I was travelling southbound along a major road this past Saturday afternoon. First ride of the season with a brand new helmet. Due to a lane restriction, traffic northbound was backed up for about 3 blocks.
Suddenly, a Ford F-150 pickup truck made a left turn from a small side street in front of me so as to also go southbound. He did not bother to inch forward slowly across the other lane of cars to check southbound traffic. He just went. I has to make a split-second maneuver to avoid hitting him by applying the brakes hard. The bike started skidding and leaning left. I let it go, cleared myself and rolled a couple of times on the pavement. The truck guy slowed down some 50 meters ahead. People got out of their vehicles to come and help me. The guy saw the people screaming at him, and took off. I got up and took notice of the car. It was distinctive black Ford with the Harley Davidson model decals. Tried to make a quick mental note of the license plates, saw that it was a custom plate and memorized part of it. People were really helpful and offered to call 911. I declined, since I had been able to get up, found no hanging parts on me, other than some pain on my hands and knees. I was shaken, but not stirred. Besides, the bastard has fled. Checked the bike, people helped my straighten it, started it, then went home. I lived only about 3 blocks away. My bike is a cruiser, and I was doing only about 40Kmph at the time.
Once home, got cleaned up and went out with my wife to meet a friend of hers for dinner. My wife noticed the scrapes on the helmet and I explained to her what had happened.
On the way home in the evening, she suggested that we drive around the small streets near the accident to see if we could find this truck that had fled. After about 15 minutes, we noticed a truck parked in the parking lot of a building on a small side street. Upon inspection, we confirmed that it was the truck. I took a number of pictures, went home, and typed up a note on the computer, which we then returned to put on the truck’s windshield. My note explained what had happened earlier that day and I requested that this driver contact me to pay me for a replacement helmet, pay for the damages to my bike, and pay for a new pair of boots, which had scrapped the pavement and almost wore through. I figured that I would be decent and not file an insurance claim or a police complaint against him if he would just pay my damages.
This afternoon (just over 24 hours later) I got a couple of phone calls from an unknown number. I let them go to voice mail. The first message said “… you left a note on my vehicle, alright? I need to talk to you about trespassing and about walking up to people’s property when you are not supposed to walk up to people’s property” and asked me to call him back and left a phone number. The second call came some 5 minutes later and the same guy said he wanted to talk to me and said my full name, spelled it out, then stated my date of birth and asked me to call him. He did not identify himself on either of these calls. BTW, that was not a type. He stated “on my vehicle”. Also, on my note, I had only left my first name and cell phone number, which is unlisted. These calls cause me to panic, wondering who this guy was, and seemed be a threat.
I decided to go to the police. The idiot that came to help me said “oh, so you are the guy with the note” after I explained the situation. I told him that I would like to file a report for a driver that is involved in an accident and flees the scene. He then said that he was the one that left the voice messages on my phone, because supposedly the other driver had been there at the station to file a report. This idiot then went on defending the other driver and saying that there had been no contact, so there was no real accident. He said that I had to have called the police right there and then, because I have no way of proving that this accident happened at all. I told him I had a witness. He did not care. He said that if I had not called the police right away, then it must have been that I was hiding something. Then he questioned how I had gotten pictures of this vehicle and that I must have followed this person all day until he got home so as to know where he lives. I showed him the pictures taken in the evening. I could not have possibly followed this guy, because he fled and I was left behind trying to pick up my bike. This the idiot told me in no uncertain terms that he was going to give ma a warning and he would give it to me once only, that I was to stop harassing these people immediately.
I was in complete disbelief. Not accepting this idiot’s threats, I went to another police station and explained the situation. The policeman there called a supervisor and was told that a police report against someone that flees the scene can be filed with no problem at least 3 or 4 days later. He asked if an incident report had already been filed. I told him that I did not know, and he asked for my driver’s license and check the police computer. Nothing had been filed. He asked if I wanted to file a report. I told him I did not want the accident report to be sent to my insurance company. That would be like adding salt to the wound if it were to trigger a rate increase on top of what I had already been through. I told him that I would return after speaking to my insurance agent. I have a perfect driving record and have been driving for over 30 years. I do not want to ruin it now.
There are several lessons that I have learned so far. 1) boots save your skin – wear them, 2) good leather gloves save your skin, 3) a good leather jacket saves your skin, a good (full face) helmet saves your skin and your head, 4) get as many witnesses as you can if you ever get involved in an accident, 5) don’t always believe what a policeman tells you – they lie.
If you have read this far, thank you. What do you think of this situation? Was that first cop dishonest? I can’t get my head over how he came out in full force accusing and threating me, while going out of his way to make various excuses for the other driver. How did this cop get my full name and DOB? Could it be that the guy in the truck was this cop or a buddy? What about his claim that since I did not make contact with the other vehicle, then the other guy did nothing wrong? Does anyone know if my insurance company will in fact be contacted and my rates affected if I file a police report?
