Question 1

Does a driver always have to yield to a pedestrian in Pennsylvania?

Accepted Answer

A driver's duty is broader than most people assume. Under 75 Pa. C.S. § 3543, a driver must yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing within a marked crosswalk or an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection when the pedestrian is on the driver's half of the roadway or close enough to be in danger. Where a pedestrian crosses outside a crosswalk, 75 Pa. C.S. § 3543 requires the pedestrian to yield — but that is not the end of the analysis, because 75 Pa. C.S. § 3542 imposes on every driver the independent duty to exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian, to sound the horn when necessary, and to use proper precaution around children and obviously confused or incapacitated people. A pedestrian who was technically out of position does not become invisible in the eyes of the law.

Question 2

What is Pennsylvania's 4-foot passing law?

Accepted Answer

Under 75 Pa. C.S. § 3303(a)(3), a driver overtaking a bicycle must pass at a careful and prudent reduced speed and must allow at least four feet of clearance. The statute also permits a driver to cross the center line into the opposing lane to give that space when it is safe to do so, which removes the usual excuse that there was no room. A sideswipe, a mirror strike, or a buzz that forces a rider off the road is direct evidence of a violation of a specific safety statute, and Pennsylvania juries understand a measured distance far better than an abstract argument about reasonable care.

Question 3

Do cyclists have the same rights as drivers on Pennsylvania roads?

Accepted Answer

Yes. 75 Pa. C.S. § 3501 provides that a person riding a pedalcycle on a roadway has all the rights and all the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle. A cyclist is entitled to be on the road; using the travel lane is not, by itself, negligence. Section 3505 governs riding position and requires riding as near to the right side as practicable under the circumstances, with express exceptions that swallow the insurer's version of the rule — a rider may leave the right side to overtake, to turn left, to avoid hazards including debris, drainage grates, opening car doors, and parked vehicles, and when the lane is too narrow to share safely with a passing car.

Question 4

The insurance company says I stepped out or rode against traffic. Does that end my case?

Accepted Answer

No. Pennsylvania applies modified comparative negligence under 42 Pa. C.S. § 7102. Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault and barred only if your share exceeds 50 percent. In practice, adjusters open pedestrian and cyclist files at wildly inflated fault percentages because they assume a jury will do the same. That assumption is beaten with evidence: sight-line photography from the driver's actual eye position, signal-timing data, vehicle event data recorder speed, and a reconstruction that establishes how many seconds the driver had to perceive and react. A 20-point swing in a fault percentage is often the single most valuable thing an investigation buys.

Question 5

I was hit by a driver who fled. Do I have any coverage as a pedestrian or cyclist?

Accepted Answer

Usually, yes — and this is the option most people do not know they have. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage follows the insured person, not the vehicle. If you or a resident relative in your household own a Pennsylvania auto policy with UM/UIM coverage, that coverage generally responds when you are struck as a pedestrian or a cyclist, including in a hit-and-run where the striking driver is never identified. Bring every declarations page in the household to the first meeting. UM claims also carry contractual notice conditions, so they need to be opened early rather than after the liability investigation runs out of road.

Question 6

Does the limited tort election apply to me if I was walking or riding?

Accepted Answer

Often it does not. 75 Pa. C.S. § 1705(d)(3) provides that a person injured while occupying a motor vehicle that is not a private passenger motor vehicle is not bound by a limited tort election, and a bicycle is not a private passenger motor vehicle. Where the injured person has no auto policy of their own and is not a resident relative on one, § 1705(b)(3) is the provision that matters. Because the answer changes with the household's actual policies, I confirm it against the declarations pages in every file rather than accepting the adjuster's characterization.

Question 7

What is a dooring accident and who is responsible?

Accepted Answer

Dooring happens when someone opens a door into the path of a passing rider. The rule is 75 Pa. C.S. § 3705: no person may open a vehicle door on the side available to moving traffic unless it is reasonably safe to do so, and doors may not be left open longer than necessary to load or unload. The duty is on the person opening the door, not on the rider. These cases turn on scene work — the door's swept path, the width of the remaining travel lane, and whether the rider had any lawful escape route. Section 3505's hazard exception is what defeats the argument that the rider should have hugged the parked cars more closely.

Question 8

Can I sue a city or PennDOT for a sidewalk or crosswalk defect?

Accepted Answer

Sometimes, and the clock is brutal. Written notice of the claim must be given within six months under 42 Pa. C.S. § 5522, and missing that notice can end an otherwise strong case. Governmental and sovereign immunity apply except within the enumerated exceptions of 42 Pa. C.S. §§ 8522 and 8542, which include streets, sidewalks, and traffic control devices under defined conditions. Damages are capped: $250,000 per plaintiff and $1 million per occurrence against the Commonwealth under 42 Pa. C.S. § 8528(b), and $500,000 per occurrence against a local agency under 42 Pa. C.S. § 8553(b). In Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, abutting property owners often carry sidewalk maintenance obligations as well, which is why these files are usually pled against more than one defendant.

Question 9

What drives the value of a pedestrian or bicycle case?

Accepted Answer

I will not put a number on a case I have not reviewed, and no honest lawyer will. What I can tell you is what moves value: the permanence of the injury as documented by treating physicians, whether surgery was required and whether more is expected, objective imaging, the wage loss and earning-capacity picture supported by a vocational and economic analysis, the clarity of liability, the fault percentage a jury is likely to assign, and — very often the binding constraint — how much coverage exists between the at-fault driver's policy and your own UM/UIM. Because pedestrians and cyclists absorb impact directly, these files skew toward orthopedic, traumatic brain, and spinal injuries, which is why the medical workup drives everything.

Question 10

How long do I have to file?

Accepted Answer

Two years from the date of the crash under 42 Pa. C.S. § 5524. Where someone died, the wrongful death claim under 42 Pa. C.S. § 8301 runs two years from the date of death and the survival action arises under § 8302. A minor's claim is generally tolled until the child's eighteenth birthday, but a parent's own claim for medical expenses is not. And if any government entity is involved, the six-month written notice requirement in § 5522 governs long before the two-year statute does. The practical deadline is far shorter than any of these, because signal data, business video, and the vehicle's event data recorder are gone within weeks.

PA Pedestrian & Bicycle Accident FAQ

PA Pedestrian & Bicycle Accident FAQ

Talk to Sean Quinlan about your case.