Sharing a Lane - Who's at Fault?

Every riding season, we get calls because a biker saw a car pulling over as if they were going onto the shoulder or making a turn and at the last moment veer back into the lane ramming into a bike who was trying to go around him. The biker always tells us the car didn't signal. This type of motorcycle accident is not only common, but also tricky when it comes to getting insurance companies to pay up. You are probably thinking to yourself that it is obvious that the car was at fault and therefore the insurance should pay up and fix the bike and cover any medical bills the biker might have incurred. Well, under the vehicle and traffic law the car is not entirely at fault. In fact, in most states it is illegal for two vehicles to share one lane at the same time, which means that when the biker tried to go around the car which had begun to pull over but had not yet turned (and therefore was still somewhat in the lane) the biker was advancing and sharing the lane. In some states there is ...  more