cyclisteaux

Since this is my first crash involving a car, I wanted to share my recent incident last week where I was run over by a reckless driver. The driver acknowledged fault at the scene and today I received a message from his State Farm agent to follow up and assume liability (I think) for my bills and damage. I'll find out more this coming week.

After reviewing the police report I recently received, I'm astounded that the officer checked off the "No Improper Action" for the at-fault driver, yet he checked off "Failure to Yield" and "Misjudgment" under my name even though the driver failed to signal that he was turning right, then proceeded to run me over as I was legally in the bike lane. The driver even admitted to me that he was at fault and apologized. The ambulance took me to emergency so I'm not privy to what was said to the police officer that showed up later.

The officer that wrote the report seemed biased against me as a cyclist since he approached me later in the emergency room solely to reprimand me for not having my bike registered. At no point did he ask how I was or show concern as I lay injured on the hospital bed. Will his erroneous report have a negative effect on my claims?

My injuries were not life threatening, but one week later I'm still in pain with hematomas and road rash all over my body. More importantly my bike, other than twisting my handlebars and trashing my carbon saddle, remained unscathed. Could damage be internal in this case?

Please share your thoughts....

Thanks.

alaskanb3arcub

In general, it's best to NOT talk about accidents, etc online, until any possible legal proceedings are either concluded or ruled out.

Spld cyclist

Sorry to hear about your accident. Hope you heal quickly and get back to life as normal!

CB HI

Hopefully the insurance company will be too lazy to get the report and will just accept responsibility with the drivers call.

You should call the police and talk to a senior traffic investigator (bicycle trained cop if possible) and push for them to talk to the ignorant cop to get a corrected report.

Get a LBS to fully check your bike for additional damage, including scratches (new paint job to balance any other cost the insurance low balls you on). Include a new helmet and even slight damage to clothes and accessaries.

Make sure you know what ALL your medical cost are before settling.

Digital_Cowboy

I agree with what everyone else has said, limit what you say online, as the insurance companies and lawyers have people on their staff whose job it is to search the internet for just such information.

As for the LEO's bias, welcome to cycling.

As CB HI said, contact someone higher up the chain of command and get that report corrected.

Myosmith

In most jurisdictions you can request an amendment to a police report. The original report will stand but you can have your version of the events attached to it. If you are going to do this be cool headed, objective, and make sure your account is 100% accurate as it is a legal document that can show up in court.

dynodonn 

Right hooked and hit in a bike lane by a non signaling motorist, chastised in the ER for a unregistered bike, then labeled "at fault" by the reporting LEO.

Just more ammunition for my running front and rear cams.


I have a video of a motorist not using their turn signals until they are along side me, and luckily I spotted the rear turn signal (no side turn signals on this vehicle) a second before the motorist right hooked me, allowing me to slam on the brakes in time to avoid a collision.

atbman

I'm curioous about the need to have your bike registered. Is this a legal requirement in your city/state? From what I've read on this and other US forums, bike registration has ceased to exist in most juisdictions.

tomg

1- get a good seasoned personal injury lawyer (bills/expences are coming)
2- stand with the truth (see 1 above)
3- carma is (glad you are able to post, spin safe when you are able to get back into the saddle)
t

trek2.3bike

Now you know why they are called "thugs in blue."

mjsocal

Excellent advice. You or your lawyer should do this immediately. This sounds like an invalid traffic investigation. You deserve a real one.

Fissile

Could be a number of reasons why the cop has the knife out for you. Maybe he is biased against cyclists. I once heard a cop refer to cyclists (the kind that wear cycling clothes, as opposed to people without DL's) as bike f*g***. Maybe you "dissed" him. Cops are hypersensitive about slights, real or imagined. The person who ran you over may have a cop connection. Someone could have called the PD after the fact and told them, "I'm on the job, the driver is my sister, cousin, son, etc." That's all it takes. From here on out, I would avoid contact with the police unless I had a lawyer.

FunkyStickman

Absolutely. I was hit by a guy who ran a red light, cop said it was nobody's fault... I requested they go back and fix the report, and guess what? They changed it to say I was in the wrong.

Welcome to the club, as much as I hate to say it.

Keep the details of your accident to yourself, until you speak to a lawyer (if you need to).

cyclisteaux

Thanks everyone for the great advice and well wishes. I'll refrain from any details, but some prominent cycling attorneys are stepping up on my behalf. Apparently, there's been a history of cops with an anti-cyclist bias in my community and there needs to be change. Will keep you posted.

dynodonn 

Please do.

CB HI

That is very good news.

Digital_Cowboy

That's good to hear, that you've got some weight behind you now. That's sad to (but not surprising) to hear that there is an anti-cyclist bias in your community.

It'll be fun to see what the haters do when they no longer can afford gasoline for their cars, and no one else has come up with a replacement for it. And they have to resort to either walking or riding a bike to get around.

yep202

police reports are not very correct. I can tell you that. Thats why I roll with a camera. Anything happens I will have proff or a copy. Sorry to hear. Heal up quick and get out and ride. Its to nice out to not ride.

ItsJustMe

Thanks, saved me the trouble of saying this myself. Even though I have never had an injury caused by a car, I read enough here and have had enough sketchy behavior of car drivers happen around me that it's worth it for me to run cameras.

Especially important to keep recording after the accident, to record what the other guy AND the cops say and do.

Digital_Cowboy

Excellent points. As has been said/asked here before, if the cops can run "dashboard cams" to record what happens between them and those they stop, then why shouldn't we be able to do the same?

And if we get it all on "tape" then it's no longer a "he said/he said" situation. As well as one would have evidence to correct the police report if it's inaccurate.

mtbikerinpa

X2 on that one. I never thought I'd get called on to witness a big one like that the other day but 20 bucks for a Vivitar from Kmart is money well spent.

Eddie_E

I know that some officers are biased against motorcyclist. I didn't think that can also go for bikes. From my experience many times when there is a car and motorbike accident where the car driver was clearly in the wrong they blame the motorcyclist. I guess that goes even when your 2 wheel transportation doesn't have a motor.

OKIE_55

Just why I got a camera, last week I got passed real close by a white van. When I got home I called the local PD and told them I wanted to make an official report, last time no report was made. I showed the officer the video and he agreed, gave me a case number, and said he would have a talk with the van's driver. Don't know the outcome, but at least there's a report of this careless driver.

To the OP, hope all works out for the best.

ItsJustMe

Some people, including some police officers, do not like it when anyone is acting in any way except "normal" which of course by definition is the same way they act. You should drive the same vehicle they do, make the same money, have skin the same color, and your God should hate all the same people his God does (which, coincidentally, are the same people he hates).

Digital_Cowboy

What is really sad is that one "needs" to "have" video evidence to get the police to do their job. Of course it goes without saying that having said video evidence makes their job so much easier. As it is now no longer a matter of he said/he said, but there is clear proof that one party was in the wrong and the other party was in the right and was wronged by the other.