Bicycle Accident Complaint

BICYCLE ACCIDENT COMPLAINT — ARKANSAS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Caption
2. Parties, Jurisdiction, and Venue
3. General Factual Allegations
4. Count I — Negligence (Against Defendant Driver)
5. Count II — Negligence Per Se (Against Defendant Driver)
6. Count III — Negligent Entrustment / Vicarious Liability (Against Defendant Owner)
7. Damages
8. Prayer for Relief
9. Jury Demand
10. Reservation of Rights
11. Signature and Service Blocks
12. Verification
13. Certificate of Service
14. Arkansas Practice Notes
15. Sources and References

1. CAPTION

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF [COUNTY] COUNTY, ARKANSAS

[___] DIVISION

CASE NO. [________________]

COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES (BICYCLE COLLISION)

JURY TRIAL DEMANDED

Plaintiff, for causes of action against Defendants, states and alleges as follows:

2. PARTIES, JURISDICTION, AND VENUE

1. Plaintiff [PLAINTIFF NAME] ("Plaintiff") is and at all material times was a resident of [COUNTY] County, Arkansas, and at all material times was lawfully operating a bicycle upon the public roadways of this State.

2. Defendant [DRIVER NAME] ("Driver Defendant") is, upon information and belief, a resident of [COUNTY / STATE] who at all material times operated the subject motor vehicle and may be served at [SERVICE ADDRESS].

3. Defendant [OWNER / EMPLOYER NAME] ("Owner Defendant") is [an individual / a corporation / an LLC] that, at all material times, owned, controlled, and/or maintained the vehicle operated by Driver Defendant and/or employed Driver Defendant. Owner Defendant may be served through its registered agent at [REGISTERED AGENT / ADDRESS].

4. Separate Defendants John Does 1–5 are persons or entities whose true identities are presently unknown to Plaintiff and who negligently caused or contributed to the Collision and Plaintiff's injuries, including any additional owner, employer, lessor, or maintainer of the subject vehicle. Plaintiff will amend to substitute their true names when ascertained.

5. This action arises under Arkansas tort law for personal injuries sustained when a motor vehicle struck Plaintiff, a bicyclist, in [COUNTY] County, Arkansas, on [__/__/____].

6. Subject-matter jurisdiction is proper in the Circuit Court pursuant to Ark. Const. amend. 80, § 6 and Ark. Code § 16-13-201, as this is a civil action at law.

7. Venue is proper in this county under Ark. Code § 16-60-112 because the Collision occurred in this county and/or one or more Defendants resides in this county.

3. GENERAL FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS

8. On [__/__/____] at approximately [TIME], Plaintiff was lawfully operating a bicycle traveling [northbound / southbound / etc.] on [ROADWAY] at or near its intersection with [CROSS STREET / LANDMARK / MILE MARKER], in [CITY], Arkansas (the "Collision").

9. Plaintiff was riding in a lawful and prudent manner — [as near to the right side of the roadway as practicable / within a marked bicycle lane / lawfully using the full lane where conditions permitted under Arkansas law] — and, to the extent the Collision occurred during darkness, Plaintiff's bicycle was equipped with a lighted front lamp and a rear red reflector.

10. At the same time and place, Driver Defendant was operating a [YEAR / MAKE / MODEL] [passenger vehicle / pickup truck / SUV / commercial vehicle] owned by Owner Defendant.

11. Traffic, lighting, and weather conditions were [describe — e.g., clear, dry, daylight].

12. The Collision occurred when Driver Defendant [SELECT / DESCRIBE THE MANNER OF COLLISION — e.g., overtook and passed Plaintiff's bicycle without passing to the left at a safe distance of at least three feet and struck or sideswiped Plaintiff ("unsafe pass"); turned right across Plaintiff's path of travel ("right hook"); turned left across the path of Plaintiff's oncoming bicycle ("left cross"); opened a parked vehicle's door into Plaintiff's path ("dooring"); failed to yield the right-of-way at the intersection; followed Plaintiff's bicycle too closely and struck it from the rear; pulled out from a private drive or side street into Plaintiff's path].

13. Although Plaintiff and Plaintiff's bicycle were plainly visible, Driver Defendant failed to see Plaintiff in time, misjudged Plaintiff's speed, position, and distance, and/or failed to keep a proper lookout for bicyclists lawfully sharing the roadway.

