squid caused accident in front of me

[zzzzip]

Maybe an LEO wants to chime in on this one, but if he didn't hit anyone, he's probably not going to be at fault.
Someone pulled out right in front of me while driving in my car. I swerved hard and missed her, but lost control of the car, and went hit a curb.

When I called the police, they said it wasn't her fault because no collission occurred.....

Had I slammed into her car, which had 5 kids in it, without seat-belts, it woud have been her fault.....

Wrong call by the officer, if your description is accurate. Too bad you couldn't get a second opinion. They're right in that no collision occurred (if you don't count hitting a fixed object like a curb), but absent things like you were speeding, or the other car has some normal expectation of right of way, congestion, etc., the other driver was in the wrong and should have been cited for causing you to have to swerve to avoid a collision. Then the insurance company would determine fault.

B)

 

[raclow]

Attaboy!
B)

+1....Burn his ass. :angry:

He better be glad it wasn't my family in the ran over cars!!!!! :assassin: h34r:

 

[SMC]

:blink: No need for mixed emotions, you did the right thing.

Remember years ago the "Unibomber" case?

It was his brother who turned him in. I can imagine the conflict there about

turning your brother in, but here again, it was the right thing for his brother

to do.

 

[squeezer]

+ whatever we're up to. If he didn't kill someone this time, he will eventually. No ambiguity here. You did exactly the right thing, and good on ya' for it.

 

[twodogs]

Good job.

Thanks.

More and more of us are reverting to this course of action. If we don't, the anonimity of modern life lets these idiots do it again. I had to rassle with a tagger the other day. But, he's arrested now. As soon will be your squid, I hope. I still hear from folks who don't "get involved". **** them, too.

Bill

 

[Geezer]

Maybe an LEO wants to chime in on this one, but if he didn't hit anyone, he's probably not going to be at fault.
Someone pulled out right in front of me while driving in my car. I swerved hard and missed her, but lost control of the car, and went hit a curb.

When I called the police, they said it wasn't her fault because no collission occurred.....

Had I slammed into her car, which had 5 kids in it, without seat-belts, it woud have been her fault.....

Wrong call by the officer, if your description is accurate. Too bad you couldn't get a second opinion. They're right in that no collision occurred (if you don't count hitting a fixed object like a curb), but absent things like you were speeding, or the other car has some normal expectation of right of way, congestion, etc., the other driver was in the wrong and should have been cited for causing you to have to swerve to avoid a collision. Then the insurance company would determine fault.

B)

You did absolutely the right thing and I'd like to think that I would have done it if I were in your place. However, the only way the asshat will be held liable will be if several drivers are willing to testify. Unless you are trained (as in LEO), the judge is not likely to take your estimate of his speed as valid.

 

[E1Allen]

Regardless of who it was if they flee the scene of the accident, there is no reason they shouldn't get in trouble or found out about. Good call.

 

[Chief]

Good going :yahoo:

 

[donaldb]

Did a great job in securing that tag. I have some concerns though. If the squid was wearing a full face helmet your gonna be asked to ID the guy??????????for criminal reasons.........causing an accident and fleeing the scene...........can you honestly ID the guy????????????

If you can't and even if you have the tag, the owner may claim it was not him.........all he has to do is damage the ignition and claim someone took it.........drop it off in some mall parking lot and call a bud to come pick him up, file a P/R missing bike, etc. Even if he has insurance, he may be able to get out of liability from the civil side of things.

Somebody should have just run over his ass..........then there would be no mistaking his ID

 

[mdisher]

If you can't and even if you have the tag, the owner may claim it was not him.........all he has to do is damage the ignition and claim someone took it.........drop it off in some mall parking lot and call a bud to come pick him up, file a P/R missing bike, etc. Even if he has insurance, he may be able to get out of liability from the civil side of things.

Sounds like you've done this before

Somebody should have just run over his ass..........then there would be no mistaking his ID

+1

 

[TruWrecks]

Great job!!!! I hope they catch the asshat!

 

[zzzzip]

If you can't and even if you have the tag, the owner may claim it was not him.........all he has to do is damage the ignition and claim someone took it.........drop it off in some mall parking lot and call a bud to come pick him up, file a P/R missing bike, etc. Even if he has insurance, he may be able to get out of liability from the civil side of things.

