E-Bike Accidents Caused By Distracted Drivers
Electric bikes are showing up more often on Michigan’s streets, bike lanes, and neighborhood roads. As more people ride e-bikes, there is a growing risk when drivers don’t pay attention to those sharing the road. If a driver is distracted by a phone, sending a message, adjusting a device, or just not focused, they can easily miss seeing an e-bike nearby. When a car hits an e-bike, the rider is exposed and can suffer serious injuries. We help people whose lives have been changed because a driver wasn’t paying attention.
Cases involving distracted drivers and e-bikes often touch on different parts of Michigan law. We look at how the crash happened, if the driver broke any traffic laws, if the rider followed e-bike rules, what insurance benefits might apply, and whether a claim can be made against the driver at fault.
Michigan Law Gives E-Bike Riders Roadway Rights
Michigan law specifically recognizes electric bicycles. Under MCL 257.13e, an electric bicycle generally must have operable pedals, a seat or saddle, and an electric motor rated at no more than 750 watts. Michigan divides qualifying e-bikes into Class 1, Class 2, and Class 3 categories based on how the motor provides assistance and the maximum assisted speed.
More importantly for an accident claim, MCL 257.657 provides that a person riding an electric bicycle on a roadway generally has the same rights and is subject to the same duties that apply to vehicle drivers, except where a rule does not logically apply or another bicycle-specific provision controls.
According to MCL 257.662a, e-bikes are usually allowed on parts of highways open to bicycles, like bike lanes and shoulders, unless there are specific rules against it. So, we don’t assume an e-bike rider did anything wrong just because the crash happened on a roadway.
Distracted Driving Can Establish Important Evidence Of Negligence
Michigan has adopted a broad hands-free driving law. MCL 257.602b generally prohibits drivers from holding or using a mobile electronic device while operating a motor vehicle, with specific exceptions stated in the law.
Prohibited conduct can include making or receiving handheld calls, reading or sending text messages, watching or recording video, or accessing social media. The statute also defines operation broadly enough to include driving and certain periods when a vehicle is temporarily stopped because of traffic, a traffic signal, or a stop sign.
When we look into an e-bike crash, proof that a driver was illegally using a phone can be key to showing negligence. While a traffic ticket can help, a civil injury case doesn’t always depend on whether the police gave one.
We might review phone records, talk to witnesses, check vehicle data, look at surveillance or dash-cam video, review police body-cam footage, examine photos, and consider the driver’s statements to find out what happened right before the crash.
Drivers Must Safely Pass E-Bike Riders
Distracted drivers may also violate other traffic laws before striking an e-bike rider. Under MCL 257.636, motorists overtaking another vehicle or bicycle traveling in the same direction must pass at a safe distance.
This is especially important if a driver looks at a phone and drifts into the shoulder or bike lane. Other common ways distracted driving leads to crashes include not seeing an e-bike before turning right, turning left across the rider’s path, opening a car door into the rider’s way, rear-ending an e-bike, or entering an intersection without noticing the rider.
E-Bike Riders Can Suffer Severe Injuries
E-bike riders don’t have seat belts, airbags, strong doors, or a car body to protect them as people in cars do. Even a low-speed crash can throw a rider onto the road or into another vehicle.
We frequently evaluate claims involving traumatic brain injuries, concussions, spinal injuries, fractured wrists, broken arms, shoulder injuries, fractured hips, pelvic injuries, knee damage, facial injuries, road rash, and permanent scarring.
A serious injury might mean surgery and then physical therapy or rehab. Some people can’t go back to work for months, and others may never return to their old jobs. We look at both the short-term and long-term effects of the injury when deciding what compensation to seek.
Michigan No-Fault Benefits May Apply When A Motor Vehicle Hits An E-Bike
Insurance issues involving e-bike collisions can become complicated because the injured person was riding a bicycle rather than occupying a conventional passenger vehicle.
Under Michigan’s No-Fault Act, including MCL 500.3115, a person who suffers accidental bodily injury while not occupying a motor vehicle may, depending on the circumstances, obtain Personal Protection Insurance benefits through the applicable statutory priority system and Michigan Assigned Claims Plan.
These benefits can be important because catastrophic e-bike injuries may create substantial medical expenses and lost income. We examine every potentially available policy and benefit source rather than assuming the negligent driver’s liability coverage is the only available insurance.
Comparative Fault Can Affect An E-Bike Injury Claim
Insurance companies sometimes attempt to shift responsibility to injured cyclists. They may claim that the rider entered the roadway unexpectedly, ignored a traffic control device, rode against traffic, lacked required lighting, or otherwise contributed to the collision.
Michigan’s comparative fault statute, MCL 600.2959, generally reduces damages according to the injured person’s percentage of fault. When the injured person’s percentage of fault is greater than the combined fault of the other responsible parties, noneconomic damages are barred while economic damages remain subject to reduction.
