Another Crash

Question

Eric asked:  I was hit by a car yesterday while riding my bike.  I was crossing an intersection and someone that was making a right did not look and hit me.  I got license plate number and make and model of car, but he left.  I originally was going to let it go but now I am in pain and do not know if I can file a report.  Please help.

Answer

There is not a lot we can do directly to assist other than provide the information about the laws.  You should contact your local law enforcement agency and file a report.  You may also want to contact a personal injury attorney.  The information on this site under the tags “sidewalks” and ”crosswalks” can be used to develop the case.

See also:

http://flbikelaw.org/2012/12/lawsuit-for-compensation-in-crash/ – more-1216

1 Comment on “Another Crash

  1. When a crash participant might be injured but this can’t immediately be determined by an investigating officer, the injury severity level would usually reported in a police-reported crash as level 2–“possible”.

    Florida has a form for “Driver report of traffic crash” that is available for download on websites of some police departments/municipalites (e.g., http://www.talgov.com/tpd/tpd-traffic-crash-rprt.aspx ), and on the DHSMV site at http://www.flhsmv.gov/fhp/html/crashrep.html . Paper copies of the form should be available at offices of local law enforcement agencies. The reporting driver fills out the printed form and mails it to the DHSMV at the listed address.

    In entering the information for himself in one of the “vehicle/pedestrian” information sections, a cyclist would check the “vehicle” box, even if he was riding in a crosswalk.

    The driver report form has no section to report injury, because use of this form assumes that no injury occurred. However, the sequence of events in the crash can be described in the narrative section.

    A number of cycling advocacy organizations, and personal injury attorneys whose specialities include bicycle-motor vehicle crashes, have online advice for cyclists involved in crashes. A search for “what to do after bicycle crash” (or similar terms) will find many of these webpages. The FBA has a page at http://www.floridabicycle.org/victimservices/crashrecovery.html . Nowadays attorneys are advising cyclists to carry smartphones so they can (1) call 911 and (if in condition to do so) (2) document the crash scene by taking photos (e.g., see http://www.ohiobikelawyer.com/bike-law-101/2012/04/what-to-do-if-you-crash/ ).

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