Advocacy & Safety - Got hit by an SUV today...

Today *should* have been a good day. Got my new wheels (Shimano Tiagra hubs/Mavic CXP23 rims), my new FD (a Tiagra), and put the new wheels on the bike. Took off to go to work (half-day) and I'm cruising off to the right of a WOL. Because of a new shopping center it turns into a huge, long right-hand turn lane into the shopping center about 200 yards before an intersection, so I looked over my shoulder to find no traffic, signalled that I was going to merge left, and took the center of the right-most lane coasting to a stop behind one car at the red light.

Shortly after I stop, I hear a car pull up behind me, so I do what I always do when I'm stopped in the center of the lane -- I looked back to make eye contact with the driver behind me.

With hatred in her eyes, she says, "You aren't a car." I thought she said, "You aren't God," so I replied, "Uhm... yeah. I know I'm not God."

"No," she says, "You aren't a CAR."

"Uhm... yeah," I replied, "I know. But I have the legal right to be here."

The light turns green, the car in front of me takes off, I clip in and take off staying in the center of the lane (until after the intersection, when I normally merge back to the right) and just past the crosswalk her big f*ckoff Ford Excursion passenger door mirror slams into my left shoulder and throws me to the ground.

Moments later I get up and walk over to the smaller shopping center on the southeast corner of the intersection, and when she gets out of the car I exclaim in no uncertain terms that I am quite unhappy because by California law I have equal rights to the road.

"Fine, then, I'll just leave," she said, and attempted to get back in her car. I slammed her car door -- there was no way I was going to let her get out of there.

Anyway, two witnesses immediately came up to me and told me they saw the whole thing, and gave their reports to the police when they got there. A report was filed, and I have every intention of following this up as much and as hard as I can. There has to be some attempted murder or endangerment charges in there somewhere.

I'm pretty sore, but I'm OK. I've been in the E.R. for the last 6 hours. My left knee, hip, elbow, and shoulder were scraped up and bruised pretty badly. My helmet was cracked and I've got a couple of bumps on my noggin -- thank whatever dieties you hold dear that I had one on, otherwise my head would have gone straight against the concrete.

Anyway, that was my day. All on brand new wheels. *deep sigh*

I was hit by a car today too. I was riding in my lane and the guy behind me wanted to pull over. So instead of pulling over behind me, he raced in front of me and slammed his brakes on. I was able to get as much to the left of him as possible and went down. I am amazed I was able to get out of my clips. Maybe the fall took me out. HE said he was going to call the cops. I told him to go f**k himself.

I'm glad you are relatively ok. I hope she gets prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Thank goodness you had witnesses, too.

I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I'm glad it happened to someone like you who a) did all the right things, and b) isn't going to let her get away with it. I hope your story gets in the news, too, but if it doesn't maybe you should write a letter to the editor of your paper.

I was hit by a car today too. I was riding in my lane and the guy behind me wanted to pull over. So instead of pulling over behind me, he raced in front of me and slammed his brakes on. I was able to get as much to the left of him as possible and went down. I am amazed I was able to get out of my clips. Maybe the fall took me out. HE said he was going to call the cops. I told him to go f**k himself.

Tell him to call the cops... in fact offer to make the call for him.

I'm sorry to hear that this happened to you. It sounds like you handled it well.

If the cops didn't haul her away in cuffs right then and there it's unlikely they will pursue the matter.

You should talk to a lawyer. An experienced lawyer will know that a criminal proceeding will make any civil action you take easier and more lucrative -- the cops and the DA will end up doing a lot of the work for you. He will also know the pressure points to put on the DA and the cops to get them to follow up and file charges.

Then you sue her for everything you can get.

Sounds like this woman's going to buy you a nice shiny new bike for Christmas. If nothing else, you'll be able to take solace that her gift will be one that keeps on giving. In her case, in the form of increased auto insurance premiums for the next three years.

Then again, Santa DA may give you a nice present in the form of a little prosecution of the sweet little offender. I hope you made sure the police were aware of her verbal harrassment just prior to Blitzen pulling her sleigh to the right.

