Bicyclists can use their bikes to commute, exercise, or just take an enjoyable ride through town. Unfortunately, too often these rides are hindered by bad drivers. Four times that bad driving habits cause an accident include:
- Lane changing. Changing lanes requires attention. Drivers should check their blind spots and merge carefully. Since bicycles are relatively small compared to other vehicles, a failure to do so carefully increases the risk the driver hits a biker.
- Turning at a junction. Drivers often fail to check both sides of the road before making a turn. This means they may miss a bicycle on the other roadway and cause a crash while making the turn.
- Reckless or drunk driving. Driving too fast, texting or using social media while driving, or driving while impaired by drugs are alcohol are factors that reduce the driver’s ability to pay attention the roadway and increase the risk of a crash.
- Opening a door without looking. Getting doored is no minor accident. Serious injuries can result when a driver or passenger opens a door into the path of an oncoming bicyclists. The bicyclist could face broken bones and head injuries from the impact as well as additional injuries if the crash causes them to fall into the path of oncoming traffic.
If a driver causes an accident with a cyclist, that cyclist can hold the driver liable much the same as what happens in any other car crash. The biker can generally use the legal theory of negligence to show that the driver was responsible for the crash. This can help the cyclist to get funds to cover the expenses that result from the accident — which can be very costly if the injuries were severe.
