There are cyclists all across Los Angeles, and they unfortunately share the road with some very irresponsible drivers. All too often, cyclists get hurt in crashes caused by inattentive motor vehicle drivers.
Sometimes, those drivers don’t just cause a wreck, but they also don’t have the insurance to compensate the cyclists that they injure. How likely are you to encounter an uninsured driver on the California roads?
California is one of the worst states for uninsured drivers
Despite having relatively low required insurance amounts, California has a high rate of driver non-compliance. California has more uninsured drivers than the average state. In fact, it has the tenth-highest rate of uninsured drivers in the country, based on 2019 figures. Roughly 16.6% of drivers in California don’t have insurance.
In other words, as many as one out of six drivers that you encounter might not have the insurance needed to pay for your property damage and injuries in a crash. Those aren’t very favorable odds if you do get hurt by someone in a motor vehicle.
The good news is that you can carry insurance to protect yourself against that risk. Carrying uninsured and underinsured motorist protection can protect you from other people’s irresponsible decisions. Although you can’t stop someone from driving without insurance or ignoring your presence on the road, you can at least protect yourself against the financial devastation they could cause.
Learning about the different risks you have as a cyclist will help you better protect yourself on the road and if you get into a bicycle crash.
