Missouri is a beautiful state for cycling, with hundreds of bicycle tour routes, scenic cycling trails, and popular mountain bike destinations. Riding a bicycle for fitness or eco-friendly transportation is a choice made by hundreds of thousands of Missouri residents and visitors each day, but when a hazardous road condition directly results in an accident, the results can be devastating, especially for a cyclist riding in close proximity to traffic. It’s important for cyclists and drivers in Missouri to be aware of the risks that hazardous roadway conditions pose to bicycle riders. If you’ve been injured in a bike accident as a result of poor road conditions, start your accident claim now.
How Do Poor Road Conditions Cause Bicycle Accidents?
The local municipalities in Missouri have a responsibility to their citizens to design and plan safe roadways and intersections, and to provide sufficient maintenance and repairs to keep the roadways safe for all travelers, including cyclists. Unfortunately, when one or more of these agencies fails to uphold their legal duty of care, the result can be a poor road condition that causes harm to a cyclist. Poor road conditions can cause a cyclist to lose control, leading to a fall, while other hazards may result in a collision with a vehicle. When an exposed cyclist has a collision with an average 4,000-pound car, they often face devastating consequences, including catastrophic injury or death.
What Types of Hazardous Road Conditions Cause Bicycle Accidents?
Cyclists are exposed to direct contact with the road surface, obstacles, and vehicles in accidents, leaving them vulnerable to severe injury. The following poor road conditions sometimes lead to serious bicycle accident injuries:
- Lack of bicycle lanes
- Narrow lanes with inadequate space for bicycles
- Hazardous road surface conditions such as potholes, cracked pavement, loose gravel, sandy shoulders, uneven pavement, or poor drainage
- Poorly designed intersections, such as those with obstructed views, inadequate signage, or confusing layouts
- Inadequate lighting
- Inadequate or unclearly marked crossings
- Lack of guardrails
Adverse weather conditions also contribute to hazardous roadways, endangering cyclists. While no one can control the weather, drivers have a legal obligation to adjust their speed and take all reasonable precautions when driving in inclement weather conditions.
Who Is Liable for Bicycle Accident Injuries Caused by a Dangerous Road Condition?
Missouri’s fault-based injury laws require a traffic injury victim seeking compensation for their injury-related losses to file a claim against the at-fault party. When a poor road condition causes or contributes to a serious bicycle accident, the injury victim can recover compensation by proving the at-fault party’s liability. This requires showing that the responsible party owed a duty of reasonable care to the cyclist, they violated this duty of care through negligence, and the negligent violation of duty caused the accident. A bicycle accident victim’s attorney conducts an independent investigation into all aspects of the accident. Depending on the circumstances, an attorney may pursue compensation from multiple parties that contributed to the accident. For instance, a negligent road maintenance agency may be partly liable for failing to repair a dangerous pothole, and a driver who hits the cyclist who avoided the pothole could also be liable if they failed to leave adequate space between their vehicle and the bike rider. An experienced ST. Louis personal injury attorney pursues all avenues for recovering compensation for their injured client, including meticulously meeting the additional filing requirements and deadlines required for claims against local government agencies.