Written and reviewed by Josh Kohanim, Esq., California Bar No. 328609 · Reviewed
Quick questions
What decides your bicycle claim
We represent people hurt riding a bicycle or an electric bicycle in Los Angeles County, and the families of riders who did not survive. The questions that decide these claims are your position on the road, how fault is argued, whether a public entity is a defendant, which policy pays, and the deadlines that can end the claim.
Many cyclists call us after reading a collision report that blames them. That report is one officer's opinion, formed in minutes from whoever was able to talk at the scene. It is not a verdict.
The bicycle laws that decide fault
California has no separate body of bicycle law. One sentence folds cyclists into the rules of the road, and a short list of sections addresses the space a bicycle occupies.
| Section | What it says | Binds | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Veh. Code 21200 | A cyclist has all the rights and duties of a driver | Both | A cyclist is treated as traffic |
| Veh. Code 21202 | Ride near the right edge when slower than traffic, four exceptions | Cyclists | The exceptions answer the further-right argument |
| Veh. Code 21208 | Use the bike lane when slower than traffic, same exceptions | Cyclists | Leaving a lane lawfully is not fault |
| Veh. Code 21760 | No pass closer than three feet from the bike or rider | Drivers | A close pass is a statutory violation |
| Veh. Code 21717 | A driver crossing a bike lane to turn must enter it first | Drivers | Right hooks start with a driver who never merged |
| Veh. Code 22517 | No opening a door on the traffic side unless it is safe | Both | The person who opened the door is responsible |
| Veh. Code 21801 | A left turning driver yields to approaching traffic | Drivers | In a left cross, the cyclist was that traffic |
| Veh. Code 22350 | No speed greater than is reasonable or prudent | Drivers | Driving at the posted limit is not a defense |
The sources, in order: section 21200, 21202, 21208, 21760, 21717, 22517, 21801, 22350, 21212, and 21213.
Section 21200 grants those rights by this division, meaning the rules of the road. The 24 hour police report and the 10 day SR-1 report to the DMV sit in other divisions and bind the driver of a motor vehicle, not the cyclist.
When a cyclist can take the lane
The most common argument against a Los Angeles cyclist arrives in the insurance adjuster's first call: the rider was too far into the lane, so a share of fault comes off the top. Comparative fault reduces an award by the share of responsibility assigned to you. A 30 percent finding takes 30 percent of everything.
Vehicle Code section 21202(a) does require a cyclist moving slower than traffic to ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge. It then lists four circumstances where that duty does not apply: overtaking and passing another bicycle or vehicle, preparing for a left turn, avoiding conditions including fixed or moving objects, parked or moving vehicles, pedestrians, animals, surface hazards, or substandard width lanes, and approaching a place where a right turn is authorized.
A substandard width lane is a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.California Vehicle Code section 21202(a)(3)
Applied to a Los Angeles street, section 21760 requires three feet between the car and the rider, so a lane must hold a car, three feet of clearance, and a bicycle before the two can travel safely side by side. A lane that cannot is substandard by the statute's own terms, and a rider who took that lane was entitled to it.
The same four exceptions appear in section 21208 for a marked bike lane, so a rider who moved out around a delivery truck kept the protection of the statute. Our guide on bike lane and right hook accidents works through that geometry.
The three foot passing law
The Three Feet for Safety Act is Vehicle Code section 21760. A driver may not pass a bicycle at less than three feet between any part of the motor vehicle and any part of the bicycle or its operator, and must change lanes to pass where he can. A driver who cannot must slow to a reasonable and prudent speed and pass only when it would not endanger the rider.
The infraction fine is $35, and $220 where the pass causes bodily injury. The civil consequence matters more. Negligence per se lets a jury presume negligence when a defendant violated a statute meant to prevent this kind of harm to this kind of person. Los Angeles juries receive it as CACI No. 418, one of the state's standard civil jury instructions.
Proving the distance is a matter of physical evidence. Mirror strikes leave paint at a measurable height, and the debris field shows where the bike was when the car reached it. We request nearby video before it is overwritten.
When a car door opens into you
Vehicle Code section 22517 says no person shall open the door of a vehicle on the side available to moving traffic unless it is reasonably safe and can be done without interfering with that traffic, and no person shall leave it open longer than necessary to load or unload. That is two duties, and a door left standing open is its own violation.
The subject of the sentence is no person, not the driver, so a passenger who swings a rear door into a bike lane is bound the same as the person behind the wheel. That matters most in a rideshare pickup, where the door is opened by someone who does not own the car. Our guide on dooring accidents covers proof of door position and how a passenger's door reaches a rideshare policy.
If you were not wearing a helmet
California requires a bicycle helmet only for riders and passengers under 18. That is Vehicle Code section 21212, which requires a properly fitted helmet meeting an ASTM or Consumer Product Safety Commission standard. Section 21213 adds a helmet at every age on a Class 3 electric bicycle and bars anyone under 16 from operating one.
