Advocacy & Safety - My Wife got hit by a car last night!

My wife got hit by a car last night while we were both riding to get some burgers, and I have it all caught on video tape. Could any of you guys point me towards some good information for bikers on how to take legal action, and understand their rights.

We were both riding to get something to eat at White Castles, and this car came out the drive way and hit my wife. :(

I can't really explain everything good on a forum the way it happened, but I'll try. The video tells the whole truth. Here's a little drawing below I've put together so you guys could get an idea of what happened and the street.

http://pic12.picturetrail.com/VOL433/1038847/3273971/61885084.jpg

There was no traffic coming towards us at all .The road was clear and safe to reach the side walk, so it's not like we were riding against traffic, cause we were not. I went first, and my wife was behind me following. I got on the side walk then turned around, and the driver drove right into my wife, and she and the bike fell down in the street. :mad:


We both had on our super bright NiteRider Storm H.I.D lights. I even shined my light at the driver letting him know were coming through. The driver saw me, but then drive into my wife. He did not even care to look both ways. :(

It is negligence on the part of the driver, he should have looked both ways before driving out. He only looked towards the left hand side for cars while turn right into my wife, and did not even look to see my wife even though he just seen me ride on the side walk with a bright light. :mad:

This person did not even help my wife out the street :mad:, some other people who saw everything helped her. He did not say a word the whole time, not even are you OK. :mad:

The cops keep trying to make me feel like the guy did not do nothing wrong, and that makes me very very VERY ANGRY. I wanted to hurt the driver but kept cool the whole time. The cop said "the guy did not have to look both ways before driving out the drive way", I said "That's crazy, what if someone cross the street and he hit them, then what?". It's like the police just took the side of the driver, and treated this problem like its no big deal. :(

They took my wife to the hospital cause she hurt her hand when she fell, so I had to walk home with both bikes (angry), and did not even get anything to eat from WhiteCastles. :(

When I was about to go home, I even talked to the driver and gave him a hand shake, and said "don't worry, everythings OK, she's not dead". He couldn't even look me in the face, he was in total shock about what just happened. He did not even say sorry, nothing.

The video tape tells the whole truth.

Thanks for any good advice guys. :)


Peace.

RINGO

Your explanation seems to show you were riding the wrong way down the street... Is this what you truly meant?

Your explanation seems to show you were riding the wrong way down the street... Is this what you truly meant?

We were not riding against traffic, we cross over to get to the side walk. In the images I've post you could see the white line, that's were we started from. The light was red, we were on the right side of the street and made a left turn so we could get on the other side, and so the cars could see us.

We were not riding down the street or against traffic, cause their were no cars in sight. The drawing I've post may make it look that way, but it's not so. We made a simple turn to get on the side walk in from of the store. If we ride on the side walk the cars in the drive way really won't see us coming, cause they don't stop, they just come out driving fast and don't even look to see if someone is coming on the right side.

Peace.

RINGO

Unless the exit from White Castle was at the corner, you had to ride the wrong way down the oncoming lane to get to the sidewalk. You seem to justify your action by saying there wasn't any traffic, therefore it was OK to ride the wrong way. Then you blame the driver for not looking for traffic going the wrong way. As I see it, you were at fault. Two things, you have to obey the same laws as a motor vehicle, and ride like you're invisible...

We were not riding against traffic, we cross over to get to the side walk. In the images I've post you could see the white line, that's were we started from. The light was red, we were on the right side of the street and made a left turn so we could get on the other side, and so the cars could see us.

We were not riding down the street or against traffic, cause their were no cars in sight. The drawing I've post may make it look that way, but it's not so. We made a simple turn to get on the side walk in from of the store. If we ride on the side walk the cars in the drive way really won't see us coming, cause they don't stop, they just come out driving fast and don't even look to see if someone is coming on the right side.

Peace.

RINGO


Well Ringo I am sorry but your illustration shows you turning into the MIDDLE lane of ONCOMING traffic, and to me its not surprising AT ALL that you got clocked by a car coming out of the parking lot, since he/she would be looking LEFT at that time for oncoming vehicles.

I might add that if you were turning left you should have been in the left lane behind that car, and waited your turn at the intersction.

Can I ask why it would be so incredibly humiliating to pull off to the right, push the button on the stop light, and/or cross the intersection when the signal was in your favor? You could easily walk into the parking lot (Which are also dangerous places for riding, I might add..arf!) and go to your White Castle. Especialy at night!

roughstuff

Well Ringo I am sorry but your illustration shows you riding in the MIDDLE lane of ONCOMING traffic, and to me its not surprising AT ALL that you got clocked by a car coming out of the parking lot, since he/she would be looking LEFT at that time for oncoming vehicles.

