Crashes Lord... so i hit someone on a bike with my car... advice?

[darwin]

Don't sweat it thats why you have insurance. They will do what evers necessary to defend you.

 

[Bill555]

You can also email randy@ruleoflawradio.com . He can give you his 2 cents. He's a feisty old man who knows how to fight. He got into this because he spent a night in jail over a broken headlight. To him this didn't seem right.

I looked up that citation number and found another post you did. You mentioned public defenders. They should be called public pretenders. Randy can tell you how to beat up your public pretender to force them to do their job.

There are many things to know that these people can help you with.
Things like:
never get a bench trial
If a lawyers or public servants mouth is moving. They are lieing.
how to get discovery
how to write and file affidavits in your case
how to file bar grievances
how to select a jury. to make sure there are no jurers affiliated with the government in any way.

 

[loquin]

Both my wife and I have almost hit a bicyclist riding on the sidewalk, as we exited from a parking lot. In my case, the guy was doing 15-20 mph on the sidewalk, and there are trees/shrubbery blocking the view on the sidewalk. He popped out of nowhere, and I was looking in his direction. In my wifes case, they were going slower, but heading the 'wrong' direction. When you pull out, you check to see that there's no-one in the intersection, then look left. They were riding from the right.

In either case, had I hit them, if they weren't cited, I would have asked the officer about the legality of someone riding a bicycle on the sidewalk.

Here's what I found:

1. A.R.S. 28-904
   
   A. A person shall not drive a vehicle on a sidewalk area except on a permanent or duly authorized temporary driveway.
   
   B. This section does not apply to a motorized wheelchair, electric personal assistive mobility device, authorized emergency vehicle, security vehicle owned by this state or small service vehicle owned by this state or a political subdivision of this state.
   .
2. A.R.S. 28-101.41
   
   41. "Pedestrian" means any person afoot. A person who uses an electric personal assistive mobility device or a manual or motorized wheelchair is considered a pedestrian unless the manual wheelchair qualifies as a bicycle. For the purposes of this paragraph, "motorized wheelchair" means a self-propelled wheelchair that is used by a person for mobility.

So, a person riding a bicycle is NOT considered a pedestrian. I would think that you could make a case that a bicycle is a vehicle, and would thus be illegal to ride on the sidewalk. Bicycles are explicitly defined as vehicles and must obey traffic laws/regulations when ridden on the street.

 

[Bill555]

I don't believe either of them are considered a vehicle, unless oddzball is a commercial truck driver. (traveling vs. transportation)

I hope oddzball calls Eddie tonight. That'd be cool.

 

[machiasmort]

Hope you put the car back in reverse to make sure they didn't tell their side of the story. That's what they do here in NY, anyway.

 

[loquin]

If you were edging out, and there's a 'BAM' then he probably hit you.

You didn't say - did the kid hit the right corner of the bumper (which is what I assumed from your description) or the left corner of the bumper of your truck?

 

[james65]

accident

I wouldn't count on your insurance company fighting it. Usually they would rather pay rather than fight it. The kids parents are also thinking the same. Too much cost & risk fighting it. It's a lousy system but that's the way it is. Been there done that!

 

[Bill555]

Oddzball, last nights radio show was a rebroadcast. you could try calling in on thursday (8-10 CST) or friday (8-12 CST)

 

[choppermke]

im said to hear this i lived in phoenix for 7 years befor moving ti chicagoland, i will be moving back soon thank god. but i was hit a few years back at 24th st and indian school rd. i was knocked right into oncoming traffic heading east on indian school. could have been killed and when i was nice enoff not to call the cops even know i was hurt the guy gave me bad information. as a bike rider i dont see how u can defend your self. i understand the obstuction, but almost every main street is at least 45mph so there is no serviving the cross traffic if u get hit. plus all the mc fatalities each year. im said to see all the MBs giving advice on how to get out of it. im happy the kid was ok but to often that is not the case. yesterday i had a guy make a rite cutting me off because i could not compete with his speed, if i fan into him going 20mph was it my fault? im not condeming u so plz dont take it that way. u just know how many bikes are in tempe and every where else. just have to dubble check out there every time. u never know next time it could be a drunk who lost his L's and shoots at u. lol but true. i love phoenix

 

[Cavi Mike]

If I read this correctly, he came from your right. That means he was in the wrong. He was on the wrong side of the road and also on the sidewalk. You did nothing wrong.

*edit* You can feel bad if you want but he is the one that should feel bad. He put you in a terrible position, one that you had no responsibility for the outcome. I've put people in this exact situation and have felt terrible about it. If I have to be on the wrong side of the road, I go way out of my way to avoid this very scenario.