On a bike, you have nothing between you and a two-ton vehicle except distance and attention, and drivers do not always give you either. Whether you were doored, right-hooked, or hit by a driver who never saw you, a serious bicycle crash can leave you with injuries that take months or years to heal. You need a Houston personal injury lawyer who knows how insurance companies try to shift blame onto cyclists.
Blass Law fights for injured cyclists across Houston and Harris County, pushing back against the assumption that the person on the bike must have done something wrong.
Cyclists’ Rights on Texas Roads
Under the Texas Transportation Code Chapter 551, a person riding a bicycle on a roadway generally has the same rights and is subject to the same duties as the driver of a vehicle. Drivers are required to leave a safe distance when passing a cyclist. Cyclists have just as much right to the road as any other vehicle, even though that is not always how drivers, or insurance adjusters, treat them.
Common Causes of Bicycle Accidents
- Dooring: A parked driver opens a car door into a cyclist’s path without checking for oncoming riders.
- Right hooks: A driver turns right directly across a cyclist’s path, often at intersections or driveways.
- Failure to yield: A driver pulls out from a side street or stop sign without seeing an approaching cyclist.
- Distracted driving: A driver looking at a phone or otherwise not paying attention fails to notice a cyclist until it’s too late.
- Unsafe passing: A driver passes too closely or too fast, clipping or forcing a cyclist off the road.
Why Insurance Companies Blame the Cyclist
Insurance adjusters know that jurors and claims reviewers sometimes carry an unconscious bias against cyclists, and they use it. Expect an adjuster to argue you were riding outside a bike lane, not wearing high-visibility gear, or riding at night without adequate lighting, even when none of that caused the crash. Texas follows a modified comparative negligence rule under Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 33: if you are found more than 50% at fault, you cannot recover anything, and any recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault. That makes fighting a lowball fault assignment early in the claim critical.
Statute of Limitations
Texas generally gives you two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit. Bicycle accident scenes change fast: skid marks fade, surveillance footage gets overwritten, and witnesses move on. The sooner you talk to a lawyer, the better the chances of preserving the evidence that proves what really happened.
Contact a Houston Bicycle Accident Lawyer
You should not have to fight to be taken seriously after a crash that was not your fault. If you were injured while riding in the Houston area, contact Blass Law today. Call (713) 664-4000 or request a case evaluation online.
Sources
https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/TN/htm/TN.551.htm
https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.33.htm
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Reviewed by Jay Blass Cohen, founder of Blass Law PLLC — ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist, certified Drug Recognition Expert, and SFST instructor, serving Houston since 2009. This article is general information, not legal advice for your situation. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.