Can I ask why it would be so incredibly humiliating to pull off to the right, push the button on the stop light, and/or cross the intersection when the signal was in your favor? You could easily walk into the parking lot (Which are also dangerous places for riding, I might add..arf!) and go to your White Castle.

roughstuff

roughstuff.

I have to concur. I hate to hear about your bad luck and hope your wife is doing better. I just wouldn't haul that illustration into court. You may as well walk in with a guilty sign on your back.

Once the cars had gone the green route, after the green light, you should have gone one of the red routes and you would have been more apt to be legal. Riding on the sidewalk is regarded different ways in different communities. In my city it is legal.

According to your own drawing you did at least three things wrong:

1. You took a left turn right in front of a car that was stopped at a red light (seems like you ran the red light?)

2. You turned right onto oncoming traffic. Obviously, there were traffic there (the car at the red light and the car that hit your wife).

3. You turned left onto oncoming traffic (a one way street even).

The car was on a one way street, about to turn right where there were three lanes in the same direction. The last thing he would expect is someone coming from his right.

Sverre

BULL! They were for all practical purposes on the side walk. They went around the car stopped at the light safely. They made a left turn at the intersection and in essense took the saidewalk from the corner. The stupid policeman says you don't have to look both ways!!!! Was the sidewalk ONE WAY! also, or is it OK TO TAKE OUT BIKE SKATER PEDESTRIAN ON SIDEWALK!!!?? I hope you wife gets well. Any medical should be paid by negligent driver's insurance.

I think the problem may lie with the illustration. I assumed that the cars had already left but maybe you ran a red light and pulled in front of the cars. Either way, the law is going to be looking to determine fault in a traffic accident, which is what this was.

It looks based on your illustration that you broke a whole host of traffic laws. That does not give the other party the right to run over you. I would think the other party should be cited as well for entering an intersection that was not clear.

Maybe you can shed some more light on the illustration and prove us wrong. However, as it looks in the sketch there was an awful lot that went wrong. Fortunately it doesn't look like anyone was seriously injured this time.

Bikes have to follow the same vehicle laws as automobiles. The acid test is, Would you follow this same route if you were in an automobile? I can't emagine it. You are lucky that you were not dead wrong. While you are on your bicycle you follow the Vehicle Codes for slow vehicles. When you dismount and are pushing your bike you are a pedestrian and follow the codes that govern pedestrians.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but your story and picture give this impression:

You and your wife ran a red light, made a left turn from the rightmost lane, and travelled the wrong way across traffic. If you had performed the same manuvers in a motor vehicle you would have gotten a ticket, even if you had not caused an accident.

I'm also not clear how you "got it all on video" Do you really mean you filmed the scene afterwards to document it?

I'm sorry about your wife.

Paul

(Note: I am not saying you were to blame -- I am just giving my understanding of your story and picture)

My wife got hit by a car last night while we were both riding to get some burgers, and I have it all caught on video tape.

Was there a video surveillance camera that caught the whole thing, did you videotape the accident, or just the aftermath? I'm confused here.



There was no traffic coming towards us at all .The road was clear and safe to reach the side walk, so it's not like we were riding against traffic, cause we were not. I went first, and my wife was behind me following. I got on the side walk then turned around, and the driver drove right into my wife, and she and the bike fell down in the street. :mad:


The diagram you drew makes it appear that you were riding the wrong way down the street, after running a red light and making an illegal left turn. Whether there were cars there is immaterial. You were not riding where you were suppose to be, and could have been cited by the police. It is also against the law to ride your bicycle on the sidewalk in New York City, and you could have been cited for that. According to your diagram, I see 4 violations that both you and your wife could have each been cited for.




He did not even care to look both ways. :(


It is negligence on the part of the driver, he should have looked both ways before driving out. He only looked towards the left hand side for cars while turn right into my wife, and did not even look to see my wife even though he just seen me ride on the side walk with a bright light. :mad:

If you're driving a car, do you look to the right when you are making a right turn out of a business? Very few people do because they do not expect to be traffic coming towards them the wrong way. He may be partially liable for causing the accident, but he was not negligent.



This person did not even help my wife out the street :mad:, some other people who saw everything helped her. He did not say a word the whole time, not even are you OK. :mad:

I'm sorry the driver didn't say anything but in today's lawsuit happy climate, I can't blame him



The cops keep trying to make me feel like the guy did not do nothing wrong, and that makes me very very VERY ANGRY. I wanted to hurt the driver but kept cool the whole time. The cop said "the guy did not have to look both ways before driving out the drive way", I said "That's crazy, what if someone cross the street and he hit them, then what?". It's like the police just took the side of the driver, and treated this problem like its no big deal. :(

The police are right, he really didn't do anything wrong. It's a good thing you kept your cool, the police would have had a field day with that.



