Answers for anyone hurt in California

No. California does not require adults to wear a helmet. It may be raised on the injury; it does not decide fault.

Do not accept anything before your injuries are understood. An early offer is usually made before the insurer has seen the full cost.

Most bicycle injury claims in California must be filed within two years. Exceptions exist: a government vehicle, a road hazard the city maintained, a minor.

The person who opened the door. California Vehicle Code §22517 makes it illegal to open a door on the traffic side unless it is reasonably safe and it does not interfere with traffic, and a cyclist in the lane or the bike lane is traffic. Insurers sometimes argue the rider was too close to the parked cars; the law puts the duty on the door.

It goes most of the way. A driver who enters, crosses or turns through a bike lane must yield to a cyclist in it, and California requires a driver turning right to merge into the bike lane only when it is safe; a cyclist riding lawfully in the lane has the right of way. The driver’s insurer may still argue about lights, speed or visibility, which is why the scene, the lane markings and any camera footage are gathered first.

More than people expect. The driver’s liability insurance is first. If the driver has no insurance, fled, or has too little, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on any auto policy in your household covers you on a bicycle under California Insurance Code §11580.2, and medical payments coverage on that policy pays early bills. Your health insurance pays treatment and is repaid from the recovery. A renter’s or homeowner’s policy sometimes covers the bicycle itself.

Not in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Municipal Code allows riding on the sidewalk as long as it is not done with wilful or wanton disregard for the safety of others, so a cyclist on a Valley sidewalk is not breaking the law by being there; other cities in the county have their own rules. A driver leaving a driveway or turning across a sidewalk must still look. Where you were riding can affect your share of fault; it does not decide the claim.

No. California treats an electric bicycle as a bicycle for the rules of the road (Vehicle Code §312.5), so a driver who hits an e-bike rider is judged the same way, and the same insurance applies. What the insurer may raise is the class of e-bike and the rider’s age, since class 3 bikes have their own rules; keep the bike as it is so its class and its damage can be seen. The rider’s phone and any bike computer often hold the speed, which settles that argument either way.