Do you just want them to go after him for hit and run?

I mean, for bills, I would just go through your insurance, medical, etc. I think the only thing you might be out of pocket even if insurance would be possibly bike damage, and deductibles for medical, etc. So, then tell your attorney to use lexis nexis and look up the plate information, you pay him for his time, and then sue the guy in small claims for the bike damage and deductibles. Or if you don't have insurance to cover medical, etc., then your attorney should sue him in civil court for damages since the claim may be large enough to be worth his time, and collect the 30% or whatever is the usual charge in your area.

I mean, you have witnesses for plate verification, medical bill/damages, etc., lbs estimate on damamges, to prove your case.

What a pile of absolute shite. I'm sure they'd have the same attitude if you hit a bike cop with your car and took off.

Yes, at least for the access I have and my state. Local law school library may offer access for free.

Go all the way up the chain of command to the police commissioner if necessary. If that doesent work, try the state police or whoever next presides over the metro police. Hit and run involving injury can be a felony, so the state police may be willing to listen to your story. If the accident happened outside of the metro area, you might be able to contact the sheriff or highway patrol (whichever is relevant). I would try speaking to a different attorney as well. The second your attorney says there is nothing he can do is the second you should leave his office. The ALCU and other anti-police civil rights organizations may have a list of attorneys that have experience dealing with difficult police officers. You may want to try one from one of those lists. The above is right though, the police's motto is to protect and serve [the government].

Last, if you do sue, the police report needs to be right. If it says it was your fault, guess what the first exhibit from the defense is going to be?

Wow. Where? Where did this happen? So we know and don't ride there.

Helmet cam looks better and better every day. I already have a dash cam in my car.

Are you all right? That's the main thing. Yes keep up with this. They are ALL hoping you will just go away and stop asking questions. Don't. Go down to the cop shop and ask to speak to someone else. It may take a while but you'll get some action if you persist. I know you shouldn't have to do that......

Is the witness reliable (i.e. not your wife etc) and available?

Maurice

Wow Pete, that sucks to hear. Hope you heal up soon and I'm glad it wasn't worse! If all else fails, you could always "Get Jesse" to investigate.

I don't get it. If you had a witness and a plate # then why did the cop not immediately set out to locate the suspect?

But still if you gave him a plate #, the cop is suppose to call it in immediately and they're suppose to locate the suspect. If you still have the plate # and it differs from what the officer took down, maybe there was a mistake on the officers behalf in which he should be held responsible for.

Yes!!!! I love a good cop hater. Windschatten and anyone else that feels the same way, what exactly is it that you do? I am sure that there is at least one other person that has your same job / title and is lazy, a drunk, engaged in illegal activity etc. Can we lump you in with that / those person/s, or is a it more likely, like most of society, that there are a couple bad apples and you are not one of them? What experience have you had with police that make you assume they are going to harass him if he files a complaint? And your comment "forget about the Police serving you ( the public) " where does that attitude come from? Police have a pretty damned if they do, damned they don't profession. Complaints about driving too fast, then that same person will call and complain that the cops took to long to get to their house when they called 911 about a barking dog in the middle of the night. Nobody calls 911 to tell the cops they are having a great day. When people call 911 and ask for the cops it is because they are having a shitty day. Do you not like the police because you got a ticket? Have you ever complained about to the police or just yourself that the people driving while you are riding are going too fast or driving to close to you? I am guessing that you have not been the victim of a "serious" crime or violence where a police officer has put him / herself in harms way to protect you? Well that is a good thing, but it shouldn't take that for you to realize that the police, believe it or not are there to help you. Yes, I will readily admit there are some real lazy, horrible cops that give other cops a bad name, but ( and assuming you ride / do tri's etc.) are you a doper just because of LA, Nina Kraft, or Jessica Hardy?

So I figured I'd provide a little update since we don't always get good news on these. After a few weeks of working with the local police department and a lot of footwork on my part, the suspect is surrendering to the police later this week. I can't and won't go into any more details yet as there is still an active case.

What I will say is in any instance where you are hit or a victim of a road rage type incident there are a few very important things you should absolutely do.

1) Do anything you can to get as much of the plate as can. Yell to get attention of any potential witnesses and then read the plate info out loud to yourself if possible.
2) Immediately call 911 if you are able to. I took the phone from the witness and repeated the license plate multiple times into the phone once the operator was on.
3) Get any witnesses information you can and keep it yourself incase it is left off the report and 911 calls.
4) When you get home or have access to somewhere to take notes, write down EVERYTHING you remember from the incident. No small details should be left out.
5) Keep the police accountable. There are lots of great police officers out there who are very thorough and follow through, but there are plenty who really don't care either. You never know which one you are going to get until you read the report a week or two later.
6) Get checked out, thoroughly. Even if it doesn't seem serious at the time, it might be worse then initially thought. I know the real issues with my injuries didn't pop up for 3-5 days and even now there are things I'm just starting to notice a few weeks down the road as I tried to go for a run or get back to some normal activities.
7) Talk with a lawyer. Most injury defense attorneys will provide enough information to help you through the process initially and determine if there is a case before they charge you anything.

When it is all said and done, I'm just thankful that I'm alive and able to walk. I'll be dealing with the recovery for a while and hopefully it won't be too long before I'm able to get back on the bike.

Thanks for the update and info. Good to hear things are on track. I'll file this thread away for a day I hope I never have...

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