Seeking advice–road rage incident….

[Terpfan]

Some of you may have seen me this morning near the cycletrack at 15th & I. The long and short of it is I had the crosswalk and was moving across the intersection northbound at a relatively slow pace. The first car tried turning right from 15th onto I street and of course was stopped per pedestrians (Vermont Avenue entrance to McPherson Square Metro is right there). That car finally made it through. I’m still proceeding (a few cars are going straight from 15th toward H) and a white escalade pulls right in front of me and then abruptly stops per realizing all the pedestrians crossing. I can’t go right without going into oncoming traffic so I slam my brakes. I successfully stop just short of the car but per a quick stop I slide off the front of my bike forward and end up stopping myself with my gloved hand against the guy’s escalade. I’m happy I didn’t hit him and so I stop for a second, remount and continue along the cycletrack north.

About 30 feet later I find myself planted into the ground bike strewn around my legs and this guy is screaming you ‘fn ahole, you touched my car’. I’m now dazed and trying to assess what is going on. While part of me wanted to get up and coldclock the guy, I looked to my left saw two DC police cars stopped. I stayed on the ground as this guy kept ranting and as the guy kept screaming, I finally responded get off me, I didn’t touch your car. The cops came over and then began the ordeal of filing a report, sort of.

The cops asked us both what happened and then proceeded to check his vehicle for damage and ask me if I’m alright. I explained my knee was a little scraped up per the crazy guy tackling me into the ground, but I’m fine. Low and behold they find no damage on the road rage crazy guy’s car and then can see a brief imprint where my hand touched it. So the cops start explaining to me that technically touching his car could be considered a collision and not trying to talk to him to notify him that I touched his car could be considered a hit and run therefore he could be theoretically seen as trying to detain me until the police arrived. They said alternatively it could also be seen as assault. I pointed out that they were parked literally 20 feet away on the other side of 15, the guy didn’t call out anything, and he told the cops he tackled me. I explained that the complete stop meant sliding off my bike meaning I did not only come to a complete stop, but I had a good 5-10 seconds the guy could have said something right then and there. I sensed the cops didn’t want to fill out any paperwork and so when the first cop started saying he could technically haul both of us to jail (me for alledging hitting and running and him for flat out tackling me) is when I pulled out my phone and started typing in the cops names and badge numbers. I used to work in a legislative capacity and I knew full well that they can’t just arrest you because someone claims you hit their car.

Moving along, crazy guy continues to try explaining that I hit his car and evidently above the wheel well. One cop points out that my bike isn’t even tall enough to reach that spot. The other cops said there is no discernible damage at all. Meanwhile the one cop chats with me and he’s actually friendly. He basically says shit happens, the guy had no business tackling me, it’s clear there was no accident and he would’ve told the guy to apologize to me and then asked me what I wanted to do. Meanwhile the not-so-nice cop comes back and asks if I plan to file assault charges. I said I’m not sure, but I don’t have to do it right now, correct? Same cop says he’s going to call an ambulance and has a dialogue with his partner. His partner says then we got to file all of this paperwork and he says well he says his knee is scraped and you know where this could lead us too. (No ambulance ever comes). Anyway, this whole process takes up about 40 minutes. The cops end up filing a 1050 report (accident I suspect) citing no damage to his car. They take photos of both of us, take all of our license details down (and crazy guy’s insurance), and give me a piece of paper with the filing officer’s contact information, phone number, a report number, and the approximate time and location. The cop explains that this will go to the US District Attorney’s Office and they may followup with charges or they may just leave it as a report. Evidently I can pickup the actual report in a week or two at their station on V Street.

The good news is that my knee is a little scratches as is my hand, but I didn’t notice any major injuries from the tackling. I didn’t ride my bike yet again so I don’t know if it’s damage, but it only looks like it has some scratches from where it hit the cycletrack as the guy tackled me. Now the question is what do I do? Part of me thinks I should file assault charges because in a previous line of work (legislative work with judicial sector) I learned that often people’s responses escalate…first you tackle someone, then you run them over, etc. Another part of me thinks chalk up to bad luck running across that road rage dbag. Another part of me thinks it’s absolutely ridiculous that the one cop tried coercing me into doing nothing simply to avoid paperwork. So I’m curious about everyone else’s advice.