They took my wife to the hospital cause she hurt her hand when she fell, so I had to walk home with both bikes (angry), and did not even get anything to eat from WhiteCastles. :(

When I was about to go home, I even talked to the driver and gave him a hand shake, and said "don't worry, everythings OK, she's not dead". He couldn't even look me in the face, he was in total shock about what just happened. He did not even say sorry, nothing.


I'm sorry your wife was injured and I hope she recoveres quickly.

If this happened in New York, and I'm guessing it did if you live in the Bronx, the driver's auto insurance will pay your wife's medical bills, no matter who caused the accident.

Yea, good luck with legal action. Just because you aren't in a car doesn't mean you don't have to follow laws. I don't see why you are so mad when you were making horribly illegal maneuvers. If you are riding on the road, and you wouldn't do it in your car, I suggest not doing it. I don't think you'd cruise your car up that route would you. You could've paused, used the two cross walks and been fine. I'm sure the driver said nothing cause he was so shocked to find someone coming at him the wrong way on a road. Looking or not.

BULL! They were for all practical purposes on the side walk. They went around the car stopped at the light safely. They made a left turn at the intersection and in essense took the saidewalk from the corner. The stupid policeman says you don't have to look both ways!!!! Was the sidewalk ONE WAY! also, or is it OK TO TAKE OUT BIKE SKATER PEDESTRIAN ON SIDEWALK!!!?? I hope you wife gets well. Any medical should be paid by negligent driver's insurance.

RINGO had made it safely to the sidewalk but his wife was someplace behind him. That is not 'for all practical purposes on the sidewalk'. She was (according to RINGO's diagram) in the street riding the wrong way when she was struck.




This person did not even help my wife out the street , some other people who saw everything helped her.

This reinforces in my mind the principle I'd dearly love to see every cyclist take to heart: Just because you can ride practically anywhere on a bicycle doesn't mean you should!

I hope your wife recovers and continues to enjoy cycling. I also hope that this incident leads you both to adopt safe practices.

I went riding with someone who was constantly performing these kinds of illegal and unsafe maneuvers. Not only did the errant cyclist nearly get into and cause accidents with automobiles but they nearly took out other cyclists on our ride too. Needless to say that was the last time I rode with them. Please learn the rules of the road or stay off them for yours and others' safety.

The majority of you people aree yuppy ass scum suckers! No, "man I'm sure glad your wife is ok." Screw you all! Sir, I for one am glad you did not get hurt nor did your wife, seriously. Yes, you did not obey traffic laws. You were in the wrong there, however. The driver should have looked the other way for side walk traffic, which apparently he did not.

Now, screw the people who offered nothing but crucification for him being on the wrong side of the road! You really make my blood boil.

For the ones who did say something, God bless your kind hearts.

The majority of you people aree yuppy ass scum suckers! No, "man I'm sure glad your wife is ok." Screw you all! Sir, I for one am glad you did not get hurt nor did your wife, seriously. Yes, you did not obey traffic laws. You were in the wrong there, however. The driver should have looked the other way for side walk traffic, which apparently he did not.

Now, screw the people who offered nothing but crucification for him being on the wrong side of the road! You really make my blood boil.

For the ones who did say something, God bless your kind hearts.
Huh??

I would simply contact the drivers insurance company to file a claim for the accident. The accident does not appear to warrant taking legal action (at least not at this time). Keep all records of any medical expenses, lost wages, etc. You need to have th ebike examined and get one or more estimates on repair.

The best thing of all is that it sounds like your wife's injury is minor. Bikes are disposable.

Really htough guys. The Illustration looks like you two took an illegal left, tehn went up the wrong way street. If the sidewalk was untraveled, i would say do that instead of going wrong way in the street.

Maybe the driver kept quiet since there could be a lawsuit against him. you have to remember we are in the land of the lawyers, and the home of the sued, so in an accident there are key words you never say...one of them being sorry, since it implies fault. I will admit when it's my fault, but if I know it's not...screw what happens...I will not say that word, since that could automagically backfire on me if they sue me for their mistake.

Either way, hope your wife is feeling better, I've been hit before , sucks to say the least.

well according to what I see and read and know about White Castles
White Castles usally has an Exit only drive
and looks like she cut across that drive
could be why the Cop didnt site the other guy
and it doesnt matter if the roads are empty or not, Bikes do not get
any extra rights, ride on the Right in U.S. and pass on the Left
Stop at all Stop signs and Stop Lights

maybe your drawin is off but if a car took that route and got hit
someone would have been sited

Hope your wife recovers ok and that this doesnt deter her from rideing

The majority of you people aree yuppy ass scum suckers! No, "man I'm sure glad your wife is ok." Screw you all! Sir, I for one am glad you did not get hurt nor did your wife, seriously. Yes, you did not obey traffic laws. You were in the wrong there, however. The driver should have looked the other way for side walk traffic, which apparently he did not.

