To sue or not to sue. | Bike Commuters

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To sue or not to sue.

Dec 20th 2007

By: Moe

7 comments

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I know this is old news, but it is on my mind and I would like to know what bike commuters think of the following:

Back in 2004, a cyclist riding the RAGBRAI was thrown from his bicycle after hitting a crack on a county maintained road and unfortunately died from his injuries. The family of the fallen rider decided to sue Crawford county and won a settlement of $350,000 alleging that the poor maintenance of the road was the reason for the cyclist’s death.

The ramifications of such settlement has caused Crawford county to ban RAGBRAI and other counties had considered doing the same thing in fear of another lawsuit. Another option that Iowa counties are considering, is to request exemption from bike lawsuits.

A proposal expected to go before lawmakers next year would add a sentence to state law exempting counties and cities from legal action “by a person injured while operating a nonmotorized vehicle, if the road was designed, constructed and maintained as required for motor vehicle traffic.” Source: DesMoines Register.com

This action has the potential to curb cyclists rights not only in Iowa, but throughout the country by re-classifying cyclists as non-motorized vehicles and therefore not allowing bikes access to roads that were constructed for ‘motor vehicle traffic’ (Sidewalks, anyone?)

So if you hit a pothole and eat pavement, would you sue?

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- What...?
  
  December 20th, 2007 at 12:49
  
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  im not really sure what i would do. it would all depend on what might be accomplished by my actions. if you get up and walk away nothing happens, but if you yell and scream (or even sue) through the proper channels you might see road repairs. i think, though, that what really needs to happen is seeing grass-roots bicycle advocacy groups take the forefront and work even harder to provide separate roadways and paths and raise community awareness. this, of course, is all easier said than done.
  
  i guess another alternative is sue, and sue for as much as you can squeeze out of any place and use that money to privately fund bike paths but i think this option falls into the category of “wishful thinking” as well.
- Mike
  
  December 20th, 2007 at 13:53
  
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  I read on bikeforums where this was a known problem: riders noted it, alerted event officials, officials contacted local authorities, a cop was posted there to warn cyclists, but then left and did not mark the road defect with a cone or barricade. Guy hit crack and died, family sued.
  
  My brother’s best friend (about 15 at the time) died in a bike accident and it was pretty much because the road wasn’t maintained. Family didn’t sue.
  
  I think it’s wrong to sue in a case like this–cyclists should accept some personal responsibility or risk being segregated away from traffic, i.e. banned from the roads.
  
  It’s just not realistic, at least here in the North East, to expect pristine smooth roads year round. Every spring I have to re-learn the lay of familiar roads after the frost heaves go away and the potholes appear, and am extra vigilant on new or rarely traveled roads.
- Smudgemo
  
  December 20th, 2007 at 14:01
  
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  No, not for damaged pavement unless a municipality has been advised of a dangerous condition and not taken steps to rectify it in a reasonable amount of time. Then maybe.
  
  Riding a bike has inherent dangers and damaged pavement is one of the things I expect to find.
- Ghost Rider
  
  December 20th, 2007 at 14:47
  
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  I’m with Smudgemo…if a municipality is TRULY negligent (warned prior, failed to correct or mark for safety purposes, etc.), then head to court with both litigious guns blazing. Otherwise, poor road conditions are a fact of life, and should be expected by and negotiated by someone using such roadways, and lawsuits only serve to encourage the cancellation of such events.
  
  RAGBRAI only runs during daylight hours, as far as I know, too. In daylight, road imperfections should be mostly avoidable, unless a rider isn’t paying attention or is otherwise forced into potholes/cracks by other riders and vehicles.
- MikeC
  
  December 20th, 2007 at 15:16
  
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  If I felt that the city or county was aware of the problem but just ignoring it, and depending on the seriousness of the accident I might sue. Also, I would definitely consider a suit against the city or county if it tried to limit my access to roads above and beyond the freeway. Reading stuff like this in comparison to this kind of stuff: http://cycleliciousness.blogspot.com/2007/12/headstart-for-bikes-saves-lives.html just makes me think things are moving in the wrong direction.
- Mark Wyatt
  
  December 20th, 2007 at 21:16
  
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  Hello from Iowa. Everyone’s comments have outlined the problem in the proposal – I wouldn’t sue unless….
  
  The proposal is blanket liability for all crashes, even those that are egregious and indefensible. Bicyclists do take responsibility for their actions as evidenced by 36 years with only 1 lawsuit involving (but not isolated to) a road defect.
  
  What I think is a travesty is risk management of liability is what holds governments to meet standards and maintain the public right of way. Our officials have said they cannot meet generally accepted standards, yet they want exemption of liability. And they don’t think they will reduce their levels of maintenance when their liability is elimanted. RIGHT?
- Nord
  
  December 21st, 2007 at 07:24
  
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  I’m a lawyer, but not in Iowa. I think its a bad idea anytime we start getting into legislation that forecloses on people’s rights to petition the courts for redressal of grievances.
  
  That being said, I can imagine that there would likely be some issues of sovereign immunity involved in a case like this. In Texas, and many states, there are only a limited number of circumstances in which you can sue the state – the legislature must expressly waive the state’s immunity from suit – after all “the King can do no wrong.”
  
  In a situation like the one described in the post, and from the forums, it sounds like there’s some evidence the County bore some responsibility for what happened the to the rider.
  
  Certainly, participants in RAGBRAI execute a release in favor of the event organizers. To me, rather than pass sweeping legislation in knee-jerk fashion, it would make a lot more sense to expand the release language to include state and local governmental units, with the understanding that the state and locals will keep the roads in reasonably safe condition for all vehicle traffic.
  
  I think maybe I’ll read up on some Iowa law and post a case note after the holiday.
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