Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Door!

so on may home down 3rd Ave, a passenger of a cab opens up and i go down. messed my arm up a bit, but other than that the only casualty was my bell. I tell the cabbie "$10 to replace the bell and we're square" he says no, it's the passengers fault. ok, passenger $10 please. "no way!" walks away. i tell him not to leave but he takes off. oh, another casualty was the door, it no longer shut. so the cabbie is still there and i try to find a cop to sort this out. never around when you need one. call 911, they tell me if i don't file a report they can't help and call 311 to get the precinct #. call 311, they try to connect me to no avail. cabbie then leaves. now i'm pissed, that's hit and run. no? go to the precinct, and they say there's nothing that can be done except me take a form home that's for somebody driving a car.

so, my question is, is this right? that's all that i can do? anybody from nyc know anything?

all i really want now is the cabbie to be held responsible for acting like a jerk.

Man. I could understand going after him if you got a nice wheel mashed up or your frame bent, or if you were injured, but a $10 dollar bell? I'd be content knowing that the cabby would have to deal with a broken door and get on with life. Sorry you got door'd though.

I think the cabbie was being a jerk to you because his door broke! Costs way more than a $10 bell. If anyone's at fault here it's the passenger.

If you called 911 and weren't requesting medical attention or willing to make a police report, what were you expecting the dispatcher (who is most likely not a Police Officer) to dispatch for you? If there was no emergency, no arrest to make, and you were unwilling to file a report, what were you expecting the Police Officers to do for you upon arrival? Lastly, how is being doored by a passenger the cabbie's fault ethically? While his insurance might have covered you had you made a claim, that isn't the same as him having a actual ethical responsibility for what may have been an unpreventable action by his fare. I'm sorry you were hurt, but your beef should be with the passenger and not the cabbie nor the Police or 911 Dispatch. It certainly is not the job of 911 Dispatch or the NYPD to hold this cabbie responsible for being a jerk if no law was broken and there was no emergency or hazardous condition. Sorry, but that's just how it works. I do hope you heal quickly through and aren't too sore.

ok, passenger $10 please. "no way!" walks away. i tell him not to leave but he takes off.

WHy did you let the guy leave?

well, my smashed up arm and the fact that nobody was willing take responsibility is what really ticks me off.

i was just trying to talk to a cop to see who was at fault

well, my smashed up arm and the fact that nobody was willing take responsibility is what really ticks me off.

i was just trying to talk to a cop to see who was at fault
Hey, I'm there with you about how much that sucks. Problem is, only the cabbie's insurance company or the passenger had any actual fiscal or ethical responsibility to you. Though I am in full agreement that none of them giving a damn about you being busted up and bloody made them pretty crappy people.

Understandable. The law on that might vary from place to place but in previous threads everybody who checked their local law found that the passenger would have been responsible in that case. Ideally they would have apologized and offered to pay, but obviously people aren't usually so nice. At some point you just have to let it go or else life is going to have you pissed off way too often.

yeah, well a couple of advils, some whiskey, a good nights sleep and i'll be fine.
i'm just hoping that i'll be able to ride in the morning

Cabbies are supposed to tell all their passengers, while exiting, to "watch for traffic".

But, you and I both know that a lot of passengers are still oblivious.

True. But if every cabbie did this, think of how many people would look before opening the door.

did you happen to catch the cab's medallion #?

True. But if every cabbie did this, think of how many people would look before opening the door.

The only problem with that is the assumption that anything inhabiting a motor vehicle is intelligent life.

Here in TX it's the person who opens the doors fault. Something like "opening door into oncoming traffic". Never actually seen it happen but I've seen it in the traffic code.

In most places the driver of a vehicle is responsible for the actions of the passengers, right? I only know this because a friend of mine got a ticket when his buddy took out a mailbox with a baseball bat from the passenger seat. I know it's not quite the same thing, but I think you could go after the cabbie, particularly if what Batson says is true.

some cabs even have stickers that say, "watch for cyclists!" and have a stick figure of a guy running into a car door. But really, most people are oblivious to everything and are more concerned with the latest email on their blackberrys. I really try to ride in the left most lane or in the fire lane when its busy enough. Makes it harder to get doored.

I dunno if NY requires hacks to keep manifests... but it might be worth looking into (on the otherhand, for $10 it might be more worth it to you to forget about the whole thing).

yeah, it's forgotten.
but it's not so much the $10 as it's more about principle and really hating that people don't take responsibility for there actions

so on may home down 3rd Ave, a passenger of a cab opens up and i go down.

Did the passenger open the door into traffic or were you cutting in between the cab and the edge of the street?

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s178/timdoginc/DoorArm.jpg
not so bad...

i was in between the car and curb, i don't know how it happened, i'm usually VERY careful with that stuff

Start welding the street side doors of cabs shut.

Holy **** dude it looks like you can see the outline of the door and window!

Ouch. I want a pull of that whiskey just looking at that.

Actually, I probably would anyways. Could have been way worse though, especially in terms of bike damage.

Get in touch with TimesUP, they will have information for what you can do in these situations.

I wish I knew the URL.

Also, ask on the NYC fixed board. fixed.gr/nyc/

I think forum member imoncrank is with TimesUp? I'm not sure.