Bicycle Accident Claims: Proving Fault and Getting Paid

A car hit you on your bike or e-bike, and now there are injuries, a damaged bike and an insurer asking questions. If you’re not sure who is supposed to pay, that’s a normal place to be. A driver who breaks the rules of the road, such as passing too close or turning across your path, can be held responsible for your injuries. In most states, the driver’s liability insurance pays. In Michigan, a no-fault state, your own household’s auto insurance usually pays your medical bills first, even though you were on a bike.

In 2024, 1,103 bicyclists and other cyclists died in U.S. traffic crashes, 29 of them in Michigan, and an estimated 52,887 were injured, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). More than half of the deaths happened in the dark. Michigan’s rules are in the boxes marked “In Michigan.”

Hurt on your bike and not sure where you stand? Get a free case review. Four quick questions, no cost, no obligation.

What should you do after a bike accident?

1. Get safe and call 911. Call the police if anyone is hurt (Texas Department of Insurance), and ask how to get the crash report.
2. Collect evidence: the driver’s name, plate and insurer, witnesses’ names, and photos of the scene, the car, your bike and your injuries. Ask nearby businesses about cameras before video is recorded over.
3. Keep your bike, helmet and clothes as they are until they’ve been photographed. The damage can show how hard you were hit.
4. Get medical care the same day or the next, and describe every symptom.
5. Tell your own auto insurer, even though you were on a bike. You have no contract with the driver’s insurer, so you don’t have the same options you would with your own insurer (Texas Department of Insurance). Get advice before you give it a recorded statement.

Our checklist of 10 things to do after a car accident covers the days that follow.

Who pays after a bike accident?

It depends on your state. Triple-I, an insurance industry research group, counts 12 no-fault states, including Michigan.

• In an at-fault state, you claim against the driver’s bodily injury liability coverage for your injuries and property damage liability for your bike (Triple-I). Your own medical payments coverage may help: the Texas Department of Insurance says it pays if you’re hurt while biking.
• In a no-fault state, personal injury protection (PIP) pays first, whoever caused the crash, and you can usually sue for pain and suffering only past an injury threshold (Triple-I). Each state’s law decides whose PIP covers a bicyclist.

Was the driver uninsured, or did they drive off? See uninsured motorist claims and hit-and-run crashes.

How is fault decided in a bike accident?

You generally must show that the driver owed you a duty of care, broke it and caused your injuries (Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute, or Cornell LII), using the crash report, witnesses, photos, video and the damage. A driver who breaks a safety law without an excuse can be treated as negligent as a matter of law, a rule called negligence per se that’s most often applied to traffic violations (Cornell LII).

The driver’s insurer handles claims like yours every day, and it may say its driver wasn’t at fault or that you share the blame (Texas Department of Insurance). That’s its position, not a finding.

What does a driver owe a bicyclist?

NHTSA asks drivers to give cyclists at least 3 feet when passing and to yield to them at intersections.

What does a bicyclist owe drivers?

NHTSA says bicyclists must obey signs, signals and lane markings, and ride with traffic.

What if you were doored?

“Dooring” means someone opened a car door into your path. NHTSA tells drivers to look for cyclists before opening a car door.

What if you were partly at fault?

Most states reduce what you recover by your share of the fault and cut off recovery once your share reaches 50% or 51%. Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and Washington, D.C., can bar it for any fault (Cornell LII), though D.C. has a special rule for cyclists in collisions with motor vehicles (D.C. Code § 50-2204.52). See each state’s shared-fault rule.

Does not wearing a helmet hurt your claim?

NHTSA calls a properly fitted helmet the single most effective way to prevent head injury in a bicycle crash.

Did an insurer say the crash was partly your fault? Get a free case review. Four quick questions, no cost, no obligation.

Are e-bike accidents treated differently?

Since 2022, NHTSA’s cyclist counts have included riders of bicycles powered by motors.

Do you need a bike accident lawyer?

Not always. If you healed quickly and your bills are paid, you may be able to handle the claim yourself. A bike injury attorney makes more sense when:

• you were seriously hurt, or an insurer says your injury isn’t serious enough
• insurers dispute who owes your PIP, or you need Michigan’s Assigned Claims Plan
• the driver fled or was uninsured
• fault is disputed, as after a dooring or a crash after dark
• someone died (wrongful death claims)

Advice helps most before you give a recorded statement or sign anything (when you need a lawyer).

How do you find a bike injury lawyer near you?

• Check the license and discipline record with your state’s lawyer-licensing agency.
• Ask about bicycle crash experience and the fee. In Michigan, a contingency fee in an injury case can’t exceed one-third of the recovery after case costs, and the agreement must be in writing (MCR 8.121(B), (C), (F)). See how injury lawyers get paid.
• Compare more than one. Our directory of Michigan injury lawyers compares firms by Google rating and the $1 million-plus verdicts and settlements they report, each linked to its source. Past results don’t guarantee a similar outcome (how we rank firms). See also how to choose the right lawyer.

Not sure whose insurance owes you, or how close your deadline is? Get a free case review. Four quick questions, no cost, no obligation.

What to do next

1. Get medical care, and keep every bill and record.
2. Send written notice within one year in Michigan, to the PIP insurer or the Assigned Claims Plan (MCL 500.3145(1), 500.3174).
3. Keep the evidence, and say little to the driver’s insurer until you’ve had advice.
4. Get a free case review. Tell us what happened in four quick questions, or compare Michigan injury lawyers.

What waiting can cost

• Your PIP benefits. In Michigan, missing the one-year notice can end your right to sue for them (MCL 500.3145(1)).
• Your bike claim. A Michigan lawsuit for property protection benefits is due within one year (MCL 500.3145(5)).
• Your lawsuit. Michigan allows three years for most injury lawsuits (MCL 600.5805(2)); see every Michigan injury deadline and deadlines by state.
• Evidence. Bikes get fixed or thrown out, and video gets recorded over.

What a good outcome looks like

Your medical bills go to the right insurer and get paid, your lost income is covered while you heal, and your bike is repaired or replaced. Fault is decided on the evidence, not on assumptions about people on bikes, and if you were badly hurt, the driver’s insurance pays what your own coverage doesn’t. From wondering who pays after a car hits your bike to knowing which insurer owes you, what the driver owed you and how long you have to act.

For more, see our car accident lawsuit guide, defensive driving tips and all our car, truck and motorcycle accident guides, or, in Michigan, the Michigan personal injury law reference.

Updated September 29, 2026

This guide is general information, not legal advice, and laws change. For advice about your situation, talk to a lawyer licensed in your state. Reading this page or contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship.