So I got hit by a car on my bike...

[sortastock]

Last September I was riding my bike home from class, when I got hit by a car! I was on a road in the suburbs without a shoulder, so I ride the sidewalk for safety and to avoid disrupting the flow of traffic.

I was going pretty good, and had the right of way. A man driving a car pulled up to the road way I was on, pulled through the stop sign half way and stopped. I had less than a 1/4 of a second to respond. I started hitting the brakes, but hit the side of his car.

Just yesterday, I received a letter from his insurance company asking for 500 dollars to repair his car!!!

I'm refusing to do so, and will be responding to this request with a stern letter, but I wanted to check here to see if anyone know's whether I was doing anything illegal.

[berrywise]

You can check your city's ordinances about riding on sidewalks. In some areas it is illegal, though it tends to be more in business districts.

[iteric]

Last September I was riding my bike home from class, when I got hit by a car! I was on a road in the suburbs without a shoulder, so I ride the sidewalk for safety and to avoid disrupting the flow of traffic.

I was going pretty good, and had the right of way. A man driving a car pulled up to the road way I was on, pulled through the stop sign half way and stopped. I had less than a 1/4 of a second to respond. I started hitting the brakes, but hit the side of his car.

Just yesterday, I received a letter from his insurance company asking for 500 dollars to repair his car!!!

I'm refusing to do so, and will be responding to this request with a stern letter, but I wanted to check here to see if anyone know's whether I was doing anything illegal.


I wouldn't write anything to him as it could be used against you later.

As for illegal? You may be in the wrong for riding the sidewalk but drivers have to stop behind the stop sign.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, more importantly I'm not your lawyer.

[jeffgude]

Was is a regular size sidewalk or a wide bike-path style sidewalk?

[sortastock]

It was a wide sidewalk, but I checked and the only ordinances my city has is in business districts.

I'm responding to the insurance company, not the individual. I'm typing something up right now.

[berrywise]

It was a wide sidewalk, but I checked and the only ordinances my city has is in business districts.

I'm responding to the insurance company, not the individual. I'm typing something up right now.

Just remember a lot of times it is all in the wording. Make sure you show that you did everything your power to avoid hitting the car. An insurance company will look to apply a percent of the blame to each party. Draw up a diagram of what happened, make sure you note that you were looking both ways and slowing down as you entered the intersection and that he blew the stop sign coming to a stop well within your right away.

[jitterjepp]

[quote=sortastock;219114]
Call the city attorney and get more information. Don't send any letters before you do that or seek other qualified legal advice. There are a few Minnesota laws that that person broke when they hit you and if it involved injuries (you) and the person didn't wait for the police they broke the law. Accidents involving pedestrians or injuries require the driver of an automobile to wait for/call the police and get a report on record. Unless they changed it but I don't believe they did.

[jeffgude]

If you were injured in any way (even just sore or scraped) that you can prove, they will most likely drop any attempt to collect back from you. Make them aware that you could be injured and contemplating filing an injury claim. I'm not suggesting that you lie however, if you truly were not hurt at all.

[sortastock]

Jeff,

That's a good point. My rotator cuff injury was aggrevated in the crash. That may give me some leverage.

[jkalla]

Not to be an ass, but you did not get hit by a car - you hit him.

It may be different if you were in the road versus the crosswalk. Most sidewalks that I am aware of are behind the stop sign. You would have collided with him anyway. I am not sure if you have the right of way in this case because you are not in the road that has the right of way - you are on the sidewalk. So whereas it may not be illegal for you to ride on the sidewalk - it doesn't necesarrily follow that you have the right of way while riding through at a crosswalk.

Ok everyone - start attacking me.

[RiverRat]

The stop line at red lights or the stop sign for every intersection is before the cross walk. You are technically supposed to stop at the line or sign, which would be before the cross walk. If you can't see well enough to judge if you can go after stopping there, you can then inch forward to get a better view.

