Common Bicycle Accidents: Right Hook

How the accident occurs

This is one of the more common types of accidents that result in injuries. A car passes a cyclist to the left of the cyclist and then makes a right turn in front of the cyclist. The cyclist is then either hit by the car or cannot avoid hitting the car. This type of accident occurs not only when a car is turning onto a road, but also into parking lots and driveways.

How to avoid the accident

The most obvious way is to be particularly cautious when a car passes you and assume that the car’s intends to make a right.

Who is at fault?

While it may seem obvious that the car would be at fault, it is not that clear. This type of collision, because it often involves bad injuries, is likely to be litigated, or taken to court. Oftentimes the ultimate question is how time elapsed between when the car passed the cyclist and when it attempted to make a right turn.

If the car had passed then cyclist for a significant time, then it could be established that the car had made its intentions clear to the cyclist and had the right-of-way, so the cyclist should have stopped as the car was making the right turn. On the other hand, if the car does not completely pass or barely passes the cyclist, then the cyclist likely has the right-of-way.

This is a tough one to determine who is at fault. Ultimately it will be up to the jury or a judge to determine who was to blame for the collision.