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I filed a complaint against a driver.

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I filed a complaint against a driver.

Old 06-04-10, 07:58 AM
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Right now our lawyers are just talking. I asked for him to take an anger management class, and also a savvy cyclist classs, and his lawyer countered with the idea that we both just drop our complaints. The lawyer also said that he now has a witness that saw my weaving all over the road, so that's um, weird.
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Old 06-04-10, 09:17 AM
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Originally Posted by katinka
The lawyer also said that he now has a witness that saw my weaving all over the road, so that's um, weird.
Remember, they can't tell the difference between changing lanes and "weaving all over the road". In their eyes you're supposed to be no more than 5 1/4 inches from the curb; if you're not, you're "all over the road."
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Old 06-04-10, 08:27 PM
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Originally Posted by katinka
Right now our lawyers are just talking. I asked for him to take an anger management class, and also a savvy cyclist classs, and his lawyer countered with the idea that we both just drop our complaints. The lawyer also said that he now has a witness that saw my weaving all over the road, so that's um, weird.
Many cyclists waver a bit in their line when they look back to see if it's clear.
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Old 06-07-10, 11:00 AM
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Originally Posted by katinka
Right now our lawyers are just talking. I asked for him to take an anger management class, and also a savvy cyclist classs, and his lawyer countered with the idea that we both just drop our complaints. The lawyer also said that he now has a witness that saw my weaving all over the road, so that's um, weird.

Wow, I'd be interested in knowing how this witness appeared...and of course how the witness knows the driver.
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Old 06-07-10, 07:08 PM
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Originally Posted by katinka
and his lawyer countered with the idea that we both just drop our complaints.
In plain english, "I know I will lose this case, so please just agree to go away."

Originally Posted by katinka
The lawyer also said that he now has a witness that saw my weaving all over the road, so that's um, weird.
Knows he has no case, so time to try a bluff or just right out lie.
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Old 06-07-10, 07:11 PM
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Originally Posted by CB HI
In plain english, "I know I will lose this case, so please just agree to go away."

Knows he has no case, so time to try a bluff or just right out lie.
Totally agree!


You stick with it, katinka! Good for you for going through all the trouble.
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Old 06-08-10, 05:15 AM
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Just out of curiosity, has anyone here ever done this in CA? What's the procedure? Just call PD and go from there? I've Googled around, but my Google-Fu is weak today, I guess...
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Old 06-08-10, 05:15 AM
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Originally Posted by Paul Barnard
Wow, I'd be interested in knowing how this witness appeared...and of course how the witness knows the driver.
How come this "witness" wasn't present at the scene?
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Old 06-08-10, 05:23 AM
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I am not sure where the witness came from. My attorney said the witness, a woman from a nearby town, contacted the driver and said she told the driver I "was at fault and weaving all over the road."

Anyhow, I don't have to show up on Thursday. My lawyer person is going to waive my first appearance and ask for the dispute resolution and then a trial if that doesn't work out. I really have to thank him for all his help; he has really gone out of his way to handle this for me, mostly because he likes bikes.
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Old 06-08-10, 05:25 AM
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Originally Posted by katinka
I am not sure where the witness came from. My attorney said the witness, a woman from a nearby town, contacted the driver and said she told the driver I "was at fault and weaving all over the road."

Anyhow, I don't have to show up on Thursday. My lawyer person is going to waive my first appearance and ask for the dispute resolution and then a trial if that doesn't work out. I really have to thank him for all his help; he has really gone out of his way to handle this for me, mostly because he likes bikes.
Maybe he too has been menaced by motorists and has secretly been waiting for a complainant like yourself to come along!
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Old 06-08-10, 05:45 AM
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Originally Posted by katinka
I am not sure where the witness came from. My attorney said the witness, a woman from a nearby town, contacted the driver and said she told the driver I "was at fault and weaving all over the road."

Anyhow, I don't have to show up on Thursday. My lawyer person is going to waive my first appearance and ask for the dispute resolution and then a trial if that doesn't work out. I really have to thank him for all his help; he has really gone out of his way to handle this for me, mostly because he likes bikes.
I wonder how the witness came to find the driver. This is friggin' laughable. Think their phone and e-mail records would show some level of contact before the incident?
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Old 06-08-10, 10:00 AM
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Originally Posted by CB HI
In plain english, "I know I will lose this case, so please just agree to go away."

Knows he has no case, so time to try a bluff or just right out lie.
Probably not.

The difficulty with these situations is that there is no objective evidence that establishes which side is correct. Basically, the case is just two people who disagree.

