Did you know that bike-only insurance is available to all people who ride bikes in Washington State, even if you do not have a motor vehicle? Yes! It’s true. If someone hit you while you were riding your bike, you could still get coverage for medical bills and/or property damage with standalone bike insurance. This kicks in as an additional layer of coverage for those who are involved in a bike crash even if drivers stay at the scene and provide their insurance info.

This series of blog posts are inspired by a bright Seattle bike shop owner. In December 2022, he had reached out to me and asked me: “Why don’t we have standalone bike insurance?”

Well, as you know by now, “We DO have it.” Yet, his great question made me realize that a lot of intelligent bicyclists in the Seattle/Bellevue metro area and other more dense regions of Washington state are not aware of the option of purchasing bike insurance, including liability and personal injury protection for themselves in case they were ever involved in a bike crash.

I polled folks for a few hours on Twitter and found that the majority of respondents did not have bike insurance and didn’t seem to think they needed it.

So I had a conversation with a super informative insurance rep from Markel, the main insurer for bikes/bicyclists in this country and throughout the world.

The takeaways: there are a variety of bike-only insurance policies available including

• Bike damage
• Liability coverage up to $300,000 in the event you are found at fault and sued.
• Vehicle contact protection up to $25,000 for bodily injury, if you are hit while on a bicycle.

Markel Insurance underwrites these and other polices, often offered through Velosurance, State Farm, and other insurers. 

Listen to the entire (short) conversation below to get more details:

The post #BikeOnlyInsurance: Get insured before you get injured in a hit & run. first appeared on FLEMING LAW | Top Personal Injury Attorney: Seattle Bike | Pedestrian | Road Crashes.

Daniel Ahrendt, a conscientious bike commuter and web developer, was run over by a bus after his front bike tire got caught in the Seattle First Hill Streetcar track. On a partly sunny May morning in Seattle, Daniel rode his bicycle to his job. He was always careful as a bicyclist, as his friends all knew. But, because of the design of a busy intersection, which included curved streetcar tracks, a lane restricted to buses and bicyclists at a major intersection along with having car and truck traffic, Daniel found his bicycle tire trapped in the First Hill Streetcar tracks and fell violently to the pavement. Moments later, a Metro bus ran over the lower portion of his body, crushing his pelvis, legs, etc. Attorney Catherine Fleming fought on behalf of Daniel, and obtained a $1,550,000 award to compensate him for his medical bills along with his pain and suffering.

Daniel can walk, which was a big question in the earliest days after the bike crash. However, he lives with a limp and is far from ready to ride a bike. With his settlement, he can now focus on working on his music and job as a web developer.

You can read the full article by The Seattle Times Here!

The post $1,550,000 -Seriously Injured Cyclist Sues Seattle for Unsafe Road first appeared on FLEMING LAW | Top Personal Injury Attorney: Seattle Bike | Pedestrian | Road Crashes.