And for what it’s worth, I wish I had a printed copy of that ‘what to do’ report. Granted mine wasn’t an accident, a lot of things sounded similar.

Topic

[invisiblehand]

@Terpfan 10470 wrote:

Correct, I was heading away from the White House past the Department of Veteran Affairs (it may technically be called Vermont from that side of the road). The cycletrack is located on the southbound side so in this case it’s the left hand side, which is going against traffic in it’s design. I Street is one way running west there so he was turning right onto that street.

The civil suit is an open possibility. But honestly I would be happy with an apology and promise not to do it again. My fear is more that if he doesn’t think their are any consequences that he will do it again. I think I got lucky with just minor scrapes, but it could’ve easily been landing another way and missing a few teeth.

Yes. I think so too.

[Terpfan]

I finally got my accident and report. Low and behold I’m the one noted in the incident report for a ‘hit and run’.

Here’s the narrative verbatum (including spelling and grammar):
“Vehicle-one is a bicycle. Vehicle-two had constructional possession of the bicycle lane and was involved in making a right turn in the intersection of 15th and I streets NW. V-2 had to stop for pedestrian using the crosswalk. Vehichle-one was traveling north bound and in a bicycle lane. The bicycle lane allows bicycles to travel in both directions. Vehicle-one stopped but extended his arm, which stop him from running into vehicle-two’s truck. Vehicle-one made contact with vehicle-two’s truck; with his extented hand. Vehicle-one admitted this fact in a conversation with driver-two infront of police. Vehicle-one attempted to ride off from scene. Rider-1 was stopped by driver-two. Driver-2 grabbed the back of rider-1’s seat, which caused rider-1 to fall to the ground and strick is right knee. D-2 had a scatch to his right arm as a result of stopping the bicyclist (rider-1). Rider-1 and D-2 refused medical treatment on the scene. Driver-two reported damage to his vehicle but no damage could be observed by this reporting officer to either vehicle.”

Needless to say I am pretty ticked off at the officer involved for his ommitance of the driver saying flat out he tackled me, not once, but several times including as a response to the officer’s direct question. And there was never a hit and run because I never hit his vehicle. Let alone the fact that I was stopped for several seconds since I slid off the saddle and at no point did the driver ever attempt any communication, not even to exchange words. I get the distinct impression that the officer is attempting to avoid having to file more paperwork by citing it as a hit and run with no damage and then ommiting the separate tackling incident.

Anyway, I swear I give up with the DC police. Over the years I have gotten to know several outstanding officers yet all too often they seem to be the exception and not the rule. I have placed a call to the involved officer as I would like to chat with him before I decide whether to file an official complaint, but I’m certainly leaning toward a complaint now.

[mrkenny83]

@Terpfan 11433 wrote:

but I’m certainly leaning toward a complaint now.

You need to. Nothing will be done unless you do. It’s sad, but the innocent person is the one who needs to go through all the annoyance & hard work.

[guacamole62]

Hi,

I need to speak up here. I’m the poster who got hit on Monday on Irving Street. I just got my accident report and was referred to as a pedestrian. Here you are cited as a vehicle. I just don;t get how they quantify whether you are a vehicle or a pedestrian. There’s no consistency which is also a testimonial to the fact that we need more laws set into place where cyclists are concerned! Who sets the standards or is it up tp the whim of the offiocials involved and what is most convenient. This is a real problem.

[eminva]

@guacamole62 11439 wrote:

Hi,

I need to speak up here. I’m the poster who got hit on Monday on Irving Street. I just got my accident report and was referred to as a pedestrian. Here you are cited as a vehicle. I just don;t get how they quantify whether you are a vehicle or a pedestrian. There’s no consistency which is also a testimonial to the fact that we need more laws set into place where cyclists are concerned! Who sets the standards or is it up tp the whim of the offiocials involved and what is most convenient. This is a real problem.

