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Safety, Laws, and Rights – California Bicycle Crash Lawyer

Maison Law represents California bicyclists hurt by local drivers. Our bicycle accident lawyers are committed to helping victims secure the support they need to fully recover and return to their bikes as soon as possible. 

Schedule a free, no-obligation case consultation with a real lawyer. 

It’s a chance to find out what your injury is worth and what you should demand from an at-fault driver’s car insurance.

California Bicycle Accident Claims Process

STEP 1

Call Us For A Free Consulation

Call us 24/7 with No Obligations

STEP 2

Describe Your Accident Details

We will then discuss your legal options and decide whether to move your case forward.

STEP 3

Retain Maison Law w/ No Upfront Fees

We work on contingency. No attorney fees unless you win your case.

STEP 4

Receive Your Compensation

We will fight for you to earn the highest possible payout for your damages.

How Do I Know If I Need a Lawyer After a California Bicycle Crash?

If your accident results in a serious injury and a reckless driver is to blame, you should talk over your case with a skilled California bicycle accident lawyer.

Insurance companies will look for ways to blame you for what happened. They’ll also try to limit the support you receive by downplaying how badly you are hurt.

Your lawyer is your protection against this type of treatment. Your lawyer collects evidence and files your injury claim for you. Your lawyer also protects you during settlement negotiations to make sure you and your family receive everything required to pay hospital and physical therapy bills. 

Having a lawyer represent your case can mean you take home much more in compensation. And there are no upfront costs to hire a lawyer.

Your Maison Law representative isn’t paid unless you win your case. Then our fee comes out of the insurance settlement you receive.

Our Clients Say...

“Great experience! Highly recommended!

Hopefully we won’t ever need the services again but if so, definitely would use them again! Thank You!”

Nicole P.
July 2021

 Advocates for Safe Rides for All California Cyclists

California cyclists of all ages deserve to feel protected wherever they ride, and they deserve to return home safely. California law guarantees the rights of cyclists to use traffic lanes the same as motorists. And when careless drivers cause serious collisions, injured cyclists can count on the state’s personal injury laws to demand justice and financial help through recovery.

California riders should stay informed of the different types of bike lanes they have available in many cities. They should be aware of the statutes that lay out their responsibilities when riding a bike and the duties that motorists must observe to keep all bicyclists safe.

Maison Law wants all cyclists to know their rights and be able to rely on certain legal protections when they ride alongside vehicles and when reckless motorists cause them to get hurt. In the next few sections, we’ll go over the risks that California riders face, the laws that protect them, and the types of bikeways available in most parts of the state.

How Many Bicycle Accidents Are There in California Each Year?

According to the California Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS), over the past five years (2019-2023) the state has recorded an average of around 233,600 serious bicycle accidents annually. The same data shows that the state averages around 4,140 tragic bicycle fatalities a year.

California recorded 230,376 bicycle accidents that involved an injury or a fatality in 2023. That was up from 2022 figures when there were 228,048 serious bicycle accidents. In 2021, there were 229,586 serious bicycle collisions.

  • 4% of California’s traffic fatalities in 2022 claimed cyclists. That’s according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
  • NHTSA data also showed that California was second in the U.S. for cycling fatalities in 2022. With 177 deaths recorded, California ranked just behind Florida (222 deaths) and was ahead of Texas (91 deaths) on the discouraging list.

The Types of Bike Lanes in California

California is home to four different types of official bikeways, although some paths can look different in different areas. Some routes are dirt paths, trails, and greenways. There are bike lanes provided along busy streets, giving riders various levels of protection as they travel near vehicles.

These are the four different types of bikeways you’ll find in California

Class I Bikeway – California has bike paths and greenways where vehicles are not allowed. Class I paths and trails are generally the safest type of route for local cyclists, but these paths may force riders to cross streets in places. Cyclists may be asked to safely share the path with pedestrians on some bike trails.  

The view along The Calaveras Bike Trail in Stockton

A paved bike path with a white line separating a larger lane for cyclists and a smaller lane with the lane-marking "only ped."

