HELP, friend had accident, is on phone with me
 

So she got into an accident. She isn't hurt, but her bike is F'ed. The taxi driver does not want to talk to her, she called the cops and they are both waiting for the police to get there. What should she do?

Get the cops to get her the insurance information from the taxi driver. Get his tag number just in case. If she has a camera phone, take pictures. If she is hurt, have her go to an ER.

yeah get his tag number in case he wants to leave. wait for the police, they should know what to do (write up a report, etc)

^^+1. tag # is most important.

is she ok?

dude sounds like a prick

Watch the cops write up their notes for the report and then
get a copy of the police report for the subsequent battle with the Taxi
Co's insurer.

Get bystander's contact info to corroborate the **** later.

Get names and contact info for witnesses!

Man this sucks. She was biking and already was in the intersection, but didn't have the light. The taxi was going really fast. I just read that the most she can do is take it to small claims court. Can someone tell me how this works and how long the process is?

tell her not to run lights.

She should talk to a lawyer directly or look up the small claims court procedures
herself for your jurisdiction. Many small claims courts don't allow the parties
to be represented by attorneys. Having us tell you information which you then
relay over the phone to her could result in disinformation--assuming we know
anything to begin with, which has been the subject of debate.

Where did this all go down anyway?

62nd and 2nd in NYC

Well good news is the cops are going to be there so no wiggling out of this one for either party.

http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/nyc/s...ms/index.shtml

enjoy

If she blew the red light, she has no right to a claim, regardless of the speed of the taxi driver.

Think of if you did this in a car.

in that case, she ain't getting ***** and the cops don't care. sorry.

^^Are you up on NY law RS? I'm not--so I can't
say whether New York's take on
on assumption of the risk and comparative negligence
would allow her to recover something given the limited
facts we have. A plaintiff's own negligence is not
a complete bar to recovery in many situations. Especially
if the taxi was going way to fast. Safe to say none of us
on a public board could ascertain the likely outcome
unless they happen to be an att'y in NY.

tell her to get her story straight and figure out her angle. the cab is going to try to place blame on her, make sure she knows exactly what she did and can describe perfectly and convincingly why he is at fault. cops aren't the smartest individuals in the world, so it's likely that they'll be more persuaded by the most convincing story. sucks, but it works out that way every day.

if you're not hurt, the nyc cops couldn't care less. earlier this month a cyclist was hit in a hit and run. he called the cops to report it and the cop showed up and gave him a ticket for no bell.

but good luck anyway.

No, but realisticly you're a ****ing ****** if you try to place the blame on a taxi that hit you WHILE you were running a red light. Semantics, nitpicking law aside.

A NYC taxi driver....shoot, we have a hard time when we collect from them when they hit a CAR. Anyways good luck.

um, yeah--right.

Actually, if the cyclist was (hypothetically) 60% at fault and
taxi driver was 40% at fault for driving like a maniac--and he
suffered no damage but her bike was trashed how would it
be unfair for her to recover 40% of the cost of a replacement--
oh wait, this is bfssfg where reason has been suspended--
never mind.

I got a fender bender with a car a long time ago. I was making a U-turn and didn't see a car behind me until it was too late. The cop said the car could have been going 100 miles per hour and it still would have been my fault since he had the right of way. Percentages of fault won't matter.

Were you in NY? Did it ever occur to you that different jurisdictions have different laws?
NY had a pure comparative negligence rule for a time--may still. Plaintiff can recover
no matter what her fault, her recovery is just reduced in proportion to her fault.
And since when is a cop a final authority on the law--they are the last people I would
trust in this matter.

Trying to get cash out of a giant insurance company regardless of fault isn't being a ******bag
it is just having a good hustle as far as I'm concerned. You all can speculate as to what you think
the outcome should be--I hope this chick gets some cash however unlikely it may be. Maybe
some folks would roll over for a taxi but I would hope a NYer wouldn't--

This is mostly unrelated to the thread - sorry - but I hear in some foreign countries the driver is ALWAYS at fault when in a collision with a cyclist, no matter what the circumstances. It's a good idea if you think about it - because while a cyclist will usually get hurt pretty bad, fault or no fault, it sure as hell encourages the driver to watch the F out for us maniacs on two wheels.

i think you mean a nyer knows it's pointless to bother. you either walk away from the accident (if you can walk) with petty cash on hand, or file a police report that never amounts to anything and forget about it. unless the driver is overwhelmingly in the wrong (under the influence, forcing traffic, burning lights), that's just the way it is in the city.

can i run a red light, and throw myself across your hood? When ur riding can i run a red light and push my cart full of cement into your path? Would i get 40% from you?

really now...lets think about this.

Regardless I hope your friend is ok, tell her to get brakes for 'oh ****' moments, and make sure she starts wearing a helmet if she isnt already.

And tell her what red means.

EDIT: And hustling from a large insurance company can add up to rates going up for all cyclists. just putting that out there.