Bicycle accident settlement amounts in Maine

Getting hurt on a bike by a car is rare enough in Maine that few people know what to expect afterward. Between 2019 and 2023 there were six fatal bicycle crashes in the state, which killed six cyclists, about 1.2 deaths a year and roughly 1% of all Maine traffic fatalities.¹ Nonfatal injuries are far more common, and each one becomes a claim whose value depends almost entirely on Maine law.

No public database of Maine bicycle settlement figures exists, and anyone who quotes you a firm "average" is guessing. What actually sets the number is a specific stack of Maine statutes: how fault is split, what insurance has to pay, how long you have to sue, and whether the state caps anything. Here is how those rules work.

Maine does not cap what you can recover

In an ordinary negligence case, and a cyclist hurt by a careless driver is an ordinary negligence case, Maine puts no statutory ceiling on compensatory damages. Medical bills, lost wages, future care, and pain and suffering are recoverable in full, limited by the evidence rather than by a cap.

The exception is a death case. When a bike crash is fatal, the wrongful death statute limits certain damages: loss of comfort, society, and companionship is capped at $1,000,000, and punitive damages at $500,000, both under 18-C M.R.S. §2-807 (the comfort-and-society figure is adjusted each year for inflation).² Economic losses in a death case, such as lost financial support and funeral costs, are not subject to that cap.

The 50% rule can cut your recovery to zero

Maine follows modified comparative negligence. Under 14 M.R.S. §156, your damages are reduced by your share of the fault, and if a jury finds you were as much at fault as the driver, you recover nothing.³ Maine's version is stricter than the "51%" bar used in many states: being equally at fault, a 50/50 split, bars recovery here.

This matters more for cyclists than for almost anyone else, because insurers routinely argue the rider caused the crash by running a light, riding at night without lights, or swerving out of the lane. Whether that argument sticks decides not just the size of the settlement but whether there is one at all.

You have six years, which is unusually long

Maine gives injury victims six years from the date of the crash to sue, under the general civil statute of limitations at 14 M.R.S. §752.⁴ There is no separate, shorter deadline for personal injury, so the six-year period applies to a bicycle claim the same way it applies to any negligence suit. Damage to the bike itself runs on that same six-year clock.⁴

Six years is long by national standards, where many states cap injury claims at two or three, and it gives an injured cyclist more room to build a case. Waiting is still a mistake. Evidence disappears, witnesses move, and the driver's insurer starts building its comparative-fault file the day of the crash.

The Maine laws that put fault on the driver

Several statutes are written to protect people on bikes, and they shape liability directly.

A driver passing a cyclist must leave at least three feet of space, and the statute goes further: a collision with a cyclist "is prima facie evidence of a violation," which shifts the practical burden onto the driver (29-A M.R.S. §2070).⁵ That presumption is a strong settlement tool, because it starts the negotiation with the driver already on the wrong side of the statute.

Maine also classifies cyclists as "vulnerable users" (29-A M.R.S. §101), and a driver who commits a traffic violation that causes serious bodily injury or death faces a civil penalty of up to $5,000 and a license suspension of 14 days to four years under 29-A M.R.S. §2413-A.⁶⁷ A citation under that statute is strong evidence of driver fault in the injury claim that follows.

Distracted driving is banned outright. Maine's hands-free law (29-A M.R.S. §2121) prohibits holding or manipulating a phone or electronic device while driving, even while stopped at a red light, with fines of $50 for a first offense and $250 after that.⁸ If the driver who hit you was on a phone, that violation feeds directly into the liability picture.

And a person on a bike has the same rights and duties as a driver (29-A M.R.S. §2063), so a rider following the rules of the road stands on equal legal footing with the car that hit them.⁹

Helmets and the under-16 rule

Maine requires a helmet only for riders under 16 (29-A M.R.S. §2323).¹⁰ An adult cyclist has no legal duty to wear one. That distinction matters in settlement talks, because insurers sometimes argue a head-injured rider should recover less for going bareheaded. In Maine there is no statute to hang that argument on for an adult, though a defense lawyer may still try to raise helmet non-use as comparative fault, and how a court treats it depends on the facts.

