Right Hook Bicycle Accident Lawyer: When a Turning Driver Cuts Across Your Path

Who is at fault in a right hook bicycle crash

In a typical right hook the turning driver is at fault. Pennsylvania law says no turn by a motor vehicle driver may interfere with a bicycle proceeding straight while the rider is following the Vehicle Code's rules for cyclists (75 Pa.C.S. § 3331(e)). If you were going straight and the driver turned into you, that rule speaks directly to your case.

The rule has a condition built in: the rider must have been operating in accordance with Chapter 35, the part of the Code covering cyclists. That is where insurers focus. The rest of this page explains how right hooks happen, the defenses you will hear and the evidence that answers them.

How right hooks happen

The right turn itself must be made as close as practicable to the right curb or edge of the road (75 Pa.C.S. § 3331(a)). Where road markings direct a different path, such as a shared turn lane or a bike lane that ends before the corner, drivers must follow the markings (75 Pa.C.S. § 3331(c)).

• Pass and turn: the driver passes you, then turns right almost immediately, cutting across your front wheel. Drivers must pass a bicycle with at least four feet of clearance at a careful, reduced speed (75 Pa.C.S. § 3303(a)(3)), and must not turn until the movement can be made with reasonable safety (75 Pa.C.S. § 3334(a)).
• Late signal or none: drivers must signal a turn continuously for at least the last 100 feet below 35 mph, and 300 feet at higher speeds (75 Pa.C.S. § 3334(b)). A driver who never signaled gave you no warning.
• Stopped traffic: you ride straight up a bike lane or the right side of a line of stopped cars, and a driver who is stopped or creeping turns right into a side street or a store entrance.
• Large vehicles: box trucks, buses and trash trucks swing wide and then cut back right, with a blind spot along the passenger side where a cyclist can disappear.

Defenses you will hear, and how they are answered

The usual defense is that the rider came up on the right when the driver was already turning. Insurers also say the cyclist was going too fast, was hard to see or rode through a red light. Each of these is a question of timing and position, and timing is exactly what evidence can pin down: a helmet or handlebar camera, ride data from a bike computer or phone app, the driver's own dash camera, corner store video and the location of the damage on your bike and the car.

Pennsylvania uses modified comparative negligence. If some fault is assigned to you, your recovery is reduced by that percentage, and it is barred only if your share is greater than the defendants' combined fault (42 Pa.C.S. § 7102). A driver who turned across a rider going straight usually carries the larger share of the blame.

Right hook hot spots and who pays

Right hooks happen wherever right-turning traffic crosses a place cyclists ride straight: the many side streets and shopping-center entrances off West Chester Pike and Baltimore Pike, the turns off Lansdowne Avenue and Garrett Road, and the busy corners near the 69th Street Transportation Center where buses turn constantly. In West Philadelphia, painted and protected bike lanes run beside turning traffic at many intersections.

Your early medical bills are paid through first-party benefits: your own auto policy first, then a household relative's, and if neither exists, the policy on the vehicle that hit you (75 Pa.C.S. § 1713). The turning driver's liability coverage pays the rest when the claim resolves. If a SEPTA bus made the turn, written notice is generally required within 6 months (42 Pa.C.S. § 5522). Otherwise, a lawsuit must generally be filed within 2 years (42 Pa.C.S. § 5524).

Your Legal Warrior works on a 100% contingency fee: no attorney fee unless we recover, all case costs advanced by the firm and repaid only from a recovery, and nothing owed if there is no recovery. Call (267) 412-4601, day or night, or send the free case review form.