For an adult on an ordinary bicycle, riding without a helmet breaks no law and says nothing about why a driver turned across your path. A defense can argue comparative fault only on head injuries a helmet would have prevented, which leaves your fractures and your lost income untouched.
The safety figure is a separate matter. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that 68 percent of the 1,075 bicyclists killed in 2024 were not wearing helmets. That is a national figure about fatalities, not a California rule about recovery.
If a pothole caused your crash
A trench patch that settled below the surrounding pavement, or a storm grate with slots running the direction of travel, makes a public entity the defendant. Government Code section 835 makes an entity liable for a dangerous condition of public property, defined in section 830(a) as a condition creating a substantial risk of injury to someone using the property with due care.
Section 835 then requires one of two things: an entity employee created the condition, or the entity had notice in time to fix it. Section 835.2 defines actual and constructive notice and puts the entity's own inspection system in evidence. Complaint logs and prior repairs on the same block are where notice is proven.
Our guide on road defect and pothole claims covers identifying which entity owns the pavement, what the claim must contain, the 45 day rejection window, and the design immunity defense, which protects an approved road design.
If you were on an e-bike
Vehicle Code section 312.5 defines an electric bicycle as a bicycle with fully operable pedals and a motor of not more than 750 watts, in three classes. Class 1 assists while you pedal and stops at 20 miles per hour. Class 2 adds a throttle, also capped at 20. Class 3 assists while pedaling, stops at 28, and carries a speedometer.
The class sets the helmet rule, the minimum age, and what local ordinances allow. It does not change your status on the road. Section 24016(b) states that an electric bicycle is not a motor vehicle and that its rider is exempt from registration, driver licensing, and financial responsibility requirements. Our guide on e-bike accidents takes each class through the rules and the coverage questions.
Which policy pays a cyclist's claim
A bicycle carries no insurance, so every dollar comes from someone else's policy or a public treasury. Policy limits are the most a policy will pay regardless of what the injury cost, and they are the real ceiling on most claims.
| Situation | Coverage that responds | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| The driver is insured | His bodily injury liability | Minimums are $30,000 and $60,000 since January 1, 2025 |
| The driver has no insurance | Your uninsured motorist coverage | The coverage follows the person, not the vehicle |
| His limits are too small | Your underinsured motorist coverage | Pays the gap up to your limit, not on top |
| The driver fled and is unidentified | Uninsured motorist, if there was contact | Report in 24 hours, sworn statement in 30 days |
| A road defect caused it | No insurer. A claim against the entity | Six months to present the claim |
| Another cyclist or a pedestrian | Their homeowners or renters liability | Renters liability is generally a $100,000 minimum |
| Bills before the case resolves | Health insurance, or treatment on a lien | A lien is a right of repayment from the settlement |
Two points deserve explanation. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on your own auto policy covers you on a bicycle. It insures bodily injury caused by an uninsured motor vehicle, and nothing in Insurance Code section 11580.2 requires you to have been in your car. The minimums in Vehicle Code section 16056 are $30,000 and $60,000, and that is the ceiling on the driver's policy regardless of what the treatment cost.
The second is a limit that does not apply to cyclists. Proposition 213, at Civil Code section 3333.4, bars non-economic damages, meaning pain and suffering, for the uninsured owner or operator of a vehicle in the accident. It attaches to a vehicle subject to the financial responsibility laws, and Vehicle Code section 670 excepts a device moved exclusively by human power. An adjuster who raises Proposition 213 against a cyclist is applying a statute that does not reach a bicycle.
If the driver fled the scene
Drivers who hit cyclists often leave the scene. The Office of Traffic Safety recorded 2,549 hit and run collisions in the City of Los Angeles in 2023. Crosstown, using Police Department Traffic Division data, counted 302 traffic deaths in the city in 2024, 98 of them hit and run. Both are city figures.
If the driver is never identified, your own uninsured motorist coverage is the claim, and Insurance Code section 11580.2 sets three conditions that are easy to miss from a hospital bed. There must have been physical contact with you or the bike, a police report within 24 hours, and a sworn statement to your insurer within 30 days.
Video is the other time sensitive item. Storefront and doorbell cameras usually overwrite within two weeks, and nothing is preserved unless someone walks the block and asks. That canvass is the first thing we do in a hit and run.
How long you have to file
| What | How long | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Lawsuit against a driver | 2 years from the crash | Code Civ. Proc. 335.1 |
| Claim against a city, county, or the state | 6 months from the crash | Gov. Code 911.2 |
| The entity's time to act on it | 45 days, then deemed rejected | Gov. Code 912.4 |
| Lawsuit after a written rejection | 6 months from that notice | Gov. Code 945.6 |
| Lawsuit if no rejection is mailed | 2 years from accrual | Gov. Code 945.6 |
| Uninsured motorist suit or arbitration | 2 years from the crash | Ins. Code 11580.2 |
The statute of limitations is the outside date for filing suit, and California gives a personal injury case two years under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. The government claim sequence is Government Code sections 911.2, 912.4, and 945.6.