Which insurance actually pays

Most bicycle settlements are paid by auto insurance, not out of the driver's own pocket, so the coverage numbers set the practical ceiling.

Maine's minimum liability limits are among the highest in the country at 50/100/25, meaning $50,000 per person and $100,000 per crash for bodily injury, plus $25,000 for property damage (29-A M.R.S. §1605).¹¹ The at-fault driver's bodily injury coverage is usually the first source of payment for an injured cyclist.

Two more pockets often apply. Maine requires at least $2,000 in medical payments (MedPay) coverage on standard auto policies with no option to reject it (29-A M.R.S. §1605-A), and MedPay can reach you as a cyclist through your own auto policy.¹² Maine also mandates uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage equal to your liability limits unless you signed a rejection form, and even then it cannot drop below 50/100 (24-A M.R.S. §2902).¹³ If the driver who hit you carried no insurance or too little, your own UM/UIM coverage, or that of a resident household member, can step in. That is often the difference between a real recovery and none.

If the driver was drunk, there may be a second defendant. Under the Maine Liquor Liability Act, a bar or server that over-served a visibly intoxicated patron who then caused the crash can be held liable, though damages other than medical expenses are capped at $350,000 per occurrence and the claim must be filed within two years (28-A M.R.S. §§2509, 2514).¹⁴

After a Maine bike crash

Get the police crash report. It is the backbone of any claim, and you can order it through the state's crash-report system.¹⁵ For how to pull yours, see Maine crash reports. Then, because Maine's comparative-fault rule and its coverage stacking are technical, talk to a lawyer who handles these cases before you give a recorded statement or accept an early offer. You can start with the legal directory.

Nationally, bicyclist deaths are a small but rising share of traffic fatalities, with 1,166 cyclists killed in 2023 according to NHTSA.¹⁶ Maine's own numbers are small. For the person living through one of these cases, the law above is what decides whether a settlement reflects the loss.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

1. Maine Department of Public Safety, Bureau of Highway Safety, "Fatality Analysis 2019-2023" (June 30, 2025), Bicyclists section. https://www.maine.gov/dps/sites/maine.gov.dps/files/inline-files/Fatality%20Analysis%202019-2023_0.pdf

2. 18-C M.R.S. §2-807 (wrongful death damages and caps). https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/18-C/title18-Csec2-807.html

3. 14 M.R.S. §156 (comparative negligence). https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec156.html

4. 14 M.R.S. §752 (six-year limitation on civil actions). https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec752.html

5. 29-A M.R.S. §2070 (passing a bicycle; three-foot rule; prima facie evidence of a violation). https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/29-a/title29-Asec2070.html

6. 29-A M.R.S. §101 (definitions; "vulnerable user"). https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/29-a/title29-Asec101.html

7. 29-A M.R.S. §2413-A (motor vehicle violation resulting in death or serious bodily injury). https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/29-a/title29-Asec2413-A.html

8. 29-A M.R.S. §2121 (handheld phone and electronic device ban). https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/29-a/title29-Asec2121.html

9. 29-A M.R.S. §2063 (bicycles; rights and duties of a vehicle operator). https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/29-a/title29-Asec2063.html

10. 29-A M.R.S. §2323 (bicyclist helmet use; under 16). https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/29-a/title29-Asec2323.html

11. 29-A M.R.S. §1605 (minimum motor vehicle insurance limits). https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/29-a/title29-Asec1605.html

12. 29-A M.R.S. §1605-A (mandatory medical payments coverage). https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/29-a/title29-Asec1605-A.html

13. 24-A M.R.S. §2902 (uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage). https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/24-a/title24-Asec2902.html

14. 28-A M.R.S. §§2509, 2514 (Maine Liquor Liability Act; damages cap and two-year limitation). https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/28-a/title28-Asec2509.html

15. Maine State Police, Maine Crash Reporting Online Search and Ordering Service. https://apps1.web.maine.gov/online/mcrs/index.html

16. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, "Bicyclists and Other Cyclists: 2023 Data," Traffic Safety Facts. https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813739.pdf