Who would be legally responsible if I was riding my bicycle and another car made me swerve into a parked car?

Rusl B	Depends on your lawyer ;-) Seriously, there is a lot of variation in how the law gets interpreted (and where) for this. Bicycles are common but not commonly considered. Rarely do cyclists stick up for their rights also. Sometimes even the police don't know bicycle laws and will tell you sometime wrong. Also traffic infractions/law is not consistently applied because it is so common it would be impossible to - sometimes it isn't taken seriously unless pushed. Generally you are at fault because it is you who collided. However, if there is sufficient evidence/sympathetic judge/well argued case via good bike friendly lawyer/luck then you could prove that you were sensibly avoiding a worse collision and that the neglegent driver who caused you to swerve is liable. You probably need a lawyer who advertises as specifically for bike injury (there are a few out there, not many) who will get the issues. Look one up to just talk to even if they don't take you on because it is something that requires effort to win (or random good luck like having great evidence and a cycling judge)

Ashley Marie	You because you chose to swerve into the parked car. You could have just let the other car hit you and cashed out on a huge settlement but instead you choose to swerve and damage someone else's property.

kris	Judges can apportion blame, and responsibility for damages, using percentages, and this often happens in road accident cases. If you couldn't stop, couldn't get off, and your only option other than being hit was to hit the parked car, I think you might not be liable to pay any damages at all, since despite the fact that he didn't physically touch the parked car, 100% of the blame for the accident would be placed on the car driver. Or if it was less clear than that, the judge might hold you, say 30% liable, and the driver 70% and order you both to pay damages in those proportions.

iamhisandheismine777	Dear Liam, In the USA Bicycle riders have the right-of-way usually in designated bicycle lanes, however when none of those designated lanes are present they still have a certain unwritten right-of-way. Should a vehicle (car, truck, trolley) cause the rider to have to hit a parked car then you would be responsible for the damage to the vehicle but the driver of the vehicle that caused the accident would get a ticket for not giving the right-of-way to the bicycle rider. You could also take them to small claims court and sue for the damage to your person if there are personal injuries and for the payout you had to make to get the parked vehicle or a moving vehicle fixed with a paint job and dent repair. It is all generally a misdemeanor here in the USA, but there have been Hit-and-run accidents to bicycle riders and they have been unfortunately killed and and no one ever found out who did it. Motorists do not always obey the law or the bicycle rider is not well lit up with flashing lights and all during the late evening and early morning and this is not good. But on the other hand Motor vehicle drivers do not look where they are going either. Locally here we just had a 10 year old boy get run over by a Garbage truck and it di some very serious damage. He is in the hospital with 2 broken legs and multiple internal injuries. They hope that the surgery saved his one leg as it was crushed badly. He was on a non-motorized skate board when he was run over by the driver of the garbage truck. Any way that is how it is here in the USA. I am sure the UK has similar laws so even though it is a hypothetical situation just be very careful out there. I would not like to hear that you had an accident regardless of who would be at fault and definitely not a fatality. Take care my friend and God Bless! Your Friend in the USA, Richard

Maverick1965	There was a Court Case a while ago that my Father told me about where the Judge made the Ruling that a Cyclist was entitled to 'Wobble' ! The actual effort of cycling on a Bicycle can cause it to weave from side to side ! When you are physically tired as I use to get when I had cycled a L-O-N-G distance then I would 'wobble' from side to side as I cycled, especially when I cycled up a steep hill !

Sarah S	There are very few laws for cyclists and unfortuntaly a cyclist that hits another vehicle or object has to take the responsiblity for it. Same as for a car driver. If a car hits a car and another hits that and so on, its each car driver that has to claim on their insurance

midnightmoon62	You. Regardless of your specific reason, you not being able to control your vehicle is what landed you on the car. Doesnt matter that you are on a bike. The parked car would be taking you to civil court. You, however, could in turn take the car that made you swerve to civil court.

mattie_blower	yuour the one that swerved.....

SANDY	I think that it holds u responsible unless there were independent witnesses who would vouch 4 u stating that there was nothing that u could of done other then hit the parked car. This is true isn't? u are in so much trouble

Caicos Turkey	In a civil action, the owner of the parked car would seek to hold you liable and you in turn would attach the dangerous driver as third party, in the hope and expectation that the court would hold him or her liable for the damage. In real life, it is always hard to pin down a cyclist, who tends to remain anonymous, and the dangerous driver might well end up in court as being the one it is possible to trace.

Helen H	Are you undertaking the car on the inside, or is it overtaking you ?

red	you, cuz you cant prove it unless there were security cameras.