Bike crashes repeat like choruses: the same driver errors, the same intersections of inattention and impatience. Naming the patterns matters because each carries a fault fingerprint — and because ‘the cyclist came out of nowhere’ has a statistical answer.
- The dooring: a door flung into the riding line — a vehicle-code violation by the opener, full stop.
- The right hook: a driver overtakes then turns right across the cyclist — overtaking plus failure to yield.
- The left cross: oncoming driver turns across the cyclist’s path — the bike version of the deadliest motorcycle pattern.
- Close passes: PA’s four-foot passing law makes buzz-by clearances a violation, not a style choice.
- Infrastructure and defects: blocked bike lanes, grates, and potholes — adding property and government defendants with the six-month notice rule; phila.gov maps the network, NHTSA the crash data.
Every pattern shares a proof strategy: camera canvassing, damage geometry, and the vehicle code — the bicycle practice’s standard build, with head-injury cases running the long-horizon rules.
Frequently Asked Questions
I was riding outside the bike lane when the car hit me. Does that sink my claim?
No — cyclists hold full road rights in Pennsylvania, and lane position is at most a comparative-fault argument, often not even that. The driver’s duty didn’t switch off.
The driver claims I ‘swerved into them.’ How do we answer that?
Physical evidence — impact points, damage geometry, road marks, cameras — usually reconstructs the true movement. It’s the standard opening claim and the standard reconstruction answer.
What does hiring you cost?
No attorney’s fee unless we recover; the contingency percentage and cost handling are in the written fee agreement. Consultations are free.
Hurt in a crash like this? Call (215) 464-4600 or contact us online — free, confidential consultations, contingency-fee representation.