Now, screw the people who offered nothing but crucification for him being on the wrong side of the road! You really make my blood boil.

For the ones who did say something, God bless your kind hearts.

If you scroll back up and look at the same diagram these people you put down are looking at, you'll see that his wife WASN'T on the sidewalk, but was coming into the driveway from the wrong direction in the street. In my state she'd be lucky if the police didn't give her a ticket for going the wrong way down the street, and test her at the hospital for DUI. When I'm riding my bicycle, people that pull these maneuvers are more dangerous to me than all the cars and trucks on the road around me.

If you scroll back up and look at the same diagram these people you put down are looking at, you'll see that his wife WASN'T on the sidewalk, but was coming into the driveway from the wrong direction in the street. In my state she'd be lucky if the police didn't give her a ticket for going the wrong way down the street, and test her at the hospital for DUI. When I'm riding my bicycle, people that pull these maneuvers are more dangerous to me than all the cars and trucks on the road around me.

I agree with you. I was more coming from the angle that since she had her HID activated if the driver would have looked right he probably would have seen her regardless of if he were looking straight down the sidewalk.

I must apologise for the delivery I chose in my statement. It was harsh and angry; but I believe that even if we are wrong, we gotta stick together. :)

I agree with you. I was more coming from the angle that since she had her HID activated if the driver would have looked right he probably would have seen her regardless of if he were looking straight down the sidewalk.

I must apologise for the delivery I chose in my statement. It was harsh and angry; but I believe that even if we are wrong, we gotta stick together. :)

I'm going out on a limb here, since I'm not an expert or researcher in this, but I think that if car drivers see a light that is not familiar to them, they assume it's from something other than what's moving around in the street, or on the sidewalk. I've seen the HID lights before, and realized immediately what they were, but I wonder if car drivers think they are looking at a light that's source is "off the street", as in from a store or other building?
Also, with all the lighting in the area, especially around fast food joints, I wonder if the driver even could have seen more than just a tiny pencil of light, which would be easy to miss. I've been missed by car drivers using my Cateye EL-300 riding to work in the dark, but not when I mounted two, one aimed above the roadway at people's eyes. I'm right now eyeballing the GEN3 light from Performance that puts out 10W of light from AA NiMH batteries for 8 hours, at $60. Even though we think we can see well with our lighting, I wonder how "visible" it is to others around us that we want to see us?

When I encounter a driveway or side road while walking against traffic, I assume any emerging motorist is not looking in my direction, even though he/she should, of course, check for pedestrians before crossing the sidewalk or entering the street. As pointed out earlier in this thread, American motorists making right turns do not anticipate traffic approaching from the right, and often do not even look in that direction. Vital principles of safe bicycling include "be predictable" and "be visible."

My position:
1) I wish Mrs. Ringo a speedy and uneventful recovery.
2) The motorist should be cited for proceeding without first looking to the right as well as to the left, to avoid endangering pedestrians.
3) Both parties were in the wrong in this case.
4) I hope Mr. & Mrs. Ringo learn to behave as pedestrians when cycling on sidewalks. This means slowing down, giving right-of-way to peds, and watching carefully for traffic from a nonvehicular perspective. I can understand the temptation to execute the decidedly nonvehicular trajectory illustrated, but I would equally strongly advise against it, because it is dangerous. Instead, I would have made a one-part vehicular left turn or a two-part left turn, then walked the bikes up the sidewalk to the destination. Alternatively, I might have gone around the block and approached the driveway from the correct side.

but I believe that even if we are wrong, we gotta stick together. :)

Wrong is wrong
and sorry but if your wrong then I wont say your not
it's the way I was raised and beleive
we can stick together, thats great and can get stuff done by sticking together,
but if others see the wrong and the group backing it, then the power from the sticking together
has no meaning to anyone else and nothing will get done and the power from the group is gone

According to your diagram, you did everything wrong there. Wrong way up the street, cars or no cars and an illegal left and cycling on the sidewalk.

That being said, I wish your wife a speedy recovery - then learn to cycle properly.

I'm new around here, but it looks to me like as the lead rider, you chose a poor path for your wife to follow, and you may have blinded the driver by shining the light in his face. My most curious question is, how did you get this on tape?

The driver had absolutely no reason to expect any kind of traffic coming from the direction you were coming from, so why would he be expected to look that way?

This reinforces in my mind the principle I'd dearly love to see every cyclist take to heart: Just because you can ride practically anywhere on a bicycle doesn't mean you should!

I hope your wife recovers and continues to enjoy cycling. I also hope that this incident leads you both to adopt safe practices.


Ditto that.

I pray your wife will be okay.
Talk to a lawyer who will take your case on commision which will be somewhere between 30 to 50%. If you have a family lawyer, talk to him/her first.

