National Academies Press: OpenBook

Liability Aspects of Bikeways (2010)

Chapter: COVER

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Suggested Citation:"COVER ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2010. Liability Aspects of Bikeways. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14371.
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Legal Research Digest 53 national Cooperative highway researCh program April 2010 TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES liability aspeCts of bikeways This report was prepared under NCHRP Project 20-6, “Legal Problems Arising Out of Highway Programs,” for which the Transportation Research Board is the agency coordinating the research. The report was prepared by Larry W. Thomas, Attorney-at- Law, Washington, DC. James B. McDaniel, TRB Counsel for Legal Research Projects, was the principal investigator and content editor. the problem and its solution State highway departments and transportation agen- cies have a continuing need to keep abreast of operat- ing practices and legal elements of specific problems in highway law. This report is a new paper, which contin- ues NCHRP’s policy of keeping departments up-to-date on laws that will affect their operations. applications State and local engineers, planners, administrators, and elected officials are concerned about incurring li- ability for injuries suffered by bicyclists riding on public roadways designated as bikeways, and those concerns may also result in hesitation to create additional marked bikeways. This concern has led to a variety of approach- es, such as local legislation and the use of federal guide- lines, in an effort to offer cycling as an alternative means of transportation. There is a need to provide general in- formation regarding legal risks to transportation entities and officials associated with designating public bike- ways or the use of roads for increased bicycle traffic. This research project was prompted by the need to provide information on legal risks to transportation and other public entities having bikeways, or the authority to designate them, or bicycle use on shared roadways. However, the extent of a public entity’s risk of tort li- ability differs because of differing interpretations of the tort liability laws applicable to public entities from state to state. The digest addresses the liability of public entities for bicycle accidents on bikeways as well as on streets and highways. As the American Association of State High- way and Transportation Officials’ Guide for the Devel- opment of Bicycle Facilities states, “[t]he majority of bicycling will take place on ordinary roads with no dedi- cated space for bikes.” Further, the report reviews the federal laws that encourage the designation and use of bikeways; the elements of a claim in tort against a public entity for a bicycle accident, whether on a public street or some type of bikeway; defenses to bikeway accidents under tort claims acts and applicable to public entities; immunity for bicycle claims under some state recreation- al use statutes that in a majority of states are applicable to public entities; and public entities’ laws and policies on the accommodation of bicycles on streets and high- ways and the designation of bikeways. Some discussion is based on responses to a survey of public entities, in- cluding public entities that designate bikeways. This report will be useful to attorneys, transportation officials, risk managers, planners, maintenance engi- neers, financial officers, policy makers, and all persons interested in the relative rights and responsibilities of motorists and bicyclists on shared roadways.

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TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Legal Research Digest 53: Liability Aspects of Bikeways explores the liability of public entities for bicycle accidents on bikeways as well as on streets and highways. The report also examines the federal laws that encourage the designation and use of bikeways; the elements of a claim in tort against a public entity for a bicycle accident, whether on a public street or some type of bikeway; defenses to bikeway accidents under tort claims acts and applicable to public entities; immunity for bicycle claims under some state recreational use statutes that in a majority of states are applicable to public entities; and public entities’ laws and policies on the accommodation of bicycles on streets and highways and the designation of bikeways.

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