Personal injury lawyer and lifelong District resident Patrick Regan began noticing the sharp rise in severe bicycle accident claims in the Washington D.C. area just a few years ago. Regan, the president and senior partner of Regan Zambri Long, and who is himself a bicycle enthusiast, knew this trend was part of a bigger pattern.
Regan’s intuition was correct. The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) reported an average of 334 crashes involving bicyclists in the District each year over a recent five-year period—nearly one per day for five years.
“There is always a risk for drivers in a densely populated area from the moment they start the engine because cyclists can move with nearly the same speed as a car, appearing in an instant without a warning sound,” says Regan, who was named The Best Lawyers in America® “Lawyer of the Year” in 2020 and 2014 for Medical Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs and in 2022 and 2024 for Mass Torts – Plaintiffs in Washington, D.C. “Cyclists almost always suffer severe injuries in a collision. The costs of medical care and lost wages can reach seven figures.”
The destructiveness of trucks is a major concern—as they can severely injure and kill cyclists—particularly if they are not equipped with required mirrors, side warning alerts and side guards. Regan currently represents the family of Sarah Langenkamp, the State Department employee who was riding her bicycle in a bike lane in Bethesda in August 2022 and was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer truck.
In other recent cases, the firm recovered $6.9 million for a cyclist who was severely injured by a garbage truck and also obtained more than $3 million in a claim against the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). In the latter case, the firm represented a bicyclist who suffered severe leg injuries when he was struck by a Metro bus.
While a fair number of the claims that come to the attention of the firm are caused by reckless or negligent driving, Regan has observed another common element: Many victims are injured simply following the signs and bike paths laid out for them by the District.
Regan notes that with some creativity and the will of city officials, U.S. cities can implement a bicycle-friendly culture."
“Frequently, the bicycle lanes go against traffic, which makes operating a bike, car, bus or truck incredibly risky,” Regan says. “Cycling paths in most other major cities have lanes that go with traffic. Any professional city engineer will tell you why this makes sense. But the District’s system is frequently the result of incredibly poor planning by the city, and no one has explained why it was designed this way.”
Regan also noted that the 104 miles of bike lanes added to the city since 2002 do not comprise a complete network. Many barriers cannot be crossed, he says, and multi-lane avenues and busy intersections impede safe passage for cyclists.
“The city can serve everyone’s best interests and protect its citizens and employees by revisiting and redrawing the bike lanes,” Regan says. “We know change will not happen overnight, but by shifting priorities, the city and entities like WMATA can avoid further litigation and keep people safe.” Even protected bike lanes, including the popular 15th Street bike lane, pose a danger to riders if they travel alongside two-way streets and cross major intersections,” Regan says.
Regan adds that drivers of all vehicles need to be acutely aware of their surroundings because, under the District’s Motor Vehicle Collision Recovery Act, defendants must now prove that a cyclist or pedestrian was more than 50% at fault in order to demonstrate contributory negligence.
But solutions exist for Washington’s bike safety problem. Regan cites the effective systems in many European countries, which were so decimated following World War II that they had to reintroduce cars to bicycle-dominated roads and integrate car ownership into a culture of rider safety.
Unfortunately, he notes, U.S. cities are doing the opposite—working to retrofit automobile routes for bike commuters. Regan notes that with some creativity and the will of city officials, U.S. cities can implement a bicycle-friendly culture, lives can be saved and drivers can avoid becoming unwitting defendants in accident cases.
