Bike Accident Report Cards for Your Wallet! Help Make it Come to Your State!
 

Great things are happening here in Boston; bike accident lawyer Josh Zisson created the awesome Bike Accident Report Card for us here in Massachusetts with reminders of our bike rights and a form to fill out "just in case."

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(photos from a fastcompany article on them)


Anyone who wants some cards in Massachusetts to pass out, you can contact Josh here to pick some up.

For those of you in other states, he needs your help to print them. He's still working on designing cards for most states, but just recently just finished the California cards and according to him New York is soon to come. You can see his official response to the overwhelming demand so far here.

I'm particularly glad he decided to include six good-to-know bicyclist rights on the back, and that it fits in my wallet (the closest thing I'd seen before this was a massbike pamphlet with this info that did not fit in my wallet) I picked up a stack of cards to hand out to my friends, I hope some of you on here will do the same.

Edit: According to his twitter feed, he's currently working on a smartphone app so you'll be able to have this card on your phone soon

I have a couple of these already. I know Josh from college and he sent me few for MA. Can't wait to get the CA ones. I've come across an accident or two and always wished I had something to give the other cyclist in case their weren't aware of their rights or what info they should be recording.

I just sent Josh an email about doing something in Oregon. Thanks for spreading the word!

Awesome! You're very welcome, just trying to do my small part for a worthy cause :thumb:

P.S. love your sig, it gave me quite a good laugh

That's pretty awesome.

Do you folks carry a pen around with you on the bike?

Yeah, I keep pen with my other tools in my pannier along with a couple of these cards.

The card doesn't include a space for the driver's DL number and insurance information. This is essential to get in any accident, regardless of fault. Can't believe an attorney missed that.

There is a whole section for driver info.. but yes, there is no special line for that. I'll give your feedback on to him @bikesafeboston

I promise I didn't miss it! I just wanted to include the barest of essentials to keep it simple. These cards are more of an emergency backup than an exhaustive collection of all relevant info. Ideally, the driver will stop and provide you with that stuff as a matter of course; however, that's not always the case.

The driver's license number and insurance info are definitely important, but if you manage to get the plate number, all that information can be pieced together afterwards. I've had to do it many times, unfortunately.

By not including spaces for that stuff, the cards focus bikers on collecting the most important pieces of data. When you've just been hit by a car, simplicity is key.

I got your email, I promise to get back to you as soon as I can! The thing is, I got about 500 other emails just like it.

Also, I'm currently in San Francisco looking for sponsors to print my card out here. If I don't get back to you in a few days, I'll definitely respond once I'm back at my office.

Thanks for getting in touch!

-JZ

bikesafeboston: is there anyway you might be able to post a thread on stuff that you see, stuff to watch out for, etc that you have experienced as a bike lawyer? It would be helpful to all. I know you are busy so anytime would be great.

He has a pretty awesome blog and twitter feed where he talks about stuff he uses on occasion you should definitely check out.