Do Cyclists in NYC Need to Stop for Stop Signs?

In New York and most other states, anything with wheels that travels on a public street, including a bicycle, is a vehicle. Cyclists have all the rights and responsibilities of all other vehicle operators. This responsibility includes obeying stop signs and other traffic control devices. These rights include right-of-way and the right to compensation.

Some drivers expect bicyclists to obey stop signs and other traffic laws, but many don’t want to share the road with bicyclists. Bicycles are so small and light that a minor brush with a vehicle usually causes a serious injury. If negligence caused that collision, a New York personal injury lawyer may be able to obtain substantial compensation.

Bicycle Crash Injuries

Frequently, bicyclists follow the rules of the road and obey stop, yet they still sustain serious injuries in collisions. These injuries include:

• Head Injuries: Thin bicycle helmets often protect riders if they hit curbs or other small, stationary objects. This headgear can’t possibly provide adequate protection in a collision with a large, fast-moving object, like a car or truck. Additionally, the violent motion in a fall, not a trauma impact, often causes a head injury. 
• Internal Injuries: The same force that sends the brain crashing against the skull causes other internal organ damage. Internal bleeding is hard to detect, and many victims are on the edge of hypovolemic shock before they see doctors.
• Broken Bones: Serious collisions cause serious fractures which, in many cases, require multiple corrective surgical procedures. After this ordeal, patients are so weak that physical therapy is a much longer and more grueling process. Even after PT, permanent loss of use, like lost range of motion in a broken shoulder, is usually inevitable.

These injuries are expensive to treat. Frequently, group health insurance companies exclude injury-related costs. As a result, a victim could be left holding a very large financial bag.

Liability Issues

Failure to stop at a stop sign doesn’t just violate New York’s traffic code. This failure could also affect liability in a civil case.

In an instance where two drivers get into an accident caused by both violating the traffic code, a court must decide which driver substantially caused the wreck and is therefore liable for damages.

Substantial cause basically means primary cause. Excessive speed is an example of primary cause, whereas bad weather is not because it only contributes to an accident.

If both drivers are partially at fault, jurors must divide responsibility 80-20, 50-50, or otherwise, in accordance with the evidence.

New York is a pure comparative fault state. A tortfeasor (negligent driver) might only be 1 percent responsible for a wreck. Even then, the victim is entitled to a proportionate share of damages.

A bicyclist’s failure to stop at a stop sign creates sticky legal issues. For a free consultation with an experienced personal injury attorney in New York, contact Napoli Shkolnik. We can review your legal options with no obligation. There are no upfront legal fees and we only recover a fee when we win your case.