Hopefully nobody was witness to you caller her a c*unt and slamning her door shut. Don't get me wrong, I'd be inclined to shove my fist through her face but in today's society she stand a good chance of counter claiming that you "assaulted" her after the altercation and thet she stopped "out of goodness and concern" only to be threatened and physically intimidated. I know it sounds like crap, but I've seen it happen.

I hope you get to stick it to her in every possible way though.

Also based on what MacMan said, remove as much detail as you can from your post. No need to give her lawyer any ammo against you.

If the witnesses heard every word, then calling her a name shouldn't be a problem for you, but her saying she was going to leave the scene of an injury accident should be for her.

Maybe you should have let her leave the scene. Then when you call the police, report it as a hit and run. Much worse for her.
You had plenty of time to get the plate numbers, and with witnesses on your side, you'd probably have a pretty good case.

Tell him to call the cops... in fact offer to make the call for him.

A former racing friend of mine got hit and the guy's yelling at him while he's on the ground...and he said he'd call the cops. Turns out the police station was right across the street and a cop saw the whole thing.
The driver was arrested. The guy aggressively moved into him...obviously on puropse then unleased a stream of profanity at him after hitting him.
My friend was OK...but the driver's got a record. The cop sort of knew the guy and according to my friend, the record's caused him a lot of personal issues...like employment, credit, things like that.

People don't get it.

Well, if she held that little dialogue with you, she certainly can't claim that she didn't know you were there. It's a shame she didn't sign herself up for the full hit-&-run thing. I hope she gets the book thrown at her, at any rate. Get well soon, bro!

Yes, definitely scrub any personal details out of your post. This site is archived and searchable via Google. Lawyers have been known to find this site and make trouble for cyclists by dredging up their past posts.

Looking quickly at your post history, I don't think you'd want to have to explain in court your postings about swearing at drivers or cycling after drinking.

... I have every intention of following this up as much and as hard as I can.

I usually don't post here, but I like the part of "as much and as hard as I can. I get SO sick of people thinking that they have the right to do whatever they please; laws and common courtesy be damned.

Get her!! Take her car. Take her house. Take her first born male child. Garnish her wages. Garnish her husband's wages. Put her on the street. Make her pay for LONG after your wounds have healed.

Maybe she will tell her rich, arrogant friends that being a be-atch costs more than it is worth.

You're lucky there was someone driving the SUV when it hit you otherwise you wouldn't have anyone to sue, I thought we had SUV's driving around without drivers running people over. Go after the driver of the SUV after all she is the one who hit you, people like that shouldn't have drivers licences in the first place. Maybe if it's taken away she'll "get it".

There has to be something done about these motoristd. WE HAVE EQUAL RIGHT OF THE RODE. I hope this lady will learn her lesson, but chances are that if you dont get her real hard, she wont.

Because of the circumstances you may have been able to charge her with assault & had her arrested. In fact maybe you still can. She hit you after stating she feels you have no legal right to the road. Sounds to me it was intentional after you gave her your reaction to what she said. I would call the police & find out if you can file assault charges on her.

IMO, DO NOT GIVE HER THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT on this one!!!

I don't think you'd want to have to explain in court your postings about ... cycling after drinking.

When did I do that? Link, please.

When did I do that? Link, please.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?p=1858959#post1858959

The internet never forgets.

And sir, could you state for the record, just how often you ride your bicycle after inebriation?

While you're at it, could you state for the record how often you post after inebriation? :)

"I've only cycled once while slightly inebriated, your honor. As evidenced by this bike forums post, it was not a pleasant situation and I've never done it since then. More relating to this case, no, I was not inebriated at the time of the incident, but I cannot say that I trust the SUV pilot's sobriety at the time of the incident."


hey, it's worth a shot.... :)

I was hit by a car today too. I was riding in my lane and the guy behind me wanted to pull over. So instead of pulling over behind me, he raced in front of me and slammed his brakes on. I was able to get as much to the left of him as possible and went down. I am amazed I was able to get out of my clips. Maybe the fall took me out. HE said he was going to call the cops. I told him to go f**k himself.

That happened to me once. I went right to avoid jumping in to speeding traffic and got doored pretty badly. You got off easy!

OP, you handled things pretty well, all things considered. Throw the book at her!

"There has to be some attempted murder or endangerment charges in there somewhere. I'm pretty sore, but I'm OK..".....

