Riding bike and got hit by a car..Legal Advice?

mr_burnzz

mr_burnzz

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This didn't happen to me but some one I know whose intelligence is questionable. So in aug 2011 he was riding his bike and a car hit him. It was bad enough that the cops came and wrote a report. In it, it indicates that it was NO ONE'S FAULT. I don't know...The EMT told him to go to the ER because he complained of neck pain. They didn't take him in the ambulance so he went on his own. So he goes there and bla bla, it costs $1000. So he pays it himself after they did nothing.

How the hell do you get hit by a car riding your bike and the cop says that it's no one's fault? This isn't NYC or anything but in the suburbs. Is a bike rider still not a pedestrian? I don't understand how he got hit by a car and now he has to deal with bills relating to that incident. After the cop came writing the report and all that, everyone just goes home. How do you hit a kid in a bike and get to go home without any trouble? No ticket, no anythingn. I'm in the process of getting the police report and the hospital bill and seeking legal advice for him. What do you think about this? Is there a solid case here? I was joking around before and told my wife and friend that in america, people WISH someone would hit them with a car. Money in the bank!
 
[quote name='mr_burnzz']Is a bike rider still not a pedestrian?[/QUOTE]

A bike rider has never been considered a pedestrian. A bike is considered a vehicle and as such should be on the road going the same direction as the car traffic. Was he going with the car traffic or going against it?
 
People riding bikes can make mistakes just as well as someone driving.

You need a preponderance of evidence in civil court. The police report says it was no one's fault. That's not probable cause.

Case dismissed and now you've racked up some legal fees on top of the 1,000 that no on is going to pay.
 
Not enough info to get indepth advice. Which direction was your friend & the car traveling? Was your friend crossing the road? Was your friend on the correct side of the road? Contact an attorney & have them send a letter to the driver's insurance.

How was your friend struck by a vehicle & not injured in any way?
 
I do not know the direction the driver and my friend was going. I've yet to see the police report.

He felt like he had some neck injury due to pain but it turns out there isn't anything wrong since he has not complained. And the ER let him go.

So a car hitting a 19 yr old on a bike is the same as hitting another car? I don't get it since a car weighs tons and a bike is a bike. But I guess all this depends on how everything went down. I'll find out later on when he gives me the report.
 
Good article on the subject.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/201...-cars-collide-whos-more-likely-to-be-at-fault

But yeah, bicycles are considered to be vehicles and are expected to obey the same traffic laws (though many don't). It might be a little odd that there was literally "no fault" in the accident (obstructed view for both the driver and the cyclist perhaps?), but even so, it would be a bitch of a time proving it. Even, if it was lazy police work, not much you can do.

The lesson here: Riding a bike is dangerous. Cars are bigger than you.
 
[quote name='mr_burnzz']I do not know the direction the driver and my friend was going. I've yet to see the police report.

He felt like he had some neck injury due to pain but it turns out there isn't anything wrong since he has not complained. And the ER let him go.

So a car hitting a 19 yr old on a bike is the same as hitting another car? I don't get it since a car weighs tons and a bike is a bike. But I guess all this depends on how everything went down. I'll find out later on when he gives me the report.[/QUOTE]

Yes because they have to follow traffic laws. The same applies to horses ridden in the road. It sounds like your friend crossed the road illegally and went into the path of the car.
 
[quote name='silentevil']Yes because they have to follow traffic laws. The same applies to horses ridden in the road. It sounds like your friend crossed the road illegally and went into the path of the car.[/QUOTE]

Wouldn't that make it HIS fault then? And thus make him liable for any damages to the car? Wasn't there another thread a while back like that? Was that slidecage?
 
[quote name='n8rockerasu']The lesson here: Riding a bike is dangerous. Cars are bigger than you.[/QUOTE]

Alternative lesson: riding a bike is dangerous, so there should be bike paths to make it safer.
 
[quote name='mr_burnzz']
How the hell do you get hit by a car riding your bike and the cop says that it's no one's fault? This isn't NYC or anything but in the suburbs. Is a bike rider still not a pedestrian? [/QUOTE]

Bikers are not pedestrians. They're considered vehicles and have to obey traffic laws. Thus a biker can still be at fault if they ran a stop sign, or cut off a car etc.

It's just like an accident involving two cars in terms of legality. If there's a witness who can confirm one party was at fault (or one party confesses) then the cops will write it up that way. If there's no evidence or admission one way or the other, it goes down as no fault.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']Alternative lesson: riding a bike is dangerous, so there should be bike paths to make it safer.[/QUOTE]

That's it in a nutshell. Cities need more bike lanes. Just too dangerous to ride a bike on heavily trafficked roads without them.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']Alternative lesson: riding a bike is dangerous, so there should be bike paths to make it safer.[/QUOTE]

There are bike paths. They just go in a circle and they're out in the woods. It's a little more complicated when you actually need to get somewhere. Even with a dedicated bike lane, you still have to cross paths with cars.

