The Spectrum Ride is a weekly bicycle race that takes place in the Bay Area in California. It’s a competitive, open road race where injuries are known to happen. A new lawsuit is challenging rider responsibility. Namely, an injured rider recently filed suit against other riders, claiming that they caused his accident and his subsequent injuries. Similar to a car accident, he’s essentially claiming another driver is responsible for what happened.
Every lawsuit is unique, but here are two main sides to this argument. One is that this is an athletic event with known risk. On the other side, the injured party argues that traffic rules apply because this is an open road event. It’s a matter of liability versus knowingly exposing oneself to risk.
Risk factor and liability
While the Spectrum Ride is not a sanctioned event with a rider waiver and organized structure, it’s long-running and well known in the area, taking place since the 1980s. The defense will argue that the injured rider understood the risk of participating.
While knowledge of risk is an important factor in any injury, a key issue is cyclist negligence. In this case, the injured rider claims another rider lost control and started the wreck. In total, the lawsuit names 25 cyclists. The success of the lawsuit hinges on whether other riders tried to avoid the situation and how their actions caused or influenced the resulting injuries.
More than medical expenses
While some injuries heal and allow a return to regular life, many have lasting effects. Here, the injured party is a doctor claiming partial disability that’s affected his medical practice both in the present and the foreseeable future. Anyone injured through another party’s actions should take time to carefully review their situation. Medical bills and injury-related expenses are only part of the cost of a serious injury. Time away from work, lost income and other damages can be even more costly.