Pixiq

Something inside me is telling me to be surprised by this, but I’m just not. It takes one sick, twisted piece of shit to only hand a tissue to a guy you just nailed with your car, then drive away without even calling an ambulance.

Let’s hope the charges stick to this soul-less prick.

i would expect nothing more from cops.

OK, I thoroughly distrust cops, but I also hate it when bikes are in crosswalks and on sidewalks. In most municipalities that’s against the law. The cop is culpable for his actions, shows no compassion, and is probably a shit heel in general; but let’s not pretend that the cyclist was Mother Teresa in the eyes of the law either.

BTW… I’m not pretending that this would not have happened if the bike was within the law and on the street.

I don’t know NYC or New York state laws, but in NC a bicyclist is supposed to obey the same traffic laws drivers of automobiles do. This means you can either WALK your bike through an intersection in the crosswalk with the other pedestrians, or RIDE it through in the traffic lane with the other vehicles. Riding through a crosswalk, on the sidewalk, or against traffic is technically illegal here (but people do it all the time). When I ride on the streets, I obey the same laws as when I drive my car… I know this from first-hand experience as a cyclist involved in an accident with a car (that was not fun, but fortunately it didn’t involve a trip to the hospital, and I was in the right and won my case in court).

Having said that, the cops should have been a little more helpful in this incident!

Why no warrant seeking the seizure of the all camera’s tapes? Had it been a private citizen who produced this video their home would have been ransacked by now.
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@Andy: OK, the cyclist was at best using a crosswalk improperly. The cop on the other hand was speeding, driving the wrong way (it says against traffic), left the accident scene without even calling an ambulance, and apparently didn’t even really check to see the guy was OK.

It’s a bit petty to point out the cyclist may have been violating a (fairly minor) traffic law in this instance when the cop broke a bunch of major ones and probably has a felony or two thrown in for good measure.

The fact that the cop was suspended _without pay_ speaks volumes about how serious this is. They almost never put a cop on anything besides paid leave while they investigate.

Random: I agree the suspension is great. I’m also not suggesting that the cyclist “brought it on himself” or anything like that. That’s such a cliche excuse anyway.

I guess I can’t stand cyclists who don’t obey traffic laws. I have come a gnat’s ass from hitting them a couple of times.

Can you see why the cops don’t like videos being taken? Does ANYONE even know any facts surronding this? Were they on their way to your place to assist with a home invasion? What was said between the cyclist and the cops? Who’s word do we have for that? What injuries were sustained? Hospital report?

You know jack sh*t at the moment to come to any conclusion. Ever heard trial by media? Yeah that’s right, your doing it Carlos. Was the driver charged before or after the trial by NBC? When you know more FACTS post it and apologise if it is needed.

For all you know the cyclist ignored the siren of the cop who was on his way to a crime in progress, got bumped a tiny bit, lost his balance, fell over and dispute the urgency of the call the cop helped him to the curb so he would not sustain further injuries from other cars.

Heres the alternative story if things went different:

“Cop on the way to a hostage situation stops to help out man that fell off his bike, the woman ended up being murdered. Louis Ramos has been suspended for not following protocol on case priority”

I have no idea where the cop was on his way to, but it appears neither do you, find out before post this sh*t.

Normally I agree with your posts Carlos, you failed on this one. Do NOT rely on NBC to provide all your info.

Hazza,

Use a little common sense.

The guy has been criminally charged and suspended without pay.

If the scenario evolved as you described, you don’t think the cops would have stated that to the media, instead telling the media that they suspended the guys without pay?

Suespended without pay, it’s about fucking time.

Accidents happen all the time, especially when you are speeding on the wrong side of the road. It’s the failure to file a report that’s more serious than hitting the bike.

Those of you who rage against cyclists might want to consider this: while you’re sitting on the automotive equivalent of an easy chair, moving tons of metal around by blipping your right foot and waving your hands a tiny bit — a cyclist is generally putting a large percentage of their body’s energy into moving themself and their bike, focused on keeping it balanced, avoiding potholes and errant automobiles, and so forth.

So if you spot one running through a stop sign, or riding in an otherwise empty crosswalk (like in the video), or otherwise riding in a sketchy but harmless fashion – cut them some slack. Please.

Looks to me like the cyclist was making a left into the traffic lane he belonged in and moving over to the bike lane (looks like what that is to his left, that he almost got to).
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@Andy: Well in general bikers who don’t obey the traffic rules are more likely to get hit, so karma kinda pays them back for it. I find them annoying too, but I don’t think crossing at the crosswalk is a real issue. That’s mostly dangerous to other pedestrians, not people in vehicles.

