Commuting - I have to tell a friends story!!!

Here in Colorado many folks ride to work, to school and otherwise. Well here it goes. I have a close friend that has been riding her bike to classes for the past couple of years. She is very active and loves to ride since parking is both expensive and hard to find. Recently she was riding though campus on the many bike/ped walkways. Well she came to a crosswalk that crossed low traffic road. She slows in the crosswalk noticing a girl in a new Jeep leaning out the window talking to a friend on the side of the road. The jeep is stopped in the road about 10ft. from the crosswalk. My firiend figures the girl will be there for a bit and continues to roll through the intersection. (she carefully looked in both directions and was clear to go.) Well the Jeep driver finishing her conversation and driving decided to roll through the interestion as well. BANG.

Ok, before I continue. Boulder, CO has a very strict rule about crosswalks and pedestrians. Pedestrians ALWAYS ahve the right-of-way.

Continuing...My friend is trown from the bike, suffers a head injury, and normal scrapes. She is brought to the hospital on a backboard, and is in the Emergency room being treated still imobilized(sp?). She is a bit dazed but is answering the nurses/doctors questions and seems to be ok. All of a sudden there i sanother voice in the conversation. It is asking about what happened, did she look both ways, and at what spped was she travelling throught the crosswalk. Was is faster than 2.5 mph? My friend figures it was close to 5-6mph a slow roll for a bike.

Well, long story short.. The person questioning her was a police officer. She was given a ticket in the hospital for failing to yield to on-comming traffic (or soemthing like that).

And the kicker...the girl in the Jeep flied a lawsuit for emotional damages and damages to her Jeep.

What the hell is WRONG with society????? I have offically given up hope for the human race!

man... that is f'd up. gawd. well, have your freind lawyer argue this sensibility.

she (your freind) was crossing at a crosswalk. the fact that she may have been doing a running speed (notice the running part.. actually, less than a running speed) does not impair the driver of the jeep's ability to see her (your freind). given the fact that your freind was crossing at a cross walk and was easily noticable the jeep driver is reckless...


i dunno, argue something like that. also file a countersuit and file charges of assault with a deadly weapon.

your freind was moving at a slow jogging speed. this speed will not have affected the drivers ability to react. especially with the added visibility of have a bike with her.

I'm surpised the cop would side with the driver, usually Boulder is a pretty bike friendly place.

Regardless of that I agree your friend is clearly in the right as logically to throw her off her bike the jeep driver would have had to floor it off the stop line or simply have run the intersection to be going fast enough to throw a biker. On top of which no matter what is happening biker/pedestrian has the right of way once entering the crosswalk, a friend of mine received automatic failure on his drivers test for violating that one and there wasn't even a stop sign involved.

Riley.

It may be because your friend ws not a pedestrian. Pedestrians are people on foot. She was on a bike which makes her using a vehicle. Had she dismounted and was walking across the intersection, the situation might be different, but on a bike, at any speed, she is obligated to obey the traffic rules.

bah. there's was no difference in speed vs. jogging. how should the bike be the difference maker?

The exact reason upon further investigation was that she wasn't a pedestrian. Boulder's laws apply to pedestrians or biccyclists travelling at pedestrian speeds. Going over a walking speed automatically classified her as a vehicle and therefor she had to obide by vehicle rules/laws.

In any case...the driver has emotional damage? Come on...it is blatent abuse of the legal system. I am assuming that the whole thing will be thrown outof court by any judge who has half a brain.

Reminds me of a former boss who, while riding at night, hit a parked car. Car owner tried to sue him for damages. Turned out to be a bad idea, as car was parked illegally...

Your friend should contest the traffic citation; her estimate at her speed while in the hospital is rather suspect testimony. If that citation can be overturned / reduced, the other driver's case should weaken.

NOTE TO SELF: Next time someone in a police uniform asks you how fast you were going, say "I wasn't moving, I was motionless and my feet were both on the ground."



The exact reason upon further investigation was that she wasn't a pedestrian. Boulder's laws apply to pedestrians or biccyclists travelling at pedestrian speeds. Going over a walking speed automatically classified her as a vehicle and therefor she had to obide by vehicle rules/laws.

