yeah, no kidding. phew. it's been a while since i've gotten into a cyber-argument.

i know where she's coming from. bad choice of words on my part, i guess.

also, tips on what to do if you're hit by a car (this is Portland-specific, but I'm sure a lot of it could be applied to other cities). I had a friend get hit by a driver a couple of years ago, and he sustained some major injuries (it was the driver's fault):

From http://bikeportland.org/2006/01/12/what ... -been-hit/
What to do if you’ve been hit
Last week I posted about bike lawyer Ray Thomas’ new campaign to take the law into our own hands when in a serious injury crash with a motorist. The advice was great, but it wasn’t very clear to non-lawyers.

What follows below is a more straightforward checklist of what do to after you’ve been hit. It was submitted to me by local cyclist Austin Ramsland.



OK. You find yourself in the middle of the street and you are staring down the bumper of a car. You have just been hit, you are alright, although pretty shook up. Unfortunately, now, when you are probably least capable, you need to start thinking:

1) Do a check. And when you know it is safe to move, get up and get safe. Next, make sure that the driver is stopped and staying stopped.

2) Get someone else to call the cops. Everyone has a phone, so get someone else to make the call.

Why this is important: You have some important work to do and if you can get away with not spending 10 minutes on the phone with the emergency dispatch, the better. Also, the stress of the accident might make it impossible for you to actually remember the number. Sounds crazy, but its true.

3) Start some crowd control. Start gathering people and information. (And if you can’t do it, get someone to do it for you.) Tell people not to leave, and tell them what you need. Name, address, phone number of all of the witnesses. Make sure to ask them what they saw, so the story does not change a week later. Take some pictures if you have a cameraphone. Note: It is illegal in Oregon for a witness to bail out without giving you his/her information.

4) Talk to the driver. Get his/her information: Phone, address, insurance information (including policy number), also get his/her license plate and drivers license number. If they are at fault, ask them to admit it.

Why this is important: People change their minds. All the time. Especially when are consequences to their actions and incentives to changing the story.

5) Wait for the cop. This could take a while. Make the driver wait if at all possible. When the cop shows up, he will ask you a couple of very important questions.

“Do you need an ambulance?” This question seems straightforward, but it is not. In Oregon, there are two criteria for a police investigation. One is if there is over $1500 of damage to a vehicle. Two is if there is trauma. Trauma is determined by the ambulance. In other words: No ambulance ride. No investigation. If you are wavering, take the ride.

Why this is important: If the incident is investigated and the driver is a fault, it will be easier to get insurance to pay for any damages. If the accident is not investigated, it is as if it never happened.

“Tell me what happened.” Here is where you lay out the details. If the driver is clearly at fault, say so. If he/she admitted it, say so.

6) Get the officer’s information. Name, badge, everything he/she will give you. Typically, they have cards that they give out.

7) Get the carbon copy of the officer’s exchange of information form. This is a form that the cop has to fill out.

8) Start asking questions:

• Are you going to ticket the driver for [blatant violation]?
• Is this accident going to be investigated? If not, why not?

Understand that some cops don’t fully understand your rights to the road, so if you run into a brick wall, don’t worry, you still have some moves to make.

This next bit is the tricky part, but is also very important.

9) Call 503-823-2103 and report the accident. In Oregon, you can call up traffic division and report the incident. Traffic division will assign a staffer to take a report of the accident. You will need the carbon copy of the officer’s report. Once the staffer takes the report, it will be sent to Oregon traffic court. This will turn into an honest to goodness traffic violation if you follow the next steps.

10) Sign the violation. One week later you must show up to traffic court to sign the violation and make it official. A summons will then be sent to the driver to show up at traffic court.

11) Get ready and go to court. Here is where you lay out your case that the driver violated the law. If you win, the driver will be cited with a traffic violation.

Why this is important: With a violation on the books, any insurance company will have a hard time denying who was at fault. It is also important to get these violations on the books, so that policymakers know that people are getting hit, and have to take this action.

12) Call the driver’s insurance company and file a claim. If it was a bad accident, get a lawyer. If you don’t know if you need a lawyer, get a lawyer. If you think you can handle it on your own proceed with caution.

13) Know what you are dealing with and put on the gloves. The insurance person who calls you is working a crappy job. They have to listen to stories like yours all day long, and chances are that their bosses are giving them a hard time about something. It’s not their fault, but they do not care about you. They care about costs, current and future liability, and their job. When they are on the phone with you, they are probably looking at all three.

14) Start fighting your case. Some people call this negotiation, but the fact is that you need to let them know that you mean business and that you are open to an offer. Cite the violation. Cite the witnesses. Cite the driver. Say how you could have died. If they give you a number, ask for double. If they ask you to release them of any further liability, say no. If they capitulate, be suspicious. Take the hard line.

Why this is important: All bets are off when dealing with insurance companies. They weren’t in the accident, and they didn’t see the accident. All they are looking at is their liability and their bottom line. Remember that this is very emotional for you, but also remember that this is just another day at work for them. Note: Don’t expect this to wrap up with the first, second, or third call. They know that you will likely get frustrated and give up. Don’t. Give. Up.

15) Accept an offer. When you think you have a good offer, accept. But make sure that you review the terms before signing anything.

