What Pedestrian and Bicycle Lawyers Need to Know About Insurance Coverage For Their Clients Injuries

Under California law, a bicyclist's or pedestrian's uninsured and under-insured motorist insurance coverage is a valuable source of potential recovery in a case involving bicycle accident or pedestrian accident injuries caused by a motorist.
Every lawyer representing an injured bicyclist or pedestrian in California, as well as all bicyclists and pedestrians generally regardless of whether they have been injured, need to be aware that a bicyclist’s or pedestrian's UIM (uninsured and under-insured motorist) auto insurance coverage applies when a bicyclist is injured as the result of a motorist’s negligent conduct. This has been established by California state case law starting with the case of Daun v. USAA (2005) 125 Cal.App.4th 599.

For example, if a bicyclist has $100K in UIM coverage on their auto policy, and they suffer $100K worth of injuries due to the negligence of a motorist who has only $25K in bodily injury liabi

lity insurance coverage, the bicyclist may first recover $25K from the motorist and then may recover $75K from the bicyclist's own auto insurer. However, if the UIM coverage is only $25K, then the bicyclist has no grounds to assert a UIM policy since the policies cannot be stacked. UIM coverage requires that the other driver's insurance limits be completely exhausted as a condition to qualifying for UIM coverage - failure to settle for the full policy limits may constitute malpractice.

Bicycle lawyers and pedestrian injury lawyers who are consulted by injured bicyclists or pedestrians therefore should at the outset determine if the injured person is covered by an auto policy and, if so, whether the policy provides UIM coverage and the limits of such coverage. This also affords the attorney with leverage for finding out the driver’s liability limits prior to filing a lawsuit. Personal injury lawyers should be familiar with the requirements for asserting such UIM claims.

Given the high rates of bicycle accidents, especially in cities such as San Francisco, the bicycling population especially should be made aware of this law and encouraged to maintain high UIM limits on their auto policy in case they are injured while riding a bicycle. UIM coverage is also one of the least expensive components of coverage, but insurers will not allow the UIM limit to be above the insured’s personal injury liability limit.