[quote name='dmaul1114']That's it in a nutshell. Cities need more bike lanes. Just too dangerous to ride a bike on heavily trafficked roads without them.[/QUOTE]

Don't get me wrong. I agree with this. Just saying...those lanes still intersect with car lanes, and traffic laws need to be known and followed by all parties involved.
 
[quote name='n8rockerasu']
Don't get me wrong. I agree with this. Just saying...those lanes still intersect with car lanes, and traffic laws need to be known and followed by all parties involved.[/QUOTE]

For sure.

Bike lanes just help with the one biggest problem of having bikes in traffic lanes--bikes usually can't do the speed limit. So they're going to get passed and there's always risk involved in that.

With bike lanes they're at least out of traffic, and it's their own fault if they don't obey traffic laws at intersections.
 
What pisses me off about bikers is when they come to traffic lights or stop signs and they decide to make illegal turns or blow through a red/stop sign just because they're on a bike and think they can get away with it. I think its total bullshit that they ride in the street like a car but as soon as they come to a stop sign they dart into the crosswalk without stopping and act like traffic should have to treat them like a pedestrian. Of course no city is going to put police resources there on ticketing asshole bike riders like that.

And even when there is a Class II bike lane, half the time the bikers are biking in the car lane closest to the side of the street and not in the lane that's been created for them. And unfortunately most of the Class I bike lanes I've seen are scenic routes so a lot of bikers don't like taking them. And this is really the best it'll get because you can't have a sidewalk, a Class I bike lane, and a road all in the same place without things getting ridiculous.
 
^^
Yup. I hate those f'ers.

[quote name='mr_burnzz']
So a car hitting a 19 yr old on a bike is the same as hitting another car? I don't get it since a car weighs tons and a bike is a bike. But I guess all this depends on how everything went down. I'll find out later on when he gives me the report.[/QUOTE]

Yes. Age doesn't matter. Motorcycles also weigh a lot less than most cars just like most cars are outweighed by trucks and those by 18-wheelers. They're all still vehicles just like your friends bike.

If there is nothing wrong with him, as you say he hasn't complained, I'd just stop there and call it a win-win. Your friend is in good health (or at least, not complaining and not in pain associated with the accident), he doesn't have to worry about legal fees and he doesn't have to worry about fixing the car (if it were his fault).
 
[quote name='Number83']First thing to come to mind was Slidecage.[/QUOTE]

Read my mind! I had to do a double-take to make sure I wasn't seeing things when I saw he wasn't the OP.
 
[quote name='kodave']What pisses me off about bikers is when they come to traffic lights or stop signs and they decide to make illegal turns or blow through a red/stop sign just because they're on a bike and think they can get away with it.[/QUOTE]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsQiLumtyWQ

Of course once you get off your bike, you're still breaking the law as a pedestrian not following the rules.
 
[quote name='kodave']What pisses me off about bikers is when they come to traffic lights or stop signs and they decide to make illegal turns or blow through a red/stop sign just because they're on a bike and think they can get away with it. I think its total bullshit that they ride in the street like a car but as soon as they come to a stop sign they dart into the crosswalk without stopping and act like traffic should have to treat them like a pedestrian.[/QUOTE]

I hate those car drivers who accelerate through a yellow light that they could stop for and that don't come to a complete stop at a stop sign "because they can see that it's clear".
 
[quote name='Clak']:lol: I never thought about that. If you're stuck at a light and just get off the bike and push it across the crosswalk.[/QUOTE]

I've not seen that, but lots of times see bikers ride across the cross walk when stuck at a red light. Drives me nuts as they want to be treated both as cars and pedestrians.
 
So he told me that he was on a straight 2 way road and tried to make a left turn. He was crossing a solid double yellow line with two lanes. Left lane going straight and the right lane going right only. He made it to the yellow lines and was in the left lane of oncoming traffic (All the cars were bumper to bumper because of a stop light ahead). So there he was, practically in the middle of the road between 2 cars, peering over to see the right lane to see if cars were coming. And of course there was. The front wheel of his bike was in the right lane and the car hit him. Ambulance was called and they took him to the ER. Hearing this sounds like he is shit outta luck since he was crossing the street at a dumb time.
 
Yeah, if anything that's his fault since he turned in front of on coming traffic that had the right away.

If he'd been in a car, he'd likely have gotten cited for failure to yield right away. Cop probably took it easy on him since he was on a bike.
 
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