The wife and I were out for a ride this morning when we were ‘hit’ by a car that cut us off in the bike lane. The person slowed down but kept going despite my wife being layed out in the street and me cursing and yelling at him. A number of other drivers were honking and screaming at him to stop, but that didn’t work either. A woman who saw the accident stopped and called the cops, with the license plate number. Police came out, took a report and said they would follow up. My wife has scratches, bruises, a sore shoulder, and is little shaken up but is otherwise ok. Her bike suffered some cosmetic damage…tore saddle, scratches on the bars and STI shifter, ripped bar tape, etc. Now what?
File the report, get the report number and follow up.
The person who did this commited a series of felonies. The issue is, depending on the size of your municipality, it may go to the “back burner” pretty quickly. You have to continue to call the desk Sergeant to press the investigation on.
Now, if you think about this, there is a reasonable possibility the perpetraitor left the scene for a reason. They may have outstanding warrants. Ask the cops to check based on the plate number. They won;t tell you, but it may be motive for them to press the investigation. Remind them that vehicular assault and leaving the scene of an injury accident is extremely serious.
Ultimately, it is always good to have friends on the inside. So, making an alliance with a local law enforcement officer can yield big dividends.
Hopefully everyone is all right. This is a terrible thing to have happen to you. I am glad it isn’t more serious.
At least you and your wife didn’t receive any injuries that won’t heal. But, don’t let your reprieve from serious injury take the wind out of your sails in trying to get this person arrested and taken to account for thier actions. Nail 'em if at all possible. They could have killed both of you, and they could get you or someone else in the future if not brought to justice. Sounds a little melodramatic, I know.
I’m really glad you are both going to be OK.
Adopting my (ex-)cop voice: Once the police investigation is complete (which generally takes 1-3 days), obtain a copy of the police report and insist on enforcement actions if none were taken. I would then recommend you consult an attorney, who will communicate for you with the driver and their insurance company. Small claims court may also be an option if you are not satisfied with the offer made by the insurance company/driver. I would also suggest that your wife see her doctor, to rule out medical problems. If she has medical issues relating to the crash and they aren’t documented now, it may be difficult to make a claim later. If she does have medical issues, contact the poilce officer and have these injuries documented in the police report. In most places, leaving the scene of an injury accident is a more serious crime than leaving the scene of a non-injury property damage accident.
Good luck with it. Hope all works out.
That sucks. Glad you’re wife is OK and that someone got the plates. I hope you get the guy.
I have a question though based on the way you wrote this up. You wrote:“we were ‘hit’ by a car that cut us off in the bike lane”. What’s the reason for the use of the quotes? Did he cut you off and hit you, or did he cut you off and your wife crashed? I imagine that if there was no contact it may not be taken as seriously by the police. Either way, the guy broke the law by fleeing.
In SD we had a woman become a victim of a hit and run on Christmas day I believe. Broken pelvis, vertebrae, the whole deal. I’m glad you’re wife came through relatively unscathed.
definately make sure that you note the injuries and go and see a doctor, perhaps you should have went to the emergency room, she could be in shock and not realize the extent of her injuries and make sure that their insurance company at least pays for a new bike and then some.
Hope your both OK, that sucks. Glad to hear someone helped. Make sure you get this person to take care of everything and let us know.
Notify YOUR insurance carrier immediately. If you have UMC and the driver is not caught, you should be reimbursed your medical expenses, if any, at least. Don’t assume your wife is going to be fine, Shawn. Assume she was hurt and pray she’s fine. You’ll know if she’s ok within a few days, probably.
Good luck!
-Robert
Glad to hear your wife did not sustain any permanent injuries. I ride with my wife often and we had a very close call last summer. Had the motorist been a foot closer she might have been seriously hurt. I screamed at the guy but he just kept going. Unfortunately I didn’t get his licence plate.
Follow this up to the max. Good luck with it. And fellow ST’ers, be careful out there.
Thanks for all the nice replies. Yeah, it could have been way worse, the mark on the front her helmet says it all. The driver didn’t exactly hit us. We were in the bike lane, he cut over to get in the right hand turn lane and stopped…in the bike lane! Luckily we were going up a slight hill at only 15mph. I yelled and hit the brakes, then hit the rear bumper of the car. My wife who was right behind me, hit her brakes but didn’t have enough time and ran into me and went over the bars. I was able to stay up. How? I have no idea. I will definitely take everyone’s advice and follow up with the Sheriff’s Dept. It would have been much different if the driver would have stopped and checked on us. I proably would have said a few choice words and gone on our way. Instead, he ran and now I can only pray he gets caught before he really hurts someone.
We were in the bike lane, he cut over to get in the right hand turn lane and stopped…in the bike lane!<<
This is exactly what happened to one of my clubmates a few weeks ago. But he was going about 30 mph and went off in the ambulance. Tri season over before it began.
As someone else said, report it to your insurance to claim UIM if you have to. I got hit and run in my truck on the bridge here and UIM covered it.
Glad to hear you are both OK.
clm
Just FYI, in case you do end up needing an attorney, I recall seeing a small ad in the back of either Inside Tri or Triathlete…some lawyers who specifically deal with cyclists who have been hit by cars. They had a website too, IIRC, so it would probably turn up in a Google search. Good luck.