Omaha Bicycle Accident Lawyer

When a car hits a bicycle, the cyclist takes the whole force of the crash. I’m Frank Younes, and I represent cyclists injured by drivers in Omaha and across Nebraska and Iowa. This page covers a cyclist’s rights under Nebraska law, what drivers owe cyclists, Omaha’s sidewalk rules, e-bikes, and the question most injured cyclists don’t know to ask: whose insurance pays.

A Cyclist’s Rights on Nebraska Roads

Nebraska law treats a bicycle on the road as a vehicle. A cyclist “shall have all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle under the Nebraska Rules of the Road,” except where the rules provide otherwise for bicycles (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-6,314). That includes city streets: a “highway” under the Rules of the Road is “the entire width between the boundary limits of any street, road, avenue, boulevard, or way which is publicly maintained.”

• Where to ride. A cyclist going slower than traffic “shall ride as near to the right-hand curb or right-hand edge of the roadway as practicable” (§ 60-6,317). That is not a duty to hug the gutter. The statute lets a cyclist move left to pass, to prepare for a left turn, to avoid hazards such as parked cars, debris and potholes, and when a lane is too narrow for a bicycle and a car to share safely.
• Single file. Cyclists on the road “shall not ride more than single file except on paths or parts of highways set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles.”
• Lights at night. A bicycle used at night must have a front light visible from at least 500 feet and a red rear reflector (§ 60-6,318).
• Darting out. “No bicyclist shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or ride into the path of a vehicle which is so close that it is impossible for the driver to stop.” Expect an insurer to raise this rule whenever it can.

What Drivers Owe Cyclists

• Three feet when passing. A driver overtaking a bicycle “shall exercise due care, which shall include, but not be limited to, leaving a safe distance of no less than three feet clearance, when applicable, when passing a bicycle” and “shall maintain such clearance until safely past” (§ 60-6,133).
• Move over or slow down, since July 18, 2026. Nebraska’s new vulnerable road user law requires a driver to “proceed with due care and caution” when approaching or passing a bicyclist. Where there are two or more lanes in the same direction, the driver must move “into a lane at least one moving lane apart from the vulnerable road user”; where that isn’t possible, the driver must reduce speed and maintain a safe speed (§ 60-6,378.02). The law covers bicycles and electric bicycles alike.
• Doors. “No person shall open the door of a motor vehicle on the side available to moving traffic unless and until it is reasonably safe to do so and it can be done without interfering with the movement of other traffic” (§ 60-6,180). A driver or passenger who doors a cyclist has broken this rule.
• Right-of-way at intersections. The same yield rules that protect drivers protect cyclists, including the duty of a turning driver to yield to oncoming traffic (§ 60-6,147).

A Nebraska case where the cyclist was wrongly blamed

In a Lincoln case, a jury found a bicyclist 65 percent at fault for a collision with a car at an intersection and entered judgment for the driver. The Nebraska Supreme Court reversed: “In short, based upon the evidence presented, it is clear that the duty to yield the right-of-way was not Springer’s, but Bohling’s” (Springer v. Bohling, 259 Neb. 71 (2000)). When the case returned, the court said the right-of-way rules “apply to bicyclists as well as drivers of motor vehicles,” and that the cyclist, having the right-of-way, “had the right to assume that her right-of-way would be respected unless it would have appeared to an ordinarily careful and prudent person that to proceed would probably result in a collision” (263 Neb. 802 (2002)). Juries do blame cyclists. The law, applied correctly, often doesn’t.

Sidewalks and Crosswalks in Omaha

On a sidewalk or in a crosswalk, a cyclist “shall have all the rights and duties applicable to a pedestrian under the same circumstances but shall yield the right-of-way to pedestrians,” and the statute adds that nothing “relieves the bicyclist or the driver of a vehicle from the duty to exercise care” (§ 60-6,317). Cities may add their own rules, and Omaha has (Omaha Municipal Code § 36-148):

• No riding on downtown sidewalks. It is unlawful to ride a bicycle “on the public sidewalks of the downtown business district,” defined as the area bounded by Chicago Street on the north, Jackson Street on the south, 20th Street on the west and 8th Street on the east.
• In the Old Market, not even walking a bike. The ordinance allows walking or pushing a bicycle on downtown sidewalks “except on the public sidewalks of the Old Market and Wholesale District.”

Breaking a local rule doesn’t automatically end a claim. Nebraska reduces a cyclist’s recovery by the cyclist’s share of fault, and bars it only if that share equals or exceeds the defendants’ combined fault (§ 25-21,185.09).

E-Bikes Are Bicycles in Nebraska

Since 2023, Nebraska law has defined a bicycle to include “an electric bicycle” (§ 60-611). An electric bicycle has working pedals and a motor of no more than 750 watts, and comes in three classes:

Because an e-bike is a bicycle, the same rights, duties and protections apply, including the three-foot rule and the new move-over law. A bicycle with an added motor that doesn’t meet those definitions is treated differently, and cities and other government bodies may regulate where e-bikes ride (§ 60-678). When an e-bike itself fails, the claim can also involve the manufacturer or seller; I wrote about one such crash in a Lincoln e-bike wheel failure. Children on e-bikes and scooters raise their own questions, covered in e-bikes, scooters and kids.

