Can you ball park a percentage of the cyclist at fault cases where the bicyclist was an indigent or for some reason couldn't hold a license? The reason that I ask is that those that I most often see riding against traffic and riding without lights look like they fall into that category.
I don't know a percentage, but can say most bike accident claims arfe with casual riders, not the more serious cyclists. The ones riding against traffic are usually the ones that are coming home from a convenience store run and has a bag hanging from the handle bars, or a kid, or something like that.
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The individual duty to stop begs a little discussion. I don't ride in large groups and can picture what you are talking about and agree that the long line moving through without stopping is a bad idea. If my group, say 8 riders, comes to a stop sign. We bunch together and occupy the footprint of a typical motor vehicle. If a car is coming, we stop and yield right of way. When we can safely go, we move through as a unit. I see that as pretty harmless, and if it's a busy 4 way stop intersection, it serves to allow cross traffic to get through much more quickly.
None of the states I adjust claims in view a group of riders as a single entity. They all have their indiviidal duties. Each has a duty to stop. Most drivers do let a group come out, but often times there are stragglers a few yards behind trying to catch up to the group who will ride right through a stop sign without stopping.
The other issues is passing a line of bicyclists and then have the lead guy way up ahead throw out a left turn signal and all the bikes following swerve left like a snake. They all have a duty to ride appropiately and signal their individual intentions.
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The cyclist swerving into an overtaking car. How often in those cases is it clear that the cyclist did the swerving?
This is probably the most common accident I've seen involving serious bicyclists. Riding to the right and needing to a make a left turn, and swerving left without regard to a overtaking car in the "blindspot" position. Happens all the time, particularly in northern Virginia. It's usually an easy one to defend for the driver. Often times there are witnesses, and with the proliferation of dash cams and security cams and Ring doorbells, we end up finding a lot captured on video.
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Do you work in one state or multiple?
I regularly work in Virginia, West Virginia, DC, Maryland, Delaware and NC. I do have a resident Florida adjuster's license and that is reciprocal with all other states that require licenses, so I have licenses to adjust claims in all states that require a license, including Louisiana. I handle claims in other states as needed.
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If those states have minimum passing distances (3 feet in most states) it would be one hell of a swerve for a cyclist to drift 3 feet over and into a car. I would guess that these cases are often he said/she said? If I were a betting man, I'd bet that in most of these cases the auto driver wasn't giving the minimum.
Cars do sideswipe bikes regularly. But many of these accidents seem to arise from the bicyclist needing to switch from the right side of a straight lane to a left turn lane to make a left turn
Almost 100% of these accidents arises from inattention on either the rider or the driver. A little more attention on both sides would solve the vast majority of these collisions.
