Partial Fault in a Bicycle Accident Case

Answer:

There’s a concept in the state of Florida that lots of people are not aware of. It’s called comparative negligence. Many times, I have clients come into the office, particularly in bicycle versus automobile cases in which they were riding their bicycle and got hit by a car. These clients may believe they are partially at fault. Do they still have a case?

They may think they don’t have a case because they didn’t come to a complete stop at the stop sign, or they drove in front of a car, for example, but that’s not necessarily the case. Florida has what is known as comparative negligence.

The way it works is this: If you get involved in an accident while riding a bicycle and a car hits you and it turns out that both of you share responsibility, when we go to court on your case, the jury will be asked to apportion the responsibility.

For example, let’s say that you’re on a bicycle up here in Nassau County. You get hit by a car. We go to court. The jury says your injuries are worth $100,000.

The jury also says that you were 50% responsible and the driver of the car is 50% responsible. What will happen at that point is the judge will reduce your $100,000 to $50,000 to account for your 50% responsibility. Just because you may be somewhat at fault does not eliminate the claim.

If you have that situation, don’t hesitate to call us. Our practice serves the Northeast Florida, Nassau County, and Duval County areas. We’ll sit down, we’ll go over those things, and we’ll see how best we can approach your case.