It's ok, P. I'm sure that Are You All Street Lawyers will take stick to her/his position when it is her/his nephew/son/niece/daughter strapped to "the board" for the ride to the ER, or looking at her/his mangled fork. As such a strong supporter of the way things are, i'm sure that a personal experience won't shake her/his faith at all.

The good news is that once I went to the precinct to get the $10 report, it contained the motorist's insurance info, and the insurance company bent over backwards to help me. They fully reimbursed me for bike repair, time lost from work, and all medical treatment.

You should definitely pursue this with the insurance company, even if the cops at the scene sucked.

In New Jersey a citizen can issue a summons to the driver of another vehicle particularly when involved in an accident. I've done it myself but ended up dropping the charge after the driver did not show up to the first court appearance.

This practice of issue tickets to the other driver involved in an accident is often done to protect one's self from being accused of being at fault. In my case I clearly wasn't at fault since the other driver went through a stop sign. I had no stop sign and had the ROW. Unfortunately I could not avoid hitting her car with my own.

If you don't issue the other driver a ticket even when the accident was clearly not your fault there is always a possibility that the other driver will issue you a ticket as a way to pass the blame. In may case the other driver could have said that I was speeding or driving without my headlights on in the rain (that's why I wasn't riding my bike); all of which were not true but it becomes a matter of "he said, she said."

This happened to a friend of mine who was involved in an accident that was not her fault. The accident report clearly indicated so but the other driver issued her a summons on the 29th day after the accident. The statute of limitations to issue a summons is 30 days in New Jersey. By the time my friend got the ticket she could not rebut it with a summons of her own against the other driver since it was then beyond the 30 days since the accident.

When I issued the other driver the summons in my case I did the same and issued it on the 29th day. But again I did it to cover my butt, not so much as to punish her further. After not showing up for the first court appearance it was no longer worth my time to pursue the charge so I dropped it.

I would imagine that things are somewhat the same in NY so I would suggest trying it. Also get a lawyer or at least have one review the case. The other driver's car insurance has tons of them if you pursue this and you'll need at least someone on your side.

I REALLY hate to sound so litigious but if criminal justice system won't protect bicyclists and pedestrians then we have no choice but to pursue justice in the civil courts.

Just my 2 cents.

Good Luck!

do you smell bacon, you seem to get in an awful lot of accidents, by the way. Maybe it's time to take a cue from Larry L. and ride less aggressively, friend.

I understand Streetsblog aspect of focusing upon the NYPD in this situation, but I initially contacted Streetsblog to ask if they knew of any precedence about Vehicle on Bicycle Insurance matters, and if it would be absolutely useless to try to be compensated through a drivers insurance - if in fact there were no summons issued/fault given.

They were so kind to respond very quickly with helpful info of people to contact.

Reading through the comments, i feel the need to call out a couple things.
To quote the DOTs city of NYC traffic rules, (downloadable here - http://home2.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/motorist/traffic_rules.shtml):

Section 4-12
(h)"Accidents involving motor vehicles must be reported as required by the Vehicle and Traffic Law."

(p) Bicycles
(2) Driving on or across bicycle lanes are prohibited...."Notwithstanding any other rule, no person shall drive a vehicle on or across a designated bicycle lane in such a manner as to interfere with the safety and passage of persons operating bicycles thereon."

As we were both stopped at the same red light together, side by side- me in the bike lane and the driver in the left vehicle traffic lane, I find the negligence to rest upon the driver for not even acknowledging the fact that there was an additional lane of traffic to their left. And in effect - operating a motor vehicle in a densely populated region without looking.

Through the attitudes I experienced, its obvious drivers wont acknowledge bike lanes as traffic until "laws" are enforced, better bike lanes developed & implemented, and proper educational campaigns associated with new infrastructure are in place.

As my accident proved.... the "new" bike lanes the city is creating is the equivalent of beating a dead horse when drivers are not required to even acknowledge them as traffic lanes.

On the NYPD end, I called to receive my accident report number today and the 9th precinct told me to call back in a week.

I agree with you Ed Ravin,"second victimization" effect.

Sorry, I'd provide the URL, but my office has decided to block flickr.

Yeah, the design has been discussed here before, but despite the criticisms, I still think it's a good one.

(That is a very busy precinct, and there are only three radio cars out at any given time to cover the entire precinct and respond to crimes and other REAL emergencies.)

And, I remind you, that is with NYC having 2 1/2 times the police officers relative to population as the national average, and the number of officers is going down. So I conclude one cannot count on the police to solve these problems. The fixes have to be designed in to the street system.

Let's get back to how Jennifer was injured.

As I ride down the street on a bicycle, a routinely catch up to motor vehicles that have slowed (as it turns out) to make a turn, who then turn in front of me. Two or three times every day I ride to work, with or without a bike lane.

They wouldn't make a turn from a center lane in front of motor vehicle, but they do it to a bike, because they do not perceive a "lane" to their right or left, in the direction they are going.

Sometimes they signal, sometimes not. Depending on the circumstances, I may have been in their blind spot before the turn. And the driver is looking ahead for pedestrians (or should be).

I could see myself, as a driver, pulling up to an intesection, slowing, looking forward right for motor vehicles, looking forward left for pedestrians, and easing left around a corner --right in front of an overtaking bicycle I never saw.

I haven't been hit because, as a middle-aged guy, I ride slow enough to hit the breaks. But I think there is an issue requiring a solution here.

And, of course, it's not illegal to get into an accident due to a misjudgment on the behalf of the driver or cyclist.

That's the legal issue at stake here, and that's why enforcement is such a difficult thing to do--they can't give tickets based on peoples' notoriously unreliable and self-serving memory.

it is still illegal to hit someone with your car, isn't it?

There's a difference between car-on-car collisions and car-on-bike collisions (or bike-on-pedestrian, as Clover pointed out). The way insurance works in NYS, when two cars collide (assuming both are actually insured -- that's another story), the insurance companies hash it out, and the accident report comes into play. But there's no second insurance company in the car-on-bike crash, so of course the cyclist -- Jessica, in this instance -- is going to get screwed.

Which is why the police have to do better than "we didn't see it so we can't do anything." Witnesses, anyone?

What if there were witnesses. everything was accurately described, and the person who hit you got a ticket?

In Upstate New York, not NYC, my brother in law was riding a bicycle and was struck by a woman in an SUV who made a left turn at speed and plowed right into him head on. Despite the safety glass, he was thrown right through the windshield and would have died had he not been wearing a helmet, and might be crippled had he not been an athlete.

As it is he was badly hurt, hospitalized for a long time, unable to work for a longer time, used up his vacation time, sick time, etc. He had health insurance, but lots of co-payments. And his glasses and his bicycle were destroyed.

The woman got a ticket.

Since he had health insurance, the woman's insurance company refused to pay medical bill. Under no fault, the insurance company paid for his bike and glasses, but not replacement cost -- the value after an accelerated depreciation schedule. I think he might have received $20 in compensation.

So, how old is your wheel and fork, and how fast to bicycles depreciate?