I'm of two minds here: the bicyclist is responsible for seriously injuring someone because of his/her irresponsible behavior. Riding a bicycle on a pedestrian area is foolhardy - too many people do it often and don't think about the consequences. If that individual has auto or homeowner's insurance, there may be a way to sue to at least recoup some of the insurance costs. Another option is to sue the owner of the sidewalk - and that is also fraught with difficulties. Municipalities are often self-insured, and have ways of simply saying "no, you can't sue us. End of story."

However, anger is a caustic emotion. It's self-destructive. To sue someone (if a law enforcement entity isn't taking matters into their hands and arresting and charging the individual) is usually prolonged and expensive. Insurance companies push back with puny settlement offers or foot-dragging for years if you choose to fight them. All of this is counter-productive to the healing process. My friend who was injured on Jan. 12, 2012 (in this case, a pedestrian struck by a car in a parking lot) was in the hospital ICU for 2 weeks, then the next 3 1/2 months in a couple of rehab hospitals. She has had surgeries to correct several problems resulting from her head and hip injury. The only way to cover those vast hospital co-payments was to sue. It has been hard on her, she'd like to get on with life but has to keep focusing not only on that day, but on the deficits in her life because of the brain injury. She'd like to look forward and continue to improve, not continue to look back. It involves attorneys looking for the deep pockets to cover the bills - in this case, the owner of the property where she was struck had business insurance that included their parking lot. But insurance companies, as I said, to not play nicely when they are sued.

Good luck, whatever the decision. If you can shame the bike rider into a settlement to cover the insurance co-pays, that might be the best outcome.

SRS