Blame the Victim

[scandium]

A bit of a mini-rant here after an (ongoing) experience I've just had, and because its still ongoing I'm going to be intentionally vague about some details:

Last weekend while crossing the street (walking across) after midnight, I was hit by an SUV on the 4 lane highway I had to cross on my way home. There was almost no traffic, it was a clear night, I thought the street was clear and had not, at any point, seen (or even heard) the SUV that hit me - my only warning was the impact itself.

Anyway, while I was lying in the street a witness called 9/11 and the police were the first to arrive. I was concious and could hear what was being said to me and around me. I was asked, at least once, while lying on the road curled into a fetal poston and trying to catch my breath (I thought, among other things, that my ribs had been broken) if I had been drinking or had taken any street drugs (no on both counts).

Later, in the ER, while still attached to heart/blood pressure monitoring equipment and hooked up to a respirator, while lying flat on my back and in a neck brace, and after the ultrasound of my internal organs but before the CT scans and X-rays, I'm visited by another police officer. He again asks, (while I can still only barely speak) if I'd had anything to drink or taken any drugs, and then mentions before departing that he'd popped in to let the driver, who he said was "very shaken up about the whole thing", know that I was "ok".

Then several days later, after being discharged from the hospital, I'm visited by an insurance adjuster from the driver's insurance company. He shows me some pics of the damage to the SUV, mentions the dollar figure of the assessment that the damage my body had inflicted upon it, takes a statement from me and on his way out the subject of "liability" comes up, and he makes a point of mentioning that I had not crossed at the crosswalk that is much further up the street (and in my opinion more dangerous to cross at night because of the speed people drive at and the limited visibility there to both driver and pedestrian) and asks me if the police had ticketed me for jaywalking.

I should add that I'd crossed three of the 4 lanes I needed to cross to get to the sidewalk on the other side before being hit in the 4th lane by the driver who never saw me, and who then stopped and used their cell phone to call a friend/family member but not 9/11 (that was done later and by somebody else). And somehow, at every point along the way, this has been portrayed - from my perception- as my fault.

I should mention that, at any rate, I was extremely lucky. While there's quite a bit of tissue/tendon/ligament damage (and cuts, scrapes, and bruises and swelling like you wouldn't believe) nothing was broken and no internal organs were damaged. But at the same time I can't keep from feeling very bitter about the whole thing.

[Kapitan]

Should take it to court you shouldnt be liable and if something like that had happend to me id find the guy and me and a few brothers would make absolutly sure he didnt have a car to drive the next day.

[Fish]

Glad you are ok afterall Scandium. In my country the driver should be accused. Walkers and bikers are very well protected by law.

[Takeda Shingen]

I have never struck a pedestrian, nor have I ever been struck, but I would like to think that I would get out of the vehicle and check on the victim. I am not clear on the law according to this matter, as it varies from locality to locality. None-the-less, I am glad to hear that you are still among the living. Is there anything in the way of permanent damage?

I'm glad you are well after what was certainly a harrowing and painful experience.

If you don't mind, lets explore your experience further. Did you sign any admission of liability with the insurance company? I hope, and knowing you, you didn't. I suspect the insurance reps mission was to scare you away from filing a claim. I would suggest you obtain a copy of the police report regarding your incident. The insurance company certainly will obtain a copy. Was the fellow who hit you given a sobriety test? What was his/her status? The insurance company is trying asses its liability. If you were both inibreated its a 50/50 split. You get the idea from the ins. company's position.

As far as the police questions regarding your sobriety, you are assumed to be less than sober, when the police contact you after midnight layng in the road having crossed in an area not specifically designated as a pedestrian crosswalk. Not to mention being struck by a vehicle on a clear night where headlights would be seen easily.

Your situation is unfortunate but............next time use the cross walk where operators of motor vehicles can expect to find pedestrians, and the crossing is controlled by light signals.

You are a vey lucky soul. Most folks die in these encounters. You must have something to do in your life.

P.S. You may not remember seeing the lights. A number of years ago I was involved in an auto accident which put me in hospital for six days, emergency surgery and all that. I could only remember bits of the incident. I enquired with the medical folks and the informed me that it was quite common for amnesia (ie your brain protecting you from traumatic experiences) to occur.

[STEED]

Scandium, if you was hit here in the U.K. the driver would had pressed charges of you damaging his car and won the court case.

Glad to here your OK.

[Kapitan]

That sounds about right steed seeing as burglers here sue thier victims if they injur themselves on the victims property.

If that had happend to me scandium id make absolutly sure he couldnt drive that car again you would be amazed what brake fluid and a sledge hammer can do !

But the main thing is you are ok but even so not your fault.

