Contributory Negligence Prevents Bike Crash Victims from Recovering Damages in Lawsuits

15 Jan, 2008  No Comment

“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.

TriathlonInjuryLawyer_Doug_Landau_spins.jpeg
TriathlonInjuryLawyer_Doug_Landau_spins.jpeg
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 Read the rest of this entry »

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Douglas K.W. Landau is admitted to practice in DC, VA, CT, FL, and NJ. Abrams Landau services clients in Washington DC, Pennsylvania, PA, Maryland, MD, Virginia, VA (including Northern Virginia, Fairfax county, Loudoun county, Herndon, Reston, and more), Connecticut, CT, Georgia, GA, Florida, FL, New Hampshire, NH, New York, NY, New Jersey, NJ, Maine, Massachusetts, MA, Rhode Island, RI, North Carolina, NC, and South Carolina, SC.

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