But, cases like this are why I chose to ride on the road where bicycles are legally allowed (and usually encouraged) to be. You are much more likely to be seen if you are on the road, rather than the side walk, and if someone does pull too far ahead at a stop sign, you "should" still be able to clear them. Also, most sidewalks that allow bikes have a posted speed limit of 10 mph. I would assume that "going pretty good" would be exceeding 10 mph. Much faster than you would be able to stop at an intersection that you can't see the traffic that's hauling @$$ up to the stop sign. I'm not saying the party involved is at fault, but there are some things that, in this case, if they were done differently, this particular accident may not have happened. The driver definitely should be at least partially at fault, if not fully. Unfortunately, there is no way you can avoid all accidents by following one magical set of guidelines. Each individual is RESPONSIBLE for making their own decisions on the risks they want to take and evaluating their skill level for the conditions they ride under.

[Paul Swenson]

It's statistically a great deal safer to ride on the road then the sidewalk:

Never ride on the sidewalk -- sidewalk crashes are 25 times as frequent than crashes that occur on major streets. Safest are streets with bike lanes.

http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F20C15FA3A540C768CDDAF0894DF404482

[manual63]

Make it clear that he stopped past the stop sign. It is in the drivers manual, drivers are supposed to stop behind the stop sign, not past it.

My personal opinion, if you are commuting, you are much safer in the road than on the sidewalk. If you ride on the sidewalk, I personally think it is your duty to watch for cars, including idiots like this one. People in cars rarely watch for cyclists on sidewalks. But you are clearly visible in the road. Not that someone can't hit you, but I feel it is safer in the road and some roads, like fast ones without shoulders, are best avoided.

Legal or not......it's up to you to not get hit if you are riding on the sidewalk.

[bigwheel]

Jerks! I can't believe that they are asking you to pay for what was the driver's fault.

You were on a bike path - not a sidewalk. The driver pulled up farther than he was supposed to.

I would tell the insurance company that if they drop the request for the car repair, and take care of the expenses needed to get your bike back to pre-accident status, that you will not take them to court for the scrapes or injury to your rotator cuff. Rotators are nasty injuries and usually take a long time to heal.

Seriously, push back at them! If they don't pick up the cost for truing your wheels or straightening handlebars or whatever, then they are in for a tougher battle. They are professionals trying to get a buck from anyone they can. Don't let them win. Unless it's something really stupid, which it doesn't sound like, then car vs bike means the car pays.

[FarmerBEN]

It's statistically a great deal safer to ride on the road then the sidewalk:

Never ride on the sidewalk -- sidewalk crashes are 25 times as frequent than crashes that occur on major streets. Safest are streets with bike lanes.

http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F20C15FA3A540C768CDDAF0894DF404482


Those statistics probably don't take into account the experience of average riders and number of riders, I would assume that the street sees less riders most of whom have more experience than the hoards of huffies cruising sidewalks all of over the place.

[sortastock]

It is completely legal to ride on a sidewalk, as long as there are no city ordinances prohibiting it. When riding on a sidewalk, you are a pedestrian, and have all rights and privelages as a pedestrian. This means, and is clearly stated in Minnesota statutes, that the man that collided with me violated two laws. He did not stop behind the stop sign, and he did not yield the right of way to me, the pedestrian, as he should have.

But yes, because he violated two laws, his vehicle was where it should not have been, and we collided.

Not to be an ass, but you did not get hit by a car - you hit him.

It may be different if you were in the road versus the crosswalk. Most sidewalks that I am aware of are behind the stop sign. You would have collided with him anyway. I am not sure if you have the right of way in this case because you are not in the road that has the right of way - you are on the sidewalk. So whereas it may not be illegal for you to ride on the sidewalk - it doesn't necesarrily follow that you have the right of way while riding through at a crosswalk.

Ok everyone - start attacking me.

[sortastock]

I've got a letter put together, I'll post it when I get more time, just for yuks...