Contributory Negligence Prevents Bike Crash Victims from Recovering Damages in Lawsuits
“Virginia is for Lovers,” proclaim the bumper stickers and signs. But Virginia Law does not love injured cyclists, bicycle tourists, racers in the peloton and triathletes. Even though a bicycle rider may have sustained cuts, bruises, broken bones and even brain injury, the biker must still prove the negligence (fault) of the driver who caused the crash. 
In many cases where the bike crash is mostly the motorist’s fault, Virginia bicyclists find out the harsh truth that their state is one of the very few that has “contributory negligence” as a valid defense to any recovery.
Contributory negligence is a complete bar to recovery in Virginia. This means that if the jury finds the Defendant is 99% at fault and the Plaintiff is 1% at fault, the Plaintiff cannot recover any of her damages. In many other states, if the injured bicyclist has $10,000 in losses, but is 10% “at fault,” she can still recover $9,000. Multi-state lawyer Doug Landau of Abrams Landau, Ltd., (shown here safely riding a stationary bike indoors during a spin class brick session) points out that in Virginia, contributory negligence is a COMPLETE BAR to an injured cyclists recovery. The Triathlon Trial Lawyer notes that is imperative that bikers and drivers alike understand their common law and statutory duties. However, in order to bar an injured biker’s recovery, the disabled cyclist’s negligence must be a cause of the accident.
As an example, let’s assume a car crashes head on into a peloton of cyclists going the posted speed limit, single file. If a bike rider is injured, and they did not have side reflectors on their bicycle in violation of law, the Insurance Defense lawyers may make a lot of noise about this fact. In the injured member of the peloton’s personal injury lawsuit, according to the athletes lawyer, the Defense would try to defeat the claim by alleging “contributory negligence.” However, if it was a day time bike crash, then the failure to have side reflectors would not be viewed by a judge as a cause of the crash according to the injured athletes lawyer Doug Landau of Herndon, Virginia.
NOTE: There are special rules about “Contributory Negligence for children. See tomorrow’s post for a discussion of this important legal principle for younger bicycle riders, runners and other injured athletes.
