Hurt on a Borrowed Motorcycle in Ohio When a Car Failed to Yield: Whose Insurance Pays

Attorney Answer

The main claim doesn't depend on the bike's policy. It runs against the driver who failed to yield and that driver's liability insurance. Your recovery is reduced only by any share of fault that was yours, and the claim must be brought within two years. Your own auto policy, if you have one, may add coverage.

The right of way. Ohio Rev. Code § 4511.43(A):

(A) Except when directed to proceed by a law enforcement officer, every driver of a vehicle or trackless trolley approaching a stop sign shall stop at a clearly marked stop line, but if none, before entering the crosswalk on the near side of the intersection, or, if none, then at the point nearest the intersecting roadway where the driver has a view of approaching traffic on the intersecting roadway before entering it. After having stopped, the driver shall yield the right-of- way to any vehicle in the intersection or approaching on another roadway so closely as to constitute an immediate hazard during the time the driver is moving across or within the intersection or junction of roadways.

At a four-way stop, every driver must stop, and the yield rule decides who goes. A driver who pulls out into a vehicle already in the intersection, or one so close it is an immediate hazard, has broken that rule. The police report will usually record what each driver said.

How fault is divided. Ohio Rev. Code § 2315.33:

The contributory fault of a person does not bar the person as plaintiff from recovering damages that have directly and proximately resulted from the tortious conduct of one or more other persons, if the contributory fault of the plaintiff was not greater than the combined tortious conduct of all other persons from whom the plaintiff seeks recovery in this action and of all other persons from whom the plaintiff does not seek recovery in this action. The court shall diminish any compensatory damages recoverable by the plaintiff by an amount that is proportionately equal to the percentage of tortious conduct of the plaintiff as determined pursuant to section 2315.34 of the Revised Code.

Other coverage. If the driver who hit you had no insurance, or too little for your injuries, uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage on your own auto policy may apply, depending on its terms. It is optional in Ohio. Ohio Rev. Code § 3937.18(A):

Any policy of insurance delivered or issued for delivery in this state with respect to any motor vehicle registered or principally garaged in this state that insures against loss resulting from liability imposed by law for bodily injury or death suffered by any person arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle, may, but is not required to, include uninsured motorist coverage, underinsured motorist coverage, or both uninsured and underinsured motorist coverages.

What you can do

1. Focus on treatment, and keep every record and bill from the hospital and after.

2. Ask someone to get the police report number and the other driver's insurer for you.

3. Check whether you have an auto policy of your own and what it includes.

4. Don't give a recorded statement to the other driver's insurer while you're in the hospital; it can wait.

5. Even if you are handling this yourself, you would be best served by a brief phone consultation with a local Ohio 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. Two years from the crash to sue for injury under Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.10(A). Treatment, insurance negotiations and a pending police matter do not pause it.