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Cycling has grown into a popular way to commute, exercise, and explore the communities around Evansville and Owensboro. Unfortunately, the rise in riders has also brought a rise in serious accidents. When a cyclist is hit by a car, the consequences can be devastating—broken bones, head injuries, spinal damage, and lasting medical bills. At Gerling Law Injury Attorneys, we’ve seen firsthand how a single moment of carelessness from a driver can change a rider’s life forever. We’ve also seen how insurance companies fight to minimize what these injuries are really worth.
If you’ve been hurt while riding a bicycle, understanding what caused your crash and how to prove someone else was at fault is the first step toward protecting your right to compensation. This post walks through the most common causes of bicycle accidents we see in Indiana and Kentucky, and explains how we build cases that hold negligent drivers and their insurance companies accountable.
The Most Common Causes of Bicycle Accidents
Bicycle accidents rarely happen by chance. In most cases, a specific act of carelessness or rule violation set the crash in motion. Knowing the common causes helps cyclists stay safer—and helps us identify exactly what to investigate after a collision.
Distracted Driving
Distracted driving is one of the leading causes of bicycle crashes today. A driver who glances at a phone, adjusts a radio, or takes their eyes off the road for even a second can fail to see a cyclist in a bike lane or crosswalk. By the time the driver looks up, the impact has already happened. We routinely subpoena phone records, review dashcam and traffic camera footage, and look at witness statements to identify when distraction played a role.
Failure to Yield
Many bicycle accidents occur at intersections where drivers fail to yield to a cyclist who has the right of way. Drivers turning left, drivers pulling out from side streets, and drivers turning right across a bike lane all create dangerous situations. Indiana and Kentucky law require drivers to yield to cyclists in many of these scenarios, and a failure to do so is a clear sign of negligence.
Unsafe Lane Changes and Sideswipes
Cars merging into bike lanes or drifting across lanes without checking blind spots are another major source of crashes. A driver who sideswipes a cyclist often claims they didn’t see the rider—but “I didn’t see them” is not a legal defense. Drivers are required to look before changing lanes, and failure to do so establishes negligence.
Dooring Accidents
A “dooring” accident happens when a driver or passenger opens a car door directly into the path of an oncoming cyclist. These crashes are common on city streets where parking spaces line the road. The cyclist often has no time to react, and the impact can throw them into traffic. Drivers and passengers have a duty to look before opening their doors, and failure to do so creates liability.
Right Hook and Left Cross Crashes
These are two of the most dangerous types of bicycle-car collisions. A “right hook” happens when a driver passes a cyclist and then turns right directly in front of them. A “left cross” happens when a driver turning left across traffic fails to see an oncoming cyclist. Both crashes typically result in serious injuries because the cyclist has no time to brake or maneuver.
Speeding and Aggressive Driving
When a driver speeds, tailgates, or weaves through traffic, the risk to cyclists multiplies. Speeding reduces a driver’s ability to react and increases the severity of any impact. Aggressive driving also tends to involve other rule violations—running lights, ignoring stop signs, passing too closely—each of which can support a negligence claim.
Driving Under the Influence
Impaired drivers pose an obvious threat to cyclists. Alcohol and drugs slow reaction time, blur vision, and impair judgment. A DUI driver who hits a cyclist faces both criminal charges and civil liability, and we work closely with law enforcement records to make sure all evidence of impairment is preserved.
Poor Road Conditions
Sometimes the responsible party isn’t another driver. Potholes, unmarked construction zones, debris, broken pavement, or missing signage can all cause crashes. In those cases, the responsible party may be a city, county, or contractor. These claims involve different procedures and shorter deadlines, which is why acting quickly matters.
How Negligence Is Proven in a Bicycle Accident Case
To recover compensation, an injured cyclist generally needs to prove four things: that the other party owed a duty of care, that they breached that duty, that the breach caused the crash, and that the cyclist suffered damages as a result. Each of these elements requires evidence, and the strength of that evidence often determines the outcome of the case.
Duty of Care
Drivers have a legal duty to share the road safely with cyclists. This duty exists under both Indiana and Kentucky law, and it includes obeying traffic laws, watching for cyclists, maintaining safe speeds, and avoiding distractions. Establishing duty is usually straightforward—the question is whether the driver lived up to it.
Breach of Duty
Breach is shown by evidence that the driver did something they shouldn’t have done or failed to do something they should have done. Police reports, traffic citations, witness statements, photographs, dashcam footage, and traffic camera recordings are all valuable here. Sometimes a driver’s own admission—captured on body cam at the scene—is the strongest evidence of breach.
Causation
We must show that the driver’s breach actually caused the crash and the resulting injuries. This is where accident reconstruction can become important. Skid marks, vehicle damage patterns, the cyclist’s position after impact, and physical evidence at the scene can all help reconstruct what happened. Medical records connecting the injuries to the crash mechanism are also key.
Damages
Finally, we have to document the damages. This includes medical bills, future medical needs, lost income, lost earning capacity, property damage to the bicycle and gear, and the pain and suffering the cyclist has endured. We work with medical professionals, vocational analysts, and life care planners when needed to make sure every category of loss is included.
Comparative Negligence in Indiana and Kentucky
Insurance companies often try to shift blame onto the cyclist. Both Indiana and Kentucky use comparative negligence rules, which means the amount of compensation can be reduced if the cyclist is found partially at fault. Indiana uses a modified comparative fault system: if the cyclist is more than 50 percent at fault, they recover nothing. Kentucky uses a pure comparative fault system, which allows recovery even if the cyclist was largely at fault, though the recovery is reduced accordingly.
This is why we push back hard when insurance companies try to blame the rider. We gather every piece of evidence available to show what really happened—and to make sure our clients aren’t unfairly penalized for someone else’s carelessness.
What to Do After a Bicycle Accident
If you’re physically able, try to take photos of the scene, the vehicle, and your injuries. Get the driver’s information and contact information for any witnesses. Get medical attention right away, even if you feel okay—many serious injuries don’t show symptoms until hours or days later. Avoid giving recorded statements to the at-fault driver’s insurance company before talking to an attorney.
Hold the Right People Accountable
Bicycle accident cases are not just about repairing a bike or paying a hospital bill. They’re about making sure the people responsible for hurting you are held accountable, and that you have what you need to recover physically, financially, and emotionally. At Gerling Law Injury Attorneys, we approach insurance companies aggressively while supporting our clients through every step of the process.
If you’ve been hit while riding in Evansville, Owensboro, or anywhere in our service area, call us today. Contact our Evansville office at 812-213-4551 or our Owensboro office at 812-646-3277 to talk through what happened and learn how we can help.
