Contra Costa County · Bicycle Accidents
Bicycle accident lawyers serving Lafayette
Between the Lafayette-Moraga Trail, a busy downtown, and the canyon roads riders love, Lafayette packs a lot of cycling into a small town. When a driver gets it wrong, we're one town over.
Lafayette's cycling life runs on three tracks. The Lafayette-Moraga Regional Trail carries walkers, kids on bikes, and commuters along the old rail corridor through the middle of town. Mt. Diablo Boulevard — the town's main street — funnels riders through a downtown dense with parked cars, driveways, and drivers looking for parking. And the roads that climb out of the Lamorinda valleys, like Pleasant Hill Road and the routes toward Reliez Valley and the Berkeley hills, draw road cyclists every day of the week.
Each track has its own way of going wrong: a driver crossing the trail at a street crossing without looking, a car door opening into a rider's line downtown, a too-close pass on a narrow climb with no shoulder. What they share is the aftermath — an injured rider, an insurer already framing the story, and evidence that starts disappearing immediately.
Our office is just over the hill in downtown Walnut Creek, an easy trip on Highway 24 or, fittingly, by the trail network itself. The case review is free, we work in English, Spanish, Turkish, and Mandarin Chinese, and you pay nothing unless we recover for you.
A rail-trail through town and a main street full of doors
The Lafayette-Moraga Trail is the town's quiet cycling artery, and its risk is concentrated entirely at street crossings. Where the trail meets Lafayette's roads, drivers on the street tend to treat the crossing as an interruption rather than an intersection — they scan for cars and roll through. A cyclist moving at riding speed enters the crossing lawfully and is simply not seen. Reconstructing who entered when, and what the driver could and should have seen, is the heart of these cases.
Downtown Mt. Diablo Boulevard concentrates a different hazard set: parallel parking on a busy commercial street means door zones, and the steady rhythm of cars pulling in and out means riders get cut off mid-block, not just at intersections. Because downtown crashes happen at lower speeds, insurers like to minimize them — but a dooring that throws a rider onto asphalt produces real fractures and real concussions at any speed.
On the climbs and canyon roads around Lafayette, the recurring issue is passing distance. Narrow lanes, blind curves, and no shoulder mean the three feet California requires often is not available — which obligates the driver to wait, not to squeeze through. Proving a squeeze-pass caused a crash leans on witnesses and increasingly on riders' own cameras, both of which need to be secured early.
California law on the side of cyclists
- Cyclists generally have the same rights and responsibilities on the road as drivers of vehicles. A bike is traffic, not an intrusion into it.
- Drivers passing a cyclist must give at least three feet of clearance under California's Three Feet for Safety Act, or slow down and pass only when it is safe.
- Helmets are required for riders under 18. Adults are not legally required to wear one, and riding without a helmet is not by itself negligence — though insurers may still argue about it, that argument has legal limits.
- Pure comparative negligence applies: sharing some fault reduces your recovery by your percentage but does not bar the claim.
- Most claims must be filed within two years under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 — but if a dangerous road condition maintained by a public entity caused your crash, a government claim generally must be presented within six months.
Frequently asked questions
I was hit where the Lafayette-Moraga Trail crosses a street. Does the driver's insurance cover me?
If the driver was negligent — and failing to yield or keep a lookout at a marked crossing usually is — their liability insurance is the primary source of recovery. If the driver was uninsured or underinsured, uninsured motorist coverage on your own auto policy can apply to you as a cyclist, something many riders do not realize until a lawyer checks. Both coverage questions are part of a free case review.
How long do I have to bring a bicycle injury claim in Lafayette?
Two years from the date of injury for most claims under California Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. But if any part of your case involves a public entity — a dangerous condition of a public road or trail crossing, or a government vehicle — a claim generally must be presented to that entity within six months. Given how quickly bike-case evidence disappears, treat every deadline as shorter than it looks.
A driver doored me on Mt. Diablo Boulevard and says I should have ridden further from the parked cars. Are they right?
The law puts the duty on the person opening the door: it may be opened only when reasonably safe and without interfering with moving traffic. Riders are routinely pushed toward parked cars by narrow lanes and passing traffic, and your actual position is one fact among many under pure comparative negligence — it reduces a recovery at most, and only to the extent it genuinely contributed. The door-opener's duty never transfers to you.
Do I have a case if a close pass on a climb forced me off the road but the car never hit me?
Potentially yes. California requires drivers to allow at least three feet when passing a cyclist or to slow and wait until a safe pass is possible. A driver who forces a rider off the pavement can be liable for the resulting injuries without any contact. Identifying the driver and preserving witness accounts quickly is the make-or-break step in these cases, which is a good reason to involve someone immediately.
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