I just received a copy of the accident report from my crash. The write-up of the incident does not match what happened. I remember very clearly and did not black out. Information that I told the officer is blatantly not included or is wrong. My speed is listed as 30 mph in a 30 mph zone. This is clearly untrue - as I’m not THAT good!!!
the report says that the traffic light at the intersection was out. It was - on my side (should have been blinking yellow). It was working on his side (blinking red). I pointed this out to the officer.
It also says that the guy in the Mercedes came to a full stop and then moved into the intersection at 2 mph. This does not match what happened and what I told the cop. He never stopped and was probably going about 10-15 mph. I saw this very clearly before we collided!
I called the PD and the dispatcher put a call in to the officer, who is on duty right now. He was supposed to call me right away (about an hour ago now). What should I do? How do I get the accident report amended? I am also waiting for my lawyer to call me…
I should add that this is in a place where there are a lot of cyclists - and a lot of cyclists that disobey the rules. They piss off a lot of drivers, cause a lot of accidents, and get written a lot of tickets by the police. The police there are generally known to not be very friendly or tolerant of cyclists.
Any cops who can advise? Anyone ever had a similar situation? Help!
I think this is a job for your attorney. Are there witnesses? Do you have contact info for them? You should make notes as to your memory and what is not how you recall it. Get your thoughts on paper while they are fresh so you can refer back, who knows how long this will go on. Maybe an attorney can jump in here but I would think that you might be advised to not talk to the cop directly.
As another suggested, write down every detail you can think of about what happened. Also, if and when you speak to the police officer who wrote the report, whatever you do, do not make an enemy of him. If there ever is a lawsuit he will assuredly end up being a witness, one way of the other. On that note, its probably a good idea to take notes about your conversation with him, however it turns out. Finally, go take photos of the scene (particularly the traffic signal) NOW - try to do it at the same time of day and under the same lighting conditions that existed at the time of the collision. Finally, get an attorney who specialized in these case (car hits bike) - they are out there (usually see ads in various triathlon mags).
I think this is a job for your attorney. Are there witnesses? Do you have contact info for them? You should make notes as to your memory and what is not how you recall it. Get your thoughts on paper while they are fresh so you can refer back, who knows how long this will go on. Maybe an attorney can jump in here but I would think that you might be advised to not talk to the cop directly.
Attorney?! How about insurance company?
Well I, maybe foolishly, assumed that there are insurance companies already involved. My point was that in this type of accident having an attorney around is probably smart at least until you get some idea how it will pan out. Now that she knows there are red flags already she should be in contact with one. I think someone, other than Lauren, should be talking to the cop be it attorney or insurance adjustor.
Officer Friendly here. A lot of the guys I work with don’t return calls to citizens in the hopes that they will get discouraged and stop calling…it is the civil service mentality. If you know he is on duty and doesn’t reply to your phone call or calls make a firm but friendly complaint to his Sergeant. Call the dispatcher and say you want to talk to the Officer’s Sergeant. Tell the Sergeant what is happening and tell him the report is in error and you’d like the officer to ammend it. Tell him to fax you a copy of the ammended report or ask if you can pick it up because in New York ammended reports have a habit of going missing in the system. If that doesn’t help you can go higher…Lieutenant, Captain etc. Don’t tell them you’ve enlisted the help of a lawyer or they might tell you they can’t talk to you about the matter without him/her present. Good luck.
Remember that the cop is an independent investigator and he has to report and write down on the official police report what BOTH parties side of the story is. The key to a police report is WHO got the ticket and in your case its the other guy so it doesnt matter what it says in the report as long as HE got the ticket. Also your other witness is your bike computer to say how fast you were ACTUALLY going. The other witness you have is me to testify that the lights were screwed up that day, remember when we were leaving the key and everyone was running that red light, I think it was a known problem with the lights on the key that day. Remember he could have killed you and will say anything to make himself look innocent, just today another cyclist was killed in Broward county. Ive got a bunch of buddies that are cops so call me asap and Ill tell you what they said, cheer up:)))))
But he didn’t get a ticket. the paramedics told me that he did. the police report says that he was not given a citation.
