Drivers May Be Liable When A "Near Miss" Causes Injury

To horseshoes and hand grenades I would add bicycling in traffic to the list of activities in which close may be enough to do damage. While riding a bike, coming close to physical contact with a vehicle, i.e. a car door, may be enough to cause a crash and serious injury.

In a video making its way around the internet a terrified London cyclist is seen nearly being run down after trying to avoid a car door.  Check it out:

Even if the cyclist did not come into contact with the door (it is not clear from the video whether he did or did not), he was not “almost doored.”

He was doored.

A driver may be responsible for the harm caused by his or her negligent driving even if there is no actual contact. However, the lack of contact between car and bicycle can create evidence problems. When there is no contact it may be more challenging to prove that the driver’s conduct actually caused the bicyclist’s injury. Proving a causal connection between the driver’s bad action and the injury sustained by the cyclist is a vital part of every bicycle injury case. Inevitably the driver will assert that (1) he or she did nothing wrong, and (2) the bicyclist overreacted and crashed on their own. Furthermore, the burden of proving the casual connection between the driver’s conduct and the harm is a burden borne by the injury victim.  With evidence like the above video there can be no question regarding the dooring motorist’s fault.

Near misses that cause harm do not only arise from doorings.  Our law firm has successfully represented several bicyclists who sustained serious injuries from a variety of near miss scenarios. One particular case from a couple years ago is representative.  Our client and his friend were participating in an organized ride. The route took them through a downtown area in a central Illinois city. They were on a road with one lane of travel in each direction with no shoulder or parking on either side when our client heard his friend yell, “Truck!” He looked to see a semi tractor trailer bearing down on them. It did not look like it was going to stop so the two pushed as close to the curb as possible. The truck passed them at about 35 mph within 18 inches, in violation of Illinois’ three foot passing law. Somehow, while the two cyclists were attempting to get out of the way of the passing semi, they ran into one another causing our client to fall and break his leg. There was no contact between the cyclists and the truck.  After filing a lawsuit, we argued that but for the driver’s bad conduct the cyclist would not have fallen and become injured.  This proven persuasive and the case resolved for a substantial sum.

Video Identifies Cause of Crash That Injured Bicyclist On Milwaukee Avenue

She could not believe that she just rode her bike into the side of a taxi.  But as she regained consciousness laying in the street, that is what the men standing over her said she did.

On the evening of April 27, 2013, a 26 year old woman was riding her bike in the dedicated bicycle lane near 1165 North Milwaukee Avenue when she crashed.  It was about 9:45 p.m.  The weather was perfect.  Her bike was equipped with operating front and rear lights, and she wore a bright white cycling helmet.  She also had an orange messenger bag slung over her shoulder.  She was a very experienced city cyclist and understood well how to ride safely at night.  The woman had eaten dinner before heading out to meet up with some friends.  She had not ingested any alcohol.  As she rode northwest on Milwaukee there was a taxi cab to her left and a row of parallel parked cars to her right.  With frightening suddenness she found herself waking from unconsciousness on the hard pavement.  Her head hurt.  Her right leg was cut deeply and pain pulsed through her knee.  The upper portion of her right arm was painful as well.  An ambulance arrived at the scene and rushed her to a nearby hospital.

The woman came to our firm seeking representation.  She believed that some part of the taxi entered the bike lane, causing her to crash into the side of the vehicle.  We had seen cab drivers cause crashes in that way before.  Still, we needed to find some corroborating evidence.  Unfortunately, there did not seem to be any video cameras in the area that could have recorded the crash.  Perhaps whoever called 911 following the collision saw what happened.  When we received a response to our Freedom of Information Act request for a copy of the City's 911 log we saw that the call had some from the office of a nearby apartment building.  We phoned the security office there and eventually tracked down the person, a security guard, who had called 911.  Unfortunately, he did not see the crash.  A dead end.

There was a single independent witness identified in the police report, a man whose car was parallel parked along the curb at the site of the crash, just to the right of the bike lane.  He had apparently told police at the scene that the woman just, "lost control of her bike and she fell off and struck" the taxi.  That did not make much sense.  Why would an experienced cyclist suddenly lose control and crash for no apparent reason?  We felt it likely that the cab driver pulled into the bike lane and caused the crash.  We wrote to the cab company and informed it that we represented the bicyclist in a potential claim against its driver.  What happened next was pretty typical; a call from the cab company's representative denying responsibility.  But, not so typically, we were informed that the driver had a camera mounted on his dashboard which recorded video of the incident that supposedly vindicated him.  We invited them to send us a copy, and to our surprise they did.  It was awesome, providing us with the evidence we needed to pursue the person who really caused the crash, the "witness" identified by name in the police report.  The video revealed that as our client pedaled in the bike lane, the driver of a silver/grey old Volvo opened his door into the cyclist as she passed, striking her right side and hurling her into the taxi cab to her left.  Below is video of the incident from the cab driver's dash cam:

The Volvo was stopped in exactly the spot identified in the police report as the witness's vantage point.  Also, some further investigation revealed that the witness identified in the report did in fact own a silver/grey Volvo matching the one seen in the video.  The fact that our client had been doored from her right was consistent with the injuries she sustained to the right side of her body.

