Originally Posted by
Gnosis
Filing a police report is unadvisable!
The pedestrian has no clue as to who the bicyclist is therefore, he cannot file any manner of claim HOWEVER, if the bicyclist reports the event (time, place, description of male pedestrian), in which case the bicyclist must also submit his own name and address; the police could potentially link the pedestrian and bicyclist (should the pedestrian later file) which would then allow the pedestrian (as well as the bicyclist) the opportunity to sue one another at a cost that will in more cases than not be more costly than either will ever recover after attorney fees and court costs are paid!
Best advice: Leave well enough alone and accept your relatively minor losses at this point. Consider it a learning experience that merely costs more than many other learning experiences. The bicyclist should end up being more aware of those that could potentially walk out in front of them therefore slow his bicycle a safely negotiable speed and the pedestrian will also likely be more aware prior to walking out into a bicycle lane, as it sounds like it wasn’t a picnic for him either. Both needed to learn a lesson here, that being, be more aware of your surroundings and apply greater cautionary actions.
That's certainly worth considering. The counter-point is that the cyclist will not be hard to find in the future should the pedestrian decide to pursue charges. If he's a commuter, you can safely assume that he rides the same route every day (or every few days), at approximately the same times. If he ever decided to pursue a claim, it would certainly bolster the cyclist's chances of winning if his version of events was recorded close to the time of the incident.