[BCM] Motorist kills cyclist, sues for car damages

Thu Jan 31 11:29:52 EST 2008

There message brings up many things.  First off, any insurance that 
covers more than just consequences to you and yours is explicitly 
covering negligence.  That is one of the primary purposes of auto and
homeowners insurance.  On the other hand it typically does not cover
actions that are not merely negligent but criminal which is why most
lawyers won't push for a criminal charges in a case like this because 
then you have to try and collect from the person rather than the 
insurance agency.  It's also much easier to win a civil case than a 
criminal case since the standards are different.  It's only with 
criminal cases or provably flagrant traffic offenses that someone is
going to lose their driving privileges and for that you'll need better
evidence than the two people involved arguing over what happened.

You also bring up the police.  Most police have no experience with 
accident reconstruction involving bicycles and furthermore see more
cyclists ignoring the traffic laws than following them so why shouldn't
they assume that the cyclist was at fault.  The only real way of 
combatting this in specific instances is to have video footage*.  In 
the longer term it would be better to get cyclists to follow the 
traffic laws.

* note that massachusetts is a "two party" state in regards to audio
recording.  Anyone is allowed to record images of anything (with a 
few very narrow exceptions) so long as they are legally allowed to be
where they are, but they are only allowed to record audio if anyone
being recorded can reasonably be assumed to have been informed of the
recording and certain officials (like police) have the right to not 
allow being recorded while acting in their official capacity (like 
arresting you).  What this effectively means is that if you mount 
video cameras to your bicycle you should disable audio otherwise you
are subject to legal consequences far worse than the person who 
intentionally tried to run you down (yes it's perverse but it's the 
way it is).

--jim

On Thu, Jan 31, 2008 at 10:24:50AM -0500, Basil Sharpe wrote:
> I commute from Medford to North Station at least 3 to 4 times weekly.
> The problem as I see it is that some drivers feel it's their right to
> drive and drive fast.   Furthermore a good percentage of them at least
> on my commute get very upset at the idea that they may have to slow a
> bit because I'm making a left turn.  Then I get swear at treatment as
> they race off.
> 
>  
> 
> Furthermore if by accident, they hit a cyclist, they really have no
> consequence.   So what, there insurance goes up.  The insurance company
> gets stuck with a 50k dollar bill and the driver gets back in his car
> because "it's his right"  and drive too fast again.  And the people who
> do drive carefully also get stuck with higher insurance rates.  But the
> many drivers who just go too fast with no regard to pedestrians or
> cyclists have no consequences to them and this is the big problem here.
> 
>  
> 
> The fix as I see it is to make the driver who hits someone personally
> liable.   If it's determined the guy was reckless, then some
> consequences should apply.   If the guy owns a house or has any assets,
> the insurance company doesn't have to get stuck with the bill.  If he
> has nothing, a percentage should be taken out of his paycheck for a very
> long time to cover damages.  In this case the insurance would cover some
> as well.  He also would loose his license either forever or a long time.
> Now a driver might think before he speeds on a city street near
> pedestrians and cyclists.  
> 
>  
> 
> I've ridden my bike in parts of Italy and other parts of Europe where
> cars do slow for cyclist and give them plenty of room.  They pass and
> instead of speeding and swearing they smile and give a friendly toot on
> the horn.  I wonder if it's the laws.  I would hazard a guess that these
> drivers have a different mindset to the guy who swore at me this
> morning.
> 
>  
> 
> I own a car too, so the guy who swore and drove to fast and recklessly
> too potentially makes my car insurance go up too if he his me.  So now I
> pay by getting hurt, my car insurance may go up.  And the insurance
> company who wasn't even there gets stuck with a bill.  Meanwhile the
> state police usually side with driver and then let the guy drive home!!!
> BTW I have proof or this statement, I witnessed an accident last year
> involving a car and a cyclist.  I know what happened and I also
> witnessed the policeman and how he acted and that isn't the first time,
> I've seen this.)  
> 
>  
> 
> Crazy
> 
>  
> 
> But there may be a fix. End this notion in Massachusetts that as a
> driver hey " it's my right to drive and get out of my way; the roads are
> mine and I can do what I like with my car because if I hit you, I'll
> just say it was your fault and get away with it; I pay nothing and get
> to drive and do it all again."
> 
>  
> 
> End this with consequences.  But how?
> 
> ________________________________
> 
> From: bostoncriticalmass-bounces at bostoncriticalmass.org
> [mailto:bostoncriticalmass-bounces at bostoncriticalmass.org] On Behalf Of
> Jameson Bull
> Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 11:49 AM
> To: Boston Critical Mass
> Subject: Re: [*BCM*] Motorist kills cyclist, sues for car damages
> 
>  
> 
> Not that I'm suggesting we ignore stories like this, but I think I'm
> going to start a trend of sending around happy cycling stories. 
> 
> -Jamie
> 
> On Jan 30, 2008 10:44 AM, Eric Mearns <ericmearns at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/01/30/spain.luxury.car/index.html
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>  
> 
> 
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