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Hit by car service van crossing 4th Ave - legal action? — Brooklynian

Hit by car service van crossing 4th Ave - legal action?

jimmy
jimmy
edited November -1 in Park Slope

Was crossing 4th Ave. a few minutes ago, in the crosswalk, got smacked by a van from a car service - driver was totally at fault, was blatantly looking back up Union. I'm sort of okay, but have a few aches that could be something serious. Does anyone know a decent (inexpensive) local lawyer who could handle something like this, or does anyone know what action I take to get the car service to cover legal bills?

Comments

  • jimmy
    jimmy

    Oh, and if you happened to witness this, please PM me - the driver was blatantly at fault, but it wouldn't hurt to have someone to back up my story.

    One guy stopped to make sure I was okay, I now regret telling him I was okay - if that's you, please PM me.

  • modsquad2.0
    modsquad2.0

    you need to call the police. Without an accident report you don't have a chance.

  • jimmy
    jimmy

    Thanks, yeah, a police car stopped and talked to me - they were actually pretty rude at first - basically told me to suck it up and act like a man. Then after I went and got the driver's info and came back, they realized that I had been walking and had bounced off the hood of the van before rolling a few feet down Fourth Ave., instead of having my car hit.

    Stupidly, I thought I was okay, but told them my foot was starting to hurt. They were still pretty disinterested, but said that as long as I had the driver's info I could handle it.

  • modsquad2.0
    modsquad2.0

    without a police report or an eye witness you have a tough case to prove. Unless there is some of your blood on the hood they will deny anything of consequence happened.

  • jimmy
    jimmy

    Called the police, they came by, told me I had to go down and file a civilian report at the precinct. Guess I gotta hope I can find a witness. Would have been nice if the cops on the scene had told me this before I basically forfeited my legal rights.

    There's a perfect imprint of my ass on the hood of the van, think that'll count?

  • stacey
    stacey

    Do you have any info on the car I.e. License plate no?

  • stacey
    stacey

    Can't edit my last post to add:

    If you are seriously hurt go to ER and inform them it was a hit and run. The only way you can sue in a MV accident if there is a serious injury otherwise your med expenses would be covered under no fault. For no fault you would need police report with insurance info.

  • jimmy
    jimmy

    Thanks stacey - I have the license plate, the driver's license # and name, etc. Unfortunately I didn't file a police report on the scene, didn't think I was hurt, now it looks like I've got a sprained ankle. Not sure what I'm going to do at this point, or if I really even have options. Ideally it'll just heal on its own. Thanks for the advice though.

  • dennisobell
    dennisobell

    This sounds so familiar to me, given my own Nov 2009 bicycle accident. I feel bad for you, and angry at the cops, who have a clear bias against filing reports in instances like this. Unfortunately, modsquad is right that without the report, you're probably stuck. Like me, you were probably too dazed in your incident to realize you needed more than a license plate to get what was coming to you.

    After I got doored by a van in the incident, the cops showed up pretty quickly; but while they chewed out the van driver for double-parking and made him move, and they were at least nice enough to offer to call me an ambulance, they didn't seem interested in filing a report. That proved critical later, when what I thought was a sprain turned out to be a torn ACL in my knee, which required surgery and six months of physical therapy. I never found my malefactor again and covered all those expenses myself.

  • jimmy
    jimmy

    @dennisobell - it's sad, but at this point I'm a lot more pissed at the cops than I am at the guy who hit me. The driver screwed up, he wasn't paying attention, and he could have killed me. But at least he apologized.

    Meanwhile, the cops who pulled up mocked and laughed at me, didn't once get out of their car even though they were at the scene of an accident, didn't take down any information, didn't even speak to the driver who just ran over a pedestrian, and never once even suggested that I file a report even after I told them I had pain in my foot.

    They let me leave the scene of an accident without filing a police report even though they were already on the scene and knew I was injured, which apparently forfeited most of my rights and could be construed as a crime, for me and the driver.

    I've always been the kind of guy who would defend cops - they've got a thankless job, they put their lives on the line, yada yada - F that. Lazy worthless f***s.

  • bcodsnpkslope
    bcodsnpkslope

    call Robert Sharron 212-227-5550 hes a PI atty who may be able to help you

  • jimmy
    jimmy

    Thanks BCOD - I've actually talked to a couple of PI attorneys, and the word is, without a police report, I'm screwed. Thanks, NYPD! And go f yourselves.

    On a related note, a couple things: Don't use La Mexicana car service. If you feel like helping me exact just a bit of revenge, call "Pablo" and tell him to come pick you up at some remote location. His # is 347-403-1797, and the douchebag has refused to cough up his insurance info and is claiming it wasn't his fault.

    Finally - does anyone know an inexpensive doc who might take a look at my foot to check for a possible hairline fracture?

  • stacey
    stacey

    Do you at least remember the police officers who came to you and told you not to file a report? If so those are your witnesses. You can call the commissioner of insurance as well as the TL Commission. Tell them that you need the insurance information for that particular license number. Once you have that, call the insurance carrier directly, inform them that the driver has refused to provide his insurance information, you have a police officer as a witness and you want to file a no-fault claim. You MUST keep a paper trail of all the people you talk to because no-fault has a time limit to claim. I would also suggest going to the precinct and filing whatever report they say you should.

  • jimmy
    jimmy

    Thanks stacey - I remember their faces quite well, but I didn't get their names. I think with the adrenaline/shock, I wasn't thinking very clearly. Which pisses me off even more, that the cops not only leave with filing a report, but just let me walk on home without offering to call an ambulance or even getting out of their car.

    I'm going to get in touch with the TLC and see if that bears any fruit, and yeah, I'm headed to the closest precinct ASAP.

    Thanks again for the advice.

  • arches
    arches

    Hit and run accidents are covered by the special fund in NY state. Info is available here: http://www.mvaic.com/

    It's not exactly hit and run, as you describe it, but since the driver isn't being cooperative with insurance info, I'd give MVAIC a call and see what they suggest.

  • jimmy
    jimmy

    @arches - thanks, I'll give it a shot - although I'm guessing that, again, the lack of a police report will probably screw me. But hey, who knows.

  • d_luxx
    d_luxx

    You could call "NY1 for you" or "7 on your side" or one of those things. Maybe the threat of bad press would get the car service to cover your doctor bills ?

    I do hope you are able to get checked out. Don't public hospitals have to treat you even if you're uninsured? You would theoretically get stuck with the bill, but sometimes the billing office will work out a payment plan or let you apply for some kind of financial aid.

  • dance rehearsal
    dance rehearsal

    Not to be a dick, but... are you hurt?

    Sounds to me like you have a sore ankle... could be sprained, could be just sore - either way there isn't much you can do for it.

    As for the cops. They do seem a little lackadaisical. However, if they had to call a meat truck and file a police report for every guy that gets dinged in a crosswalk the city... anyway, I gotta get to work.

    How's your ankle by the way?

  • jimmy
    jimmy

    @Dance Rehearsal - I was pretty sure it was a sprained ankle, along with some other cuts and bruises. My main fear was that there might be a small fracture in my heel, which apparently can result in chronic pain/arthritis if you don't get a cast put on, etc. You're right, anything less I can certainly deal with on my own.

    As it turns out, yes, it's just a sprained ankle. But if it had been more, if it had been a break, or if it had resulted in chronic back pain or any of a thousand other problems, I would be stuck with medical bills, all because the cops didn't bother filing a report. Maybe I should have known better, and insisted they file one.

    But I don't think it's too much to ask that a police officer at least firmly suggest that a pedestrian file a report after getting hit head-on and flipped down 4th Avenue.

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