Legal thoughts - hitting a pedestrian

[Nate]

Hey Nate, just read this, bummer! How's the recovery going? Able to make this Saturday's ride?

There with bells on(cause its a legal requirement)! first ride in quite some time!

[NathanC]

It may have made it a bit easier. But after hitting the ped, 'your friend' should have rung the police then and there, as it was an accident causing injry.

[Nate]

It may have made it a bit easier. But after hitting the ped, 'your friend' should have rung the police then and there, as it was an accident causing injry.

yeap - lesson learnt!

[Nate]

Update -
After the ped wrote to me:
"I believe the report and statement the Rocks Station had taken with me is appropriate and sufficient at this stage"
it seems he has NOT put in any statement! (of course)

Spoke with the cops & a few interesting points:
- you always have to give way to pedestrians
i then explained that we're still constrained by the laws of physics & it was not possible to give way.
- there's not much we can do, you'll probably have to go civil
ummm cross against a red man? moving into the path & becoming an obstruction? there's nothing you'll do about that?
no witnesses, probably not.

awesome - so no i have to go civil & lawyer up!
Anyone know any in Sydney in this area?

[m@]

Update -
After the ped wrote to me:
"I believe the report and statement the Rocks Station had taken with me is appropriate and sufficient at this stage"
it seems he has NOT put in any statement! (of course)

Spoke with the cops & a few interesting points:
- you always have to give way to pedestrians
i then explained that we're still constrained by the laws of physics & it was not possible to give way.
- there's not much we can do, you'll probably have to go civil
ummm cross against a red man? moving into the path & becoming an obstruction? there's nothing you'll do about that?
no witnesses, probably not.

awesome - so no i have to go civil & lawyer up!
Anyone know any in Sydney in this area?

Lazy bastard (the cop)... My advice would be to push them harder - may need to go to the next level (station Sergent/the supervisor of the cop handling your case). You've allegedly suffered injury and financial loss as a result of another person breaking the law, yet it doesn't even sound as though they've contacted the other party to take a statement? It will harm your case in civil court if charges aren't laid.

[Nate]

Lazy bastard (the cop)... My advice would be to push them harder - may need to go to the next level (station Sergent/the supervisor of the cop handling your case). You've allegedly suffered injury and financial loss as a result of another person breaking the law, yet it doesn't even sound as though they've contacted the other party to take a statement? It will harm your case in civil court if charges aren't laid.

They're about to contact them shortly...
Thats what i told her, its great you cant be bothered & its going to stuff me up..
"oh but we cant do anything for compensation" - no but he broke the law!

cheers & i'll push harder when i hear back (not holding my breath)

[Strawburger]

Update -
After the ped wrote to me:
"I believe the report and statement the Rocks Station had taken with me is appropriate and sufficient at this stage"
it seems he has NOT put in any statement! (of course)

Spoke with the cops & a few interesting points:
- you always have to give way to pedestrians
i then explained that we're still constrained by the laws of physics & it was not possible to give way.
- there's not much we can do, you'll probably have to go civil
ummm cross against a red man? moving into the path & becoming an obstruction? there's nothing you'll do about that?
no witnesses, probably not.

Sounds like you had the same police officers as i had when i got hit CBD accident I got similar treatment and outcome. Good luck with the courts, hope you can recover your costs.

[Nate]

Update -

Just spoke with the cops...
The pedestrian put in a "conflicting statement" so without witnesses they cant do anything.

What an absolute ****.
So effectively he breaks the law, almost puts me in a wheelchair & gets away by putting in a dodgy statement...

Time to get an FOI & see exactly what he submitted!

[JV911]

what a crock!!!

[Nate]

what a crock!!!

yeap & considering he's a lawyer with <details removed> - you'd think he'd know a little more about ethics... seeing as all practising lawyers take a compulsory 1 unit in ethics EVERY YEAR...
we'll see how it pans out over time...

[Mulger bill]

You'd find better ethics in a wharfies pub.

Don't s'pose there's any CCTV around Nate?

Shaun

[Boognoss]

what a crock!!!

yeap & considering he's a lawyer with <details removed> - you'd think he'd know a little more about ethics... seeing as all practising lawyers take a compulsory 1 unit in ethics EVERY YEAR...
we'll see how it pans out over time...

