[wabisabi]

Resurrecting this thread! I wanted to provide an update on the situation.

In January (30 months after the incident) both parties, myself and the driver gave a deposition, with attorneys present for both insurance parties, and myself. The cop who changed the at fault on the citation was supposed to be present, but he never showed up and ACPD confirmed that not only was he not employed with them anymore, but no one at the time even knew who he was, or who is listed supervisor was at the time. Super strange. I wonder why he was expected to be there, and who had even spoken or communicated with him from the parties at the deposition. The driver was apologetic at the deposition, he admitted fault, and he was very nice. I think what happened was that when the officer caught wind of my GPS data, which was included in evidence that was distributed to all parties, he bailed from the situation, as he had egg on his face for making incorrect assumptions that went against his initial judgement. Not to mention the driver admitting fault at the scene of the accident, and the officer coming to the ER to visit me and verbally stating that he had cited the driver and the driver was at fault. Who knows why the officer changed his story, but it really made my life difficult.

Anyway, the drivers insurance decided to settle and apparently they were really nasty about it (“I would rather die than pay another dollar” is what the claims adjuster told my attorney). It turns out the driver did actually have insurance, but he was impossible to locate after the incident, and his insurance company, Erie, was highly uncooperative the whole time.

So over 2.5 years later, I finally got a settlement for my fractured patella incurred by a driver T-boning me on Columbia Pike. Had the responding officer not changed his story and listed me at fault when I clearly was not, all of this would have been settled 2 years ago. It’s been a long frustrating time. But I’m running stronger than I was before the accident, I set a PR at the Richmond Half last November, my fastest time since the Brooklyn Half which was 2 weeks before I was hit in 2017! I’m still doing PT for my knee, but it’s more for maintenance and preventative now. I’m still biking to work. The settlement figure is 10x what I paid out of pocket, and my expenses were well over 5k. I honestly thought I would get nothing out of this, I just wanted the case closed so I could mentally move on, so I was shocked to be getting anything near that. This whole situation created an insidious rift in my life and I’m glad it’s over.

I thought the message board might be interested in the outcome. We still need better options on the Pike! From what I understand, they are moving forward with the widening of the sidewalks for multi-purpose uses. Anything is safer than the current situation.

[wabisabi]

@Judd 173963 wrote:

I can help with this. One thing that I’ve thought about doing recently is setting up my GoPro and recording two hours of footage of people exiting Washington Blvd on to Columbia Pike to capture some data around the number of drivers that don’t stop and don’t check both ways before rolling through. I’ve been taking the lane through here (recently on a CaBi) after a few too many close calls.

Please someone needs to do this. I was hit at that intersection by a driver who blasted through the walking signal because they were looking left to turn right. I was in the crosswalk. Cops said I was at fault even though I was at a coasting speed around 10mph. I’ve seen so many cyclists and runners get bumped by cars doing the exact same thing. This light needs a NO TURN ON RED.

[wabisabi]

@Sunyata 167635 wrote:

Be the squeaky wheel.

Email the police chief: mfarr@arlingtonva.us
Copy the county manager: countymanager@arlingtonva.us
Copy the county board: countyboard@arlingtonva.us

As the injured party, you absolutely deserve to know why the accident report was changed after the fact and without consultation.

Doing this. Thank you.

[wabisabi]

@EasyRider 167430 wrote:

Sorry to hear that this happened to you. I have the same commute.

Why do you think the officer changed the citation? Something made him do it: his supervisor, an incentive, his quotas (Shh!), your ability to pay a ticket? There’s something there.

It doesn’t seem to me like it’s just a case of a cop with no sympathy for cyclists; he actually cited the driver at first and then, it seems, someone overruled him when he got back to precinct.

This is really what I would like to get to the bottom of. I am completely confused as to why he changed it. And I am not sure how to go about finding this out. I suppose I could try and call his supervisor, but I’m not sure if there is a process to do so. When I emailed the officer about what happened, he never got back to me. It basically took my wife CC’ing his supervisor to get a response, and a pretty defensive one at that. It’s really frustrating.

[wabisabi]

@dasgeh 167362 wrote:

First of all, I’m so glad it’s not worse, and congratulations on the new baby. The timing really, really sucks.

Secondly, you should probably flip through WABA’s What To Do After a Crash: http://www.waba.org/resources/what-to-do-after-a-crash/

Sounds like you have a number of different threads to pursue:
1) your claim — it sounds like you need a new lawyer — there are some recommended on WABA’s explainer (Cory does a lot in Arlington)

2) improving ACPD response. It sounds like what’s happened is very frustrating. I would wait until you have a lawyer you trust, and go through strategy with that person, but in general, it’s worth a wider discussion with the Police about what they base their citations on and what sources of information they may not be looking at. We talk to ACPD through BAC and we will bring this up.

3) improving the Pike. Again, a common topic at BAC, and one that will probably be a big factor in the update to the Bicycle Element, once we get to the point where we’re talking about specific locations (right now we’re talking policies). If you have any thoughts about policies that you’d recommend to address your situation, definitely let the Working Group know — bikeplanupdate@arlingtonva.us

And please, tell your story. Right now, the plan for that end of the Pike is a 10-12′ wide sidewalk trail (see e.g. page 150 of this report. It sounds like that infrastructure would not only have not helped in your case, but would probably lead people biking to be going faster, leading to more conflicts. That plan was based on a study that’s now 5 years old, and was completed before Fort Myer effectively closed its gates to cyclists, and before the removal of Southgate Road was certain. countyboard@arlingtonva.us is a quick way to tell the Board; countymanager@arlingtonva.us is a quick way to tell the Manager; des-teo@arlingtonva.us is a relatively new way to report issues like this to the Department responsible for fixing it. (And police@arlingtonva.us is for ACPD)

Thanks for all of this information! I really appreciate how cohesive it was. Correct, this is incredibly frustrating for me. Trying to stay positive.

I’m in the process of trying to dump this attorney, but I’m locked in a contract. He’s done no help and just wants me to stay in PT as long as possible, regardless of my progress. The knucklehead even missed our first face to face meeting. He doesn’t care.

I will email and share this story with the addresses you provided. One of my main concerns is the ACPD response, or the lack of response. I would love to acquire the services of a good attorney, probably Cory, or another individual listed in the “What to do..” resource. Because I don’t have the advice of a decent attorney at the moment, I feel like my hands are tied regarding what to do about ACPD. I was considering filing a complaint to see if gets any traction, but I don’t think it would go anywhere. It just seems unsettling how it’s been handled. More eyes on this situation would potentially help improve this intersection.

I just started biking to work again 2 weeks ago. It’s a wonderful feeling, but I still tense up when I ride through that intersection. I hope we get a good alternative someday. A 5 year old study is not what we should be basing the next improvements on.

[wabisabi]

Thanks for the input, everyone! Gonna give it a whirl next week. Elbows, I’m with you..the stress of anticipating encountering someone who may chide me for using the route may actually persuade me to stick with the pike. But I’m gonna give it the ol college try. Fall weather beckons that I do this.

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