Class II Bike Lanes – These lanes will be familiar to most California drivers. They are lanes along boulevards marked off by painted lines. Depending on the location, they may be very narrow, or they could offer wider spaces. They’ll often be accompanied by lane markings and street signs indicating a bike lane is present. Unfortunately, there are no physical barriers blocking cars and drivers can still veer over into cyclists if they aren’t paying attention to the roads.  

A Class II Bike Lane in Los Angeles along 2nd Street

A bike lane lined off in white lines between traffic and parked cars. A white bike symbol on the pavement along the downtown L.A. street

Class III Bike Routes – These are just normal streets where safe travel is highlighted by “bike route” street signs and lane markings. It’s an effort to catch the driver’s attention and to warn them they’ll be sharing the road with bicyclists. These bike routes are simply regular traffic lanes designated as bike routes with street signs. The streets also feature white arrows known as “sharrows” painted on the pavement at intervals. The term sharrows comes from the combination of share + arrows. Bike route designation is often used when there isn’t room for a bike lane along the street. These routes don’t offer cyclists any physical protection, but they hopefully provide drivers with extra reminders to make room for bicycles.

A Class III Bike Route Along 2nd Street Near Central Avenue in L.A.

A bike route symbol on a downtown L.A. street showing a bike and arrows. Street is narrow and lined with parked cars on both sides.

Class IV Bike Lanes – Ideally, every bike lane lining California avenues would be a protected bike lane. They offer the most protection from traffic by putting physical barriers between cars and riders. Class IV lanes are also referred to as “Separated” or “Protected” lanes. Riders can be separated from traffic by cement barriers, planter boxes, parking spaces, and plastic pylons/bollards. Some sections also include green paint along the paths.

An example of a Class IV Bike Lane in Fresno

A protected bike lane in Fresno separated by parked cars and green bollards from traffic. Tree-lined street with church in the background.

California Bicycle Laws

California legislation and local city ordinances continue to evolve to provide the most protection to cyclists. There’s more work to do, but these are some of the statutes meant to give California bicyclists as safe of rides as possible.

CVC 21200 Cyclists’ Right to the Road

“(a) (1) A person riding a bicycle or operating a pedicab upon a highway has all the rights and is subject to all the provisions applicable to the driver of a vehicle…”

CVC 21202 Use of Bike Lanes

Cyclists have a right to the full lane, but only if they can keep up with traffic. When they can’t, people on bikes are required to utilize a bike lane if available. If there is no bike lane, they should remain on the far right-hand side of the right lane.

AB 1909 Motorist Must Pass in Left Lanes

Passed in California in 2022, this new law offers additional protections to bicyclists who must travel alongside vehicles. It requires motorists to switch to the left lane if possible when trying to pass a cyclist.

CVC 21760 Three Feet for Rider Safety

When the left lane isn’t open, drivers must observe California’s “Three Feet for Safety” Law. It requires motorists to allow at least three feet of space when passing. If there isn’t at least 3 feet of space to be had, motorists shouldn’t try to pass.

The cyclist also gets the right of way when the driver is ready to make a right turn. The driver must yield to any cyclist traveling beside them and in the right lane before turning.

CVC 21212 California’s Bicycle Helmet Law. Riders under 18 years old must wear an approved safety helmet. Adult riders don’t have to wear a helmet, but it’s an incredible safety precaution that all cyclists should consider.

Additional Information on State Bicycle Laws

2024 Bicycle Intersection Crossing Law

California Electric Bicycle Laws

Do California Cyclists Have to Stop at Stop Signs?

Do Motorists Have the Right Of Way Over California Cyclists?

Rear Red Reflector Law for California Cyclists

2024 Bike Crossing Intersection Law

Bicycle Tips for New Cyclists in California

Who Is To Blame When a Child on a Bike is Hit?

What If a Dog Knocks Me Off My Bike?

A bike lane along a curvy, tree-lined street in California. A bike lane sign with bicycle image that says "end" underneath it.