How Often Cyclists Are Seriously Hurt

• Omaha. The City’s Vision Zero plan found that, relative to how many people ride, bicyclists are about ten times more likely to be in a crash that kills or seriously injures someone (Vision Zero Omaha Action Plan). Serious bicycle crashes in Omaha are spread out rather than concentrated: the plan reported that a bicycle high-injury network “was not able to be created due to the low amount of KSI bicycle crashes in Omaha.” Bicyclists accounted for 5.7 percent of Omaha’s 2025 traffic deaths.
• The metro. The regional planning agency found that pedestrians and bicyclists together are 2 percent of commuters but are involved in more than 9 percent of crashes that kill or seriously injure someone.
• Nationally. NHTSA reports that “in 2024 there were 1,103 pedalcyclist fatalities,” that 60 percent occurred away from intersections, that “more pedalcyclist fatalities occurred in the dark (52%) than in daylight (44%),” and that 81 percent were in urban areas (NHTSA, Bicyclists and Other Cyclists: 2024 Data).

Where Omaha’s serious crashes cluster for everyone is covered in Omaha’s most dangerous intersections.

Who Pays When a Cyclist Is Hit

The first source is the driver’s liability insurance. Nebraska’s minimum is $25,000 per person (§ 60-310), which a serious bicycle injury can exhaust in the first days of a hospital stay. That is why the next source matters so much.

Your own auto policy can cover you on a bicycle

Nebraska requires uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage “for the protection of persons insured who are legally entitled to recover compensatory damages for bodily injury” from the owner or operator of an uninsured or underinsured motor vehicle (§ 44-6408). The statute does not require the injured person to be in a car when hurt. The Nebraska Supreme Court has said the law’s purpose is “to give the same protection to a person injured by an uninsured or underinsured motorist as the person would have if he or she had been injured in an accident caused by an automobile covered by a standard liability policy,” and that its provisions “are to be liberally construed” (Hood, 259 Neb. 63 (2000)).

• It depends on the policy’s wording. Coverage turns on whether the policy makes you an “insured” when you’re not in a covered car. Many do, for the named insured and family members living in the household. I have found no Nebraska decision addressing a cyclist’s claim specifically, so the policy itself has to be read.
• A household member’s policy may apply if you don’t own a car, again depending on how the policy defines who is insured.
• One exclusion: the coverage does not apply to injury “through being struck by a vehicle owned by the named insured or a spouse or relative residing with the named insured” (§ 44-6413).

Hit-and-run drivers

When the driver is never found, uninsured motorist coverage is often the only recovery. If the unknown vehicle actually struck the cyclist, it is treated as uninsured. If it caused the crash without touching the cyclist, such as a driver who forced the rider off the road, the law adds two conditions: the crash must have been reported “as required by law, to the proper law enforcement authorities,” and the facts must be “corroborated by competent evidence provided by an independent and disinterested person and not by the insured” (§ 44-6405). My $100,000 result above came from a cyclist’s own uninsured motorist coverage after a hit-and-run driver who was never identified. More on how these layers work is in underinsured motorist coverage.

When a City Vehicle or Bus Is Involved

If the vehicle belonged to a city, county or other local government, including a city bus, the claim runs under the Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act: a written claim within one year (§ 13-919), and recovery limited to $1 million per person and $5 million per occurrence (§ 13-926). One of the results above was for a pedestrian hit by a city bus.

What to Do After a Bicycle Crash

• Call the police and get a report, especially if the driver left. A report is required for an uninsured motorist claim when there was no contact, and it helps in every case.
• Get checked by a doctor the same day. Head and wrist injuries are easy to underestimate.
• Keep the bike, helmet and clothing as they are, and photograph them, the scene and your injuries.
• Get witness names and look for cameras on nearby businesses and homes. See dashcam video, phone records and vehicle data.
• Tell your own auto insurer promptly, even though you were on a bike.
• Do not give the driver’s insurer a recorded statement or accept an early offer. See recorded statements and the first settlement offer.
• Mind the deadline: four years for most claims against a driver (§ 25-207), and one year for a written claim against a city or county.

My pedestrian accident page covers the closely related claims of people hit while on foot.

Statutes, ordinances and reports quoted on this page were read at their official sources in October 2026. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. This page is general information, not legal advice about your situation.

Your Attorney

Frank Younes

Every page on this site is written by Frank Younes, a Nebraska trial attorney with a published record of verdicts and settlements, selection to the National Trial Lawyers Top 100, and a practice that covers every county in Nebraska and Iowa. No case is handed to an associate — the lawyer you read here is the lawyer who works your case.

More about Frank → · Free consultation: (402) 378-9208

Frequently Asked Questions

Do bicyclists have the same rights as drivers in Nebraska?

On the road, yes. A cyclist has the rights and duties of a driver under the Rules of the Road, except where the rules set special bicycle regulations.

How much room must a driver give a cyclist when passing?

At least three feet. Since July 18, 2026, a driver must also move into another lane where there are two or more lanes in the same direction, or slow down where there aren’t.

Can I ride on the sidewalk in Omaha?

Not in the downtown business district, and in the Old Market you may not even walk a bike on the sidewalk. Elsewhere, a cyclist on a sidewalk has a pedestrian’s rights but must yield to people on foot.

Are e-bikes treated as bicycles in Nebraska?

Yes. Class I, II and III electric bicycles are bicycles under Nebraska law, with the same rights and protections.

Will my car insurance cover me if I was hit on my bike?

Often, through your uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, but it depends on how your policy defines who is insured.

What if the driver who hit me was never found?

Your own uninsured motorist coverage may pay. If the vehicle never touched you, the crash must have been reported to police and confirmed by an independent witness.

Do I need a helmet to recover?

Nebraska has no bicycle helmet law, and no statute reduces a cyclist’s recovery for riding without one.