Bicyclist hit - bicyclist at fault??

[jamal123]

What is the name of your state? NH

My son was on a bicycle going west, car was going north. Son's brakes failed. He almost got to the other side of the road when car swerved, crossed double line and hit him. Who is at fault? What should I do? Thank you.

[racer72]

Did this happen at an intersection or the middle of the block? What traffic controls were in place and did someone not follow the traffic control? You don't give near enough info to make a determination.

[rmet4nzkx]

This is not the first time you have asked this same quesiton [url]http://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?t=196365[/url]
you are not clear what happened, but most likely if your son's brakes failed he was at fault in some way, we cannot answer your question without a clear picture of what happened, if you were not there you have only what your son tell you.

[jamal123]

State of NH. (small town). My apologies if I'm not giving the correct information. My son was coming out of a side road - there was a stop sign. He put on his brakes and they failed. He went straight to the other side of the road. The speed limit is 30. As I said before, he almost got to the other side of the road when the driver, who was going north, swerved into the lane crossing the double line, and struck my son. The weather was bright and sunny and the accident happened shortly after noon. The driver's left front bumper hit the center of the bicycle. The witness, who was directly behind him, stated "it looked like the driver swerved on purpose to hit him". If there is something I am not covering, please let me know. Again, my apologies for not stating what you require. Thank you.

[teflon_jones]

What direction was your son going?

Regardless, your son ran a stop sign so he was at fault. If the other driver deliberately hit him you'd need some pretty concrete proof.

[Arlee]

It may be that the driver swerved out of control at the sight of a bicyclist careening in front of his car. Even braking suddenly can cause a car to veer like that, even at 30 mph. (Happens to me all the time when squirrels run out in front of me in our neighborhood. I know it's more dangerous to self and others to try to avoid small animals, but reflex kicks in, and there I am, braking and swerving. Luckily, it's a low-traffic area and I haven't caused any wrecks.) Did the witness say the driver was speeding?

If the bike's brakes failed, this is probably a no-fault accident. I'm not a lawyer, though, and you need one. Even if you finally get a helpful answer to your question, you'll still want to see a lawyer.

Was your son badly hurt? I hope not. You must be frantic. I can't imagine going through what you must be feeling. Let us know what happens.

Best wishes,
Arlee

[CdwJava]

How do bicycle brakes "fail"? Unless they quite literally fell off - or the cable broke - I'd say it's more likely that he simply ran the stop sign.

The 'brake failure' claim (be it cars or bicycles) is right up there with the 'an animal ran in front of me' story.

But, even so, it's likely to be the bicyclist's fault ... at least that's how it would likely read in a collision report written by the police. Howevr, since insurance companies assign liability in a manner that is different than the police and the DMV might, then who can really tell.

- Carl

[jamal123]

State of NH. Thank you for all you advice. When my son got to the stop sign, he said he heard a pop and then there were no brakes. I had just bought him the bike for his 16th birthday a week before. The police chief confirmed the brakes had failed. He was going west. According to the skid marks, the driver was not speeding. My son had multiple injuries and broken bones but he is recovering and that's all that counts. Thanks again for your help.