California Safety Campaigns to Keep Cyclists Out of Harm’s Way

California is home to several organizations and government agencies focused on improving bike rides across the state.

The Community Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Training (CPBST) program is a joint project of California Walks and UC Berkeley’s (SafeTREC). Funding also comes from California’s Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) and The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The program goes into cities that apply for assistance and helps local officials and community leaders make changes for the better along their streets. CPBST examines traffic data and makes recommendations on where traffic upgrades and things like bike lanes are needed most. They also reach out to the local residents to get their input on the most beneficial changes.

California Walks (Cal Walks) is a member of this important task force. They seek better and safer paths for those on foot and on bikes. Cal Walks focuses on neglected communities in the state to give residents safer paths to work, school, the store, and back home.

A nationwide program has taken route in several California cities. The Vision Zero campaign is underway in places like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Fresno. It’s a 10-year strategy to reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries to zero each year. Funding is provided in part by the U.S. DOT. The program usually starts by bringing together local transportation officials, police, cycling advocates, and pedestrian advocates to come up with a plan of attack to make local routes safer for drivers, motorcyclists, pedestrians, and cyclists.

Dos And Don’ts After a Bicycle Accident in California

When a bicyclist is injured in an accident, they suffer the impact of both the car and the pavement. They can be in shock after an accident and may even struggle to move.

If you are able to get up and move around after an accident, there are some steps you can immediately take to help build your case and show that the driver bears 100% of the blame for the collision:

DO

  • Call 911. Tell paramedics about every pain you feel and tell police how the accident occurred.
  • Capture the scene in photos and video. Take photos or video of your bike damage, the car that hit you, license plates, street signs, and lane markings. Take photos of any visible injuries, cuts, or scrapes. This photographic evidence may all be needed to prove what happened later.
  • Look around for any businesses or homes that may have had security cameras rolling.
  • Talk to any witnesses and get their contact information.
  • Get checked out by your doctor in the days that follow. The shock of an impact can mask injuries that may not show up until the day after your incident.
  • Contact Maison Law for a free consultation and case evaluation. We can handle the insurance companies so that they don’t manipulate you into accepting a lower settlement than you deserve.

DON’T

  • Don’t comment on your injuries at the scene of the accident. If people hear you say “I’m okay” or “my bad” insurance companies may try to question your injuries or your account of what happened later.
  • Don’t throw out the evidence. Keep your damaged bike and clothing from the day of the crash. Keep all damaged personal items as well. If possible, do not ride your bike. You want to keep all of your evidence in the exact condition it was in after the accident.
  • Don’t delay talking to a lawyer. The insurance agents for the at-fault driver will be calling you, and there are important things you should know before you say a word to them. They aren’t just calling to see how you’re doing. A legal expert can prepare you to make sure they don’t trick you into saying something harmful for your case. An attorney working for you can also handle all communication with insurance agents.

What Our Clients Say

Compensation Available to California Bicycle Accident Victims

Bicycle accidents can result in devastating wounds, and you can be off your bike for months as they rehabilitate. During this time bills can continue to build up while paychecks aren’t coming in because you’ve had to miss work.

Impacts can leave you with broken bones, brain and spine damage, and disfiguring scars. In the worst instances, injuries can make amputations necessary, affect mobility, and cause permanent disability.

Your most expensive recovery costs may not have happened yet. You could need more care or surgeries in the years to come. Every potential cost should be included in any claim you file against an insurance firm.

These are just some of the factors that your attorney can make sure are listed in a claim:

  • Medical Bills (Past and Future) – Surgeries, Skin Grafts, physical therapy, and medical equipment can all be necessary down the road.
  • Permanent Disability – The expense of training for a new lifestyle and a new career may need to be covered.
  • Lost Wages at Work – You may have missed weeks of paychecks at work. It could be months before you are physically able to return.
  • Bicycle Repair or Replacement.
  • Loss of Consortium – When an injury prevents a victim from providing the same love and care to a spouse or children.
  • Mental Anguish/PTSD – You could, understandably, experience depression and anxiety after such a traumatic experience. You may fear getting back on a bicycle again. The cost of counseling can be factored into a claim as well as compensation for extreme emotional suffering.