The circumstance of the supposed witness does seem a bit peculiar.

It's a bad case for everybody involved, especially without any objective evidence.

For the driver, it's an annoyance and expense (paying his lawyer). For his lawyer, it's a distraction from more lucrative business (possibly). For the cyclist, it's an annoyance and distraction (at least, from doing more enjoyable things). For the cyclist's lawyer, it's no-income (assuming it's a pro bono case).

Note that I'm not suggesting that katinka do anything different. I'm just pointing out that she did not enter this battle from a position of strength.

Last edited by njkayaker; 06-08-10 at 10:11 AM.
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Old 06-08-10, 09:38 PM
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Originally Posted by njkayaker
Probably not.

The difficulty with these situations is that there is no objective evidence that establishes which side is correct. Basically, the case is just two people who disagree.

The circumstance of the supposed witness does seem a bit peculiar.

It's a bad case for everybody involved, especially without any objective evidence.

For the driver, it's an annoyance and expense (paying his lawyer). For his lawyer, it's a distraction from more lucrative business (possibly). For the cyclist, it's an annoyance and distraction (at least, from doing more enjoyable things). For the cyclist's lawyer, it's no-income (assuming it's a pro bono case).

Note that I'm not suggesting that katinka do anything different. I'm just pointing out that she did not enter this battle from a position of strength.
Very true, this is just going to turn into a he-said-she-said type argument.

That is probably exactly why the driver is making up all the lies, beacuse he knows without and real evidence no one can disupute him directly and by making up the lies you might ultimately be forced to drop it.

I wonder if some character witnesses for you might do some good?
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Old 06-11-10, 02:33 PM
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So how did the court date go?
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Old 06-11-10, 03:35 PM
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Originally Posted by katinka
https://bit.ly/9t977X

newstory. I look sort of mad and drunk in this picture from last month, but I wasn't.
I got as far as "silver mercedes". Don't need to hear any more.
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Old 06-14-10, 12:07 PM
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I say keep it up. This is the way things should be done in a civil society. At the very least, you have shown the driver their is a price to him being an *******. Being in legal proceedings, even small ones, is a hassle.

Was the witness in the car? Otherwise it sounds totally bogus.
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Old 06-16-10, 05:41 PM
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I will let you know what happens. Right now I'm just waiting to hear when the new date is.
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Old 06-18-10, 11:51 PM
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Keep this going!

So OK, it's not my dime....

I'm interested to know how do perfect strangers in cars "contact" one another? Did they meet up right after the incident? And even that.....
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Old 06-23-10, 11:40 PM
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I don't know how it'll turn out, but I just did a similar thing today. Yesterday, I was riding home in a bike lane and a couple of doofuses rode past me and the passenger tossed his drink at me as they drove by. I only got a couple of splashes on me, but it pissed me off. I got a plate number, vehicle description and vague occupant description. I filed an online complaint with that municipality and today I got a call from an officer who told me that they were filing it as a simple assault and battery. She asked me what I wanted to do and I asked her what were my options.

She said if I signed a complaint an officer would contact the owner of the vehicle, take statements and attempt to determine who was in the passenger seat. The DA would file a complaint and I would sign it, then it would be presented before a judge.

I'm going to see where this ride takes me. Though it wasn't that big of a deal in and of itself, who knows what could be next, so I'm going to continue. Fortunately, this is the first time in the year and a half I've been commuting to work or riding around town that something like this has occurred to me. Usually, it's just been the standard drive up behind you and hoot or yell at you as they pass in order to startle you thing. Thanks katinka for writing about your experience, it reinforces what I think I should be doing in this sort of a situation.


Originally Posted by katinka
Last month, I was riding my bike in the left hand turn lane of a road. I am in this lane for about 1/10 of a mile, and I was taking the lane because it is not very wide, and at the end of the lane, there is a concrete median that is about 40 or 50 feet long.

Anyhow, a car came up behind me and was frustrated by me existed and really laid on the horn for a really really long time and scared the crap out of me, and then proceeded to pass me anyhow. The light was red at the intersection, naturally, so I caught up his the driver and tried to explain why I was riding in the manner I was. Seriously, I have a speech all ready to go and sometimes it goes fairly well. This did not go well at all, and the driver was convinced I should not be riding in the road (or highway as he likes to call it), and I backed my bike up and took a pic of his plate and made a police report. When the police spoke to the driver, he claimed I was weaving all over the road, and it was still clear to me that he does not understand how to safely drive around cyclists.

