Start by understanding what the adjuster is actually telling you. Under RCW 4.22.005, Washington apportions fault among the parties, and a cyclist found partially at fault can still recover — the award is simply reduced by their share. Partial fault does not end a claim in Washington.
What you should question is whether the percentage the adjuster assigned reflects the evidence or just a negotiating position. It is often the second.
How Insurers Assign Fault to Injured Cyclists
Fault allocation in bicycle cases tends to follow a familiar pattern. The cyclist was not wearing a helmet. The cyclist did not have lights on a rainy Seattle evening. The cyclist rolled through a stop sign, or was not riding as far right as the adjuster thinks they should have been.
Some of these arguments have real force in the right facts. Others run into Washington statutes head-on.
Washington's Comparative Fault Rule
Washington's stop-as-yield law, RCW 46.61.190, permits cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs. That undercuts one of the most common fault arguments — a rolling stop, by itself, is legal here, though the duty to yield to traffic with the right of way still applies.
Traffic Violations, Causation, and Bicycle Right-of-Way
Lane positioning rules under RCW 46.61.770 allow cyclists to take more of the travel lane when the right edge is unsafe. An adjuster's claim that a cyclist was "riding in the middle of the road" often describes legal, defensive riding on streets like Dexter or Westlake, where door zones and debris make the right edge the dangerous place to be.
And there is no statewide helmet requirement in Washington, which limits how far that argument goes — though head injury cases deserve their own analysis.
Challenging the Insurer's Fault Percentage
When an insurer says you were 30% at fault and offers a settlement reduced accordingly, they are asking you to accept their version of the facts as final. You are not required to. Comparative fault percentages are not fixed until a jury fixes them — or until you sign a release.
If the allocation feels wrong, have someone evaluate the specific facts — the crash mechanics, the sight lines, what the witnesses actually saw — before accepting anything. A fault percentage that goes unchallenged becomes the baseline for every number that follows.
Legal sources
General legal information only. Specific facts, policy language, parties, and deadlines can change the analysis.