Did you ride all the way to the end of the key that day after you left my house?
So frustrating… Talking to the lawyer now… Just looked up this guy’s property records. His house appraised for $1.2 million a couple yrs ago. It is definitely worth much more than that now. He lives on an island. Drives a Mercedes. I live in a rented apt and drive a…smashed up Guru…!
I speak from experience with my own wreck, and despite having an inherent dislike of civil suits. Get a GOOD attorney and let him/her take care of the details for you.
Best option is get an specialty lawyer involved, they know how to work this. He will not charge you, will go to the guys insurance company and they will most likely settle and get paid by them since they really dont want the expense of litigation. Talk to your lawyer about personal property damage (bike) and personal injury this last two words get insurance companies moving pretty fast.
There are 2 key issues i see in the report that I am sure the cop will like to change if he is really honest: you going 30mph (not that is a bad thing… but in this case) and the car moving at 2mph… A car does not move at 2mph, you have accelerate to more than that to get it going. I he made a full stop as the cop said, more so, if he did not fully stopped then even better for you.
And now you are starting to remember that your neck and back hurt as well and you are having trouble sleeping (hint, hint)! Okay so the guy should be able to afford the repairs/replacement for your bike frame right? Is the ‘defendent’ still responsive to your need to get your bike repaired/replaced? If not, contact and attorney and go for the jugular!
Sadly, money talks again. Be sure to use your insurance company, as that’s probably what will have to happen in Florida. Just contact them, and let them sort out the bills. I agree that you need photos, and if you use a digital camera, the metadata in the camera will indicate the time of day, date, etc. Did you happen to have any witnesses? By all means, try and let your insurance company sort it out, but impress on them the urgency. But also do NOT sign off until all the aches etc get well, well behind you. Keep us posted on the process.
After another Slowtwitcher was hit by a car I called my cousin, an insurance adjuster for advice about whether to sue or settle and for how much. She said it is all in the numbers the put into a computer modeling program. Here are some of the factors they enter.
What are the actual damages.
What is the likelihood of this going to court.
How high is the possible judgment.
Jury sympathy to bike riders in your area.
How sympathetic is the person (you) going to be the jury, AKA jury appeal.
How sympathetic will their client be to the jury.
Witness testimony.
Police report.
Other factors I don’t remember.
All this goes in and they get a “settlement range” to pay your claim. They will aim for the low end but will go to the high end if they need to. They do not want to go to court and will do everything they can to avoid lawyers because the lawyer adds his income desires to your claim. If you ask for replacement of everything that was damaged or destroyed, actual medical bills, reasonable compensation for the pain and suffering they will most likely cut a check. The key is to be as nice a person as you possibly can when the adjuster comes over to look at your bike. The adjuster is spending as much time determining your jury appeal as he is determining the damage to your property. You should also point out anything else that was the cause of the accident if in fact they are true. I would never advocate making things up. Things like how terrified you were. How you were sure you were going to die. How scary it was flying through the air for so long. The carelessness of the driver who hit you. The trouble you have sleeping. Any pain and suffering you have. Again I am not advocating making anything up, just pointing out potential effects of getting hit by a car. These will all go into the determination of the settlement offer.
Good luck and I am happy you were able to walk away from this. Too bad for the Guru, that pic was hard to look at.
First, I’m sorry to hear about your accident and glad you’re ok. I may be misunderstanding your account but was the light you were facing non-functional? If so, legally there may be shared responsibility for the accident as both of you were to have come to a complete stop. Hopefully this is resolved quickly, preferably between the insurance companies.
Just for reference, some states do not allow the admission of a traffic ticket in a vehicular negligence case (civil case). Thus, the fact that he got a ticket would not be allowed in court in the event she has to sue to gain recovery for her bike.