"Let me start this by saying, all things considered, I'm OK and incredibly lucky, for those who care. I have a fractured ankle and a sprained back. I'll be in a cast for 4-6 weeks and then in a ski boot-type contraption for another 4-6 weeks.
So I'm commuting to work on Tuesday...I work in NJ and was on my way to the GWB. I head down 177th street and as I'm making my way through the pothole- and bump-filled intersection of 177 and Pinehurst I realize the car coming towards me on Pinehurst isn't slowing for the stop sign at the corner
As I yell at her, twice, I notice she's holding something to her head/face in her left hand -- a cell phone or a water bottle, I couldn't tell. But I also realized she is NOT going to stop. The only thought going through my mind is ""Oh well, I hope this isn't going to hurt too bad."" Then she hits me broadside and I bounce off her hood and windshield and then land on the pavement.
So the driver stops (at least she didn't run over my prostrate body) and gets out of her car, totally freaked and calls 911, screaming ""Oh my G-d, I just hit a cyclist, send an ambulance!"" After 15 minutes or so the cops show up (speedy response to a traffic accident, right?) The cops look at me laying on the ground in front of her car, look at the driver standing alongside her car and ask her ""Are you OK?""
Fast forward a few days -- I pick up the accident report from the police precinct and it appears the officer decided that none of the 15 or so pedestrians crowded around me making sure I was OK were worth taking a witness statement from. It's so nice to be part of a group the NYPD so obviously love and respect.
The driver's statement in the report atates part of the reason for the accident is, and I quote, ""[the cyclist] couldn't get [his] feet out of [the] pedals to balance."" Needless to say, I've got a lawyer and I'm suing."
New Indignities
HOW FRUSTRATING!
sorry if I can't unclip my shoes as I'm flying through the air after being hit by a car...
"""It's so nice to be part of a group the NYPD so obviously love and respect.""
(Is this another thing we should be grateful to Times Up for?)
The NYPD bicycling unit were presenters at an NYCC monthly meeting. Any point touching base to see what's up with the attitude towards cyclists?
Sorry you is laid up."
i thought times up promoted safer streets for bicycling?
NYPD should be thankful to critical mass riders, they get to make a lot of money in overtime without any personal risk to themselves. critical mass riders are a pretty festive and non dangerous crowd.
its easy money for the cops.
a waste of money for the city of new york
Obviously the driver was at fault and the police were of no help. But I do have to say, having ridden through that intersection hundreds of times, cars running the stop sign or rolling through it are the rule rather than the exception. I tiptoe through there (mostly because of the bumps), but also b/c city drivers don't always notice stop signs, as opposed to traffic lights.
Hope you recover quickly and get a nice settlement (in all sincerity).
and speedy recovery!
If you/your lawyer wishes to holding the city liable for failure to repair the pavement there, be aware I believe at least three notices were telephoned to the city reporting the undulating pavement at precisely where you were struck.
You/your lawyer may contact me.
Isnt it illegal to use a cell phone without ear piece while at the wheel? Make sure you get copies of her time on the phone; did you get the exact time of the accident?
This has nothing to do with Times Up -- but a general attitude that sadly privileges the auto driver, even when cyclists are killed.
"I have a file this thick (I'm holding my hands three inches apart) on people who have received similar mistreatment by the NYPD after being struck by a motor vehicle. I'm going to write about this for the 5BBC newsletter and maybe even try to get the NYPD interested in fixing the problem - please forward to me any more details (and your name, if you aren't bashful) so I can add you to the many
stories already collected. I won't quote people by name in any public
articles without their permission.
Typical mistreatment includes:
* NYPD refuses to take the bike for safekeeping. Cyclist risks health and delays medical treatment in order to get their bike home first, or locks bike outside hospital and finds it vandalized or stolen when they come out.
* In one case when NYPD did take the bike, cyclist goes to pick up bike at precinct, is told ""you must be crazy for riding your bike around here"". Another cyclist had his bike sent to the NYPD property warehouse in Brooklyn and it took him days and a pile of paperwork to retrieve it.
* cyclist is struck by a motorist, and NYPD only interviews the motorist at the scene, who conveniently claims that the cyclist fell down on her own.
* cyclist is struck by hit-and-run motorist. NYPD fails to file criminal complaint, preventing cyclist from getting compensation from state victim fund.
* cyclist is struck by a motorist, but the NYPD incident report mysteriously fails to mention the presence of any motorist, again making insurance claims impossible.
If there are any more ""war stories"" like this out there, let me know."
