$225,000.00 Recovery for Cyclist When No Contact Occurred.
A common type of crash involves a vehicle turning in front of or across a cyclist's path. The cyclist, in an attempt to avoid the crash, brakes sharply and loses control of the bike and falls. The question that is often asked is whether that driver is still negligent despite the lack of actual contact. The Answer is yes.
This week we resolved a case at mediation for a Nassau County cyclist who was involved in a crash when a driver made a left turn in front of him. The cyclist reacted quickly and applied his brakes causing him to go over his handle bars. The defense argued no contact ever occurred and could not be negligent.
The negligence in a left turn case is not the contact but rather the execution of a left turn in front of moving traffic when it was not reasonably safe to do so. The contact is the end result of the negligent act, not the negligence itself.
This is the 4th case, including one trial verdict, in the last two years where we have successfully made a recovery for NY cyclists when not contact occurred.