$125K Bicycle Injury Settlement

When a New York cyclist was "doored" while riding her bicycle in NYC’s lower east side, they turned to Raphaelson & Levine for help.

As many city residents have turned to bikes as a primary mode of transportation, "dooring" has become an all too common occurrence - where a driver or passenger of a car suddenly opens a door into the bicyclist path striking them or knocking them off.

Typically buffer zones around the bike paths are limited to two feet while the typical door swing can reach up to four feet. This creates a serious hazard if people exiting vehicles are not cautious and look before blindly swinging their door open. Our client was riding south on Second Avenue when the rear passenger door was swung open directly impacting her right hand and breaking her right index finger. Incredibly she did not fall from her bike and was able to avoid other injuries.

Fortunately, our client had an excellent medical recovery and testified she had no limitations and could perform all activities as she did prior to the incident. The defendants had argued they didn’t strike our client and that our client was not in the bike lane. Our office recreated the incident with an exemplary vehicle and demonstrated the door would swing into our client's path and that the defendant was the cause of the crash. During mediation at National Arbitration and Mediation, Partner Andrew Levine successfully obtained a settlement of $125,000 for the injured cyclist.