+1 to what JV911 said. That sucks big ones. I hope it works out as it should for you Nate.

[Nate]

You'd find better ethics in a wharfies pub.
Don't s'pose there's any CCTV around Nate?
Shaun

nup - not in that area!
couldnt track down the bus driver either...

Always get witnesses & the cops on the scene for EVERY accident

[thomashouseman]

Any progress on this?

[Nate]

Any progress on this?

Rang up the FOI guys last monday - they never received the 2nd lodgement!!! (when does anything get lost in the mail these days!)

So had to re-lodge last week with another money order.
After that comes back i'll be back into it very solidly

[Strawburger]

(when does anything get lost in the mail these days!)

funny you say that, i thought exactly the same thing until an express post item containing non refundable tickets from the travel agent went missing

Keep us posted on the outcomes.

[twizzle]

Any progress on this?

Rang up the FOI guys last monday - they never received the 2nd lodgement!!! (when does anything get lost in the mail these days!)

So had to re-lodge last week with another money order.
After that comes back i'll be back into it very solidly

You might consider sending a letter to his employer - law firms take a dim view of their employees not being good citizens.

Guy at work had an accident caused by the son of a senior partner at a law firm (failed to give way and mate went over a kerb at 80kph to avoid T-boning their car). Got absolutely nowhere until he sent a letter to the other partners.... it was resolved within a week.

[RobRollin]

Time to get an FOI & see exactly what he submitted!

Being that he is a lawyer it will be interesting to see what his statement contains. You still have the option of going through the minor civil court, have him served at his place of work by a process server and see what happens. As you said his employer might ask him to resolve the matter quickly.

[m@]

Time to get an FOI & see exactly what he submitted!

Being that he is a lawyer it will be interesting to see what his statement contains. You still have the option of going through the minor civil court, have him served at his place of work by a process server and see what happens. As you said his employer might ask him to resolve the matter quickly.

Geez it would be good at this stage to find a witness and prove he lied in his statement to the Police - that would land him in a world of hurt

[Nate]

Keeping the hand close to the chest at this stage peeps - many thanks for the suggestions, however i choose to not comment on them

I'll ring the FOI in another week & request faster processing & provide an update

[Nate]

Rang FOI today - application has been processed & went off to be signed.
So i should receive it in a few days

Time to start preparing!

[jules21]

Spoke with the cops & a few interesting points:
- you always have to give way to pedestrians

this is correct. all road users must take safe and reasonable steps to avoid a collision.

but there is no law that states you are responsible for success in that objective, in all and every circumstance. all you have to do is behave reasonably in accordance with that objective.

if a pedestrian jumps from in front of a moving bus into moving traffic, including cyclists, he is clearly negligent. what a lot of people seem not to realise (including some cops - i had a similar collision and discussion to this, some years ago) is that your requirement to try to avoid a collision (including with peds) is not a blank cheque for pedestrians to do whatever the hell they like - they can be in the wrong.

[Nate]

if a pedestrian jumps from in front of a moving bus into moving traffic, including cyclists, he is clearly negligent. what a lot of people seem not to realise (including some cops - i had a similar collision and discussion to this, some years ago) is that your requirement to try to avoid a collision (including with peds) is not a blank cheque for pedestrians to do whatever the hell they like - they can be in the wrong.

yeah Hartley quoted that law from the NSW road regs - my task is to find which officer told me that & suggest to the head sargent (?) at the local shop they need to re-read their rules & not convey false info to people.

[KenGS]

<snip> my task is to find which officer told me that & suggest to the head sargent (?) at the local shop they need to re-read their rules & not convey false info to people.

If you know the date and approximate time they should be able to work out who was on duty. In any case they may need to remind all their troops.

[Nate]

Just got the FOI application back from the police.

Very interesting that some VERY specific details about the accident were completely omitted from his statement, he also included "non-information" in there as well - which was a very interesting tactic... i.e. "i dont remember if the cyclist was flying down the footpath backward on 1 wheel"... umm then why report something you dont remember?

There was also no interview info in the FOI, just the computer system information & recorded statements - so i'll duck down to the police shop & have a chat.

Time to get everything sorted & write a few letters to some people now...