Who is at fault in bike collisions with motor vehicles?
Fault in the collision was determined based on the comments of the investigating police officer (Figure 1). The investigating officer could designate either the motorist or the bicyclist or both were at fault in the crash. The inexperience or errrors made by bicyclists is evident by the police report results, which indicated that bicyclists were partially or entirely at fault in nearly 79 percent of the collisions with motor vehicles, with the motorists involved in an unsafe action in 43.5 percent of the crashes. This disproportionate blame for collisions largely being attributed to bicyclists reflects the young age of bicyclists involved in many crashes. It also indicates a need for more training and education on the rights and duties of bicyclists. In some instances, the police officers may not fully understand the traffic laws as they apply to bicyclists in the right-of-way, which may result in an erroneous designation of fault.
