Walking or biking in the Rittenhouse area of Philadelphia means sharing pavement with cars that are turning, pulling out of a garage or rolling through a light. When a crash happens, Pennsylvania does not leave the duties of drivers, walkers and riders to custom. Two vehicle-code sections come up again and again, and they sit next to the same claim rules that apply after any other crash.
This page is about those statutes. It does not try to describe every intersection, and it does not assign fault in a particular case.
Drivers and pedestrians at a crosswalk
Section 3542 of Title 75 starts with a yield rule. When traffic-control signals are missing or dark, a motorist has to yield to a walker already in a painted crossing, or in an unpainted crossing at a corner. Subsection (e) makes a violation of that yield rule a summary offense, with a fine of $50 upon conviction.
The same section asks something of the walker. A walker must not leave a curb or other safe place and step into a vehicle that is already so close that it is a hazard. Whenever any vehicle is stopped at a crosswalk at an intersection, or at a marked crosswalk, to permit a pedestrian to cross, the driver of any other vehicle approaching from the rear shall not overtake and pass the stopped vehicle.
When signals are operating, other sections of the Vehicle Code govern the light and the walk signal. The practical point for a claim is simpler. A marked or unmarked crosswalk at an intersection is not a suggestion, and darting off a curb into a car that is already too close is not cost-free under the statute either.
Passing a pedalcycle by at least four feet
Section 3303(a)(3) is the passing rule that applies to bicycles and other pedalcycles. A motorist who is passing a pedalcycle going the same way must go by on the left, leaving a gap of at least four feet, and must do it at a careful and prudent reduced speed. The rest of section 3303 states the ordinary overtaking rules for vehicles, including the duty of the overtaken driver not to speed up until safely passed.
Four feet is a statutory distance, not a slogan. A close pass that sideswipes a rider, or a pass at speed that is not careful and prudent, is the kind of fact a claim will examine. Photographs of the lane, the parked cars and the damage to the bike can matter later, just as they do in a car-to-car crash.
Fault, limited tort and people who do not own a car
Pedestrian and bike cases still run through section 7102. If a walker or rider is assigned a share of causal negligence that is greater than the driver’s share, recovery against that driver is cut off. If the share is not greater, recovery is reduced in proportion. Our fault guide covers that line.
Limited tort can be a different problem. Many walkers and riders are not named insureds on a private passenger policy of their own. Section 1705(b)(3) says an individual who is not an owner of a currently registered private passenger motor vehicle, and who is not a named insured or insured under any such policy, shall not be precluded from maintaining an action for noneconomic loss or economic loss sustained in a motor vehicle accident as the consequence of the fault of another person. In plain terms, someone else’s limited-tort election does not automatically become yours if you are not on a policy of that kind. Our limited tort guide explains the election and the exceptions, including the serious-injury definition.
Medical benefits, reports and deadlines
A walker or rider may still have first-party medical benefits through a household auto policy, depending on who is an “insured” under section 1702 and the policy terms. Do not assume that coverage is there, and do not assume it is not. Read the policy and our benefits guide. If a rideshare vehicle was involved, section 2603.1 also names first-party medical amounts for pedestrians, as our rideshare guide describes.
If you are hurt, or a bike cannot be ridden in its customary manner and has to be taken from the scene, section 3746 requires police notice. Request the crash report through the City process in our report guide. The two-year period in section 5524 still applies, and the six-month written statement in section 5522 still applies if a government vehicle was involved.
Keep the helmet, the bike and the clothing as they were, when that is practical, until someone representing you has seen them. Write down the names of people who stopped.
Rideshare vehicles and government vehicles
If the vehicle that hit you was a rideshare car, Pennsylvania’s transportation-network coverage statute sets first-party medical amounts for pedestrians, and it raises the liability floor once a prearranged ride is underway. Our rideshare guide walks through those figures. Save any app information you have, even if you were not a passenger.
If the vehicle belonged to the City or to a Commonwealth agency, the six-month written statement in section 5522 has to be given, and damages may be capped. Pain and suffering against a local agency is limited to the situations named in section 8553, including death and certain permanent injuries with medical and dental expenses over $1,500. Our government notice guide sets those rules out in one place.
Then get care and, if the injuries are more than a scrape, talk with a Pennsylvania injury lawyer while the scene is still easy to describe.