Do I Need a Bicycle Accident Lawyer?

In most cases, a bicycle accident lawyer helps you secure more in compensation to pay for your recovery and shields you from being unfairly blamed for your accident.

After a bicycle accident that only causes damage to a bike and no serious injuries, you may not require the help of a California bicycle accident attorney. However, bicyclists travel with little protection, and a collision with a vehicle is often enough to cause a serious injury. 

When accidents involve injuries, insurance companies go into full defensive mode trying to limit the compensation victims receive. They accomplish this with several tried-and-true tactics. 

For starters, they can delay responding to your claim as you are left to watch more and more hospital bills pile up with fewer paychecks to cover them while you are out of work. Once you’re desperate they can extend a “lowball offer” and shortchange you on what you’ll need to fully recover.

Your personal injury lawyer recognizes these ploys and demands full support from insurance adjusters. Your attorney also represents a true threat of courtroom action if they don’t offer a fair settlement. This threat is usually enough to force an insurance company to treat you fairly.

Frequently Asked California Bicycle Accident Questions

Yes. In California, two parties can share a percentage of the blame in an accident. You may be assigned a percentage of the liability for your injury for not wearing a helmet, but at-fault drivers will still be required to pay you compensation according to their percentage of fault.

Hit-and-run drivers only add to the damage they cause to a cyclist’s life and wellbeing by leaving the scene of a crash. Fortunately, after a hit-and-run accident, an injured bicyclist can seek financial support even if the driver remains unidentified. 

If the at-fault driver is never located and brought to justice, cyclists may call upon their own car insurance policy under their uninsured motorist coverage. If victims don’t have car insurance, they may be covered on a family member’s policy. This coverage could combine with the rider’s own health insurance to make sure hospital bills get paid. Reimbursement for lost time at work and other damages could also be requested. 

In cases where a hit-and-run driver is found and charged, victims can file a claim for damages immediately. This claim would target the at-fault driver’s insurance company and ask for full compensation for the bills accumulated in recovery. The driver will likely face criminal charges over the hit-and-run. A criminal trial would proceed separately and wouldn’t affect a victim’s civil case.

In either case, victims are forced to rely on an insurance company in order to secure compensation. A personal injury attorney will play a major role in seeing that you receive what’s fair in support, even when you encounter resistance from your own insurance provider.

Never. Insurance agents will call you after an accident asking if they can record you giving a statement about what happened. Politely decline. They want you to say something they can use to weaken your case later. Let your Maison Law bicycle accident lawyer handle the communication with insurance agents.

Bicyclists are still required to stop at stop signs in California. 

A push to allow California cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs failed in October of 2021. Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed AB122, also known as the Safety Stop bill.

Current Laws still require anyone on a bike to stop at a stop sign. Bicyclists on the road have the same rights as motorists in California and therefore must follow the same traffic laws and observe the same right-of-way. This requirement applies to intersections with stops signs and traffic lights.

Until changes are made, stopping at a stop sign is the law and bicyclists can be ticketed for violations.

Yes. If a tragic accident claimed your husband/wife, father/mother, or child you are permitted to file a wrongful death lawsuit. This civil lawsuit would ask for assistance with funeral costs, and estate settlement. The family should also be reimbursed for the financial support the deceased will no longer be able to provide through his or her job.

In California, children grow to love pedaling not long after they learn to walk. Unfortunately, children aren’t always considering their own safety when they ride, and careless drivers aren’t always on the lookout for a wayward child on a bike.

Thousands of children in California get into bicycle accidents each year. Many of these tragic accidents could be prevented if drivers would show more caution in neighborhoods, parks, and school zones. Drivers owe children a special “duty of care” as they travel and must take extreme care to avoid hitting a child on a bike or tricycle. 