I often ride through red lights and sometimes go on sidewalks and the wrong way on one-way streets. However I never do it in a casual manner, and I make sure I know what is coming and take care to avoid it. It is not their business to avoid me.

He may well have looked right for pedestrians as he approached the sidewalk, but the faster moving bike would have been well out of his field of view at that time.

I hope your wife recovers soon and this doesnt put her off cycling. Just take extra care when you perform any dodgy manoeuvres. Good luck.

Kathleen: it is people like you that give us riders a bad name, and the reason why our society is going down the drain due to sue-happy morons and their lawerys!

As said by Operator above, Mr. Ringo did everthing wrong and he should take faul for his actions, and not ruin another mans life for his negligence. As I understand it, in every state of the Union, bicycle riders need to obey THE SAME LAWS as automobiles, and Mr. Ringo clearly DID NOT DO that!

It is this illegal behaviour that makes us cyclists so unpopular amongst vehicular traffic in the US (running red lights, running stop signs, riding on the wrong side of the road, riding ON SIDEWALKS, not riding single file on narrow roads). Maybe if we all tried a little harder to obey the same laws we (should) obey while we drive, we would be much safer on the roads, and bicycling would become a more accepted sport by those who only drive cars (and miss out on the fun of riding).

Wrong is wrong
and sorry but if your wrong then I wont say your not
it's the way I was raised and beleive
we can stick together, thats great and can get stuff done by sticking together,
but if others see the wrong and the group backing it, then the power from the sticking together
has no meaning to anyone else and nothing will get done and the power from the group is gone

I think you completely missed the point. My point was, most of the people whome were posting were pointing their finger and nothing else.

I hope your wife recovers quickly and is not put off from getting back on her bike.
My only advise is "ride as though you are invisible".

When I encounter a driveway or side road while walking against traffic, I assume any emerging motorist is not looking in my direction, even though he/she should, of course, check for pedestrians before crossing the sidewalk or entering the street. As pointed out earlier in this thread, American motorists making right turns do not anticipate traffic approaching from the right, and often do not even look in that direction. Vital principles of safe bicycling include "be predictable" and "be visible."

My position:
1) I wish Mrs. Ringo a speedy and uneventful recovery.
2) The motorist should be cited for proceeding without first looking to the right as well as to the left, to avoid endangering pedestrians.
3) Both parties were in the wrong in this case.
4) I hope Mr. & Mrs. Ringo learn to behave as pedestrians when cycling on sidewalks. This means slowing down, giving right-of-way to peds, and watching carefully for traffic from a nonvehicular perspective. I can understand the temptation to execute the decidedly nonvehicular trajectory illustrated, but I would equally strongly advise against it, because it is dangerous. Instead, I would have made a one-part vehicular left turn or a two-part left turn, then walked the bikes up the sidewalk to the destination. Alternatively, I might have gone around the block and approached the driveway from the correct side.

Once again, it takes John E to post a sensible reply. I concur 100% with what I have quoted above.

I will, however, add that you should think very, very carefully before contacting a lawyer on this one. Yes, you were on the receiving end of this one, but you were just as much in the wrong as the car driver in this case. There is a significant probability (likelihood in fact) that the court will find against you, and that could get quite expensive.

If I were you I'd be putting it down as a lesson learned.

I pray your wife will be okay.
Talk to a lawyer who will take your case on commision which will be somewhere between 30 to 50%. If you have a family lawyer, talk to him/her first.

With all the illegal moves that RINGO and his wife did, it is very doubtful any respectable attorney would even consider taking this case.

As I mentioned before, if this happened in New York, the motorist's insurance is required by law to cover the medical bills of the injured cyclist.

Really, I am sick of hearing folks sue about everything...a mistake was made, and hopefully a lesson learned. Given we all wish the lesson didn't come so harshly, maybe more like just a warped rear wheel or something, but the lesson is to ride predictably.

Drivers do not expect wrong-way traffic, therefore it is not predictable....it was also night...so it's that much harder to notice. I have been known to get weird looks for my use of left turn lanes and such, but that was jsut because how alien the conept is.....if my riding to the letter ofthe law is abnormal to them, how do you think they would take to someone riding in an illegal manner? they won't, beacuse they themselves are not even familiar with bike traffic of any sort.

My take on illegal riding, such as sidewalk is this: if you do it, don't expect anything if you get hurt...treat it the same as if you were doing some aggressive trail riding...if you get hurt, it's all you....if someone else gets hurt though, it's still on you since your not supposed to be riding in that manner. It may sound harsh, but I'm very black and white when it comes to things like this.

