident reconstruction is a valuable investigation method for demonstrating causation.
• Damages: You suffered measurable harm, known as compensatory damages. These include economic and intangible losses, such as medical bills, lost income, disability, and pain and suffering.

Securing evidence that showcases the at-fault party’s negligent or reckless behavior, such as violating traffic laws, is paramount in proving negligence and liability. Acting promptly before critical evidence, such as video surveillance capturing the accident from traffic cameras, dashcams, and security cams on commercial and residential buildings, is necessary before it’s destroyed. This is one of the first things a bicycle accident attorney will do to ensure a solid foundation for your lawsuit or insurance claim.

Where Do Bicycle Accidents Occur Most?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) monitored bicycle fatalities, observing upward trends, and found that the majority (62 percent) occur at non-intersection locations. The chances of someone hitting you on a bike increase in urban areas and are responsible for 85 percent of all bicycle fatalities. Bicycle accident-related injuries are disproportionately high, averaging over 45,000 annually. Of those injured bicyclists, 81 percent were male, and of those killed, 86 percent were also male.

Common Causes of Bike Accidents

Drivers who fail to yield the right away are responsible for hitting bicyclists, often resulting in moderate to severe injuries. Failure to yield is the leading factor in fatal bike collisions. Due to higher traffic and pedestrian congestion, these crashes are common at intersections and roundabouts, especially in urban areas. Other common causes of bicycle accidents are as follows:

• Distracted Driving: A leading factor in bike accidents is driver distraction. Drivers can be distracted by texting or talking on the phone, eating or drinking, adjusting the temperature or radio controls, or reaching for things within their vehicles. 
• Impaired Driving: Motorists who drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs are also responsible for causing bicycle collisions. Impairment can include over-the-counter, prescription, and illicit street drugs. Driving drowsy or fatigued is classified as impairment.
• Unsafe Lane Changes: Sometimes, drivers change lanes without checking for bicyclists in their blind spots or signaling, which can cause bike accidents. Unsafe lane changes can catch cyclists off guard and prevent them from reacting quickly enough to avoid a crash. 
• Right-Hook Crashes: When motorists pass a cyclist on their right and then suddenly make a right turn into the cyclist’s path, they cause a right-hook bike collision. These accidents are among the leading causes of bicycle-motor vehicle accidents in the U.S.
• Aggressive Driving: Aggressive driving behaviors, such as speeding and following too closely, can increase the risk of bicycle accidents. Road rage is an extreme form of aggressive driving in which drivers may resort to intentional acts, such as violence, to hit someone on a bike. 
• Dooring: Dooring is when drivers open their vehicle doors without looking into cyclists. It can result in bike riders colliding with the open door or swerving to avoid it, leading to crashing into other objects, falls, and injuries.

Other causes of bicycle collisions are poor infrastructure, such as a lack of bike lanes, and hazardous road conditions, including potholes, cracked concrete, crumbling curbs, broken sidewalks, insufficient lighting, malfunctioning traffic lights, and missing road signs. An experienced bike accident attorney documents these conditions to prove negligence and hold all liable parties accountable for damages.

Who Is Liable for Bike Accidents?

Who is liable for your bike accident, injuries, and damages depends on the circumstances of the collision. Generally, the driver of a vehicle is the at-fault party when someone hits you on a bike. However, there are some circumstances involving other liable parties. Multiple liability is also plausible (and more complex), depending on the specifics of your accident. A bike accident lawyer navigates these complexities by investigating all potentially liable parties, including:

• Other Cyclists: When other bicyclists violate traffic laws, such as cycling while distracted by their cell phones, they can be liable for damages.
• Pedestrians: Pedestrians who dart out unexpectedly into bike lanes or streets or ignore traffic signals frequently contribute to bicycle accidents.
• Manufacturers: The bike manufacturer can be liable if a bike’s defective part causes an accident. Common defective parts include the bike’s frame, brakes,  and tires.
• Government Entities: When hazardous road conditions, including standing water due to poor drainage, potholes, and insufficient lighting, cause bike accidents, government entities can be held accountable. They are also liable when an employee driving a government vehicle is responsible for the crash.
• Rideshare Companies: If the at-fault motorist was driving for a rideshare company, such as Uber or Lyft, lawyers may negotiate with third-party insurance companies to recover compensation for damages.

When commercial vehicles or employees performing work-related tasks cause a bike accident, they can be vicariously liable for injuries and damage. Vicarious liability holds employers responsible for their employee’s negligent actions when operating within the normal scope of their work duties. Cases involving commercial vehicles typically involve significant damages, complex evidence, and corporate insurance structures designed to protect truck company assets. You’ll want a bicycle accident lawyer with experience navigating truck accident lawsuits and insurance claims in these cases.