16) Congratulate yourself. If you got to this step, then you are one of the very few riders that got compensated for an accident. Now, take a couple of deep cleansing breaths, put the ordeal behind you, and go for a ride.

That says it for me!

i was hit by a car during a 3 day charity ride and my training/riding buddy was a lawyer. all i could do was lay there and try to figure out what the hell happened until the ambulance came.

in the meantime, she ran around and gathered all the info from witnesses and dealt with the cops. she was most excellent.

and bikes certainly do rule.

is it just me or do those photos look like they were at a photo shoot?

Nope, not just you. I also wonder if the story is true, since it is posted on a website called "totallycrap.com."

Driver-Cyclist relations will never improve if cars keep driving in the bike lanes and cyclists keep blowing through stop signs and other traffic signals. It only takes a few assclowns to ruin things for everyone.

well said, Mike. Pretty much how I feel as well.

It used to bug the shit out of me in Athens that some of the bicycle people had such blatant disregard for the traffic laws yet would be the first to throw a rock at or spit on a car that they felt had "wronged" them. Like you say, a few assclowns on either side is all it takes.

Kids on skateboards though I just run down first and ask questions later.

haha. that stupid bitch is just as bad as he is.

It was orginally posted here: www.citynoise.org.

I certainly don't condone littering, but is it really littering if its food?

Maybe he thought he was being kind to the seagulls and crows and various critters that would gobble up the evidence in minutes?

I'd be far more indignant if he threw the paper wrapper on the street.

Ah, another day of sisterhood. I hear ya, ayah.

Look, you and your bike weigh more than a thousand pounds less than they do in their car. You're not going to win, right or wrong. Your only winning card is agility and narrow spaces. Don't fight a car.

I've commuted in cities a lot, and I vote for going through the park. Only hit the car with a fist (for attention, not damage) if you think they don't see you and might be near to crushing you.

<--- had some kids throw a football at me once, just kept riding. Called the cops the second time.

bjw! not surprising, but i have been thinking about you all day. i'm happy to jump aboard and find you here. hope all is well.



this made me laugh...but not at you.

They hit me, too! I'm still surprised it didn't knock me over (which would have been bad, as there was a pretty steep grade on the side of the road).

All is well. The job is much more full-time than studenthood was, is all. How are your things? Are we still going to Italy?

things have sucked for a while but improving every day. italy? this is a big birthday year for me so it could still happen.

Hey, it's a big birthday year for me, too. Hmmm...

In her defense, she did say she is no longer sure she is right about what she did. ("...right or wrong...")

That said, I have been tempted to throw peoples' cigarette butts back in their cars with them. Think of it this way: littering is a crime, I'm "undoing" the crime. You don't want your litter thrown back in your car with you, don't throw it out the window in the first place.

I wouldn't have been as kind as the courier. That guy woulda walked away bloody.

Wrong. It's not your job to be judge, jury and executioner. If you feel that strongly, report it and/or dispose of the litter yourself. Do you also pick up unclaimed feces off the ground and attempt to shove it back in the dog's ass?



I doubt it. Most people who are that confrontational are not people you want to go starting trouble with. You may think you're a do-gooder and a hardass, but when that guy pulls a bike chain from under his seat and lashes you senseless, you still haven't proven a point to anyone, other than the fact that you are insufferably stupid.

And let's give it the longshot that he's got flipper arms or something and you do manage to make him bloody. You haven't solved shit, and he can--and should--press charges against you, so that you have to go through the justice system. Nice stand there, J.J. Audobon.

This whole revenge attitude from the self-righteous do-gooders is pretty pathetic.

This whole defending litterers is even more pathetic. I suspect you relate more with the litterer, hence the hackle-raising. I say to you: quit littering. If I were to call the police on someone who littered, they'd just laugh. No, this is something that we, as that portion of the society who cares, need to take care of, ourselves. You litter, you find your car mysteriously "keyed" later. Draw the connection yourself.

And why should he press charges if I'm defending myself? The driver attacked that cyclist. The argument goes both ways -- why should the driver be allowed to attack the cyclist? The proper thing to have done would have been to call the police, if he thought she was in the wrong.

And you're assuming I wouldn't see him coming. You think I just blindly go throwing shit back in peoples' cars? No-one does that.

No, I rub the dog's nose in it. Nice analogy, I think it holds.

I'm not defending littering. I don't litter myself. I'm defending some sense of civilization and order. Vigilante justice is not acceptable, no matter how tough you think you are when you aren't thinking of cool nicknames for yourself or jacking off to answering machine tapes from years gone by. What is completely over your head (for starters) is the fact that there is no "connection" between getting your car keyed and littering.

Tell you what, I'll send a few guys over to litter in front of you, just to see how you handle it. I'll be the one with the camera, so i can postpixplskthx.

There's a reason I keep knuckle draggers like Dusty Chalk and Finch Platte on killfile, but I had cleared my cache and they popped back up.

Neither one of you idiots managed to make it through the whole day without ending back up on the list. Adios, fuckos.

You're so full of yourself. You're so sure you're right, that you don't even realize that your bespoke defense applies more against the guy who attacked the girl than the other way around. If you're truly outraged by vigilante justice, you should be more outraged by his actions than by hers.

So if you're not defending him as a litterbug, why are you defending him so adamantly?

And no need to get personal, fatso.

All arguments aside, are you guys sure that woman wasn't Yoko? Sure looks like her.