On Tuesday, June 11, 2013 11:50:58 AM UTC-7, Anatol Zolotusky wrote:

The story: this morning on my way to work I was slowly riding my bicycle out of my driveway in Palo Alto, CA, into the street, watching for incoming traffic from the left of the street. When crossing the sidewalk, I've been blindsided from my right by another cyclist (who was, of course, riding on the left sidewalk, relative to his direction). The guy knocked me down and rode over my rear wheel, thus completely ruining it.



So, the question is: do I have any recourse in such cases - perhaps for the future mishaps like this. The ******* has caused a few hundred bucks of damage, and left me literally in the dust. Does anyone have any advise, for this case, or for the future?

Basically the same as when hit by a car. You can sue the at-fault party for your damages in small claims court if they refuse your initial request for payment. If the cyclist has either home owners or renters insurance that would normally cover them for liability in the event of an accident they cause while riding a bicycle.

However, I'm not too sure about the question of fault in the accident described here. Cities in Cal. can each set their own rules about riding on sidewalks and many allow it outside of business districts. If it's allowed in Palo Alto then the person riding across the sidewalk from a driveway would be responsible for looking both ways for either pedestrian or bicycle traffic before crossing the sidewalk. Sidewalks are bi-directional so you really should look both ways.