Did you know that our cities, towns, counties, and state owe all travelers reasonably safe roads? Why does this matter? It matters! Read on, if you want to learn this powerful rule that is intended to ensure safer roads in Washington State.

When you are injured on the road in a solo crash — riding a bicycle, on a scooter, in a wheelchair, or on foot – what should you do? What are your rights?

Allison, an acquaintance who was new to the city, recently shared details about her horrific scooter crash. Allison was over a mile from her destination and thought she would try out one of a Lime scooter. A super cautious person, she rode the scooter in a protected bike lane. But her first scooter ride resulted in a solo crash where she landed in the hospital for over a week in the ICU. As she told me the story, just a month after her crash, she kept saying, “It’s all my fault.” I was stunned.

“Why do you keep blaming yourself,” I asked Allison, as she shook her head.

“I didn’t know how many bumps and cracks were in that bike lane. And the lane ended really abruptly. Cars to my left had a green arrow to turn right and they didn’t feel the need to look for a scooter rider.”

Based on the events she described, I seriously doubt that the crash was her fault at all.

Whose fault, then? That’s what this blog post is about.

Allison’s assumption about “fault” in a solo crash is a common one. Too often, people beat themselves up and blame themselves for their solo crashes. This is understandable because there’s not an obvious “at-fault party,“ as in the case of a car vs. bike crash or a bike vs. pedestrian crash.

“It’s my fault. I guess I messed up, but I’m not sure how.” I hear it from clients and prospective clients almost every day. That is, they blame themselves until I explain that municipalities in Washington State have a duty to plan, design, construct, and maintain reasonably safe roads.

One client, a seasoned cyclist and one tough cookie (she was formerly in the Air Force) who regularly rides in the STP (Seattle to Portland), was riding a well-known training route on the shoulder of a major road. If you’re familiar at all with the STP route, there are plenty of twists and turns. Well, she wiped out, suffering major and permanent injuries.

Guess what? She recounts the crash and shrugs her shoulder as she points to the scars on her face, “I should have known better.” AAARGH… NO! When she told me the details, I recognized the fact that she was not at fault one iota. When I explained how road design cases work, she had no idea that municipalities have a duty to design, maintain, and warn about the condition of their roads for reasonably safe travel.

It’s pretty clear from how often I have these conversations that this simple concept is not well understood. That is because you’re not going to find a PSA on these like you do about drunk driving or don’t text while you drive.

Never assume a solo crash is your fault. If there is one thing I want you to learn from this blog post, please remember that a flawed road design is not your fault. Why? Because in Washington, we have laws along as legal precedent that firmly establishes that governmental entities have the responsibility to ensure that roads and sidewalks offer people reasonably safe conditions to travel. Washington is one of few states where this is the case.

This brings up the concept of sovereign immunity. Sovereign immunity is the idea that you can’t sue the king. Because we don’t have kings (not yet, at least) in our country, the notion that governs many issues is that you can’t sue the government. Generally, there are only a very few and specific conditions under which a person might have standing to sue the government. In recent decades in Washington through a series of cases, municipalities have very little protect from liability specifically regarding road design.

What constitutes reasonably safe travel has a fair amount of gray area. That’s why you should do two things if you are involved in a solo crash:

1. Talk to an attorney about the facts of your crash.
2. Report your crash to the city, county, or state responsible for maintaining the location of your crash.

Reporting is critical, and I’ll explain more about this in part 2 and in other future blog posts.

So, remember: don’t blame yourself if you’ve operated a scooter or bike in a lawful manner, but you get injured. Our cities, counties, and state bear the responsibility to provide all travelers with reasonably safe roads.

The post Can you spot “reasonably safe roads”? first appeared on FLEMING LAW | Top Personal Injury Attorney: Seattle Bike | Pedestrian | Road Crashes.

Ebikes are a budget friendly alternative to fuel powered vehicles. They are also climate friendly, as ebikes allow you to bike more without fear of hills.

No surprise, then, that ebikes are surging in popularity and are almost as commonplace as regular bikes in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. For recreational use, so many people using ebikes to explore nature. This has environmentalists worried. So, Washington state lawmakers are considering restricting their use to minimize damage to wildlife and their habitats. Here, I thought that switching to an ebike to commute was “cheating”. Now I learn that people are heading to bike trails with ebikes. Hmmm.

For purposes of this post, I’m focused on biking and ebike use as a common mode of transportation. The inevitable question that follows: “Do I need to buy insurance for my ebike?” Rather than drone on as attorneys are known to do, I’ve included an e excerpt of a blog post by Kimberly Kinchen as a primer for ebike insurance. Ms. Kinchen is a highly respected road safety advocate in the Pacific Northwest, the author of Transit Trekker Manual (forthcoming).*

EBike Insurance 101

When Tim Pembroke turned 70 back in 2011, he decided it was time to stop riding a motorcycle and start riding an electric bicycle. His son Nick worked for Everett, Washington-based McClain Insurance for a decade, so Tim asked Nick about insurance for his new ride. 