BULL! They were for all practical purposes on the side walk. They went around the car stopped at the light safely. They made a left turn at the intersection and in essense took the saidewalk from the corner. The stupid policeman says you don't have to look both ways!!!! Was the sidewalk ONE WAY! also, or is it OK TO TAKE OUT BIKE SKATER PEDESTRIAN ON SIDEWALK!!!?? I hope you wife gets well. Any medical should be paid by negligent driver's insurance.

Well, the thing I have noticed is people coming out of driveways drive up to the street with just a glance at the sidewalk. They tend to assume that pedestrians are virtually motionless. If there is no one immediately behind them, they pull up to the street. In most cases this works. But if you are walking fast, riding a bike on a sidewalk, or running on the sidewalk, you can potentially zip in front of the motorist as he pulls out.

I do not know if a pedestrian managed to zip in front of a car as they pulled out, whether the motorist would be at fault or not. I think in accidents, if you can see the problem and avoid it and don't you are at fault even if someone else is doing something boneheaded. I would think if the pedestrian saw the car pulling out (which would be hard to miss seeing) and still dashed out in front of it, they would be at fault.

BULL! They were for all practical purposes on the side walk. They went around the car stopped at the light safely. They made a left turn at the intersection and in essense took the saidewalk from the corner. The stupid policeman says you don't have to look both ways!!!! Was the sidewalk ONE WAY! also, or is it OK TO TAKE OUT BIKE SKATER PEDESTRIAN ON SIDEWALK!!!?? I hope you wife gets well. Any medical should be paid by negligent driver's insurance.



That's the kind of legal advice I need, cause I don't want to pay for no medical bills, it's too much money. I'm going to get a copy of the report later on today from the police station, and my wife and I are going after his insurance company to pay for the medical bills.

Just for the record guys, I did not come in here saying "I want to sue anyone for $500,000 dollars".

I said:


Could any of you guys point me towards some good information for bikers on how to take legal action, and understand their rights.

I never been in something like this and I don't know the legal steps to take so the drivers insurance company could pay the bill, and if my wife is entitle by law to recieive payment due to the car hitting her and not looking both ways. My wife is not dead thank God, but there is a bill that is coming and I'm not paying for it, plus thats my wife and no one is going to drive into her and get away with it. Plus if he was going any faster he would have ran over my wife and she would have got hit by other cars and died. I'm going to talk to a lawyer to understand my legal rights in all this mess, and show him the video so he or she could tell me what is wrong or right.

Everyone here will have their own opinion about what I should have done or what was done wrong or right, that's fine, but this is a forum and I can't expect everyone to understand my post or drawing. The video show everything from when we both left our home to go ride to when she got hit. Throughout the whole video we was follow all the street rules, but this driver broke a rule that all drivers should follow, he did not look both ways. If someone was running across the street he would have hit them too, cause he was not looking towards the right, the video show this.

Even though I wanted to hurt the guy, I did not cause that would have cause more trouble me, and a lot for his face. It's natural to get angry if someone drives there car into your wife (Don't you think so?). Most people would have been fighting in the street already if that happen to their wife or even worse. I gave the guy a hand shake and talked for a few because I did not want to walk home or hold on to any strife.

I'm glad I did not turn off my helmet cam, cause I was going too, but kept in on. That's all the proof I have of what really happened.






I think the problem may lie with the illustration. I assumed that the cars had already left but maybe you ran a red light and pulled in front of the cars. Either way, the law is going to be looking to determine fault in a traffic accident, which is what this was.

It looks based on your illustration that you broke a whole host of traffic laws. That does not give the other party the right to run over you. I would think the other party should be cited as well for entering an intersection that was not clear.

Maybe you can shed some more light on the illustration and prove us wrong. However, as it looks in the sketch there was an awful lot that went wrong. Fortunately it doesn't look like anyone was seriously injured this time.



My wife was not seriously injured, but it could have been worse, the video shows this. My drawing maybe causing a little confusion for some here to understand my points, but the video says it all.

Are there any websites out there that I could upload short videos on and post them here for you guys to see? I have to read this camera manual to find out how to upload videos on the internet first, thats the only way everyone will understand what really happened.






Bikes have to follow the same vehicle laws as automobiles. The acid test is, Would you follow this same route if you were in an automobile? I can't emagine it. You are lucky that you were not dead wrong. While you are on your bicycle you follow the Vehicle Codes for slow vehicles. When you dismount and are pushing your bike you are a pedestrian and follow the codes that govern pedestrians.



Automobiles brake the street laws all the time here in New York, even when bikers are trying to do the right thing on the road, they cause a lot of trouble for us bikers. If automobile drivers were following all the rules and obey the laws, why are so many bike riders being killed? I'm sure most of the bike riders who was killed by a crazy driver was following all the rules, but the drivers broke a rule some where which cost those people their lives.