14. Plaintiff had the right-of-way and was operating the bicycle in a lawful, prudent, and careful manner at all material times. At no time did Plaintiff do, or fail to do, anything that proximately caused or contributed to the Collision.

15. As a direct and proximate result of the Collision, Plaintiff — an unprotected road user exposed to the full mass and force of a motor vehicle — was thrown from the bicycle and sustained severe, painful, and permanent bodily injuries, including but not limited to [LIST INJURIES — e.g., orthopedic fractures, traumatic brain injury, spinal injury, internal injuries, road rash / degloving, and disfiguring scarring].

16. Because a bicyclist has no enclosure, restraint system, or crumple zone, the forces of the Collision caused Plaintiff to suffer catastrophic injuries materially more severe than those typically sustained by occupants of enclosed vehicles.

17. Plaintiff received emergency care at [HOSPITAL / EMS PROVIDER] and has since undergone [SURGERIES / HOSPITALIZATION / REHABILITATION / ONGOING TREATMENT], and will require future medical care.

18. All injuries and damages alleged were the foreseeable, natural, and probable consequence of Defendants' conduct.

4. COUNT I — NEGLIGENCE (Against Defendant Driver)

19. Plaintiff realleges and incorporates Paragraphs 1 through 18 as if fully set forth herein.

20. Driver Defendant owed Plaintiff a duty to exercise reasonable care in the operation of a motor vehicle, to obey the Arkansas Rules of the Road, to keep a proper lookout for bicyclists lawfully sharing the roadway, to overtake and pass a bicyclist only to the left at a safe distance of at least three feet, and to refrain from conduct endangering others.

21. Driver Defendant breached that duty by, among other things:

• Failing to keep a proper and careful lookout for Plaintiff's plainly visible bicycle;
• Overtaking and passing Plaintiff's bicycle without passing to the left at a safe distance of at least three feet;
• Turning right across the path of Plaintiff's bicycle ("right hook") when it was unsafe to do so;
• Turning left across the path of Plaintiff's oncoming bicycle ("left cross") when it was unsafe to do so;
• Opening, or causing to be opened, a vehicle door into the path of Plaintiff's bicycle when it was unsafe to do so ("dooring");
• Failing to yield the right-of-way to Plaintiff;
• Following Plaintiff's bicycle more closely than was reasonable and prudent;
• Operating the vehicle at a speed greater than was reasonable and prudent for conditions;
• Driving while distracted or inattentive; and
• Failing to maintain proper control of the vehicle.

22. Each of the foregoing acts and omissions, separately and in combination, was a direct and proximate cause of the Collision and of Plaintiff's injuries and damages.

23. As a direct and proximate result, Plaintiff has sustained the damages described in Section 7 below.

5. COUNT II — NEGLIGENCE PER SE (Against Defendant Driver)

24. Plaintiff realleges and incorporates Paragraphs 1 through 23 as if fully set forth herein.

25. The Arkansas Rules of the Road impose specific statutory duties on Driver Defendant for the protection of persons lawfully using the roadway, including bicyclists such as Plaintiff. These include, as applicable to the manner of the Collision:

• Ark. Code § 27-49-111 — every person riding a bicycle is granted all of the rights and is subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle, confirming that Plaintiff was a lawful user of the roadway entitled to the protection of the Rules of the Road;
• Ark. Code § 27-51-311 — a driver of a motor vehicle overtaking a bicycle proceeding in the same direction shall exercise due care and pass to the left at a safe distance of not less than three feet, and shall not again drive to the right side of the roadway until safely clear of the bicycle;
• Ark. Code § 27-51-502 — a driver within an intersection intending to turn left shall yield the right-of-way to vehicles (including bicycles) approaching from the opposite direction that are within the intersection or so close as to constitute an immediate hazard;
• Ark. Code § 27-51-501 — governing right-of-way at intersections; and
• Ark. Code § 27-51-305 — a driver shall not follow another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent. [verify section number against current Code]

26. Plaintiff is within the class of persons the foregoing statutes were enacted to protect, and the Collision is the type of harm those statutes were designed to prevent.

27. Driver Defendant violated [CITE THE SPECIFIC SECTION(S) APPLICABLE], and was cited for [TRAFFIC CITATION, IF ANY]. Such violation constitutes negligence per se under Arkansas law, and was a direct and proximate cause of Plaintiff's injuries and damages.