Nick quickly found that while bicycles are typically covered under standard homeowners, renters or umbrella insurance policies, electric bicycles were typically excluded from coverage under such policies on the basis that they are motorized. Many insurance denials and three or four months later, SafeCo offered to modify a motorcycle policy to cover Tim’s electric bicycle. 

SafeCo continues to be one of the prime carriers for electric bicycle insurance, and interest in such insurance has only grown. Nick Pembroke estimates that McClain, which serves Idaho, Oregon and Washington, fielded twice the number of quotes for electric bicycle insurance in 2020 compared to 2019. Across the U.S., other insurers have entered the space in response to the rising popularity of electric bicycles.

Anyone searching for electric bicycle insurance needs to first understand liability.

Liability insurance pays an injured party if you are determined to be at fault for their injuries and other damages — often because you admit fault, your insurer deems you to be at fault or as the result of a lawsuit.

Most standard homeowners and renters insurance policies provide liability protection for incidents that arise from the use of standard bicycles. However, as Pembroke noted, these policies often don’t cover electric bicycles, so if you want to protect your personal assets from risk in the event you are involved in a crash in which someone is hurt, read your insurance policy carefully to see if it will cover damages related to the use of electric bicycles. If it does not, consider liability coverage. 

Also be aware that policies vary by state and insurance regulations, which can also affect the minimum and maximum coverage, or limits, available. Some carriers may have stand-alone electric bicycle coverage similar to motorcycle or car insurance policies, while others may offer electric bicycle coverage as an addition to an existing homeowners or renters policy. Finally, some carriers don’t insure all classes of electric bicycles, so be sure you’re clear on which class yours falls under.

Here’s a short, non-exhaustive list of insurers currently offering electric bicycle insurance products: 

• Markel Insurance policies cover all three classes of electric bicycles. You can read a sample of their standard electric bicycle policy here. 
• SPOKE
• SafeCo/Liberty Mutual doesn’t offer details on their site; inquire via an agency that partners with SafeCo. 
• State Farm offers electric bicycle insurance in California, and may offer some e-bike coverage with homeowners policies in Missouri and Texas.
• Sundays
• Velosurance
• West Bend Mutual

(If your insurance provider isn’t listed here, you may want to contact an agent to see if they offer coverage.)

Here are key questions she recommends getting answers to: 

• Liability: Does the policy you are purchasing cover you if you cause bodily injury, death or damage to another person or their property while you are riding an electric bicycle? 
• Uninsured or Underinsured Motorists (UM/UIM): Does the policy provide UM and UIM coverage if you are involved in a crash caused by a motor vehicle operator that lacks adequate insurance to cover your injuries (including collisions, hit and run and no-contact crashes)?
• MedPay: Does the policy provide medical payments coverage if you are involved in a crash caused by a motor vehicle operator, regardless of fault? Boxer-Macomber points out that even if you have health insurance, MedPay might be worthwhile to cover high annual deductibles or copays.
• Theft and property damage: If your electric bicycle is stolen or damaged, will the policy cover full replacement or depreciation cost? If the latter, what formula will be used? Will a deductible apply? 

You might also want to ask how coverage applies if you loan out your electric bicycle to a friend, plan to travel out of the state or country often with it, or while renting an electric bicycle from a shop or bikeshare operator. Boxer-Macomber also recommends vetting the insurance carrier via your state’s insurance bureau or insurance commissioner. 

Nick Pembroke says he always warns those in the market for electric bicycle insurance to brace themselves for some initial sticker price shock — first-year premiums are likely to be your most expensive insurance, but will drop quickly as your continuous insurance history builds. 

A final heads up: insurance for your circumstances might not be available. Like about 20% of my fellow Seattlites (according to the American Community Survey), my household doesn’t own a car, and I never bothered getting a driver license. My electric bicycle is my main form of transportation, so liability and UIM insurance are high priorities for me. But I’m out of luck for now — the electric bicycle policy available in my region currently requires a driver license. That sounds like a good market opportunity for the insurance industry.  [Republished with the author’s permission, originally published on PeopleForBikes.org website.]

* As the Business Network Writer for PeopleForBikes Kimberly wrote about the economic benefits of bicycling and bicycling infrastructure. More recently she has written on e-bike policy for PeopleForBikes. As a Fellow at the Disability Mobility Initiative (DMI), Kimberly drafted the groundbreaking Transportation Access for Everyone white paper; she is currently the engagement manager for DMI’s Week Without Driving.

The post Are eBikes the answer to ⬆️ gas prices? first appeared on FLEMING LAW | Top Personal Injury Attorney: Seattle Bike | Pedestrian | Road Crashes.