When a road contains a bicycle lane, then the rider of a bicycle is supposed to stay on that designated path. Still, there are places without such lanes, but places where a bicycle rider has a legal right to travel. A parking lot belongs on a listing of such locations.
Because riders on bicycles can venture into such locations, a personal injury lawyer might have a client with a certain type of injury. If that clients owns and rides a bicycle, then he or she might have an injury sustained while being doored.
What does it mean to be doored?
That word gets used by personal injury lawyers in Mountain View in reference to a specific event. That is an event that might take place when someone riding a bicycle travels down a lane of parked cars, or rides into a parking lot. At some point a door might open into the bicycle’s path.
A responsibility given to drivers and passengers in a parking lot:
According to the law, the drivers and passengers are expected to check for the presence of riders on bicycles, before opening any doors. For that reason, a bicyclist that has been injured by a door has the right to file a claim against the responsible driver or passenger. Once that claim has been filed, the responsible person should expect to be charged with paying for treatment of the bicyclist’s injuries.
Does that mean that no riders on bicycles could ever be held responsible for injuries to someone that had stepped out of the vehicle and into a bicycle’s path?
If the person that stepped onto that path had just opened his or her door, then in that case, the person that had opened the door could not sue the bicycle rider. Suppose, however, that the same rider plowed into a person that had gotten out of their vehicle earlier, and had then reached into that same vehicle, in order to retrieve some item. What could happen then?
If the bicycle rider’s eyes had been provided with the chance to note the obstacle in the bike’s path, then the rider would not have the right to proceed down the obstructed path. In that case, the rider of the bicycle, and not the person that opened the door might be held responsible for any injuries.
How do the questions surrounding such a situation get resolved?
When someone gets injured in a situation of that sort, then each party needs to hire a personal injury lawyer. The 2 lawyers negotiate, and determine to what extent their client might have contributed to occurrence of the injury-causing accident. Ideally, the 2 lawyers reach an agreement, and then the dispute can be settled amicably.