I think I’ve read here or at Washcycle that it is tough to get good statistics on bicycle accidents because there is no place to designate on the accident report that a bike was involved. This also results in the types of problems you have discovered — different officers make different judgment calls about how to handle it. I believe WABA has periodically raised this issue with MPD, and I’m not sure what the outcome has been or the status now. Maybe it’s time for WABA to meet with the police again to discuss their handling of accidents involving cyclists? How would one agitate for that?

Liz

[Terpfan]

@guacamole62 11439 wrote:

Hi,

I need to speak up here. I’m the poster who got hit on Monday on Irving Street. I just got my accident report and was referred to as a pedestrian. Here you are cited as a vehicle. I just don;t get how they quantify whether you are a vehicle or a pedestrian. There’s no consistency which is also a testimonial to the fact that we need more laws set into place where cyclists are concerned! Who sets the standards or is it up tp the whim of the offiocials involved and what is most convenient. This is a real problem.

Geeze, sorry to hear you got hit. Were you riding at the time? I looked up the DC law regarding cyclists and cycletracks following my ordeal and we’re considered vehicles, but we’re given the priority of pedestrians in crosswalks/cycletrack crossings (I should note that the priority of the crosswalk goes pedestrian, then cyclist, then vehicle–we also have to yield to pedestrians). I suppose the exception to this would be if someone was walking with their bike and then they would be considered a pedestrian. I honestly don’t think the police understand the law themselves. For instance, claiming I hit and ran on a vehicle when I was clearly standing there for a good 10 seconds and when they even noted there was no damage is akin to claiming that if you touch someone’s car you have theoretically created a vehicular collision regardless of damage, which is patently absurd.

I got the distinct impression in my situation that the officer’s diligence was to whatever helped him avoid more paperwork. By connecting the two incidents and claiming a hit and run with no damage he is trying to avoid the potential of me filing assault charges and the potential of the vehicle owner retialiting by claiming damage. So he notes no damage, declined medical attention (they called an ambulance that never showed up–I certainly did not decline it and said very specifically I’m not a medical professional therefore I could only guess as to my own condition), and doesn’t file any charges either way. I was once employed by a legislative body that worked on precisely these kind of laws (although not in DC) and was familiar with complaints to this regard about the police. I’m tempted to write a family member in the district’s council person to ask that they clarify the various aspects of the law cited, but then I question if it’s worth my time.

MrKenny, yah, I’m thinking I probably should for the reasons you cite. But honestly I doubt there will be any ramifications for the cop in question.

[Terpfan]

@eminva 11441 wrote:

I think I’ve read here or at Washcycle that it is tough to get good statistics on bicycle accidents because there is no place to designate on the accident report that a bike was involved. This also results in the types of problems you have discovered — different officers make different judgment calls about how to handle it. I believe WABA has periodically raised this issue with MPD, and I’m not sure what the outcome has been or the status now. Maybe it’s time for WABA to meet with the police again to discuss their handling of accidents involving cyclists? How would one agitate for that?

Liz

Good idea on WABA meeting. I don’t know about Guacomole, but I would be glad to share my experience with the MPD (I did file it with WABA) both the good and bad of dealing with their officers (in fairness, two of the later responding cops were wonderful during my ordeal compared to the first-responding ones).

[MCL1981]

You need to escalate this bullshit up someone’s ass in the chain of command. That report is utter non-sense. You were violently assaulted by a thug in the middle of the road in broad daylight.

[Mark Blacknell]

WABA’s got an ongoing conversation with MPD and the council over MPD enforcement and training re: bikes. A recent result of those efforts: http://www.waba.org/blog/2011/09/dc-office-of-police-complaints-releases-report-on-mpd-bicyclist-interactions/

Terpfan – please follow up on your experience. Not as a matter of retribution toward the officer (however pleasing that might be), but for your fellow cyclists. Allowing things like that to pass without pushback simply encourages more of it. No, you’re not going to get invited to a Beer Summit with the guy, but if you push, I bet he’ll think twice about handling the next cyclist that way.

