A person riding a bicycle upon a highway has all the rights and is subject to all the provisions applicable to the driver of a vehicle Additionally, persons riding bicycles on sidewalks are subject to the same Vehicle Code requirements that apply to persons riding bicycles on roadways and there may be additional local regulations in Stockton, Lodi, Manteca, Tracy, Ripon or Modesto. In other words, bicyclists must obey traffic safety laws just like automobiles. The intent of the law is for the operation of a bicycle on a sidewalk to be similar to vehicular trafel whereever practicable.
Its hard to imagine that a bicyclist riding legally on the sidewalk who is suddenly struck by a Lovotti Air Truck on Swain Road near El Dorado Street was in any way violating traffic safety laws. However, as everyone knows the insurance industry will go to any lengths to prove that an injured person was some how at fault for their injuries. It never ceases to amaze me that even under these circumstances, rather than step up and take responsibility for the harm caused to the injured the insurance industry will hire experts who will help them craft some half cocked explanation in effect blaming the injured.
For example, in a case where the bicyclist was lawfully riding along the side of the road in Stockton appoximately 3 to 4 feet from the curb when suddenly the driver of a car attempting to enter a driveway makes collides with the bicycle knocking it and the person riding it over. The insurance industry claimed the rider was too far from the curb and was therefore partially at fault. Despite these types of fantasy defenses we are able to prove the speciousness of this type of defense by just using common sense and the rules of the road.