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Saw this over at tucsonbikelawyer.com
Car-head: New York victim of hit-and-run calls 911, gets ticket for not having a bell on his bike.
I’m not kidding.
My friend Joy sent me this under the subject heading “it’s not just Tucson.”
The victim has had little luck getting the police to act, even though he has the vehicle’s license number and its registered owner. But so far the driver’s insurance has failed to pay the cyclist’s medical bills and the police department is interested only in securing a conviction against the cyclist for the missing bell. They don’t seem to be bothered by the fact he was run down by a van and the motorist then fled the scene. A classic case of car-head.
The cyclist, of course, now regrets ever calling the police in the first place, telling a reporter “I can’t give you an example where the police have helped the situation in any cycling incident I know of.”
Read more: tucsonbikelawyer.com/…car-head-new-york-victim-of-hit-and-run
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Well, this situation stinks, but when I got hit recently, the State Trooper I interacted with set me up quite nicely. He ticketed the driver, cited her for failure to yield, and then came and checked on me in the hospital, and shot the shit with me for a little while.
So, indeed, not all cops are dicks to cyclists, just most.
Many years ago I was hit by a cab on Colfax Ave. in Denver. The oncoming cab turned in front of me, and knocked me onto the sidewalk. Later that evening while in the hospital, I received a ticket for riding on the sidewalk.
True story.
Riding on the shoulder, lady sideswipes me. I rode it out and didn’t go down. Had 2 witnesses. Got the plate, make, model, color and year of car correct, as well as a description of the driver. Cop says, and I quote, “no blood no foul.” I asked him if it would be different if I was being cleaned up with a snow shovel. Cop says, “yes.” Wife came to pick me up. Wife pulled me away and into her car because the cop was gettnig ready to arrest me for getting in his face because he wouldn’t do his job. No bullshit. Cops hate cyclists.
We’ve all had serious run-ins with idiots, both with and without badges. I’ve been hit a few times, too. In 2001 I was hit by a driver during a race. At a major intersection. In front of a cop directing traffic. With an ambulance screaming past. No joke. The fork got snapped right off the bike, and somehow I walked away with minor bruises. In this case, the driver was ticketed, I got a ride back from another cop who came out just to get me, and eventually the driver’s insurance covered a replacement bike. Sounds about right to me.
It’s not all bad news.
Hit by an elderly lady, turned in front of me into a business, I fractured my hand, she then drove me to the hospital. After I had surgery a trooper “visits” me in my room for the accident report. He tells me that because I was outside the fog line (used to indicate the edge of a rural road” I had no legal rights to the road. I had an anesthetic and was still “fogey” and so didn’t think to ask about the right not to be assaulted by a woman with an automobile (weapon).
Now when lane use is an issue I’m right in the fuckin center.
So? He broke the law and he got busted for it. Just because he was a victim of another crime doesn’t absolve him from any he commits. I agree that the cops should do more to help finding the driver but I’m sure if he cooperated, they would cooperate.
I’m just sick of fellow bikers thinking they are above the law somehow. Last summer there was a big sting to nab everyone riding without helmets or riding on the sidewalk which resulted in about 200 fines in 1 day.
It’s not about being above the law… it’s more about having a sense of proportion and doing one’s job, like the cop should have done.
Being the instigator in a hit-and-run ranks several levels higher than not having a bloody bell.
If memory serves that ranks as a felony whereas the missing bell is a minor equipment violation.
…agreed, marrock…as a generalization here (keep in mind), i’ve found a lotta cops assume a small infraction on the part of the cyclist invalidates a much greater & obviously more dangerous infraction by a motorist…
…i really think more police development programs should entail regular bicycle patrol duties…’now yer one of us, fucker, different picture, huh ?’…
patrick: It’s frightening to think that a state would consider hitting someone on the roadway an offense, but driving your car off of the roadway to hit someone perfectly alright.
Thats fucked up beer at the gas station Ohio, George Fuckin Voinovich Ohio, Oppressively high tax Ohio