You're being silly. But, if you persist you might look at "vehicular assault". But you would be required to prove "intent". I don't know why you're looking at criminal charges anyway. So you get a conviction and she gets slapped on the wrist. There's no money in it for you, and you sound the type to be looking for a payoff.
So, forget it. Have an attourney send her insurance company a claim for damages. Take the check and be thankful.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?p=1858959#post1858959

The internet never forgets.

HAH!

That's a total fabrication. I don't even own a Schwinn Varsity 10 speed, nor have I ever even had a Schlitz. I mean, the whole thread disintegrated into a slew of sarcastic threads about how people were "the worst rider ever." -- note the :D at the end of that post. I have enough character witnesses to prove that I am not a drinker, and that the "event" I "described" was a fabrication, but I see your point.

Truth be told, I have no reason to hide that. If this winds up in court, and the opposing lawyer brings up that post, I'll be happy to laugh it away as a desperate attempt to sully my character.

There's no money in it for you, and you sound the type to be looking for a payoff.

I'm not looking for a payoff. My bike's in the shop getting fixed (the brifter and my new back wheel was tweaked, among other things) and I had to buy a new helmet. I've missed (now) two days of work because of this. I only want those things reimbursed.

Other than that, this was not a personal thing. I was just a guy on a bike in front of her, and that pissed her off so she thought she'd teach me a lesson -- which she admitted in front of the police ("Hell of a way to teach someone a lesson," my wife said to her, after she [my wife] arrived on-scene. "Yup", the driver responded, nodding.) I want to do whatever I can to make sure she doesn't do this to anyone else.

I was lucky -- she hit me with her right mirror on my left shoulder, causing me to go down to the right (hitting my left shoulder caused my bars to turn to the right, forcing me away from the SUV before I hit the ground). Had she hit me with the front of her SUV, I might have gone under her car and not been able to post this.

I can't let her do that again. Next time it might be my brother, or you, or any one of the other number of riders across the land. That's not acceptable to me.

Dramatic? Yeah, probably, but it scares the sh*t out of me.

I've been hit the same way you described, less the driver interaction beforehand, and it looks like I'd recommend getting a lawyer to file for damages against her, and additionally have the law look into her traffic infraction and vehicular assault to the fullest extent possible.

Even if you have health insurance, they will want the money from her insurance if she's at fault, and pay you a % on top of that for your trouble, so it begins to get expensive to her.

That sucks, it always sucks to get hit, and more so to have it done be an aggressive driver- don't let the blowhards in here get you on the defense, they are so out of touch with the reality you are facing, its not worth your time...

hope you are feeling okay today, the injuries sometimes hurt more the day after the accident..

the injuries sometimes hurt more the day after the accident..

Oh, I am jacked today. I am so sore. Muscles that I didn't even know existed hurt today.

My right leg, for instance, is killing me. It was a little sore yesterday -- nothing bad -- and I had to think hard as to why it might be sore. I figured out that when I was hit, I was clipped in. When I got up, I was not. The fall twisted my body in such a way that it forced my right leg to unclip.

I'm telling you, it hurts just to get out of my chair and walk down the hall to take a leak.

Er... not the taking a leak part, but the walking part. :)

Ok, to start with the disclosures, I'm an attorney, not licensed in Califiornia. Even if I were I couldn't give you legal advice over the internet. So the only legal advise is to consult an attorney licensed in California. Also, so you know my bias, I do civil litigation and represent defendants 99% of the time. With disclosures out of the way, some personal thoughts.
There is a huge personal cost to litigation. Thus I would avoid it if possible. Assumming your recover well from your bruises, your claim is not going to make you rich. I'd seek reimbursement of all your medical bills, replacement of any scratched or damged componets on the bike, and a small measure for pain and suffering. You should be able to get this from her insurance company without litigation. Only if they flat stiff you would I retain a lawyer, and consider suit.
As for criminal charges, it's going to be difficult to prove this was an intentional act on her part, as opposed to miscalculating the reach of her mirror. The verbal altercation helps, but's not likely to be conclusive. Because of the difficulty of proving her act was intentional, or at least wreckless, its going to be difficult to get a criminal conviction.
I would talk to your local prosecutor and try to get them interested in pursuing charges. This may be tough, particulary if the Cop didn't ticket her at the scene. I wouldn't retain my own attorney to intervene with the prosecutor's office. for the reason's stated above, it's not likely to be successful, and you're likely to be charged by the hour for such work.

