Leisure, Sport, and Assumption of Risk

Posted At : June 1, 2009 8:13 AM | Posted By : Rick Bernardi
Related Categories: Assumption of Risk, Club Rides

If you are injured while on a club ride, have you assumed the risk of your injury? This is the question a New York appellate court addressed recently.

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I imagine that this is a case of negligent riding in the end. If I drive my car too quickly through a construction zone, because I chose to follow the car ahead of me at the same speed, I can only blame myself for any damage incurred. Unfortunately, as cyclists, we are more disadvantaged when it comes to any physical protection from an accident. She should have been aware of the road conditions and should not have given up her better judgment to the person riding ahead of her.

Riding in a group is not a sanctioned event, unless you are part of a team riding together and have signed a contract with said team.

I think the fault is her own.
# Posted By Michel | 8/14/09 4:21 PM
This case caught my eye when I saw it reported in the N.Y. Law Journal. The important part is not whether the cyclist was negligent, but that group rides are not, as a matter of law, sporting events.

The cyclist will have to show that the negligence of the town and/or paving company was the proximate cause of her accident - but she gets to do that at trial and is not barred from recovery just because she was out for a group ride.
# Posted By Bruce W. | 8/28/09 8:31 PM
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