[Terpfan]

@Mark Blacknell 11482 wrote:

WABA’s got an ongoing conversation with MPD and the council over MPD enforcement and training re: bikes. A recent result of those efforts: http://www.waba.org/blog/2011/09/dc-office-of-police-complaints-releases-report-on-mpd-bicyclist-interactions/

Terpfan – please follow up on your experience. Not as a matter of retribution toward the officer (however pleasing that might be), but for your fellow cyclists. Allowing things like that to pass without pushback simply encourages more of it. No, you’re not going to get invited to a Beer Summit with the guy, but if you push, I bet he’ll think twice about handling the next cyclist that way.

That’s a good point about the officer at least having to follow-up and learn more about cyclists potentially leading to a changed attitude/understanding. Also good to see the WABA advocacy.

[Terpfan]

So after finally touching base with the officer and him blowing me off on filing assault charges (he told me I had to wait until an investigation of hit and run was done before I could file charges despite me saying I wished to file them independently), I was able to get a resolution. I was set to file a complaint about the officer in question, especially after being blown off and literally hung up on when I politely inquired to the office how I would file the independent assault charges. However, I figured I should contact Chief Lannier (sp?)’s office and explain the situation to them. They replied immediately (about 5 minutes after I e-mailed them) saying they would ask that my complaint be addressed by the appropriate officers in charge at the 3rd district and I said sure I would give it a try. About a week later the commanding officer called me (who I should note was very polite and empathetic). He explained that he had spoken with his officer and that the original officer had decided to file the assault charges at my request and sought a warrant from the judge, but that the judge had decliend it.

I was not surprised at the outcome with the judge, but I was glad the charges were filed given the assailant’s rap sheet I pulled from the Maryland court case search included issuance of a tpo, 2nd degree assault, failing to show up for court, paternity testing, and on and on. God forbid anything worse happens with this crazy guy, at least it will now be recorded for however long DC keeps it on their records (I think 10 years) and so if the guy pulls more stunts on other folks or in Maryland, it should show up and hopefully the next judge down the line will take his propensity for violence into consideration.

[Greenbelt]

It’s kind of telling of the police mindset that they value cars more than people sometimes.

In LA, they’ve got a huge reward and dozens of investigators and agencies involved with finding the arsonist who’s burning (unoccupied) cars. http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/02/us/california-arson/index.html?npt=NP1

But in the DC area, it’s basically a free crime to kill or injure (or attempt to do either to) a cyclist or pedestrian with your car, whether is intentional, negligent, or truly accidental.

[Riley Casey]

Your reference and the linked article were the first time I had heard that these were car fires specifically. The previous news stories had simply stated that ” many fires had been started in garages”. Whats up? Has Anonymous set its sights on car culture now?

[MCL1981]

I’m sure the judge declined the warrant because the officer worded the affidavit in a manner to ensure it was declined. He didn’t want to do it in the first place and you can easily make sure it goes no further that way. If the officer was motivated to actually arrest a person who committed a violent crime in broad daylight, he would have been in jail months ago.

[KLizotte]

@Terpfan 12493 wrote:

I was not surprised at the outcome with the judge, but I was glad the charges were filed given the assailant’s rap sheet I pulled from the Maryland court case search included issuance of a tpo, 2nd degree assault, failing to show up for court, paternity testing, and on and on. God forbid anything worse happens with this crazy guy, at least it will now be recorded for however long DC keeps it on their records (I think 10 years) and so if the guy pulls more stunts on other folks or in Maryland, it should show up and hopefully the next judge down the line will take his propensity for violence into consideration.

What’s a tpo?

Wow, you were lucky to get away with only a few minor bruises. It’s horrible to think this guy is out there roaming the streets getting away with all of this stuff. Even scarier is the reason for it: worse people are clogging up the justice system.

[Author]

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