Police Response To Bicycle Accident Troubling
by Steven D. Silverman
Over the weekend, 20-year-old Johns Hopkins University student Nathan Krasnopoler was critically injured while riding his bicycle. According to the Baltimore Sun, Krasnopoler was riding in a designated bike lane on West University Parkway and W. 39Th Street when he was hit by a vehicle turning right. Krasnopoler is in a comma and the Baltimore City police have issued no charges or citations. [Update: The police have concluded (?) that the cyclists was at fault (he hit the car not the other way around, same as the Yates case. Click Read More.]
These facts are disturbingly similar to the John Yates wrongful death case I litigated last year. In that matter, Mr. Yates was riding on the far right when he was struck by a truck which left the scene. The police blamed Mr. Yates, but we were able to overturn that finding. The Yates case brought legislative change and a focus on cyclist rights in Baltimore City. This change included new designated bike lanes. Unfortunately, the Baltimore City Police Department is still demonstrating an apparent bias against cyclists by failing to even issue a citation in an instance of clear negligence.
<a href="http://www.marylandaccidentattorneyblog.com/2011/02/police_response_to_bicycle_acc.html">http://www.marylandaccidentattorneyblog.com/2011/02/police_response_to_bicycle_acc.html</a>;
The Yates police response:
There are only some aspects of this case that are public record. I will tell you that the video clearly shows the cyclist to be at fault. There is no "right to the road" as a cyclist. You have the same rights as a motor vehicle and also the same obligations. The cyclist was not operating within those parameters. The tanker truck that the cyclist struck was a large one. The cyclist struck it in the rear.
<a href="http://www.baltimorespokes.org/article.php?story=20090820231731405">http://www.baltimorespokes.org/article.php?story=20090820231731405</a>;
The Krasnopoler police response:
Just after noon a detective called me to tell me that the investigation of the accident concluded that the cyclist was at fault because he rode into the car.
<a href="http://baltobikeclub.org/index.php?option=com_agora&task=topic&id=876&Itemid=64">http://baltobikeclub.org/index.php?option=com_agora&task=topic&id=876&Itemid=64</a>;