In any case...the driver has emotional damage? Come on...it is blatent abuse of the legal system. I am assuming that the whole thing will be thrown outof court by any judge who has half a brain.

You and your friend might want to check out this link about right of way.

http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/6806.0.html

Cheers

I gave up hope on the human race long ago. This is yet another clear case of anti-cyclist bigotry gone mad. If I were you I'd be reading up on the law, and getting it ready to quote to a judge.

Tell her to get a lawyer immediately. It sucks, but not contesting the fine is crazy in this situation. But I'm getting over my head here; she needs a lawyer.

The exact reason upon further investigation was that she wasn't a pedestrian. Boulder's laws apply to pedestrians or biccyclists travelling at pedestrian speeds. Going over a walking speed automatically classified her as a vehicle and therefor she had to obide by vehicle rules/laws. "Pedestrian speed" is not "walking speed". People here often walk at about 2.5 MPH. I walk at about 4 MPH. Pedestrians can run at 6-10 MPH. Wheelchair users often go about 10 MPH. They're all pedestrians. This woman needs a good lawyer. The law is probably on her side (the Jeep was, after all, obstructing traffic while the driver was stopped talking with someone); its present interpretation is not.

Pedestrians are people on foot. She was on a bike which makes her using a vehicle. The first sentence is absolutely untrue. Any law hinting at this would result in an uprising among those without feet, or use thereof. (Politicians who underestimate the political power of the disabled community do so at their peril.)

About the second, it varies by state. Here, one is a pedestrian if one is using a pedestrian thoroughfare (sidewalk, crosswalk, etc.) "in a manner consistent with that of a pedestrian", that is, no faster than a wheelchair user or runner, not blocking the way of other pedestrians, not using a motor (except a motorized wheelchair, which is a mobility-assistive device), etc.

In Texas, the traffic code explicitly defines a pedestrian exactly as a 'person on foot'. The definition makes no mention of exclusions for people who do not possess feet or people in wheelchairs.

I checked the code for Boulder, and a person who rides a bicycle on a crosswalk is treated as a pedestrian but must ride at 'normal walking speed'. The original poster stated that the cyclist estimated her speed at 5-7 mph which would be in excess of normal walking speed. Travelling at faster than walking speed may negate the pedestrian status of the cyclist.

Also, neither Boulder, nor the state of Colorado 'ALWAYS' give pedestrians tha right of way in a crosswalk. Pedestrians (and cyclists at normal walking speed) may not step out into traffic such as to cause a hazard.

If your friend has insurance to pay off if she loses the lawsuit, then she should notify the company immediately. They don't hire anything but the best to defend them in court. If insurance doesn't cover this, ask them which lawyer they would hire if they did.

It is asking about what happened, did she look both ways, and at what spped was she travelling throught the crosswalk. Was is faster than 2.5 mph? My friend figures it was close to 5-6mph a slow roll for a bike.

2.5 mph? WTH is that? I had to walk home the other day puching the bike (patch kit sitting at the house, scew picked up on the roade) and noted that I was puching the bike at 3.2 mph while walking. This is slightly slower than I walk on the treadmill, but I bet my wife's normal walk pace is 3.5 or better.

I hope your friend recovers well, and can afford to secure legal representation.

In Texas, the traffic code explicitly defines a pedestrian exactly as a 'person on foot'. The definition makes no mention of exclusions for people who do not possess feet or people in wheelchairs. And people wonder why Texas seems to be "another country"...

Well, I shouldn't single out Texas. This country is peppered with state and local laws containing such gibberish that make them, in effect, meaningless and unenforceable. As an off-topic example, when the City of Detroit built the world's largest trash incinerator, they had to burn a certain amount of trash in order to make it profitable. So they passed a city ordinance prohibiting recycling. Local groups set up their own recycling programs in open "violation" of the ordinance, knowing that it couldn't be enforced, since such laws are themselves a violation of federal law. Federal equal access and anti-discrimination law obviously trumps the Texas language stated above, but it's amusing that "the Republic" still has it on its books.