Ticketing Unconscious Cyclists

From TBD comes a story of a woman who awoke in the hospital to find she'd been hit by a car. She had no memory of the incident, but she did have a ticket from the police. They claimed she crossed against the walk signal and was hit in the crosswalk by a car turning right on red. She thinks that's impossible because she never rides on the sidewalk. Unfortunately, that doesn't help her because skating in the street is illegal.

1211.1 No person upon rollerskates, skateboard, or riding by means of a sled, coaster, toy vehicle, sidewalk bicycle, or similar device shall go upon any roadway except when crossing a roadway in a crosswalk. When crossing the roadway, such person shall be granted all the rights and shall be subject to all the duties applicable to pedestrians. This subsection shall not apply to any street set aside as a play street by the Mayor or the Council

Which is a rule I'd love to see the new Pedestrian Advisory Council (have they started meeting yet?) take up for consideration, but I digress. In the same article them mention that this also happens to cyclists.

But in fact, the ticketing of an unconscious pedestrian or cyclist has been known to happen in Washington. In a town where at least one pedestrian or cyclist is struck by a vehicle every day on average, that sometimes means wrapping up an investigation before consulting the party who was hit. Earlier this year, an employee for the Daily Caller who had been struck by a car downtown on M Street NW was ticketed while sedated at the emergency room.

Even when conscious walkers and bikers are consulted immediately after a crash, they’re not necessarily in a mental state suited to a police interview. Such was the case with Cindy, a cyclist who asked that her last name not be used since she never paid her citation. She was hit by a car in Georgetown in 2003 in an accident she says was more the driver’s fault than her own. Cindy rolled through a stop sign while the driver across the intersection made a left turn with no signal. She blacked out briefly and woke up sobbing in the driver’s arms. While in the back of an ambulance a D.C. officer asked her what happened.

She said, “I don’t know. I guess I went through the stop sign.” That concluded the interview. The officer handed her a $50 ticket, which she ignored. “I thought it was ludicrous,” she says.

All of which reminded me of study which I can't find. (I thought it was "The Only Good Cyclist" but it isn't that. A little help?) The study showed, as I recall, that if a cyclist died they were usually found to be responsible for the crash. If they survived, but left the scene in an ambulance, they were found responsible less often. And if they survived and stayed on the scene, they were usually not found responsible. The implication being, when the police only have the driver's story, the driver blames the victim (which would be human nature).

Anyway, the MPD should not ticket people until they've at least talked to them.

Comments

[Contrarian]

I seem to recall a story a few years ago of a pedestrian who was struck and killed, and when the family claimed the body they found a jay-walking ticket tucked into the shirt.

Anectdotally, emergency room ticketing seems to be SOP for the MPD when pedestrians or cyclists are in collisions. My advice to anyone who is in an accident is tell the hospital staff you don't want to speak to police until you are recovered. Unless you are suspected of a criminal act (DWI, leaving the scene of an accident) you have the right to privacy when in the hospital.

Unless there is clear physical evidence, for the police to ticket someone based on just the other party's statement is just shoddy police work.

Finally, Cindy, the cyclist who thought her accident was "more the driver's fault" is wrong.

[washcycle]

I agree on Cindy. She's wrong twice. Both the crash, and not paying the ticket.

[Jim Titus]

New Jersey has specific provision giving skating the same rights and responsibilities as cyclists (though allowing localities to outlaw skating on streets which several do). In Maryland the law is vague but a literal reading of the definition of vehicle makes skates a vehicle. DC and VA, by contrast, use old model language that antedates the widespread use of inline skates (i.e. the widespread presence of skaters who can keep up with a bike). But DC generally ignores that law while Arlington often enforces is, relegating skates to sidewalks which are often unskatable.