@Hazza: I love your logic, so if the cops were speeding to the scene of a hostage situation, and they accidentally ran over someone and _killed them_, it’s OK for them to just stop, move them out of the road, and keep going? Since when is it OK to do the wrong thing on the way to do the right thing?

I looked up the intersection on google maps and street view. It appears that the bicyclist was going the wrong way on a one way street as well. I would assume he was probably on the sidewalk since he was in the crosswalk. I could see that the cop may not have expected traffic coming from the wrong direction, although the bicyclist obviously wasn’t expecting wrong way traffic either. They probably both contributed to the crash, but that doesn’t excuse the cop for leaving the scene without calling it in. As a matter of safety, cyclists should not ride on sidewalks and into crosswalks at full speed. If you are going to ride on a sidewalk, do not ride directly into intersections as if you were already in the street. If you think cars don’t see you when you’re in the street, they are even less likely to notice you when you were not riding in the street.

Rob has it right about not riding on sidewalks and in crosswalks, but I believe it’s legal in NY for cyclists to go the ‘wrong’ way on one way streets.

With the police car going against traffic, there was no way a cyclist could reasonably expect something to be approaching from that direction with the cars in the correct lanes stopped, unless the police car was running full lights and sirens.

Even more scary than what caused this accident is the Blue Line buses that make this sort of maneuver on a regular basic in order to make up time… do a search of any video site for videos of them doing it just for convenience.

In this case it leaving the cyclist was where negligence turned criminal.

In california, pedestrians (including cyclists) always have the right of way over cars, regardless of the situation. Which is why we actually FINE people for jaywalking, here.

Hitting a bicyclist in california (or any pedestrian) is always, 100%, the car’s fault. we have a bunch of laws that you wouldn’t think would have to be spelled out, but are.

It’s actually really appalling that people on here are saying “the cyclists annoy me” or “he was in the wrong” – you’re driving a goddamned car! they have nothing protecting them at ALL. You reach down to change the radio station and a cyclist could wind up dead. That’s a tough pill to swallow if you’ve ever rode a bike in a city before. Try crossing a freeway onramp entrance… that’s some scary stuff right there.

motorcyclists on the other hand… they’re crazy in the head.

I should point out that bikes have certain laws they have to follow as well, and they can get cited/fined for breaking them the same as a pedestrian for jaywalking or a driver for running a stop sign. But even if the cyclist is weaving around in the road at 5 mph, and someone hits them, it’s still the driver’s fault.

Oh and i just remembered, in Louisiana, the cops will stop cyclists and pedestrians if they are walking along the roads WITH traffic. they tell you to cross the street and walk/ride against traffic. I’ve always heard conflicting stories about where to ride in california, but i ALWAYS ride against traffic. If i am going to get hit, i want the chance to dodge the bastard…

sorry for multiple posts, i don’t have an edit button anymore(?)

“In california, pedestrians (including cyclists) always have the right of way over cars, regardless”

Cyclist must obey all the same laws as motor vehicles in California with special provisions, or you can be ticketed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CVC_21200#CVC_21200

As a judge in Riverside County once told me in 1982, the court sees no distinction between a bicycle and a motor vehicle.

Back on topic, the cyclist is as much at fault as the copper to me. I hate it when people cycle on sidewalks and crosswalks.

Driving away, bozo no no.

It’s got nothing to do with bike laws, the cops are shit for not calling medical help regardless.

I can’t believe people still think you’re supposed to ride against traffic. Always ride with traffic. What kind of cop is going to tell you to ride the wrong way? It is more dangerous to go against the flow of traffic as a) people don’t see wrong way traffic at intersections and when pulling out of driveways and b) getting hit head on is an even worse impact.

Of course, if cops don’t know the laws on photography, I guess I should not be surprised at their lack of knowledge on traffic law either.

thats a two way street, cop is on the wrong side,
it is marked as a bike lane crossover getting on/off the bridge, the cars lined up on the right are not parked they are lined up in the turn lane, the entire lane is right turn only. the cop is in the wrong lane left side against traffic flow and past the double yellow jumping ahead of traffic. the bike lanes and pavement markings around there suck. as usual the initial reportings in the media was the biker just had a booboo and was iven a tissue, until the video came out, but most people dont know or understand the dangerous bike & traffic flow at this intersection