So, while the police officer did not see it happen, it turns out in New Jersey, you can file the charges yourself (or your lawyer) and he will have to come to court. I met with a police officer who then told me what charges to file, and I filed these: Careless Driving, Harrassment, and Illegal Passing.

Not to be outdone, the driver has responded by filing a complaint against me. I sort of hope he goes first because I am really interested in how the turning charge applies. I also am thinking he did not really read the things he charged me with, as the first exception with the keep to the right rule is when turning left. Here are the 3 tickets I received:

39:4-127. Backing or turning in street
No vehicle shall back or make a turn in a street, if by so doing it interferes with other vehicles, but shall go around a block or to a street sufficiently wide to turn in without backing.

Failure to Keep Right
39:4-14.2, 39:4-10.11 Operating Regulations.
Every person riding a bicycle on a roadway shall ride as near to the right roadside as practicable exercising due care when passing a standing vehicle or one proceeding in the same direction. A bicyclist may move left under any of the following conditions: 1) To make a left turn from a left turn lane or pocket; 2) To avoid debris, drains, or other hazardous conditions on the right; 3) To pass a slower moving vehicle; 4) To occupy any available lane when traveling at the same speed as other traffic; 5) To travel no more than two abreast when traffic is not impeded, but otherwise ride in single file. Every person riding a bicycle shall ride in the same direction as vehicular traffic.

Careless Driving
39:4-97. Careless driving
39:4-97. A person who drives a vehicle carelessly, or without due caution and circumspection, in a manner so as to endanger, or be likely to endanger, a person or property, shall be guilty of careless driving.

I am sort of interested in knowing if anyone has filed a complaint against a driver and what the outcome was.
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Old 06-24-10, 01:39 AM
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Originally Posted by Paul Barnard
Wow, I'd be interested in knowing how this witness appeared...and of course how the witness knows the driver.
I think that we all would be interested in the answers to those questions as well.
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Old 06-24-10, 01:40 AM
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Originally Posted by Spire
How come this "witness" wasn't present at the scene?
That is another good question.
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Old 06-24-10, 01:48 AM
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Originally Posted by Paul Barnard
I wonder how the witness came to find the driver. This is friggin' laughable. Think their phone and e-mail records would show some level of contact before the incident?
Where on the road was this "witness?" How did they find the driver? How did the "witness" know what was happening?

I know what the OP means about horns blasting from behind. Down here in Fl we have quite a few motorists driving around with those hornblaster.com air horns (the ones designed to go on trains) installed in their cars. At their web site they have "testimony" from people who have pulled up along side of buses full of kids and blasted them to scare the crap out of them. They have also done the same to animals and one "genius" did so to a LEO who was getting ready to write the driver up for equipment failure. In that case I hope that the driver got the book thrown at them.

It was a few years ago but I also had a moron come up behind me and really lay on the horn. This started just north of the Post Office at Hanes Rd and 9th St. N. and continued until we passed the casual clam. Where even though I had signaled and moved over into the left lane preparing for my upcoming left hand turn Mr. considerate continued to honk his horn at me.

By the time that we passed the Casual Clam I had both hands flipping the driver off, and everyone in the Casual Clam was wondering what the hell was going on out on 9th St. But the good thing for me is that everyone in the Casual Clam agreed and acknowledged that what I was doing was safe and legal.
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Old 06-24-10, 08:39 AM
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Does you attorney know about this thread?

I suggest you move immediately to delete lest your opposition use it against you.
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Old 06-24-10, 09:25 PM
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Originally Posted by gcottay
Does you attorney know about this thread?

I suggest you move immediately to delete lest your opposition use it against you.
Actually I would say that it would have been better if she hadn't started this thread at all. If she deletes this thread now it could look as if she had something to hide. Which more likely than not would come back to bite her. It would be better to lock the thread and not start another one until after the case has been heard in court.

And don't forget that if she does delete the thread or even if she just deletes her posts to the thread that everything IS archived and can be recovered.

Last edited by Digital_Cowboy; 06-24-10 at 10:03 PM.
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Old 06-26-10, 05:21 PM
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Originally Posted by Digital_Cowboy
Actually I would say that it would have been better if she hadn't started this thread at all. If she deletes this thread now it could look as if she had something to hide. Which more likely than not would come back to bite her. It would be better to lock the thread and not start another one until after the case has been heard in court.

And don't forget that if she does delete the thread or even if she just deletes her posts to the thread that everything IS archived and can be recovered.
When you guys say that the contents of this thread can be used against her, I don't really understand how... Can you provide an example?
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