{"id":2155,"date":"2026-10-25T05:10:03","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T05:10:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/colvinaccidentlawyers.com\/resources\/motorcycle-accident-lawyer\/can-you-sue-a-cyclist-for-hitting-you\/"},"modified":"2026-11-06T05:22:49","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T05:22:49","slug":"can-you-sue-a-cyclist-for-hitting-you","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/colvinaccidentlawyers.com\/resources\/motorcycle-accident-lawyer\/can-you-sue-a-cyclist-for-hitting-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Can You Sue a Cyclist for Hitting You in California?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Bicycle Accident Lawyer \u00b7 Kern County<\/p>

Hit by a Cyclist in California? Learn Where You Stand<\/h1>

Colvin Accident Lawyers represents people injured in accidents involving bicycles and other vehicles across Bakersfield and Kern County. Start with a free, confidential consultation with no obligation to continue.<\/p>

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By Donald Norman Colvin \u00b7 Published October 25, 2026<\/p>\n\n

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Can you sue a cyclist for hitting you? Often, yes. The key question is whether the cyclist’s careless act caused your injury.<\/p>\n

Short answer: a cyclist can generally be sued for negligence<\/h2>\n

A cyclist can generally be sued for negligence when careless riding causes harm. Negligence means a person failed to use reasonable care, and that failure caused the injury. Civil Code \u00a7 1714<\/a> makes everyone responsible for injury caused by a want of ordinary care in managing their person or property. Cal. Civ. Code \u00a7 1714<\/a> reads: “(a) Everyone is responsible, not only for the result of his or her willful acts, but also for an injury occasioned to another by his or her want of ordinary care or skill in the management of his or her property or person, except so far as the latter has, willfully or by want of ordinary care, brought the injury upon himself or herself.” That duty reaches cyclists too.<\/p>\n

The injured person must show the cyclist acted unreasonably and that this led to the harm. For the wider picture of two-wheeled crash claims, read our motorcycle accident lawyer guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

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If you're still recovering, or you're trying to understand what happened to someone you love, you don't have to decide everything today. Talk it through with our team — the first consultation is free, confidential, and carries no obligation.<\/p>

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The rules a cyclist must follow in California<\/h2>\n

A careful rider does these things without thinking about it.<\/p>\n

Courts can use a broken traffic rule as evidence of carelessness. Under Evidence Code \u00a7 669<\/a>, a person is presumed not to have used due care if they violated a statute, ordinance, or regulation of a public entity, that violation caused injury, and the injury was the kind the rule was meant to prevent. The injured person must also belong to the group the rule protects.<\/p>\n

The cyclist can rebut that presumption. They can show they did what might reasonably be expected of a person of ordinary prudence, acting under similar circumstances, who wanted to comply with the law. If the cyclist was a child, they can show they used the care ordinarily used by children of similar maturity, intelligence, and capacity, unless the activity is one normally done only by adults and requiring adult qualifications. A rule violation is not the only proof, but it can carry real weight in a claim.<\/p>\n

The elements a claimant must prove<\/h2>\n