Sounds like you've done this before

Somebody should have just run over his ass..........then there would be no mistaking his ID

+1

Only for about 30 years...

Sorry geezer, but I have to disagree. Your point is very logical, but the judicial system sometimes operates on the illogical--

At the risk of hijacking a thread...

The courts have ruled that a civilian (i.e. non- law enforcement) can estimate speed. All you have to show is things like how long they have been driving, age, experience, etc.... common sense things. Some judges consider them better witnesses than a cop because if the lack of an "agenda". I would think he would be a very good witness in this case because he followed the event to the end.

As far a ID of the driver goes... "what would a reasonable person" believe/do/etc. The case would also include circumstantial evidence such as ownership, alibi for where the owner was, who had possession of the bike, etc... and I suspect the asshole would fold when he heard he had a witness who chased him and could ID his helmet, riding gear etc. More than one person is in prison based on circumstantial evidence. Base it all on what a reasonable person would do or belive and you have a pretty strong case.

Plus, if you believe TV they got DNA and fingerprints at the scene of the accident, not to mention satellite video of what he did.

Sorry for the hijack.

B)

 

[Thug]

Great job!...**** him...

Damn you, Thug...you stole my line

Stef

:good:

 

[FJamR]

If you can't and even if you have the tag, the owner may claim it was not him.........all he has to do is damage the ignition and claim someone took it.........drop it off in some mall parking lot and call a bud to come pick him up, file a P/R missing bike, etc. Even if he has insurance, he may be able to get out of liability from the civil side of things.

Sort of like the chick who rented a Suburban from a company my wife worked for years ago. After her boyfriend and his buddies used it for a blocker while robbing a bank, she reported it stolen. The cops didn't believe that one either.

Thanks all for the replies. I've looked in the news briefly but haven't seen anything. I almost felt like not riding the bike in to work the next day but did anyhow. I've been hit by cars in the past on bikes and this thing is just a reality check for me once again on how fast it can happen. Ride safe all and watch out for the nimrods on the road!

 

[kjc625]

Maybe an LEO wants to chime in on this one, but if he didn't hit anyone, he's probably not going to be at fault.
Someone pulled out right in front of me while driving in my car. I swerved hard and missed her, but lost control of the car, and went hit a curb.

When I called the police, they said it wasn't her fault because no collission occurred.....

Had I slammed into her car, which had 5 kids in it, without seat-belts, it woud have been her fault.....

Well thats not right. Traffic Collision is defined as an unintentional movement of conveyance which causes death, injury or property damages. So whether the ASS hit em or not. He caused the accident and he is at fault. As long as one has a witness to backed the story, you are OKAY.

 

[keithaba]

Maybe an LEO wants to chime in on this one, but if he didn't hit anyone, he's probably not going to be at fault.
Someone pulled out right in front of me while driving in my car. I swerved hard and missed her, but lost control of the car, and went hit a curb.

When I called the police, they said it wasn't her fault because no collission occurred.....

Had I slammed into her car, which had 5 kids in it, without seat-belts, it woud have been her fault.....

Well thats not right. Traffic Collision is defined as an unintentional movement of conveyance which causes death, injury or property damages. So whether the ASS hit em or not. He caused the accident and he is at fault. As long as one has a witness to backed the story, you are OKAY.

Damn, wish you would have been the LEO that came to the scene. Guess he didn't want to do the paperwork....

This guy will get what's coming to him, it may not be now, it may not be next month.....

 

[Randy]

My guess is that the only way they would pursue charges is if there was someone else that could back up your story - at least part of it. I just hope they don't misidentify the motorcyclist as YOU rather than the real guy. Anywho, there's a chance, and probably a pretty good one, that they guy will get off. However, through the process, hopefully he'll get the shit scared out of him enough that he'll think twice about doing it again.

Something else I just thought of...I'm thinking the only part of the accident that he could be charged with is the initial incident. For the cars/trucks behind that got involved, they might get charged with following too close since they couldn't get stopped in time. A few years back, we were in the middle of a 5 car accident. 1st car stops, 2nd car (us) stops, 3rd car hits us from behind, 4th car stops, 5th car doesn't get stopped, hits the 4th car, 4th car hits 3rd car, 3rd car hits us, we hit car in front of us. 3rd car and 5th car were both charged.