Suddenly, a Ford F-150 pickup truck made a left turn from a small side street in front of me so as to also go southbound. He did not bother to inch forward slowly across the other lane of cars to check southbound traffic. He just went. I has to make a split-second maneuver to avoid hitting him by applying the brakes hard. The bike started skidding and leaning left. I let it go, cleared myself and rolled a couple of times on the pavement. The truck guy slowed down some 50 meters ahead. People got out of their vehicles to come and help me. The guy saw the people screaming at him, and took off. I got up and took notice of the car. It was distinctive black Ford with the Harley Davidson model decals. Tried to make a quick mental note of the license plates, saw that it was a custom plate and memorized part of it. People were really helpful and offered to call 911. I declined, since I had been able to get up, found no hanging parts on me, other than some pain on my hands and knees. I was shaken, but not stirred. Besides, the bastard has fled. Checked the bike, people helped my straighten it, started it, then went home. I lived only about 3 blocks away. My bike is a cruiser, and I was doing only about 40Kmph at the time.
Once home, got cleaned up and went out with my wife to meet a friend of hers for dinner. My wife noticed the scrapes on the helmet and I explained to her what had happened.
On the way home in the evening, she suggested that we drive around the small streets near the accident to see if we could find this truck that had fled. After about 15 minutes, we noticed a truck parked in the parking lot of a building on a small side street. Upon inspection, we confirmed that it was the truck. I took a number of pictures, went home, and typed up a note on the computer, which we then returned to put on the truck’s windshield. My note explained what had happened earlier that day and I requested that this driver contact me to pay me for a replacement helmet, pay for the damages to my bike, and pay for a new pair of boots, which had scrapped the pavement and almost wore through. I figured that I would be decent and not file an insurance claim or a police complaint against him if he would just pay my damages.
This afternoon (just over 24 hours later) I got a couple of phone calls from an unknown number. I let them go to voice mail. The first message said “… you left a note on my vehicle, alright? I need to talk to you about trespassing and about walking up to people’s property when you are not supposed to walk up to people’s property” and asked me to call him back and left a phone number. The second call came some 5 minutes later and the same guy said he wanted to talk to me and said my full name, spelled it out, then stated my date of birth and asked me to call him. He did not identify himself on either of these calls. BTW, that was not a type. He stated “on my vehicle”. Also, on my note, I had only left my first name and cell phone number, which is unlisted. These calls cause me to panic, wondering who this guy was, and seemed be a threat.
I decided to go to the police. The idiot that came to help me said “oh, so you are the guy with the note” after I explained the situation. I told him that I would like to file a report for a driver that is involved in an accident and flees the scene. He then said that he was the one that left the voice messages on my phone, because supposedly the other driver had been there at the station to file a report. This idiot then went on defending the other driver and saying that there had been no contact, so there was no real accident. He said that I had to have called the police right there and then, because I have no way of proving that this accident happened at all. I told him I had a witness. He did not care. He said that if I had not called the police right away, then it must have been that I was hiding something. Then he questioned how I had gotten pictures of this vehicle and that I must have followed this person all day until he got home so as to know where he lives. I showed him the pictures taken in the evening. I could not have possibly followed this guy, because he fled and I was left behind trying to pick up my bike. This the idiot told me in no uncertain terms that he was going to give ma a warning and he would give it to me once only, that I was to stop harassing these people immediately.
I was in complete disbelief. Not accepting this idiot’s threats, I went to another police station and explained the situation. The policeman there called a supervisor and was told that a police report against someone that flees the scene can be filed with no problem at least 3 or 4 days later. He asked if an incident report had already been filed. I told him that I did not know, and he asked for my driver’s license and check the police computer. Nothing had been filed. He asked if I wanted to file a report. I told him I did not want the accident report to be sent to my insurance company. That would be like adding salt to the wound if it were to trigger a rate increase on top of what I had already been through. I told him that I would return after speaking to my insurance agent. I have a perfect driving record and have been driving for over 30 years. I do not want to ruin it now.
There are several lessons that I have learned so far. 1) boots save your skin – wear them, 2) good leather gloves save your skin, 3) a good leather jacket saves your skin, a good (full face) helmet saves your skin and your head, 4) get as many witnesses as you can if you ever get involved in an accident, 5) don’t always believe what a policeman tells you – they lie.
If you have read this far, thank you. What do you think of this situation? Was that first cop dishonest? I can’t get my head over how he came out in full force accusing and threating me, while going out of his way to make various excuses for the other driver. How did this cop get my full name and DOB? Could it be that the guy in the truck was this cop or a buddy? What about his claim that since I did not make contact with the other vehicle, then the other guy did nothing wrong? Does anyone know if my insurance company will in fact be contacted and my rates affected if I file a police report?
