I was involved in a traffic accident where the other guy hit me while I was on my road bike. Incidentally he was driving with a suspended license but the traffic officer blamed it on me, although I was the one who ended up in the emergency room,/now I'm not looking for some enormous reparation for the accident, but my bike was totaled and the guy did run a light that was yellow going red do I have a case or not?

What state do you live in?
My state yellow still has the right of way unless a policeman wants to give you a hard time.

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Originally Posted by N0help4u

what state do you live in?
My state yellow still has the right of way unless a policeman wants to give you a hard time.

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I live in Maryland

You say the police report states that you were at fault? This puts you behind the 8 ball to start with.

The suspended license may or masy not have a bearing depending on what it was suspended for. If it was suspended for parking tickets, it won't have a bearing.

You might have a case, but we need to know exactly what you claim happened to advise.

Yeah in my state if you are driving with a suspended license it is not suppose to have any bearing on the accident or anything else it is a separate issue.

Yes, his having a suspended license has no bearing at all on your case, it should give him a ticket for that, but is not used to determine who is at fault.

If the light was yellow, he can be in the intercestion.

What was the officers reasons to call it your fault, what time of day, if at night did your bike have lights, were you driving across the road or with traffic. For example if you were crossing the road against a red light you are completely at fault, since you have to obey the traffic lights,

Please give the details so we can advise. The fact is, if the officer said you are at fault, and that holds up, the person can sue you for damage to his car.

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Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

yes, his having a suspended license has no bearing at all on your case, it should give him a ticket for that, but is not used to determine who is at fault.

If the light was yellow, he can be in the intercestion.

What was the officers reasons to call it your fault, what time of day, if at night did your bike have lights, were you driving across the road or with traffic. For example if you were crossing the road against a red light you are completely at fault, since you have to obey the trafic lights,

Please give the details so we can advise. The fact is, if the officer said you are at fault, and that holds up, the person can sue you for damage to his car.

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OK initially I was going south on a one way street, went through an intersection while the light was just turning yellow, about a click after that I bank left to get off the street, the guy comes through the yellow turning red intersection and strikes me on the left side

Oh and I think they towed the guys car after I was taken away

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Originally Posted by BruceK

ok initially i was going south on a one way street, went through an intersection while the light was just turning yellow, about a click after that i bank left to get off the street, the guy comes through the yellow turning red intersection and strikes me on the left side

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You were going South on a one way street? Were you going the "one way" which was allowed? Going South on a one way street doesn't tell me what I need to know. I would guess you were travelling with traffic but you can never be sure.

If you went through the intersection when the light was just turning yellow in NYS you are at fault - you can go through the yellow if you own the intersection (are already in the intersection) but you can't enter the intersection on a yellow.

If you banked left and he hit you on the left, did you swerve into him? What part of his car hit your bike? I think your "I banked left" comment may hurt you. It's not like you were driving straight and he side swiped you.

Your other problem will be your statement that HE went through a yellow light - which indicates that you saw him before he hit you.

The Police got their version of the accident from someone - who witnessed the accident?

His suspended license was not the cause of the accident and, therefore, doesn't matter other than getting him in even more trouble on the other charges.

On the other hand the fact that maybe suddenly you swerved does not give him the right to hit you - did he react at all, blow the horn, swerve, brake?

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Originally Posted by BruceK

ok initially i was going south on a one way street, went through an intersection while the light was just turning yellow, about a click after that i bank left to get off the street, the guy comes through the yellow turning red intersection and strikes me on the left side

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Sounds like you were at fault. The key is that you crossed the road in front of the car. If he was that close behind you that he could make it through the same intersection on the yellow, then you had no business crossing the road.

And were you driving in the road ( which here you are suppoe following all the rules of the road)

The reason his car would have been towed was he did not have a valid license most likely, we often impounded cars where there was not a legal driver in the car,

Yeah this is what I figured, but to answer Scottgem's question the only reason I know he wasn't in the intersection before I started turning was because I looked behind me before I started turning. All the other cars had either stopped at the intersection or were way ahead of me. I can verify that because when I got out of the ER a guy from the intersection recognized me and told me what he saw. He said the light was already yellow when the guy started through the intersection and actually sped up to get through it that's how I know. So anyway the only other notice I got was a honking horn before I got hit. From what you guys are telling me though it would just be a waste of time to follow through with this as the court would probably side with the driver.

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Originally Posted by BruceK

yeah this is what i figured, but to answer Scottgem's question the only reason i know he wasn't in the intersection before i started turning was because i looked behind me before i started turning. all the other cars had either stopped at the intersection or were way ahead of me. i can verify that because when i got out of the ER a guy from the intersection recognized me and told me what he saw. he said the light was already yellow when the guy started through the intersection and actually sped up to get through it that's how i know. so anyway the only other notice i got was a honking horn before i got hit. from what you guys are telling me though it would just be a waste of time to follow through with this as the court would probably side with the driver.

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Well, you never know what a Court will do until the hearing.

But I would say he saw you (even though you didn't see him) because he had time to honk his horn. Is what the witness saw on the Police Report? Otherwise the witness is of no value, although I think his statement is of little value in light of the way the accident occurred.

Sorry, but something doesn't jive here. You say you checked over your shoulder and all the cars had stopped at the light so you thought you had room to cross over. But then you say this guy sped up to make the yellow. So that doesn't make sense. A car doesn't generally stop at the yellow then decide to go ahead. Also, I'm a cyclist, so I know the dynamics here. If you had looked over your shoulder and saw no cars in the intersection and then immediately made the decision to cross over, then you would have a) had time to make the maneuver and b) been seen by the oncoming car with enough time to brake.

So while you may have checked behind you, you probably did not start moving for several seconds giving traffic enough time to catch up with you. No, I just don't see you proving this guy was at fault.