As for lessons learned, while you maybe legally right regarding your rights to the road, in conflicts between bikes and trucks, trucks usually win. Sometimes it pays to yield what is legally yours.

Sometimes it pays to yield what is legally yours.

Yeah, no sh*t. Screw that VC bullsh. "Alpha dog status" my ass. :D

Truth be told, while I ride within the law and generally give our VC Advocates a hard time, I try to ride VC *most* of the time. At intersections I take the center of the right lane, and merge back over as far right as I can once the intersection is cleared.

Had she waited until I cleared the intersection, instead of immediately trying to pass on the left (I assume, because as much as it would help my case I really don't want to think that she -- or anyone else for that matter -- is so sociopathic that she moved a little to the left and clipped me with her mirror on purpose), I would have been out of her way and she could have carried on her hate-filled way.

What sucks even more is that up until this incident, in (now) over three months of daily commuting back and forth to work, I have seen nothing but courteous, kind, and forgiving drivers. I would read all the posts about sucky drivers here and think, "Wow, I'm glad I don't ride there." Well, now I've seen it too.

*shudder*

Ok, to start with the disclosures, I'm an attorney, not licensed in Califiornia. Even if I were I couldn't give you legal advice over the internet. So the only legal advise is to consult an attorney licensed in California. Also, so you know my bias, I do civil litigation and represent defendants 99% of the time. With disclosures out of the way, some personal thoughts.
There is a huge personal cost to litigation. Thus I would avoid it if possible. Assumming your recover well from your bruises, your claim is not going to make you rich. I'd seek reimbursement of all your medical bills, replacement of any scratched or damged componets on the bike, and a small measure for pain and suffering. You should be able to get this from her insurance company without litigation. Only if they flat stiff you would I retain a lawyer, and consider suit.
As for criminal charges, it's going to be difficult to prove this was an intentional act on her part, as opposed to miscalculating the reach of her mirror. The verbal altercation helps, but's not likely to be conclusive. Because of the difficulty of proving her act was intentional, or at least wreckless, its going to be difficult to get a criminal conviction.
I would talk to your local prosecutor and try to get them interested in pursuing charges. This may be tough, particulary if the Cop didn't ticket her at the scene. I wouldn't retain my own attorney to intervene with the prosecutor's office. for the reason's stated above, it's not likely to be successful, and you're likely to be charged by the hour for such work.

As for lessons learned, while you maybe legally right regarding your rights to the road, in conflicts between bikes and trucks, trucks usually win. Sometimes it pays to yield what is legally yours.

Wow! Legalese from someone qualified to speak/understand the language, and smart enough to qualify what needs to be qualified.

Thanks for a breath of fresh air on a legal matter on the BF and providing useful (and unofficial) comments on a legal issue.

HAH!

Truth be told, I have no reason to hide that. If this winds up in court, and the opposing lawyer brings up that post, I'll be happy to laugh it away as a desperate attempt to sully my character.

Try it, you're not God.

What sucks even more is that up until this incident, in (now) over three months of daily commuting back and forth to work, I have seen nothing but courteous, kind, and forgiving drivers. I would read all the posts about sucky drivers here and think, "Wow, I'm glad I don't ride there." Well, now I've seen it too.

*shudder*

Sadly, all it takes is one.

. WE HAVE EQUAL RIGHT OF THE RODE. .

Right of the road.

I was lucky -- she hit me with her right mirror on my left shoulder, causing me to go down to the right (hitting my left shoulder caused my bars to turn to the right, forcing me away from the SUV before I hit the ground). Had she hit me with the front of her SUV, I might have gone under her car and not been able to post this.

OK, I'll nit pick right here. When your left shoulder went forward, it forced your arm forward and turned your bike to the right. You should have fallen down to the left were this the full equation, as a bike turning right will tend to fall over to the left due to inertia. This would have thrown you against her SUV, and your fall may have landed you under her back tire.

If you fell to the right, she actually knocked you over rather than the chain of events you describe.

