PI bar grapples with juror bias in bicycle/car crash cases.

Byline: Pat Murphy

Lawyers who try bicycle accident cases find themselves having to deal with the problem of prospective jurors holding strong, often "militant" views on motorists having to share the commonwealth's roadways with cyclists.

That makes a plaintiff's verdict from last month a bit surprising: A federal jury in Boston awarded $150,000 to a Connecticut woman who was injured when struck by a pickup truck while riding her bike against traffic on a one-way street in Provincetown.

The plaintiff's lawyer, Christopher M. Houlihan, is used to members of a jury pool including motorists who take a dim view of bicycle riders.

However, the Hartford, Conn., attorney said he was struck by the fact that during voir dire U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns excused for cause jurors who indicated they couldn't be impartial because they were avid cyclists.

"The judge made a funny comment during voir dire in which he basically said in his mind people had militant views on being either pro-bicyclist or anti-bicyclist," Houlihan said.

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"Jurors have very visceral responses to these types of cases."

Bridget A. Lopez, Boston

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Bridget A. Lopez's experience defending motor vehicle drivers in bicycle accident cases echoes the judge's views.

"Jurors have very visceral responses to these types of cases," the Boston lawyer said. "It's very rare that you find someone lukewarm about this particular issue."

Different animal

Lopez said bicycle accident cases have a different "feel" than the typical motor vehicle crash case. While the ordinary rules of negligence apply, she said sometimes jurors may view an injured cyclist as a "hybrid" between a pedestrian and a motorist.

"You get in a car accident with a bike, they're seeing you as a motorist who hit a person versus another car," Lopez said. "Car versus car is much easier [from a defense perspective]. In a car versus a pedestrian accident, you have a lot more sympathy at play."

Boston personal injury attorney Dennis M. Lindgren has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in bicycle cases, which he called a "different animal."

"Under the law, a bicycle is referred to as a 'vehicle,'" said Lindgren. "And so a [cyclist] is not offered the same protection as a pedestrian is. For example, if a motor vehicle hits a pedestrian in a crosswalk, you're all but guaranteed to find liability on behalf of the driver. There's no legal protection for a bicycle in a crosswalk."

According to Lindgren...

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