Hit by a Car While Riding a Bicycle in Georgia: The Rules That Decide Fault

Attorney Answer

Georgia's traffic laws protect cyclists on the road and put specific duties on drivers passing them. A driver who hit you while passing or overtaking may have broken a statute written for exactly this. Your own riding will be weighed too. Under Georgia's fault rule, you recover reduced damages so long as you were less than half at fault.

What a passing driver must do. O.C.G.A. § 40-6-56(a):

(a) The operator of a motor vehicle approaching a bicycle shall approach the bicycle with due caution and shall proceed as follows:

(1) Make a lane change into a lane not adjacent to the bicycle if possible in the existing road and traffic conditions; or

(2) If a lane change under paragraph (1) of this subsection would be impossible, prohibited by law, or unsafe, reduce the speed of the motor vehicle to a reasonable and proper speed for the existing road and traffic conditions, which speed shall be at least ten miles per hour less than the posted speed limit or 25 miles per hour, whichever is more, and proceed around the bicycle with at least three feet between such vehicle and the bicycle at all times.

So the first duty is to move over a full lane where possible. Only where that is impossible, prohibited or unsafe does the driver slow down and give at least three feet.

You had the right to be in the road. The traffic laws apply to bicycles, and a cyclist may use the shoulder but does not have to. Under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-291(b), a cyclist “may ride upon a paved shoulder; provided, however, that such person shall not be required to ride upon a paved shoulder.”

Georgia does ask cyclists to keep to the right as far as practicable, but with real exceptions. Under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-294(b), they include avoiding hazards such as debris and opening car doors, and a lane “too narrow to share safely with a motor vehicle”.

How your own riding is counted. O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33(a) reduces an award by the injured person's share of fault, and § 51-12-33(g) sets the limit:

(g) Notwithstanding the provisions of this Code section or any other provisions of law which might be construed to the contrary, the plaintiff shall not be entitled to receive any damages if the plaintiff is 50 percent or more responsible for the injury or damages claimed.

Your medical bills now. The driver's liability insurance pays when your claim is resolved. In the meantime, your own health insurance and any medical-payments or uninsured-motorist coverage on your own auto policy may apply, even though you were on a bicycle.

What you can do

1. Get medical care, and keep every record and bill.

2. Get the police report and the driver's insurance information.

3. Keep the bicycle as it is, and photograph it, your gear and the scene.

4. Write down the names of anyone who saw it.

5. Even if you are handling this yourself, you would be best served by a brief phone consultation with a local Georgia attorney before you act. Most lawyers offer a short initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts — and on how your court actually handles this — is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. A lawsuit for your injuries must be brought within two years under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33, which provides that “actions for injuries to the person shall be brought within two years after the right of action accrues”. A claim for the bicycle itself has four years under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-31.