6. COUNT III — NEGLIGENT ENTRUSTMENT / VICARIOUS LIABILITY (Against Defendant Owner)

28. Plaintiff realleges and incorporates Paragraphs 1 through 27 as if fully set forth herein.

29. Owner Defendant entrusted the subject vehicle to Driver Defendant when Owner Defendant knew, or in the exercise of reasonable care should have known, that Driver Defendant was an incompetent, inexperienced, reckless, or otherwise unfit driver.

30. Alternatively, at the time of the Collision, Driver Defendant was operating the vehicle as the agent, servant, or employee of Owner Defendant and within the course and scope of that agency or employment, rendering Owner Defendant vicariously liable under the doctrine of respondeat superior.

31. Owner Defendant's negligent entrustment and/or vicarious liability was a direct and proximate cause of Plaintiff's injuries and damages.

7. DAMAGES

32. As a direct and proximate result of Defendants' conduct, Plaintiff has suffered and seeks recovery of the following:

• Past and future medical expenses — emergency, ambulance, hospital, surgical, diagnostic, rehabilitative, pharmaceutical, and physician care;
• Future medical and life care — anticipated surgeries, therapy, assistive devices, prosthetics, and long-term or attendant care, to be proven at trial;
• Lost wages and diminished earning capacity — past lost income and the permanent impairment of Plaintiff's ability to earn;
• Physical pain, suffering, and mental anguish — past and future;
• Permanent physical impairment and disfigurement, including scarring from road rash and surgical intervention;
• Loss of enjoyment of life; and
• Property damage to the bicycle, cycling gear, helmet, electronics, and personal effects, including loss of use and diminution in value.

33. Plaintiff pleads each category of damage separately and in the alternative.

8. PRAYER FOR RELIEF

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully prays for judgment against Defendants, jointly and severally to the extent permitted by law, as follows:

• A. Compensatory damages in an amount to be determined by the trier of fact and in excess of the minimum amount required for federal diversity jurisdiction (so as to deny removal where appropriate) or as otherwise proven;
• B. Punitive damages, if and to the extent the evidence supports an award;
• C. Pre-judgment and post-judgment interest as allowed by law;
• D. Costs of this action and attorney's fees as allowed by law; and
• E. Such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper.

9. JURY DEMAND

Plaintiff hereby demands a trial by jury on all issues so triable, pursuant to Ark. R. Civ. P. 38 and Ark. Const. art. II, § 7.

10. RESERVATION OF RIGHTS

Plaintiff reserves the right to amend this Complaint to add or substitute parties (including the John Doe Defendants), to assert additional claims (including a claim for punitive damages upon a showing of the requisite aggravated conduct), and to conform the pleadings to the evidence as discovery proceeds.

11. SIGNATURE AND SERVICE BLOCKS

DATED this [____] day of [MONTH], 20[____].

Respectfully submitted,

[LAW FIRM NAME]

By: /s/ [________________________________]

[ATTORNEY NAME]

Ark. Bar No. [________]

Attorney for Plaintiff

[STREET ADDRESS]

[CITY, STATE ZIP]

Telephone: [NUMBER]

Email: [EMAIL]

12. VERIFICATION

STATE OF ARKANSAS

COUNTY OF [COUNTY]

I, [PLAINTIFF NAME], being first duly sworn, state that I am the Plaintiff in the foregoing action; that I have read the foregoing Complaint; and that the facts stated therein are true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief.

[________________________________]

[PLAINTIFF NAME], Plaintiff

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this [____] day of [_______________], 20[____].

[________________________________]

Notary Public

My Commission Expires: [_______________]

13. CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on [__/__/____] a true and correct copy of the foregoing COMPLAINT was served (or will be served together with the summons) upon the following by [personal service / certified mail, restricted delivery, under Ark. R. Civ. P. 4 / process server]:

[NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) OF DEFENDANT(S) / COUNSEL]

/s/ [________________________________]

[ATTORNEY NAME / PARALEGAL]