When these accidents occur, drivers are generally always held liable, and their insurance companies should pay for the best medical care available for young victims. The child and the driver usually won’t share liability in an accident. Unless a child acts intentionally to cause an accident, the motorist will usually be considered the negligent party in a personal injury case. 

Since young children aren’t considered to have the capacity to make reasonably safe decisions for themselves and others, they tend to not be found negligent. The burden to keep young people safe on bikes falls to drivers who can slow down, pay more attention to the road, and expect the unexpected whenever children are at play.

Bicyclists face plenty of dangers from careless drivers on California roads. They sometimes also endure threats from dogs who aren’t leashed and decide to chase cyclists. The end result may be a painful dog bite.

Injured cyclists will wonder who is responsible for their recovery. California is a “strict liability” dog-bite state. This means dog owners bear responsibility when their dogs bite someone. 

In some states, the dog must have bitten someone in the past before owners can be held accountable. In California, the pet owner can still bear legal liability for a bite injury even if the dog had never displayed aggressive behavior before. 

One factor personal injury victims must show is that they were in a public place or lawfully in a private place when they were bitten.

In other cases, bicyclists can attempt to sue dog owners even if they aren’t bitten, but wreck or are struck while trying to evade the dog. A claim for damages is filed questioning whether the dog owner was guilty of negligence for not properly restraining the dog.

Bicyclists have as much right to the lanes as any motorist. However, they often travel on the far-right side of the street, near the curb, and that can put them dangerously close to parked cars.

A careless person inside a parked car can take too brief a look at approaching traffic and miss someone on a bike. They can exit and open a door in front of the cyclist and leave them no time or room to avoid a collision. This is known as a “dooring” accident and bicyclists can suffer severe injuries and be off their bikes for weeks or months during rehabilitation. 

The car may not have been in motion, but the passenger or driver in the vehicle is still liable for all hardships the victim endures in recovery. Often, a claim for damages can be filed against the insurance policy for the owner of the vehicle no matter who opened the door. 

There may be multiple parties who could have to contribute compensation to cover your medical bills and lost paychecks while missing work. Your bicycle accident attorney will determine who can be held accountable and aggressively pursue full compensation for you and your family.

If you are struck by a motorist while on an Electric Bike, the at-fault driver’s car insurance should pay for your recovery.

In the same way car insurance is used to support pedestrian accident victims and the medical costs of normal cyclists who have been hit, any motorist causing an accident should be accountable for all injury costs.

Some specialized insurance companies provide E-Bike insurance to riders who frequently ride rental bikes or bikes they own. These policies would usually cover you if you crashed your bike and got hurt in an accident not involving another vehicle. Policies may only cover the cost of repairs or a new bike and could fail to provide help with medical costs. An E-Bike policy might also provide coverage if you are hit by a driver who is uninsured or who doesn’t have enough insurance coverage. 

E-Bike insurance may also be available as an add-on to your own auto insurance policy. If you don’t have coverage through any of these means, your health insurance should provide a backup option to help pay your medical bills.

Generally, private E-Bike companies and public E-Bike rental services are protected from liability if you get hurt. However, if it can be proven a malfunction in the bike caused your crash, it’s possible to hold a bicycle provider responsible.

Personal injury cases involving bikeshares and E-Bikes can be complicated. It’s a good idea to take advantage of a free consultation with a skilled California Bicycle Accident Lawyer to go over your best options.

Cities We Serve For Bike Accidents

Contact a California Bicycle Accident Lawyer Today

As you recover from a bicycle accident your situation can turn desperate, especially if an insurance company decides to use stall tactics to soften you up to accept any lowball offer they extend to you. Don’t allow this treatment for a moment. Allow a California Attorney at Maison Law to defend your rights and hold unfair insurance practices in check.

You should be allowed to focus on healing and getting back on a bike, not bills and losses that should be the worry of the at-fault driver’s car insurance company. Contact Maison Law to talk over your case and where you should go from here. You are under no-obligation when you email or call our offices. We want to make sure you stay informed of the benefits available to you before insurance adjusters try to convince you your injury is worth nothing at all.