BIKE: Road Rage (Long)

[Eric Anderson]

John wrote:
> Man, I hope that wasn't a hit and run!  I'm not usually a litagous person but that driver
> deserves to pay you "pain and suffering" on top of the obviously huge medical bills!
> I hope you finish recovering soon,

 
I would have sued at a heart beat, if I only knew who it was.
 
It was not a hit and run: he did not hit me, but he did (largely) contribute to my accident. The offending motorist at the very least could have been charged with failure to render aid. Further aggressive charges could possibly had included attempted vehicular assault, leaving the scene of an accident, and perhaps other road-rage misdemeanor charges.
 
However, I was the only witness, and in shock with broken upper femur. I raised myself up with the help of my bike, only to have this motorist squeal out yet again. A moment later, brain synapses firing, I collapsed to the ground. With a few minutes of a blurry memory (I don't remember hitting the pavement is all), all that my memory ever offered was that the car was yellow.
 
Ten minutes later I am "rescued" by a bicyclist who retrieves a friend from just a few blocks away. I am getting medical care 30 minutes later at Brack.
 
But I would add one very important peice of advice beyond: ride responsibly, smile and wave, and get the f*#% out of the way. This advice is to ALWAYS file a police report and press the APD to investigate any such incident, and certainly any and every accident involving a motor vehicle. At the time, I was in shock, then on morphine for a few days, then other pain-killers.  
 
If those close to me at the time had filed a police report, taken photos of the squeal marks, sought witnesses in neighboring houses, enough information may have been gathered to support a strong application to the Texas Attorney General's Crime Victim's Fund. For me, having the basis to demonstrate the claim of being a crime victim might have offered me more than indigent medical care, perhaps not completely ruined my credit, and saved me from poverty/ reliance on family when during my recovery and subsequent chronic pain has not allowed me to work.
 
Eric
 

Eric Anderson wrote: 
...I still suffer (though recovering) from the end result of a road rage incident on Rainey Street in 1998.
... 
I own a big piece of titanium in my leg, and more recently, a compressed sciatic nerve has given me three-plus years of chronic leg pain.
 
I am recovering, albeit slowly. I "lost" my cane two months ago (Yippee!). A traffic circle (Austin's first) sits where I made my "high-side" fall. A Rans "Rocket" recumbant now allows me to actually ride up hills. In five years or so, I may feel confident enough to ride to Blanco again...
 








Eric Anderson <bikeeric>
(512) 476-7304
		
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