Please don't ask "Would you follow this same route if you were in an automobile?", cause I was not in an automobile, I'm on a MTB. Pedestrian brake all the rules too, they cross the streets from all angles even when the lights are green, they just run through the traffic.

When the cops came they followed the same route we did, are they wrong too? They did not even have their siren on or those blinking flashing lights.

Cops drive their cars up and down one way streets all the time and they even go through red lights when there is no reason for it. I all most got hit by a cop car last night, because he ran the red light and I had the right a way and green light to ride, so who was wrong there? He was not chasing anyone, nor did he have on his flashing lights or siren. :mad:

Cops run red lights even when their not called to a crime or something. I see cops and other emergency trucks and cars go through red lights, and up the wrong way of streets all the time. In New York you have to look right, left, and up and down cause you don't know who you're going to run into. People run across the streets right in front of me while I'm riding my bike, they don't even look both ways when crossing the street.

The problem is nobody is not following any rules these days. All this street law stuff is like a religion, people know all the laws on how people should live and do things right, but no one follows the teachings. People will tell you how you should ride or drive, but they don't even follow their own advice when their in the streets sometime.

It's funny that cops and other people brake all kinds of street rules then try to make me feel like I caused this problem. The driver of that car saw me, and I flash my light at him so he know where coming through. I made it on the side walk, then turned around just in time to catch everything on tape.

Everyone needs to point their fingers to themselves and ask this question "how many times have I really followed all the street rules and laws when driving my car or riding my bike?"





I'm also not clear how you "got it all on video" Do you really mean you filmed the scene afterwards to document it?



Not after, my helmet camera was on filming the whole time before anything happened.

I bike ride using a Viosport H2O helmet cam that is connected to my Sony DCR-HC85 MiniDV Camcorder (See Images Below).

http://pic12.picturetrail.com/VOL433/1038847/3539722/61986864.jpg

http://pic12.picturetrail.com/VOL433/1038847/3539722/61986881.jpg

http://pic12.picturetrail.com/VOL433/1038847/3539722/61986895.jpg

http://pic12.picturetrail.com/VOL433/1038847/3539722/61986905.jpg

This setup records everything that happens the minute I leave my home every time I ride. I get a lot of crap from drivers and some people in the streets out here in Brooklyn, they do really dumb things.

The tape is recording all the time, so people better think twice when their around me doing bad things to harm my family, cause I will bring my video to the police or the news media (if the cops don't want to listen or handle the problem).

I have a Sony NP-FP50 battery, and a NP-FP70 battery that last a really long time. I also have a lot of MiniDV tapes ready for action, so I'm set when bike riding in the day or night. :)

When ever I get a bad driver on video that cause problems for me or my wife, I'll report him, his plate number, everything he done or said to me, and the video proof to the cops. There is no way these bad drivers will get of the hook now that I have my camera gear on me. Sometimes cops do bad things too, so it's good to get it all on tape cause the video don't lie, but people do.





Was there a video surveillance camera that caught the whole thing, did you videotape the accident, or just the aftermath? I'm confused here.

If this happened in New York, and I'm guessing it did if you live in the Bronx, the driver's auto insurance will pay your wife's medical bills, no matter who caused the accident.

I don't know if their was any surveillance camera around that caught the whole thing. That's not important to me because I caught everything with my helmet camera.

That's good news that his auto insurance has to pay for my wife's medical bills. :)

For the record, I live in Brooklyn, not the Bronx. B)





The majority of you people aree yuppy ass scum suckers! No, "man I'm sure glad your wife is ok." Screw you all! Sir, I for one am glad you did not get hurt nor did your wife, seriously. Yes, you did not obey traffic laws. You were in the wrong there, however. The driver should have looked the other way for side walk traffic, which apparently he did not.

Now, screw the people who offered nothing but crucification for him being on the wrong side of the road! You really make my blood boil.

For the ones who did say something, God bless your kind hearts.



The driver did not look both ways, if he did that he would have seen my wife and her bright light. The crazy thing about all this is that he saw me come in from the same spot, and he did not even care to turn his head or slow down and wait. It was like he was more focus on me, and my bike light when I came on the sidewalk. His car was in motion while he was looking towards the left hand side for traffic. When he turned his head right, it was to late, he already hit my wife.

He look life he was about to take off the the scene. He backed up his car and was turning to go around my wife and his lady friend that was in the next to him said "Where are you going, what are you doing, you better stop". When she said that I took down his plate number fast, and recorded everything with the build mic that is on my helmet cam cable.





I would simply contact the drivers insurance company to file a claim for the accident. The accident does not appear to warrant taking legal action (at least not at this time). Keep all records of any medical expenses, lost wages, etc. You need to have th ebike examined and get one or more estimates on repair.

The best thing of all is that it sounds like your wife's injury is minor. Bikes are disposable.


Great advice, thanks a lot. :)





My most curious question is, how did you get this on tape?