I'm not looking for a payoff. My bike's in the shop getting fixed (the brifter and my new back wheel was tweaked, among other things) and I had to buy a new helmet. I've missed (now) two days of work because of this. I only want those things reimbursed.

Other than that, this was not a personal thing. I was just a guy on a bike in front of her, and that pissed her off so she thought she'd teach me a lesson -- which she admitted in front of the police ("Hell of a way to teach someone a lesson," my wife said to her, after she [my wife] arrived on-scene. "Yup", the driver responded, nodding.) I want to do whatever I can to make sure she doesn't do this to anyone else.
I gotta say I like your attitude. The reality is that most drivers are decent when you get down to it. The thing that bothers me most about what happened to you is that this woman thought hitting someone with a vehicle is OK just because someone ticked her off.

One thing I always try to keep in mind is that there are always going to be a certain percentage of drivers who are clueless, under the influence, have anger issues are are otherwise mentally ill, or even homicidal. Given that I probably see a few thousand cars each day, chances are that I encounter at least one person in the above categories -- it's amazing how few problems I actually have with motorists.

I hope you're back on your bike soon and that the woman learns a lesson. If she's hitched, I imagine it will be real fun for her to tell the hubby and/or kids that Xmas gifts and other purchases have to be scaled back because of a temper tantrum behind the wheel ...

OK, I'll nit pick right here. When your left shoulder went forward, it forced your arm forward and turned your bike to the right. You should have fallen down to the left were this the full equation, as a bike turning right will tend to fall over to the left due to inertia. This would have thrown you against her SUV, and your fall may have landed you under her back tire.

If you fell to the right, she actually knocked you over rather than the chain of events you describe.
I'm sure the OP can answer for himself but, being a CSI fan, I'd like to offer my own forensic analysis...

You are correct that when the OP's left shoulder was pushed forward, his fall would have been to his left, however, before falling he would have veered sharply to the right (away from the SUV). It seems that this is what he meant when he says he "went down to the right". Not that he fell on his right side (notice that his injuries were on the left side - consistent with a fall on his left side) but rather that he turned sharply to the right (away from the SUV) and then fell on his left.

Actually, on second thought, this is none of my business. Don't mind me.
Jalopy

If you fell to the right, she actually knocked you over rather than the chain of events you describe.

That may be -- anything from after the initial impact to the point where I got up is a blur. I was just trying to piece together a logical progression of how I actually went down. It could actually have happened like you describe.

*shrug*

however, before falling he would have veered sharply to the right (away from the SUV). It seems that this is what he meant when he says he "went down to the right".

That's exactly what I pictured happening, but like I said directly above the whole crash -- from initial impact to standing up from the ground -- is a total blur.

As for criminal charges, it's going to be difficult to prove this was an intentional act on her part, as opposed to miscalculating the reach of her mirror. The verbal altercation helps, but's not likely to be conclusive. Because of the difficulty of proving her act was intentional, or at least wreckless, its going to be difficult to get a criminal conviction.

Seriously? I'm not a lawyer, just an educated citizen, but c'mon. She yelled at him before hitting him that he didn't belong on the road, and then she got defiant when he re-asserted his right to the road after the crash, attempting to leave the scene. I know if I were a juror on this case (even if I weren't a cyclist) I would see that as intent, not to mention showing recklessness. Assault and Reckless Endangerment, minimum. And even if she misjudged her mirror and didn't intend to hit him, she clearly intended to come close, which around here qualifies as Menacing, still a fairly serious crime. Hell, last year I DID sit on a jury that convicted a guy of assault for an incident with lesser injuries, no weapon, less evidence of intent and only one witness.

As far as whether or not to pursue criminal charges in the first place: sure, she may get off without much direct punishment. But if she is convicted of a crime, she'll have to carry a that around with her for the rest of her life, explaining it on every job application she ever fills out. Many employers would be inclined to deny her a job - a fate she surely deserves - particularly since this counts as a violent crime. Of course she may plea bargain down to Disorderly or something, but at least refer this one to the DA and see how they respond to it.

Don, you make a lot of sense. There is no "attempted murder" charge here. Maybe misdemeanor battery, but intent has to be proven on her part. She can always claim that she thought she had cleared you and only needs one juror to buy into it for reasonable doubt. Suing her civilly is much more realistic and likely to get the outcome you wish. There's no way you are going to cost her the license just increased insurance rates for a bit.

