What Happens If You Hit a Cyclist with Your Car?

If you hit a cyclist with your car, you must stop, help, and report the accident. Depending on fault and injuries, the driver may face a traffic citation and an insurance or personal injury claim. A driver may also face criminal charges if their conduct meets the requirements of a state offense, such as impaired or reckless driving, criminally negligent driving, or leaving the scene of an injury crash.

What to Do Immediately After Hitting a Cyclist: In 7 Steps

After hitting a cyclist, stop, get emergency medical help, and document the scene, in that order, because the scene becomes the evidence both insurers work from.

1. Stop and stay. Pull over safely and remain at the scene, as state law requires after an injury crash.
2. Check the rider and call 911. Do not move the rider if you suspect a head, neck, or spinal injury unless movement is necessary for immediate safety, breathing, or emergency first aid.
3. Exchange details. Share names, phone numbers, and insurance information, and collect witnesses’ names.
4. Photograph everything. Capture the bike, your car, the road surface, traffic signs, and nearby cameras. Surveillance and dashcam footage may be overwritten within days, so identify it early.
5. Wait for law enforcement to arrive. If police do not respond, file the accident report online or at the non-emergency number.
6. Notify your insurance company the same day, even if nobody has filed a claim. Report the facts and the police report number.
7. Cooperate and stick to the facts. Ask whether the rider is hurt, give the officer and your insurer the same plain account, and do not admit fault or assign blame.

What Is the Penalty for Hitting a Cyclist?

The usual penalty for hitting a cyclist is a citation for the violation that caused the collision, such as failure to yield or running a signal, with the fine and license points set by your state. If the crash caused serious injuries or could lead to civil or criminal proceedings, consider getting legal advice before entering a plea. Whether a citation, plea, or traffic-court finding can be used in a later civil case depends on state evidence rules and how the citation is resolved.

Can a Cyclist Still Sue You After Saying They Were Fine?

A cyclist who says they are fine and rides away can still bring a claim later. Some injuries, including concussion symptoms and certain soft-tissue injuries, may not become apparent immediately after a crash.

Keep your report number, photos, and insurer correspondence together so a claim that surfaces months later is judged on an accurate record.

Are You Automatically at Fault If You Hit a Cyclist?

Hitting a cyclist does not make you automatically at fault, because liability follows whoever broke the rules of the road. Cyclists must follow the same traffic laws as motorists, so a bicyclist who rode against oncoming cars, ran a signal, rode unlit at night, or swerved can carry partial or full responsibility. Two common patterns show how responsibility splits:

• The multi-way stop. When a cyclist reads a driver’s pause as an invitation and both move at once, either party can share responsibility.
• The right hook. A driver who passes a cyclist and then turns right across them usually bears responsibility for what happened.

How Does Your State Split the Fault?

Your state determines liability under one of three systems:

• Pure comparative negligence. The injured party recovers whatever share is not theirs, even at 90 percent.
• Modified comparative. The injured party’s recovery decreases with their share and ends at 50 or 51 percent, depending on the state.
• Contributory negligence. Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia still follow contributory negligence, so a bicycle rider even slightly responsible can recover nothing.

The District of Columbia has a special rule for cyclists and other vulnerable users. A rider’s negligence does not bar recovery unless it is a proximate cause of the injury and greater than the combined negligence of all defendants who proximately caused the injury.

New York, long a pure comparative state, now uses two rules. In a car-crash injury lawsuit filed on or after May 26, 2026, a rider more at fault than the defendants combined recovers nothing, while other claims stay pure comparative.

What Duty of Care Do Drivers Owe Cyclists?

Drivers owe cyclists a duty of care:

Can You Be Criminally Charged for Hitting a Cyclist?

You can be criminally charged for hitting a cyclist, when the driver’s conduct meets the requirements of a state criminal offense, including:

• You were impaired. A DUI that seriously injures someone is a felony in most states.
• You were reckless or on your phone. Reckless or distracted driving can turn a citation into a misdemeanor or felony once somebody sustains serious injuries. In Texas, a texting offense that causes serious bodily harm or loss of life is a Class A misdemeanor, with up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.
• The driver’s conduct caused serious injury or death. Vehicular assault and vehicular manslaughter apply when the driver’s conduct meets the state’s requirements, and the names and penalties differ by state.
• You left the scene. Leaving an injury crash is a crime even if the collision was not your fault. Florida’s Aaron Cohen Life Protection Act made leaving a fatal collision a first-degree felony with a four-year mandatory minimum. If you already left, come forward through a defense attorney rather than wait to be traced from a license plate or camera.

Does Car Insurance Cover Hitting a Cyclist?

Your car insurance covers hitting a rider, because its liability coverage pays their bills, lost wages, and bike damage up to your policy limits.

Late notice is the greater risk, since it can let the insurance company contest your coverage or defense. In some no-fault states, PIP or no-fault benefits may also cover a cyclist struck by a motor vehicle, subject to the state’s eligibility and priority rules.

What Happens Above Your Policy Limits?

Anything above your policy limits can come out of your own assets. Your insurance company pays only up to your policy limits, which can be as low as your state’s legal minimum, such as $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident in Arizona. A serious injury can exceed that on its own, so a driver without an umbrella policy behind the auto limits should retain their own attorney.

What an Injured Cyclist Can Claim From You

A victim can bring personal injury claims against you separately from any citation or criminal proceeding. Most of these settle before trial, and a fair settlement usually reflects the damages minus their share of responsibility, within your policy limits. Each claim can include three types of damages:

• Economic losses. Medical expenses, lost income and earning capacity, and property damage to bicycles and equipment.
• Non-economic losses. Pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life.
• Survivor and punitive damages. Funeral costs and lost support in a wrongful death action, plus punitive damages in the rare DUI or road-rage matter where the state allows them.

Do You Need a Lawyer After Hitting a Cyclist?

You need a lawyer after hitting a cyclist when fault is disputed, the injuries are serious, or you face a criminal charge. In a hit-and-run or other criminal case, get legal advice before giving a detailed statement.

BALG handles bicycle accident cases on a contingency fee basis. You pay nothing unless the firm recovers compensation for you.

List of Laws Cited on This Page

• Arizona – Minimum liability limits for a motor vehicle policy – Arizona Revised Statutes 28-4009
• District of Columbia – The cyclist exemption from contributory negligence – District of Columbia Code 50-2204.52
• Florida – Leaving the scene of a crash – Florida Statutes 316.027(2)(c)
• New York – The 2026 fault bar in car-crash injury lawsuits, and pure comparative fault for other claims – New York Civil Practice Law and Rules 1411
• Pennsylvania – The four-foot passing rule – Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, Title 75, Section 3303(a)(3)
• Texas – Texting while driving that causes serious injury or death – Texas Transportation Code 545.4251(f)

Posted by Robert Goldwater

Robert Goldwater is a cyclist representing cyclists. He has practiced personal injury and wrongful death law for more than 20 years, graduating with Honors from Arizona State University Law School, and has helped recover over $1 billion for clients, including injured cyclists.

All articles by Robert Goldwater