NYC Bills Cyclist for Hitting Him

[Jabberwonky]

Couldn't find one of Opus' cyclist threads, so here's this...

City bills cyclist $1,200 for damage to police car that struck him

The case is at least the third in recent months in which the city has billed people for damages to police cars that hit people.

[Julie]

That's not right. The bill should go to the officer who was driving at the time...not the poor schmuck he ran into.

[Fairportfan]

I'd say it depends on what the guy was doing when he got hit. (Haven't read the article yet.)

[Fairportfan]

Now i have read it - and i'm still not sure whether i think the city is right or wrong.

If that car was going the same way he was, then it was traveling awfully fast - or his story doesn't hold up, since he says "...and I looked behind me and saw that it was clear, and the farthest car was a fair distance".

Or, perhaps, he had a case of brain-fade and failed to see a car that was a lot nearer.

And, if it was going th other direction, then he's 100% in the wrong for making a left turn into the path of an oncoming vehicle.

And the fact that the city backed down is no evidence one way or the other; bad PR should be avoided.

I'd love to CCTV footage of the incident.