Your neck hurts A LOT.
You NEED to go to the doctor.
YOUR NECK HURTS A LOT.

You need to call a lawyer.




Today *should* have been a good day. Got my new wheels (Shimano Tiagra hubs/Mavic CXP23 rims), my new FD (a Tiagra), and put the new wheels on the bike. Took off to go to work (half-day) and I'm cruising off to the right of a WOL. Because of a new shopping center it turns into a huge, long right-hand turn lane into the shopping center about 200 yards before an intersection, so I looked over my shoulder to find no traffic, signalled that I was going to merge left, and took the center of the right-most lane coasting to a stop behind one car at the red light.

Shortly after I stop, I hear a car pull up behind me, so I do what I always do when I'm stopped in the center of the lane -- I looked back to make eye contact with the driver behind me.

With hatred in her eyes, she says, "You aren't a car." I thought she said, "You aren't God," so I replied, "Uhm... yeah. I know I'm not God."

"No," she says, "You aren't a CAR."

"Uhm... yeah," I replied, "I know. But I have the legal right to be here."

The light turns green, the car in front of me takes off, I clip in and take off staying in the center of the lane (until after the intersection, when I normally merge back to the right) and just past the crosswalk her big f*ckoff Ford Excursion passenger door mirror slams into my left shoulder and throws me to the ground.

Moments later I get up and walk over to the smaller shopping center on the southeast corner of the intersection, and when she gets out of the car I exclaim in no uncertain terms that I am quite unhappy because by California law I have equal rights to the road.

"Fine, then, I'll just leave," she said, and attempted to get back in her car. I slammed her car door -- there was no way I was going to let her get out of there.

Anyway, two witnesses immediately came up to me and told me they saw the whole thing, and gave their reports to the police when they got there. A report was filed, and I have every intention of following this up as much and as hard as I can. There has to be some attempted murder or endangerment charges in there somewhere.

I'm pretty sore, but I'm OK. I've been in the E.R. for the last 6 hours. My left knee, hip, elbow, and shoulder were scraped up and bruised pretty badly. My helmet was cracked and I've got a couple of bumps on my noggin -- thank whatever dieties you hold dear that I had one on, otherwise my head would have gone straight against the concrete.

Anyway, that was my day. All on brand new wheels. *deep sigh*

Your wheels were Jinxed...

I'm an attorney, . . . . Because of the difficulty of proving her act was intentional, or at least wreckless, its going to be difficult to get a criminal conviction.

An attorney who doesnt know the difference between wreckless and reckless. However it seems like sound advice.

I'm an attorney, . . . . Because of the difficulty of proving her act was intentional, or at least wreckless, its going to be difficult to get a criminal conviction.


But CIVIL court has a much lower requisite.
Take her azz to court!

Your neck hurts A LOT.
You NEED to go to the doctor.
YOUR NECK HURTS A LOT.
You need to call a lawyer.

Today, seriously, it does. Luckily, I work for a chiropractic/acupuncture college, and was in our private practice office today getting a full checkup under a new P.I. case.

I had to leave work and come home after only being at work for a few hours (beyond the time in the health center) because getting up and sitting back down (which I have to do frequently -- I'm an I.T Manager) was *killing* me. Nearly brought me to tears once or twice.

We're looking for a lawyer.

If the woman said in front of the police and your wife that she was trying to teach you a lesson, I think you got intent pretty well established there too. Take her down.

Here's the latest news:

The police officer who took the report called me (actually, my wife; I was at the doctor's) and the driver of the SUV *is* going to be cited. For what, I don't yet know as I'm getting it second hand, but I'll find out one way or another.

Yay.

what exactly was she trying to teach you? that you don't belong on the road?

that would make me pretty damn angry.. if I had already had a bad day, who knows what would have happened..(anger management issues..) what gives her the right to knock you down from a frickin SUV when you are on a bike? It's like running into some construction scaffolding on a plane because you don't like what they are building.. :rolleyes:

If it is against the BF rules or something, then never mind, but so others in your area can be on the lookout, what color/model year was the Excursion? What was the license plate number?

Did you get other information when the police came? What was her name? Address? Phone number?