If A Bicyclist Runs a Stop Sign and a Car Hits Him, Whose Fault is It?

Imagine it playing out as you wait safely outside a nearby Orange County business—a car approaches an intersection. They do not have a stop sign, but there are stop signs on the left and right sides of the intersection. They take a cursory glance to make sure no one is approaching and sail through the intersection. Or at least, they try to—instead, they hit a bicyclist who blew through their stop sign and entered the intersection.

Who’s to blame in this scenario? It’s hard to tell a bicyclist they’re at fault when they are the only ones to experience damages in an accident, but at the same time, the driver did not have an obligation to stop—the bicyclist did. To answer this question, you have to look at traffic laws and comparative negligence laws in California.

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California’s Bicycle Laws and Duties

Bicyclists are entitled to use of the road in California. However, these rights also come with responsibilities. In general, bicyclists have the same rights and obligations as drivers of motor vehicles.

Bicyclists moving as fast as traffic can drive with traffic in any lane they choose. Those driving slower than the flow of traffic must ride as far to the right as possible except when they are passing, getting ready to turn left, avoiding obstacles in the road, or when they are in a lane that cannot be shared. When bicyclists are on a roadway with a bicycle lane, they are expected to use the bike lane.

While there are numerous laws that specify how, where, and when bicyclists may ride, the most important one is the umbrella law that bicyclists generally have the same responsibilities as drivers. This includes stopping at stop signs. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon to see a bicyclist ride through a stop sign or red light. While most bicyclists respect and follow the rules of the road, a small portion of bicyclists expect full rights to the road while picking and choosing which traffic laws they observe.

Determining Fault

In an accident like the one described above, you’d need to determine liability to figure out who is at fault, who is able to seek compensation, and who pays compensation.

A big part of liability is looking at who breached their duty of care. In this case, the bicyclist clearly breached their duty of care to others on the road. They were expected to take reasonable steps to follow the law and prevent an accident, and they failed to do so when they ran the stop sign. This means that they are at least partially liable for the crash. In fact, since the accident would not have happened if they had stopped at the stop sign, they would likely be found almost completely liable for the accident.

It’s not quite that easy, though. It’s fairly common for liability to be shared between multiple parties. In this case, the attorneys and insurance companies involved could find that the vehicle driver was still partially liable for the collision. They might say that the driver should have been watching the intersection as they approached, noticed that the bicyclist was not slowing down, and taken evasive action to prevent a collision. In fact, it may turn out that there was a reason the driver didn’t see the bicyclist—perhaps they were on their phone or otherwise distracted. In that case, they would also be considered negligent.

Damages for an Accident

California is one of several states with comparative negligence laws. Someone who is injured in an accident can seek damages from the other party, even if they are partially to blame. However, their court award is reduced proportionate to their amount of liability. Consider the example above. Perhaps the driver was not distracted and simply could not stop in time. The bicyclist could be found 80% liable and the driver 20%. Assuming damages of $100,000 for the bicyclist, they would recover just $20,000. Of course, this is just an example. A lot depends on the details of a bicycle accident case, such as the driver’s actions, the bicyclist’s injuries, and the skill of the attorneys involved.

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