14. ARKANSAS PRACTICE NOTES

• Statute of limitations. Personal-injury actions in Arkansas must generally be commenced within three years of accrual. Ark. Code § 16-56-105. (Note the shorter periods for some claims — e.g., one year for intentional torts under § 16-56-104 and two years for medical malpractice under § 16-114-203.) Confirm accrual and any tolling before filing.
• Court and jurisdiction. File a catastrophic-injury bicycle case in the Circuit Court, Arkansas's court of general jurisdiction (Ark. Const. amend. 80, § 6; Ark. Code § 16-13-201). Use the county and division caption.
• MODIFIED COMPARATIVE FAULT (49% bar). Under Ark. Code § 16-64-122, the plaintiff recovers (with damages reduced by the plaintiff's own percentage of fault) only if the plaintiff's fault is of a lesser degree than the combined fault of the defendants. If the plaintiff's fault is equal to or greater than the defendants', recovery is completely barred. Framing and minimizing the cyclist's own fault is therefore outcome-determinative — investigate lane position, lighting, conspicuity, and signal phase, and develop accident-reconstruction support to keep the plaintiff below the bar.
• The cyclist's rights and duties. Arkansas does not define a bicycle as a "vehicle," but Ark. Code § 27-49-111 grants the bicyclist all the rights and subjects the bicyclist to all the duties of a vehicle driver (Uniform Vehicle Code language). Reciprocal cyclist duties include riding on the right side of the roadway as practicable (with full-lane-use exceptions for turns, passing, hazards, and narrow lanes) and, at night, operating with a lighted front lamp and rear reflector. A violation of the cyclist's own duties supplies the comparative-fault theory that the defense will use to push the plaintiff toward or past the 50% bar.
• Three-foot safe passing. Arkansas has a numeric three-foot passing statute, Ark. Code § 27-51-311 (2007), requiring the overtaking driver to pass to the left at a safe distance of not less than three feet and not return right until safely clear. Its fines ($100, or $1,000 where the violation causes death or serious physical injury) are penalties, not the measure of damages, but the violation is strong negligence-per-se evidence.
• Helmet non-use generally inadmissible. Arkansas has no statewide bicycle-helmet requirement for adults (some municipalities require helmets for minors — e.g., Bentonville). Evidence or argument that an adult cyclist was not wearing a helmet is generally inadmissible to establish comparative fault or to reduce damages; move in limine to exclude it. Verify the current Arkansas evidentiary rule.
• UM/UIM and hit-and-run. A bicyclist struck by a motor vehicle may recover under their own automobile UM/UIM coverage — and under the UM/UIM coverage of a resident relative's policy — because cyclists are typically "insureds" for UM/UIM purposes. UM coverage also responds to a hit-and-run / phantom vehicle, subject to prompt-reporting requirements. Identify and notify every applicable policy promptly, preserve the UM/UIM claim, and comply with consent-to-settle / subrogation procedures before resolving the liability claim. Verify the current requirements.
• Damages and pleading. Ark. R. Civ. P. 8(a) generally prohibits pleading a specific dollar amount of unliquidated damages; plead that damages exceed the applicable jurisdictional threshold. Arkansas appellate decisions have struck down statutory caps on noneconomic and punitive damages; verify the current state of the law before relying on (or conceding) any cap.
• Service. Service of process is governed by Ark. R. Civ. P. 4 (personal service or certified mail, restricted delivery, with strict compliance required); serve a corporate or LLC defendant through its registered agent.

15. SOURCES AND REFERENCES

• Arkansas Code (Title 16 — Practice, Procedure, and Courts; Title 27 — Transportation) — https://advance.lexis.com/container?config=arkansas
• Ark. Code § 16-56-105 (three-year limitations) — https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-16/subtitle-2/chapter-56/subchapter-1/section-16-56-105/
• Ark. Code § 16-64-122 (comparative fault) — https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-16/subtitle-5/chapter-64/section-16-64-122/
• Ark. Code § 27-49-111 (bicyclist's rights and duties — UVC language)
• Ark. Code § 27-51-311 (overtaking a bicycle — three feet) — https://codes.findlaw.com/ar/title-27-transportation/ar-code-sect-27-51-311/
• Ark. Code § 27-51-502 (vehicle turning left at intersection); § 27-51-501 (intersection right-of-way); § 27-51-305 (following too closely — verify)
• Ark. Code § 27-51-1801 et seq. (bicycles — operation); § 27-36-216 (bicycle lamps — verify)
• Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure (Rules 4, 8, 38); Ark. Const. amend. 80, § 6; art. II, § 7
• Arkansas Model Jury Instructions — Civil (Negligence; Comparative Fault)

Disclaimer: This template is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. An attorney licensed in Arkansas must review and customize this document before filing. Laws, citations, and court rules change frequently; verify all authorities before use.