Jim Pocrass, Pocrass & De Los Reyes LLP
Bikes Have Rights™
By James L. Pocrass, Esq.
Pocrass & De Los Reyes LLP
I recently represented a cyclist who was the victim of a hit and run accident that broke almost every bone in his body and caused traumatic brain injuries. The driver of the car turned out to be a 19-year-old woman who was driving drunk. She claimed not to have known that she hit my client, in spite of his leaving nine teeth in her SUV’s back seat.
My client’s medical bills were astronomical and because of the brain injuries, his life would never be same. The compensation my client received from this case would be his primary source of income for the rest of his life. The woman’s insurance company wanted to settle the claim for “policy limits,” which is the maximum amount they are required to compensate a victim of serious personal injuries or even a wrongful death.
Policy limits is how much insurance you bought in a specific category. In California, you are required to carry car insurance of $15,000 per person for bodily injury liability; $30,000 per accident, which covers all persons hurt in one accident; and $5,000 for property damage liability for one accident. It is likely that your insurance policy includes a minimal amount of uninsured and under-insured auto insurance, but rarely is it a significant amount.
If you suffer catastrophic personal injuries or a family member is lost in a wrongful death due to a motor vehicle accident (car, bicycle, motorcycle, truck, bus, boat), your damages (medical and economic) could cost hundreds of thousands – or even millions – of dollars.
The person who was negligent is responsible for your damages. (In some cases, negligence may include one or more companies or a public entity like the state or a county, but for the purposes of this article we are focusing on individual drivers.) Their insurance company will cover those damages only to the limits of the individual’s insurance policy.
If the person who caused your accident owns a house or other property, you may be able to recover some monies from them after a long and expensive court process. You might even be able to garnish any money they earn or receive in the future.
But many drivers own nothing – or not enough – to ever come close to compensating you for your injuries or for your lost loved one. You will be on your own to pay your medical and therapy bills, to subsidize your living expenses either for the short or long-term, to pay childcare expenses, and to replace your destroyed property.
The best way to protect yourself from this disaster is to carry as much uninsured and under-insured auto insurance as your insurance company will permit you to buy. The cost is pennies on the dollar. The more you have to lose (meaning the more you own or could own in the future), the more uninsured and under-insured auto insurance you should have.
Uninsured and under-insured auto insurance protects you when you are hit by a driver who has no insurance (and a Los Angeles County sheriff told me recently that in approximately 50 percent of all motor vehicle accidents he sees the driver is uninsured). It also kicks in when you reach the maximum the OTHER driver’s insurance will pay. It compensates you for the difference between what the other driver’s policy limit is and the actual compensation you need to recoup from the damages caused by the accident.
Uninsured and under-insured auto insurance also protects you if you suffer serious personal injuries (or worse) in a hit-and-run accident. With the frightening rise in hit-and-runs, it is critical that you protect yourself.
In my client’s case, I was able to negotiate additional monies from the woman’s family. Though I was able to recover a multi-million dollar settlement for this client, it is still nowhere near what he should have received considering the damages she inflicted on him and for which he will have to live with for the rest of his life.
My hope for you is that you never need to use your uninsured and under-insured auto insurance, but I urge you strongly to get as much uninsured and under-insurance auto coverage that your insurance company will allow you to purchase, before you need it.
*California Vehicle Code 21200: 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. . .
For more than 25 years, Jim Pocrass has represented people who were seriously injured, or families who lost a loved one in a wrongful death, due to the carelessness or negligence of another. Jim is repeatedly named to Best Lawyers of America and to Southern California Super Lawyers for the outstanding results he consistently achieves for his clients. Having represented hundreds of cyclists during his career, and Jim’s own interest in cycling, have resulted in him becoming a bicycle advocate. He is a board member of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition. For a free, no-obligation consultation, contact Jim Pocrass at 310.550.9050 or at info@pocrass.com.*
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In TX they used to pay for the victims of hit-and-run from the Victims of Violent Crimes fund, until a few cyclists bankrupted the fund after their H&R hospital stays (mine was “only” $250K). But while the fund was still in existence they would go after the perps in hit-and-run with a vengance and take pretty much everything they had and attaching all future earnings at up to 33.3%. I don’t know what happens to those judgments when the collecting agency no longer exists.
Re: Bikes Have Rights
Of course it’s the bicyclist who has rights, not the bike.
Sorry if this seems like nitpicking, but anthropomorphism of bikes and cars underlies and reinforces bias and bigotry against bicyclists.
Bikes are not equal to cars. Attempting to equate them is absurd.
But human drivers of bikes are equal to human drivers of cars. That’s what we need to remember and emphasize.
If you think of traffic as cars and bikes, the bicyclist is likely to be perceived as an interloper on the roadway, per CVC 21202 and 21208 (which needs to be repealed).
But if you think of traffic as drivers of different types of vehicles, all of a suddenly the bicyclist is an equal participant with equal rights, per CVC 21200.
[…] legal infrastructure for cyclists from BikingInLA. Make Sure You’re Protected Before You Need To Be In TX they used to pay for the victims of hit-and-run from the Victims of Violent Crimes fund, […]
There’s no such thing as a hit and run “accident.” Per California law, fleeing the scene of a collision is a crime.
No matter how knowledgeable on all other legal minutiae, any lawyer who used this phrase in my presence, especially in the courtroom where s/he should be emphasizing the defendant’s criminal behavior instead of suggesting that leaving my bleeding body in the gutter was just a tiny l’il accidental oopsy-doo, would be my ex-lawyer.
I think it is important for the cycling culture that we pursue legal action to inform people that we should be treated with the same kind of respect and caution! The best thing I have found to raise awareness is to go on a large group ride the day after an accident, it helps with overcoming fear and letting the community know you aren’t going away!