Pedestrian and Bicycle Wrongful Death Claims in Ohio

Your loved one was doing something ordinary: walking to a bus stop, crossing to the mailbox, heading to work on a bicycle, or out for an evening ride. A driver took that life in an instant. When the person who died was walking or cycling, families often also face the painful suggestion that their loved one should have been more careful. We are sorry for your loss, and we want you to know that Ohio law places real duties on drivers toward people on foot and on bicycles.

This page explains how these deaths happen, what must be investigated, the Ohio rules that matter, and the insurance that may be available, including when the driver fled.

How these deaths happen

Fatal pedestrian and bicycle crashes often involve:

• Drivers turning at intersections who do not check the crosswalk.
• Speed on wide suburban roads, where a driver has little time to react.
• Darkness, especially on roads without sidewalks or adequate lighting.
• Distraction, including phone use.
• Passing a cyclist too closely or turning across a cyclist's path.
• Drivers who leave the scene, leaving the family without answers.

What the investigation must capture

Many pedestrian and bicycle deaths happen at night or with few witnesses, so physical and electronic evidence carries more weight than usual.

• Video from businesses, homes, buses and traffic cameras. Much of it is overwritten within days.
• The vehicle, including damage location and height, headlight condition, windshield damage and its event data recorder.
• Lighting conditions: street lights that were working or not, and what the driver could see from the driver's seat.
• The bicycle, helmet and clothing, including lights and reflectors.
• Electronic data from your loved one's phone, a cycling or fitness app, or a bicycle camera, which may show route, speed and timing.
• The driver's phone records, if distraction is suspected, obtained through proper legal process.

Physical evidence can also identify a vehicle that left the scene. Police investigators work these cases, and a family's lawyer can work alongside that effort, preserving evidence and following leads without interfering with the criminal investigation.

Ohio rules that protect people on foot and on bicycles

Crosswalks. Where traffic signals are not in place or not clearly assigning the right of way, a driver must yield to a pedestrian crossing within a crosswalk, slowing or stopping if needed (R.C. 4511.46(A)). Ohio law also says a pedestrian must not suddenly leave a curb into the path of a vehicle so close as to be an immediate hazard (R.C. 4511.46(B)), and insurers often point to that rule.

Outside a crosswalk. A pedestrian crossing outside a crosswalk must generally yield to vehicles (R.C. 4511.48(A)). But the same statute makes clear that drivers are not relieved of the duty to exercise "due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian upon any roadway" (R.C. 4511.48(E)). A person crossing mid-block does not lose all protection under the law.

Bicycles are vehicles. Ohio's traffic code defines a vehicle to include a bicycle (R.C. 4511.01(A)). A cyclist on the road is not an intruder; the rules of the road govern the cyclist and the drivers around the cyclist alike.

Safe passing distance. When a motor vehicle passes a bicycle, Ohio law says "three feet or greater is considered a safe passing distance" (R.C. 4511.27(A)(1)).

Shared fault. If the defense argues that your loved one was partly to blame, Ohio's comparative fault rule applies. A claim is barred only if your loved one's share of fault was greater than everyone else's combined, and otherwise any award is reduced by that percentage (R.C. 2315.33; R.C. 2307.011(H)).

Young children. The Supreme Court of Ohio has held that a child under seven years old is, as a matter of law, incapable of contributory negligence. Holbrock v. Hamilton Distributing, Inc., 11 Ohio St.2d 185 (1967). When a young child is struck, the defense cannot shift blame to the child. Our page on the death of a child discusses these cases further.

Who may be responsible

Depending on the facts, responsibility may rest with:

• The driver.
• The vehicle's owner, whose policy must cover permitted drivers (R.C. 4509.51(B)).
• An employer, if the driver was working, such as a delivery driver.
• A government body, in limited circumstances. Ohio political subdivisions are generally immune, but one exception covers negligent failure to keep public roads in repair or to remove obstructions from them (R.C. 2744.02(B)(3)). Whether a particular road condition fits that exception depends on the facts; see our page on deaths involving government entities.
• A manufacturer, if a vehicle or bicycle defect contributed.

Which insurance may apply, including after a hit-and-run

The at-fault driver's liability policy is the first source, though Ohio's minimum is only $25,000 for the death of one person (R.C. 4509.51(B)).

A person who was walking or cycling may also be covered by the uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on the family's own auto policies, depending on how those policies define who is an "insured." Ohio allows policies to exclude people who are not insureds under the policy (R.C. 3937.18(I)(5)), so the policy language matters. Many auto policies define insureds to include relatives living in the household, but every policy must be read.

When the driver is never identified, uninsured motorist coverage may apply, but Ohio requires "independent corroborative evidence" that the unidentified driver caused the death (R.C. 3937.18(B)(1)(c)). This is another reason video and physical evidence should be gathered quickly. Our chapter on insurance coverage explains these policies in more detail.

What your family can recover

Ohio law allows compensation for loss of support, loss of services, loss of society (companionship, care, guidance and more), loss of prospective inheritance, and the mental anguish of the surviving family (R.C. 2125.02(D)), along with reasonable funeral and burial expenses (R.C. 2125.02(C)(1)). The surviving spouse, children and parents are presumed to have suffered damages (R.C. 2125.02(A)). Ohio's general caps on noneconomic damages do not apply to wrongful death actions (R.C. 2315.18(H)(3)). See our page on wrongful death compensation.

The two-year deadline

An Ohio wrongful death action generally must be filed within two years after the date of death (R.C. 2125.02(F)(1)). A hit-and-run investigation can take months, and the civil deadline keeps running while police search for the driver. Read more about Ohio's two-year rule and its exceptions.

Common questions