Spring in all its glory brings lovely riding conditions and cyclists out of hibernation! If you’re pulling your bike out of storage or off the trainer, we want to provide you with a legal rights refresher. You should hit the streets confident that you are aware of your rights and know what to do if a collision occurs. *Before we get to that we encourage everyone to get a tune up, brake check, ligh

“We can’t just think of these potholes as how they would affect a huge tire on a car, we [have] got to think about how they would affect someone on a bicycle who’s not surrounded by two tons of steel as well.” – Dave Shellnutt on CBC As snow and ice melt, asphalt exposed to months of freezing and thawing emerges. Spring brings potholes and road imperfections. These hazards may not only damage moto

The Biking Lawyer LLP was founded by Dave Shellnutt and Joel Zanatta, two lawyers with a shared passion for bikes. Joel was running a busy personal injury office in British Columbia. As a daily bike commuter he saw the issues faced by cyclists and started a company known as The Cycling Lawyer . The idea was to focus his years of legal experience on representing cyclists. “I had been practicing per

I grew up mountain biking the trails of the Niagara Escarpment. Crashes would inevitably happen, but naturally as a kid/teenager my mind didn’t immediately turn to questions of liability. However, in exploring the vast (and well maintained) trail network around the GTA on my gravel bike, hiking with my daughter and mom, and preparing for a presentation on Municipal Trail Liability for the Trail Re

CBC News spoke to our client, Majd Zakout , who was hit by an uninsured driver making an illegal left turn. Mr. Zakout suffered serious injuries including a broken arm, ankle and injuries to his hip, waist, back and neck. He also suffered a brain injury (which thankfully he is recovering from!) The driver, David Gaio, had his charges dropped due to errors and ineffectiveness on the part of the Tor

“Where there is a marked bike lane, the starting presumption should be that there may be a cyclist travelling in that lane, and a turn across a bike lane is only appropriate after a driver confirms that the lane is free and not occupied.” According to Justice Walkem of the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Steinebach v. Skittrell , this is the standard motorists should hold themselves to when t

For your average cyclist, being yelled at to “ get in the bike lane ” or “ get off the road ” by a cavalier car driver can be blood boiling. It’s no surprise when we see that familiar interaction boil over, a frustrated cyclist smashing his bike off some dangerous driver’s front hood . Now as a survivor of violence and lawyer for people who’ve experienced violence, I urge extreme caution in these

As a lawyer specializing in helping injured cyclists and cycling law I am frequently asked “Do I need to purchase bike insurance?” The question is a complicated one, and because of that the safest answer is “Yes”. There are a huge variety of insurance products on the market. Before you purchase an insurance policy it is important to establish exactly what you are trying to insure and why. The prim

On October 12, 2021, Fatima and Valdemar Avila were tragically killed in a motor vehicle collision on Parkside Drive in Toronto. More lives lost due to inattentive and dangerous driving. The local community is grief stricken and angry. Residents who live alongside Parkside Drive had raised concerns repeatedly about road safety issues. Those calls for action have gone largely unanswered. They knew

Sometimes while cycling, I see the haunting image of a silver sedan in the corner of my eye. It’s not physically there, it’s a flashback from when I was hit by a car. Flashbacks are common after experiencing trauma, and road traumas are no exception. People on bikes don’t have the same protection as people in cars. Being driven into by someone in a car is violent, unexpected, and often accompanied