How an Experienced Bike Accident Lawyer Can Help

When you want to sue someone for hitting you on a bike, you need an experienced bicycle accident lawyer to represent your case. They are highly educated and qualified to handle the legal aspects of filing and navigating lawsuits. Bike accident attorneys understand what insurance companies expect and ensure accurate filing, strong evidence presentation, and detailed medical documentation to recover fair compensation.

Free Consultations

Bike accident lawyers provide free consultations to injured parties seeking compensation for their damages. They understand the catastrophic aftermath these collisions can impose and aim to be a support rather than an additional financial burden. During their initial meeting, bike accident attorneys will discuss specifics and help you determine the appropriate legal action.

While you can sue someone for hitting you on a bike, lawyers usually start by filing a claim for compensation through liable insurance companies. They may consider filing civil lawsuits when negotiations fail to secure a fair settlement. Beginning at the insurance claim process saves bike accident victims, attorneys, and insurers time and money. Therefore, most cases do not go to the court.

Contingency Fee Arrangements

Most bicycle accident attorneys work within contingency fee arrangements to guarantee their clients no out-of-pocket expenses for their services. These arrangements provide peace of mind to bicycle accident victims, ensuring their lawyers only get paid if and when they secure a settlement. If they don’t win, you don’t pay. Contingency makes legal representation a risk-free service to injured cyclists who need an attorney.

Case Investigation 

A thorough case investigation is necessary for proving negligence and establishing liability in bike accident claims and lawsuits. Bicycle accident lawyers gather, preserve, and analyze evidence, interview witnesses, and document the accident scene. Depending on the circumstances of your crash, they may consult accident reconstruction specialists, medical experts, economists, and vocational rehabilitation specialists to strengthen the evidence in your case. Expert witness testimony is invaluable to bicycle accident lawsuits and insurance claims.

Comprehensive Claim Valuation

How much a bike accident is worth depends on factors such as how severe your injuries are and their impact on your daily life and work duties—generally, the more devastating the consequences of a bicycle collision, the higher the settlement. To comprehensively value bicycle accident claims, attorneys calculate economic damages and assess non-economic damages, including the following:

• Medical Costs: The healthcare expenses treating your injuries are calculable economic losses after a bike accident. These encompass ambulance and EMT services, ER visits and hospitalizations, surgeries and post-operative care, and primary visits and rehabilitation services.
• Long-Term Care: When injuries require ongoing, future, or long-term medical care, lawyers and medical providers assess the needs and costs. This involves evaluating future surgeries, rehabilitation needs, and nursing home or long-term facility care. Location costs of care and inflation are factored into these calculations.
• Property Damages: You should be reimbursed for the costs of repairing or replacing your bicycle. Attorneys calculate all property damages, including helmets, phones, laptops, jewelry, clothing, groceries, and other valuables destroyed in the accident.
• Lost Earnings: Missing work creates income losses, which are calculated when assessing damages. These commonly include lost income, overtime, and non-salary compensation, like tips and commissions. However, they can compensate for lost medical benefits, retirement, pensions, and promotions with proper documentation.
• Pain and Suffering: Your physical pain, whether acute or chronic—and your emotional suffering are intangible losses or non-economic damages. A lawyer will determine their value when applicable. Pain and suffering encompasses aches, discomforts, sleep disturbances, mental anguish, and the psychological impact of your accident and injuries. 
• Decreased Quality of Life: Attorneys can assess decreased quality of life when injuries limit mobility or ability or cause permanent impairment or disability. This damage compensates for injuries that require assistance with basic care needs, such as eating, drinking, bathing, dressing, and toileting.
• Loss of Consortium: Accident victims, spouses, and, in some circumstances, children and parents can file for a loss of consortium. This damage encompasses the intangible losses from a relationship due to injuries, such as a loss of love, affection, companionship, guidance, support, household services, and physical intimacy.

Families mourning the negligent loss of a loved one in a bicycle collision may be entitled to recover wrongful death benefits. These encompass compensation for final healthcare costs, income losses, and conscious pain and suffering of the decedent before their death. Wrongful death benefits may also compensate for funeral and burial expenses, your income losses while grieving, loss of financial support, and a loss of consortium or companionship.

Fighting for Fair Settlements

A significant benefit of hiring a bike accident attorney is their proclivity for demanding reasonable settlements for injuries and damages. Lawyers are aware of typical insurance company practices to reduce their liability, undervalue, and deny valid bike accident claims and are prepared for them. They fight for their client’s right to recover the fair settlement they are owed and deserve. 

Speak to an Experienced Bike Accident Attorney

The time you have to legally sue someone for hitting you on a bike depends on state statutes and regulations. You want to act swiftly to ensure your protection against insurance claim adjusters and to have a tailored legal strategy for recovering compensation for your damages. Schedule a free consultation to speak with an experienced San Francisco personal injury lawyer and explore your legal options to sue or file a claim.