SERVICES
Bicycle Accident Lawyers Melbourne
A cyclist injured in Victoria can claim through the TAC wherever a motor vehicle was involved, and that covers more situations than most riders realise. Being doored, hit by a turning driver, or forced off the road by a car that never touched you are all TAC claims, and the claim covers medical treatment, rehabilitation and income support while you recover.
Where no vehicle was involved there may still be a claim, against the council or road authority instead. Working out which of the two applies is the first thing our bicycle accident lawyers will do, and it is worth doing before you assume you have nothing.
Whether a cycling injury in Victoria is a TAC claim depends on one thing: whether a motor vehicle was involved.
Who can claim after a cycling accident
You can make a TAC claim if a motor vehicle was involved, including where you were:
- Doored by someone opening a car door into your path
- Hit by a driver turning across a bike lane
- Struck from behind or clipped by a passing vehicle
- Forced off the road or across tram tracks without being touched
- Blamed for the accident, or not wearing a helmet or hi-vis
-
If no motor vehicle was involved, a public liability claim against the road authority may be available instead.
Bicycle accident compensation
- Medical treatment, hospital and surgical costs
- Rehabilitation and physiotherapy
- Income support while you cannot work
- A lump sum for permanent impairment, from 11% whole person impairment
- Pain and suffering and loss of earnings, where another person caused a serious injury
Above 11% whole person impairment, the lump sum is set by a statutory formula. Find out what your claim may be worth.
Whether a vehicle was involved decides which claim you make
If a motor vehicle played any part in your accident, you claim through the TAC. If none did, the TAC does not apply, but a claim against whoever was responsible for the road may.
The catch is that "involved" is broader than most cyclists assume, because a vehicle does not have to have hit you. A driver who forced you across a tram track, drifted into your lane, or pulled out and made you brake hard enough to come off was involved, even with no contact at all. A door opened into your path belongs to a vehicle too.
Coming off on a pothole with no vehicle anywhere near you is the genuinely different case, and that is where the council or road authority comes in.
This is the question cyclists most often answer for themselves, and answering it wrong is how people walk away from a claim they had.
Dooring
Being struck by a car door opened into your path can be a TAC claim.
A motor vehicle is involved, so your treatment, rehabilitation and income support apply regardless of fault. The person who opened the door has a legal obligation not to do so unsafely, so where they were at fault and your injury is serious, a common law claim may also be available.
Tram tracks
Whether a tram track fall is claimable depends on why you were on the track.
If a car or tram forced you across the tracks, and a vehicle was involved, it is a transport accident.
If you caught a wheel on your own, generally it is not, though a claim against the road authority may be available depending on the condition of the surface.
We can help you determine where your claim falls
Helmets, lights and visibility
Not for your TAC entitlements. Treatment, rehabilitation and income support are available regardless of what you were wearing or whether your lights were on.
These things can affect a common law claim, where compensation is reduced to reflect your share of responsibility.
E-bikes and e-scooters
A compliant pedal-assist e-bike is generally treated like a bicycle for TAC purposes. The critical question is whether your device falls within the statutory definition of a pedal cycle, rather than being a motor vehicle and that turns on the device itself, including its power and how it operates.
E-scooters are more complicated. An accident involving only your e-scooter, another e-scooter, a bicycle or a pedestrian is not ordinarily covered by the TAC. But if you are injured in a collision with a motor vehicle, train or tram, you may be covered.
If you are not sure which side of the line your device sits on, ask us before you assume you have no claim.
What to bring to your first consultation
- The police report number, if you have one
- Medical reports and the names of your treating doctors
- Photographs of the bike, the scene and your injuries
- Helmet camera or Strava data, if you have it
- The driver's details, if they were exchanged
- Payslips or evidence of lost income
- Details of any witnesses
Cyclists on Victorian roads
Cyclist deaths are a small share of the Victorian road toll. In the twelve months to December 2025, 9 of the 291 people who lost their lives on Victorian roads were cyclists, or 3.1 per cent.
The serious injury picture is different. Of the 5,617 people seriously injured on Victorian roads in the 2023-24 financial year, 18 per cent were pedestrians or cyclists, and almost two thirds of all serious injuries happened in metropolitan Melbourne.
Surviving a collision and living with the injury afterwards is the situation the impairment part of the scheme exists for.
Sources: TAC Road Safety Statistics Report, December 2025. Road Trauma in Victoria Statistical Summary 2024.
FAQs
The driver's insurer offered to pay for my bike.
That is property damage. It is separate from any injury claim, and settling one does not settle the other.
I rode home and it has been getting worse.
Common with shoulders, wrists and backs after a fall. See a doctor now and make sure the accident is recorded as the cause.
Nobody stopped and I did not get a plate.
Generally still claimable. The scheme covers people injured by unidentified vehicles.
Is there a bicycle accident compensation calculator?
No. Which scheme applies has to be established first, then your impairment has to be assessed.
Why choose The Injury Law Group
Cycling accidents fall into two different compensation schemes depending on whether a vehicle was involved, and the answer is not always obvious. We look at both, so if there is no TAC claim we can tell you whether there is one against the council or road authority instead.
Your claim is run by Irini Piperoglou or Antonia Gianasmidis.
34 Church Street, Abbotsford, in Melbourne's inner east.
No Win No Fee, which includes finding out whether you have a claim at all, and which scheme it falls under. How our no win no fee guarantee works
“After my car accident, I was completely overwhelmed, but Irini and Antonia were there for me every step of the way. They didn’t just handle the legal stuff, they showed genuine care and empathy, making sure I never felt alone in the process. They took all the stress off my shoulders, allowing me to focus on my recovery. Thanks to their hard work, I received the compensation I needed to recover. I can’t thank them enough for their support and for always keeping me informed and at ease during such a tough time”
– Kalliope L.
tagline
Get a free, no-obligation claim check
If you have been injured in a bicycle accident in Victoria, we can tell you in one conversation whether you have a claim and what to do next.
We will get back to you as soon as possible.
Please try again later.
