What happens after an automobile and a bicycle collide, damaging the bicycle and injuring the bike rider? Ontario expects all drivers to carry car insurance, but the rider of a bicycle does not have to be insured. Does that mean that the rider on the bicycle lacks coverage for any damages or injuries? In Ontario the answer is no.
What is the source of the bike rider’s coverage?
Because Ontario has a no-fault system, both the automobile driver and the bike rider are covered. Both can receive the Province’s Accident Benefits. Still, those involved in an accident that causes damage or injury are supposed to contact the police.
At the time of a bike-car collision, the automobile does not have to be in motion.
It could be that the driver of a car opens the vehicle’s door without looking to see who might be headed past that same door. If the door then hits a bicycle rider, the driver becomes responsible for any damages or injuries. In other words, in that situation, the person riding the bicycle would have the right to file a personal injury claim against the driver.
Suppose the bike rider became the target of a hit-and-run driver; what would happen then?
In that case, the driver’s target, the person riding the bicycle could seek compensation from the Motor Vehicle Claims Fund (OMVACF). That Fund was set-up by Ontario’s government. The money from OMVACF can serve as a limited coverage. If the bicyclist suffered a great many injuries, the medical expenses might exceed the amount of money available from OMVACF. If such proves to be the case, then the injured bike rider would have 2 options.
That bike owner/rider could seek compensation from a home owner’s policy. In the absence of such a policy, that owner/rider would have to think about initiating a lawsuit against the car’s driver, with the help of a personal injury lawyer in Sault Ste Marie.
If the initiator of that lawsuit wanted to win, then he or she should consider hiring a lawyer. The lawyer could help with the collection of relevant evidence. In the absence of such evidence, the court would have no reason to order the driver to pay the person that got injured while riding a bicycle.
The court could order the bicycle’s rider to work with the police, in hopes of finding the driver that left the scene of the accident. In fact, any victim of a hit-and-run driver is supposed to offer such assistance. Ideally, that assistance helps the police to locate and bring to the courtroom the at-fault driver.
Once forced to stand before the judge, the driver must answer for his or her actions. That answer usually comes in the form of money, paid as compensation.