Police say the man was riding his bike on the sidewalk and entered the road and was struck by a car. The accident happened around 4 p.m., Tuesday September 24, 2019, on East Olive Avenue near North Winery Avenue.
Police erected a roadblock on Olive so investigators could examine the scene. The 35-year-old cyclist was taken to Community Regional Medical Center with a broken leg and lacerations to his head. Officers say the driver cooperated with authorities, and not charges are expected to be filed.
Fresno Bicycle Accidents
Fresno is an upcoming bicycling community receiving a bronze award—the lowest of five awards—from the League of American Bicyclists. However, many cities work hard for years and don’t receive even a bronze award. The league found that for Fresno to move up, it needs a more comprehensive bicycle promotion plan and more protected bike lanes.
The city of Fresno hasn’t outright banned riding on sidewalks, but certain downtown sidewalks are prohibited, and on all other sidewalks, the cyclist is to ride so that others can be safe and must yield to pedestrians.
Who’s at Fault in Bicycle v. Car Accident?
In California, a cyclist is supposed to follow the rules of the road when riding on the streets just the same as if it were a motor vehicle. If the bike is traveling slower than traffic, then it is supposed to ride in a bike lane if there is one, or on the far-right side of the traffic lane.
So, what happens when a cyclist disobeys one of these rules and gets hit by a car? Is it automatically the cyclist’s fault? California law states that a violation of any traffic code can’t be used to determine liability in a civil suit. This means that even if a cyclist broke a vehicle code and got hit, the law will not look at the code violation but at the actions of those involved in the accident to see who was negligent.
If it turns out that the cyclist was negligent in riding the bicycle, then the law will look at the percentage of fault for each driver and assign liability for compensation based on those percentages. If the cyclist was 40 percent at fault and the driver 60, then the injured cyclist will still collect 60 percent of their injuries and damages.
Even if you feel that you were to blame for an accident, talk to an attorney to have your case evaluated. If you are injured and are suffering significant financial losses, 60 percent of damage compensation is better than none.
Contact a Personal Injury Lawyer.
After any accident involving a serious injury in the Central Valley, contact attorney Martin Gasparian for a free consultation and case evaluation. Mr. Gasparian takes a hands-on approach to every case. He believes that every client should work directly with their lawyer, get honest advice and the personalized attention to detail their case deserves.
Contact Maison Law today at 559-203-3333 or by using our contact form.
