Walking and cycling in a car-built valley
Las Vegas streets are wide and fast. Boulder Highway, Las Vegas Boulevard and major east-west roads like Flamingo, Tropicana and Charleston see more pedestrian crashes than their share, many of them at night and away from marked crosswalks. On the Strip itself, huge crowds, pedestrian bridges, rideshare pickups and distracted drivers combine. Cyclists face the same speeds on roads like Rainbow, Buffalo and the 215 frontage roads. Crashes involving people outside a vehicle are rarely minor.
Right-of-way rules
Drivers must yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, marked or unmarked at intersections, and use extra care around children and people who are visibly confused or impaired. Pedestrians crossing outside a crosswalk must generally yield to vehicles, but that does not give drivers permission to hit them. How fault is shared matters, because Nevada reduces recovery by your share of fault rather than barring it unless you were more at fault than the driver (NRS 41.141).
The three-foot rule for cyclists
Nevada requires drivers passing a person on a bicycle to give at least three feet of space, or move into an adjacent lane when one is available (NRS 484B.270). Close passes, right hooks at intersections and opening car doors into a bike lane are common causes of cycling injuries.
Insurance when you were not in a car
The driver's liability insurance pays first. If the driver was uninsured, fled the scene or carried only the $25,000 Nevada minimum (NRS 485.185), your own auto policy's uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage may still protect you as a pedestrian or cyclist, even though you were not driving. Many people do not realize that, so it is worth checking your declarations page. The Nevada accident guide walks through it.
Hit and run
If the driver left, report it to police immediately and note any detail you can: partial plate, color, direction. Nearby business cameras and doorbell cameras often capture the vehicle, but footage disappears fast. Uninsured motorist coverage can apply to hit-and-run cases.
What to do now
Get medical care, keep damaged clothing, your bike and helmet as they are, and photograph your injuries over the following days. Write down the route you were taking and the exact spot. If a rideshare vehicle was involved, see the Uber and Lyft page; for injuries on hotel or casino property rather than the road, see slip and fall injuries.
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