It is the responsibility of a
bicyclist to make sure that the driver of a car is not texting before the
cyclist proceeds through an intersection – even if the cyclist has the
right-of-way. That’s what I learned in court today.
Let’s back up. Two and a half years
ago, my daughter, age 17 at the time, was struck by a car that failed to stop
at a stop sign as my daughter was riding through the intersection on her bike.
Yes, she was riding on the sidewalk (legal in our jurisdiction), and was doing
so because she was riding along a very busy 4-lane road that is not safe for
bikes. Yes, she assumed that the car,
which was proceeding very slowly toward the intersection, would actually stop
at the stop sign. (Crazy and irresponsible, right?)
The following facts were undisputed
in the case. The driver did not see my daughter, even though she hit her with
the FRONT of her car. The first time the driver saw my daughter was when she
was lying on the ground, after being thrown behind the car, with a severely
broken wrist and ruptured spleen (apparently a common bicycle injury when the
handlebars are shoved into your gut).
I am not a litigious person, but
decided to file a lawsuit after the driver’s insurance company refused to
settle a claim and it became clear that my daughter’s injuries were continuing.
My daughter spent a week in the hospital, was on bed rest an additional two
weeks, on restricted activity for three months, and lost the lion’s share of
her spleen. She has continuing pain and disability in the wrist of her dominant
hand. We incurred $77,000 in medical expenses – most, but not all, of which were
covered by insurance. The driver had a dented license plate and other minor
damage to the hood of her tank-like Volvo.
But we have the misfortune of
living in Virginia, which has an absurd standard for a plaintiff to meet. Even
if the jury found that the driver of the car was negligent, (which she clearly was) they had to find in her favor if
the other party could have contributed, even one percent, to the cause of the
accident. They made the case, and convinced seven jurors, that a “reasonable
person” would have known better than to proceed through an intersection, in
which she, by law, had the right-of-way, if a car was approaching.
Get this: when the attorney for the
driver made his closing argument, he maintained that IT WAS THE RESPONSIBILITY
OF THE BICYCLIST TO MAKE SURE THAT THE DRIVER WASN’T DISTRACTED. He actually
said: “What if the driver had been talking on her cell phone or texting?” He
also maintained that, if a driver had to wait for every pedestrian to cross an
intersection, “he’d be sitting there forever.”
Well, we wouldn’t want the driver
of a car to have to “wait forever” for pedestrians (much less bicyclists) to cross.
So – bike riders take note – we should stop at every intersection, dismount our
bikes, make eye contact with the driver of every car, and make sure they are
not sending an important text message as they approach stop signs (which we
should never assume they will actually stop at). Because if they happen to mow
us down, it’s our own fault.
