Young boy appears largely unhurt in local bicycle vs. car accident in Shively
Late this afternoon a young boy was struck by a motorist while riding his back near Shively, Kentucky, according to the Shively Police Department. He was riding near the intersection of Dixie Highway and Noble Place. According to police, the boy, who was only ten years old, turned in front of the truck, causing the accident. Fortunately, while the boy suffered some scrapes and bruises, he was not seriously hurt. It looks like the worst damage may have been to the bicycle.
Had there been any real injury to this young man, the accident might have involved some interesting legal issues. First, the truck involved belonged to MSD, a quasi-governmental entity responsible for water and sewer lines in the Louisville area. It would be important to know whether the driver was on duty at the time of the accident. This might affect the coverage that would be available to compensate for any harm that was dome. In addition, the age of the boy might affect his legal responsibility and ability to be responsible for the harm to himself. It is also possible that any supervision, or lack of supervision, by an adult would affect the issue of liability. Finally, while auto accidents usually involve the injured parties receiving PIP from their own company, when a bicycle is involved, the PIP money to cover medical expenses and wage loss (if any) actually comes from the insurance company for the driver of the car involved. Therefore, that driver’s carrier ends up covering both PIP and liability payments. Fortunately, in this situation, it doesn’t appear that any of that will be necessary.