How often Los Angeles cyclists are hit
- 28Bicyclist deaths in Los Angeles County, highest county in the stateUC Berkeley SafeTREC, 2023
- 145Bicyclists killed in California motor vehicle crashesUC Berkeley SafeTREC, 2023
- 393Bicyclist victims killed and injured, City of Los AngelesCalifornia Office of Traffic Safety, 2023
- 34.9%Of California fatal and serious bicycle crashes were broadsideUC Berkeley SafeTREC, 2023
| Figure | Number | Year | Geography |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bicyclist deaths, highest county | 28 | 2023 | LA County |
| Bicyclist victims killed and injured | 393 | 2023 | City of LA |
| Bicyclists killed, third highest on record | 1,075 | 2024 | National |
State and county figures come from UC Berkeley SafeTREC for 2023, national figures from IIHS Fatality Facts for 2024, and city figures from the Office of Traffic Safety. OTS rates a city against others of similar population and miles driven, and a rank of 1 is the worst; its method page explains the weighting. Raw collision data is free at TIMS. More than a third of the state's fatal and serious bicycle crashes are broadside, the geometry of a right hook and a left cross.
What your bicycle claim can recover
| Damage | What proves it | Instruction |
|---|---|---|
| Past medical expenses | Records, charges, and the treating doctor on causation | CACI 3903A |
| Future medical care | A surgeon's stated plan and cost, or a life care plan | CACI 3903A |
| Past lost earnings | Pay records, tax returns, work status notes | CACI 3903C |
| Lost earning capacity | Vocational and economic testimony | CACI 3903D |
| Pain and mental suffering | Treatment history and the people who see you daily | CACI 3905A |
| The bicycle and the gear | Receipts, the build, and replacement cost | CACI 3903J |
Insurers routinely undervalue the last row, the bicycle and the gear. A bicycle is not a book value item. There is no used-car guide for a frame with a specific groupset and a wheelset bought separately, so the proof is receipts and the build sheet. The instructions are in the 2026 California Civil Jury Instructions.
What a bicycle case is worth
Pages that publish settlement ranges by injury type are guessing. The two variables that set the number are unknown to whoever wrote the table. One is total available coverage, which can be $30,000 or several million. The other is comparative fault.
What can be said is what moves a number: whether treatment was continuous, whether a surgeon has stated what still has to be done, and whether liability is clean enough that defense counsel would rather not try it.
Our case results page shows what we have recovered and in what kinds of cases. A lawyer who states a value on the first call does not yet have the information to know it.
What happens after you call us
- 1We get you treated first
You need a doctor who documents everything that hurts, not only the worst injury. Head injuries get missed because the rider is focused on the bike. With no health insurance, treatment goes on a lien instead.
- 2We handle the recorded statement
The other insurer will call within days for a recorded statement. You are not required to give one. After you retain us, those calls come to us.
- 3We preserve what disappears
The video on that block, the car before it is repaired, and the bike before it is thrown out. Preservation letters, demanding that evidence be kept, go first, then the canvass.
- 4We find every layer of coverage
The driver's policy, any commercial policy behind it, your own uninsured coverage, and a government claim where an entity owns the hazard. The settlement demand, our written claim for payment, waits until the ceiling is known.
- 5We treat the first offer as a starting position
A first offer arrives before treatment is finished for a reason. We answer once the future care is stated by the doctor providing it. If the number does not move, we file.
Our attorneys handle these cases from the first call through trial, and the responsible attorney is Josh Kohanim. There is no fee unless we recover. Our practice areas page covers the rest of the practice, and general questions are answered on our FAQ page.
When a bicycle claim works differently
- You were working when it happened. A delivery rider or courier has a workers compensation claim alongside the claim against the driver.
- The bicycle failed. A broken fork or a battery fire is a product claim against the makers and sellers, and it depends on preserving the bike.
- No motor vehicle was involved. A collision with another cyclist or a pedestrian is a homeowners or renters liability claim, and the uninsured motorist rules do not apply.
- The rider died. A fatal crash is a wrongful death case with different plaintiffs and different damages.
- The rider is a child. The two year clock waits for the 18th birthday, the settlement needs court approval, and the helmet statute applied.
- Outside Los Angeles County. We also handle these cases in Santa Ana, Orange County, Calabasas, and Beverly Hills.
What to do after a bicycle crash
You had a driver's rights on that road, and section 21202 gave you four lawful reasons to be where you were. A driver who passed closer than three feet, opened a door into you, or turned across your line broke a statute written to prevent this crash. If a road defect caused it, the deadline is six months instead of two years.
See a doctor today and report every part of you that hurts. Photograph the bike, the helmet, and your injuries before anything is cleaned up. Then call us before you give a recorded statement. If a truck or a rideshare vehicle was involved, or the injury is a brain injury or a spinal cord injury, tell us at the outset.