We had our man and we quickly filed a lawsuit against him.  The case remains pending.  The driver of the Volvo denies that he caused the crash.

Automobile Association Unveils Bicycle PSA

I love this bicycle PSA video unveiled at this week's National Bike Summit by AAA.  Wait, what?  You heard me, AAA, the American Automobile Association.  Bicycle advocates and AAA have apparently found some common ground on the whole us vs. them thing.  You see, the thing is there is no cars vs. bikes.  As the video highlights, we are all just moms, dads, sons and daughters using one tool or another on the road to get from place to place.  Thanks AAA for helping us remember that.

Car Company Promotes "Share The Road" Message In Commercial

Getting the "Share The Road" message out to both motorists and bicyclists is vitally important.  The State of Illinois has deemed it important enough to issue specialty license plates containing the message.  Apparently, the message is gaining some traction; enough that even a car company is promoting it.  Check out this recent ad from KIA:



The commercial states that KIA started out as a bicycle company.  According to Wikipedia's entry for the company, "Kia was founded on June "9, 1944 as a manufacturer of steel tubing and bicycle parts by hand."


Thanks to Urban Velo for posting this video.

Video Demonstrates Bike Lane Deficiencies

Regular readers of this blog probably recognize that I am a big fan of bike lanes.  Giving bicyclists their own clearly defined space on the road encourages more people to ride.  More people on bikes means more motorists get used to seeing cyclists.  That increased awareness should decrease the number of car vs. bicycle mishaps.  In Chicago, bicyclists do not have to ride in a bike lane.  It is legal to ride with the rest of traffic most of the time.  Still, if you are involved in a crash with a motor vehicle you are probably better off having been in a bike lane.  As sure as the day is long, in a bike accident case the defendant motorist will claim I didn't see him/her, I couldn't see him/her, I never expected him/her, or some variation of the theme that that the cyclist popped up out of nowhere.  However, this defense is a much harder sell to a jury if the incident occurred in a bike lane.  The presence of a clearly marked bike lane makes the presence of bicyclists foreseeable.  A bike lane puts the motorist on notice that caution must be used to look for cyclists in the area.

Notwithstanding the benefits of bike lanes, it is wise to consider their deficiencies.  Riding in a bike lane does not equate to risk free cycling.  Far from it. The video below demonstrates bike lane short comings in a  thoughtful way that the daily urban cyclist can appreciate:



Thanks to Joe TV for bringing this video to my attention over on the Chainlink.

New Video Demonstrates Importance of Riding With A Light At Night

The majority of bicycles sold in Chicago are not legal to ride at night.  Unless a bike is equipped with a light you may not ride it at night.  By my observation, very few bikes sold in the city come with a light.  Reflectors are not enough, and having them does not place the rider in compliance with the law.  Specifically, Chicago Municipal Code requires bicycles to have a white light on the front that can be seen from at least 500 feet.  On the back a red light or reflector is required.  Recently, the City of Chicago created a good (though slightly weird) video that demonstrates why it is so important to ride with a light at night:



Before you leave the bike store with your new ride, buy a light.  If you don't have a light on your current ride, get one.  Hell, go ahead and buy two, one for the front and one for the back.  If you don't know what kind of light to buy here's a suggestion.

Video Shows Buses and Bicycles How To Share The Road

Below is an excellent video created via a partnership between the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and the Chicago Department of Transportation about buses and bicyclists sharing the road. The video was made for bus operators and bicyclists to highlight safety issues and offer practical guidance on how to avoid accidents. Along with the recently created bicycling video created by the Chicago Police Department, the CTA video should be required viewing for all city motorists and bicyclists. It is also important viewing for attorneys representing bicyclists in as much as it evidences what the CTA considers the standard of care to be for its bus operators when dealing with cyclists on the roadway.

Share the Road - Buses and Bicycles from Chicago Bicycle Program on Vimeo.

Stylish Video Offers Reminder About The Danger Of Car Doors

Chicago bicyclists are a hardy bunch. Even in the freezing cold of winter there are plenty of bicyclists on the road. Please remember to always check your rear view mirror before exited your vehicle when you park on the street. Opening a vehicle door into a cyclist's path is extremely dangerous and can cause serious injury and even death. In the past I've written about steps bicyclists can take to avoid getting doored. Recently, I found the stylish and amusing video below on the Urban Velo website which I hope will serve as a reminder about the serious danger carelessly opened car doors present to bicyclists.