I have a Viosport H2O helmet cam that is connected to my Sony DCR-HC85 MiniDV Camcorder. I use this recording gear to make movies, and I also use the gear to record all my bike rides, cause the drivers here in Brooklyn are crazy, they brake all the rules evn when when I'm following all the rules.

Thanks a lot guys for all your kind words for my wife and advice about the laws and other stuff. :)

I don't want to argue or anything with anyone here about what was right or wrong, just want to put this all behind me now, and get on with my life. Summer is not over, and my wife and I have a lot of bike riding to look forward too. She's doing fine, they checked her hand and took X-rays and gave her something for the pain. She have her hand wrap with those band things, and have to go back to the hospital to check it again, so everything is OK. :)


Peace.

RINGO

Are there any websites out there that I could upload short videos on and post them here for you guys to see? I have to read this camera manual to find out how to upload videos on the internet first, thats the only way everyone will understand what really happened.



Yes I just setup an ftp for you,
check you private messages for how to get in it

hi Ringo- I love the video camera idea it is really awesome.

I think your legal case is very shaky though- you were basically either going the wrong way down the street or cycling on the sidewalk. Either way this is a dangerous manouver particularly at night. To be fair the car drivers already have a tough job at night looking for cyclists going the right way, and other cars and peds. They can't reasonably be expected to look out for cyclists going the wrong way or cycling on the side walk with 100% effectiveness. Sure they should be looking out for peds anyway on sidewalk but cyclists usually go a lot faster than peds. From what you have written I don't feel the car driver was reckless here and I would be surprised if his insurance company paid up for your medical bills. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if they don't sue you for damage to the car.

I am sure we have all done some questionable manouvers at times. I am sure I have. The problem is that the streets are not really designed with bikes in mind. Hence, to get from A to B we sometimes end up doing stuff that we wouldnt need to in a car. This is a good reminder though that we have to really be careful out there.

I'll have to remember the "everybody else does it so it's ok for me to do it" defense next time I go to traffic court. I wonder if it works for crimes like bank robbery, insider trading, etc...

Slick camera setup.

With all the illegal moves that RINGO and his wife did, it is very doubtful any respectable attorney would even consider taking this case.

Respectable Attorney? I thought those were extinct.

are you a scam artist? why did you have a helmet cam and decide to go the wrong way on a street? seems a little fishy to me.

Respectable Attorney? I thought those were extinct.
yuk yuk yuk... *laughs all the way to the bank*

If this guy hadn't taken the time to post all this **** here, i would have thought this was an insurance scam for SURE. Guy just happens to be wearing his FANCY helmet cam for a trip to white castle with his wife? Strange. THen there's an accident involving a motorist and his wife getting hit, which, even though he was in front, he captures entirely on tape? Something smells fishy. BUT, i think the guy is sincere, judging by the length of his post here. His typing (or english) skills leave something to be desired though

I'm going out on a limb here, since I'm not an expert or researcher in this, but I think that if car drivers see a light that is not familiar to them, they assume it's from something other than what's moving around in the street, or on the sidewalk. I've seen the HID lights before, and realized immediately what they were, but I wonder if car drivers think they are looking at a light that's source is "off the street", as in from a store or other building?
Also, with all the lighting in the area, especially around fast food joints, I wonder if the driver even could have seen more than just a tiny pencil of light, which would be easy to miss. I've been missed by car drivers using my Cateye EL-300 riding to work in the dark, but not when I mounted two, one aimed above the roadway at people's eyes. I'm right now eyeballing the GEN3 light from Performance that puts out 10W of light from AA NiMH batteries for 8 hours, at $60. Even though we think we can see well with our lighting, I wonder how "visible" it is to others around us that we want to see us?

I hope that both you and your wife and the driver are O.K. physically and psychologically and that both of you will continue to enjoy cycling.

Even though I've cycled for over 30 years, I've almost nailed cyclists riding the wrong way on a street when I've come out of a driveway. Drivers are used to looking left, and even though I cycle, I'm no different. Numerous studies on cycling/car accidents show riding the wrong way on the street is one of the higher percentage causes of cycling injuries where cars are involved. Another study indicated that a large percentage of car/cyclist encounters occur at night. Obviously, we have both conditions present in this situation.

I don't believe your diagram will not be helpful if you decide to take your case to court. If your diagram is an accurate record of what actually occurred, then I would use this accident as a reminder to cycle in a safer manner.

AHHHH!!!! I"M THINKING THE SAME THING AS MERTON

*stabs letter opener through nostril and into frontal lobe /lobotomized*

AHHHH!!!! I"M THINKING THE SAME THING AS MERTON

*stabs letter opener through nostril and into frontal lobe /lobotomized*


yup. your minds my @#%$^ ? :D