We therefore take allegations against the rider seriously. Photographs, video, witness testimony, electronic records, roadway measurements, and physical evidence can be critical when an insurer tries to assign an unfair percentage of responsibility to an injured e-bike rider.
Preserving Evidence After A Distracted-Driving E-Bike Crash
Distracted-driving evidence can disappear quickly. Surveillance systems overwrite recordings. Vehicles are repaired or sold. Witnesses become more difficult to locate. Electronic records may require formal legal procedures before they can be obtained.
We work to preserve evidence before it disappears. When appropriate, we may send preservation notices concerning phones, vehicles, electronic data, photographs, video, company records, and other materials connected to the crash. Early investigation can be particularly important when the driver denies using a phone.
Compensation After A Serious Michigan E-Bike Accident
The damages available depend on the facts of the accident, insurance coverage, the nature of the injuries, and how those injuries affect the person’s life.
A claim may involve medical expenses, lost earnings, reduced future earning ability, rehabilitation costs, future treatment, pain and suffering, disability, scarring, and loss of normal activities. In the most severe cases, we may also need to account for future surgeries, home assistance, mobility equipment, or long-term medical care.
Our objective is to document the full effect of the collision rather than evaluating the claim solely by looking at the bills accumulated immediately after the accident.
FAQs About E-Bike Accidents Caused By Distracted Drivers
Can We Bring A Claim If A Distracted Driver Hits An E-Bike In Michigan?
We may be able to pursue a claim when evidence shows that a negligent motorist caused the collision. Michigan recognizes electric bicycles and generally gives e-bike riders the same roadway rights and duties applicable to bicyclists. If a driver failed to watch the roadway, unlawfully used a mobile device, failed to yield, passed unsafely, or committed another traffic violation, those facts may support the liability case. We examine police reports, witness accounts, video, physical evidence, and available electronic records before determining how the claim should proceed.
How Do We Prove The Driver Was Looking At A Phone?
We do not have to rely solely on an admission from the driver. Depending on the case, evidence may come from witnesses who saw the motorist holding a phone, surveillance footage, dash-camera recordings, police reports, body-camera footage, electronic records, or statements made at the scene. Formal discovery after litigation begins can provide additional methods of obtaining relevant evidence. Because certain information may be deleted or overwritten, we consider evidence preservation early in a distracted-driving case.
What If The Driver Says The E-Bike Rider Was Partly Responsible?
We investigate that allegation rather than accepting an insurance company’s fault determination. Michigan’s comparative fault law can reduce compensation when an injured person shares responsibility, making the percentage of fault extremely important. We may use photographs, roadway markings, traffic signals, witnesses, video, vehicle damage, and reconstruction evidence to establish how the crash actually happened. A claim does not automatically disappear simply because an insurer alleges that the e-bike rider contributed to the collision.
Can We Recover Compensation If An E-Bike Rider Suffers A Brain Injury Or Broken Bones?
Serious e-bike collisions can support substantial injury claims when another party is legally responsible. We document emergency treatment, hospitalization, surgery, rehabilitation, lost work, physical restrictions, future medical needs, and the ways an injury changes normal daily activities. Brain injuries and orthopedic fractures can have consequences far beyond the initial hospital bill, so we consider future losses as well as existing expenses when evaluating damages.
Can Michigan No-Fault Insurance Apply To An E-Bike Rider?
Potentially. When an e-bike rider suffers accidental bodily injury involving a motor vehicle, Michigan’s No-Fault Act may provide a route to Personal Protection Insurance benefits depending on the rider’s circumstances and the applicable statutory priority rules. If no higher-priority coverage applies, MCL 500.3115 directs certain claims by people injured while not occupying a motor vehicle to the Michigan Assigned Claims Plan. We review insurance coverage carefully because determining the proper source of benefits can be just as important as establishing fault.
Speak With Ravid & Associates, P.C. About Your Michigan E-Bike Accident
A distracted driver can change an e-bike rider’s life in seconds. We investigate how the collision happened, preserve evidence of distraction, identify available insurance coverage, document the injuries, and pursue responsible parties for the losses caused by the crash. When an insurer tries to blame the rider or minimize a serious injury, we build the claim around the evidence and the requirements of Michigan law.
We represent people injured in e-bike, bicycle, pedestrian, motorcycle, and motor vehicle accidents throughout Detroit and across Michigan. From our office location in Southfield, Michigan, Ravid & Associates, P.C. helps injured people pursue compensation after serious accidents caused by negligent drivers.
Call our Detroit e-bike accident lawyers at Ravid & Associates, P.C. today at (248) 948-9696 for a free consultation. We can review what happened, identify the insurance and liability issues involved, and explain the legal options available under Michigan law.
