Bicycles have the right to share the road with cars. Everyone who takes the traffic laws test to get a driver’s license learns this. It is legal for bicyclists to ride in the same lane of traffic with cars, except on the highest speed roads, and the nimblest and bravest bicyclists do this regularly. Not all parts of New Mexico are equally bike-friendly, and most bicyclists prefer to ride on sidewalks or in the bike lanes of public roads, when these are available. While it is legal for bicyclists to ride their bikes in lanes of traffic, it is against the law for cars to drive in bike lanes; those are reserved for bikes. Regardless of where the bicyclists are riding, drivers have a legal responsibility to be aware of them and to maintain a safe speed when bicyclists are nearby, even when this means driving at less than the speed limit.
Today, e-bikes with electric motors enable bicyclists to sustain high speeds to keep pace with vehicular traffic, but in terms of vehicle structure, a bike is no match for a car in a collision. A driver is facing criminal charges after striking a bicycle in a bike lane in Albuquerque. If you got injured in a collision with a car while you were riding your bicycle in New Mexico, contact a Santa Fe car accident lawyer.
Driver Who Struck Bicyclist Refused to Take Field Sobriety Test
Early one morning in June 2026, a car was driving on Sycamore Street Southeast in Albuquerque. The car turned right onto Central Avenue, where two bicyclists were riding in the ART bus lane; there were no buses nearby, so it is likely that the bicyclists chose that lane to stay out of the way of cars. The car accelerated as it approached a red light, and once it crossed the intersection, it merged into the ART bus lane, merging in front of one of the bicyclists at high speed and striking the other bicycle as it approached Maple Street. The bicyclist hit by the car was transported to a hospital by ambulance, but he died of his injuries a short time later.
The driver who struck the bicyclist remained at the scene of the accident. Police found an open container of an alcoholic beverage in his car, but he refused to take a breathalyzer test or any other kind of field sobriety test. He admitted to police that he had used medical cannabis shortly before driving. Breath tests are available to test for cannabis, but they cannot accurately measure the driver’s current level of cannabis intoxication. This is because alcohol metabolites are only detectable in the breath for a few hours after a person drinks alcohol, only as long as acute intoxication lasts, but cannabis metabolites remain detectable for weeks, long after the person has stopped feeling the effects of the cannabis.
Contact Slate Stern About Bike Accident Lawsuits
Slate Stern is a personal injury lawyer who represents plaintiffs injured in bike accidents in New Mexico. Contact Slate Stern in Santa Fe, New Mexico, or call (505)814-1517 to discuss your case.
Sources
https://www.koat.com/article/one-person-dead-after-vehicle-versus-pedestrian-crash/71646757
Photo by Dário Gomes on Unsplash