[XabbaRus]

Originally Posted by STEED

Scandium, if you was hit here in the U.K. the driver would had pressed charges of you damaging his car and won the court case.

Glad to here your OK.

I think that's a bit overboard.

Glad to hear you are well. I don't think we have jay walking laws in the UK so the onus is on the driver of the vehicle to be aware fo his environment.

[Sharkstooth]

Originally Posted by Takeda Shingen

I have never struck a pedestrian, nor have I ever been struck, but I would like to think that I would get out of the vehicle and check on the victim. I am not clear on the law according to this matter, as it varies from locality to locality. None-the-less, I am glad to hear that you are still among the living. Is there anything in the way of permanent damage?

In Chicago, if you hit someone and get out of the car, or even stop to check on them, you are liable to get mobbed by an angry crowd. Best thing to do here is drive to police station---isn't that sad?

I am also glad you are ok Scandium.

Shoe-on-the-other-foot department:

Just yesterday I watch a guy cross a busy street in a crosswalk...against the light. When the oncoming cars honked at him, he stopped in front of them and started cursing them. A cop could have given him a ticket or even arrested the jerk, but all the drivers could do was sit there and wait.

I think it should be forbidden in any country for a person in an automobile to hit someone and it be the pedestrians fault in any way, shape, or form. Unless perhaps the pedestrian was trying to commit suicide and jumped out in front of the car on purpose. It is a shame that the world protects the guilty so much and punishes the innocent. What ever happened to a world where a person could walk where the hell they wanted to freely?

My only explaination for what happened in your case and not seeing the SUV that hit you is that the female operator of the car must have been hauling ass.

It's a shame that she was not taking every effort to ensure pedestrain safety nor her own. That is reckless driving in the fullest form and she should lose her ability to drive.

Now, imagine had you been the hitter instead of the hitty... You being a male and her being a female. How would the community around you have viewed that? Most likely you would be in jail right now, you would have been sued out of all your money and assets and you would most likely have lost your license to drive for quite some time. Males are ALWAYS looked at as guilty on the road for some reason. In the USA males under 25 pay nearly double the payments on car insurance compared to women in the same age group. Thought this was the USA, so what's up with this sexist BS price gouging that insurance companies are allowed to commit? They claim that it's becasue males wreck more than females in that age group by using statisics. Well, if that's the way it is then why can't an employer refuse to give a job to a black man knowing full well that the black man is most likely going to rob from him - given the statistics and all - that a black man usually commits a crime compared to a white man by nearly 90%.

[LoBlo]

How fast were they going?

I'm just glad you're alive, and hope you'll recover fully.

It's true that the insurance company will do everything they can to avoid paying, and that means trying to prove that you are in the wrong from the start. Use any legal means you can to keep that from happening, and don't give in!

I think scandium has every right to be discouraged from his point of view.

However, we are only getting one side of the story, which by his own admission brings his liability into question.

Last weekend while crossing the street (walking across) after midnight, I was hit by an SUV on the 4 lane highway I had to cross on my way home. There was almost no traffic, it was a clear night, I thought the street was clear and had not, at any point, seen (or even heard) the SUV that hit me - my only warning was the impact itself.

'it was a clear night' headlights are easily seen by a pedestrian,

'I thought the street was clear ' he made a judgemnent as to the safety of his progress onto a four lane automobile road,

I should add that I'd crossed three of the 4 lanes I needed to cross to get to the sidewalk on the other side before being hit in the 4th lane by the driver who never saw me, and who then stopped and used their cell phone to call a friend/family member but not 9/11 (that was done later and by somebody else). And somehow, at every point along the way, this has been portrayed - from my perception- as my fault

'I should add that I'd crossed three of the 4 lanes I needed to cross to get to the sidewalk on the other side before being hit in the 4th lane'

Was scandium looking for auto traffic during the entire crossing of the four lane road? Crossing three out of four lands a person in hospital.


'who then stopped and used their cell phone to call a friend/family member but not 9/11'

The driver stopped the vehicle and did not leave the scene. I suspect he was under no other legal responsibility. Although we all hope to act in the correct and hreoic manner portrayed on the TV human nature is not always scripted. Also where did scandium get this information, his tale says he was near coherent at best during the incident.

Later, in the ER, while still attached to heart/blood pressure monitoring equipment and hooked up to a respirator, while lying flat on my back and in a neck brace, and after the ultrasound of my internal organs but before the CT scans and X-rays, I'm visited by another police officer. He again asks, (while I can still only barely speak) if I'd had anything to drink or taken any drugs, and then mentions before departing that he'd popped in to let the driver, who he said was "very shaken up about the whole thing", know that I was "ok".

Taken apart from the police checking for intoxication, the driver was concerned for scandium's wll being.

he makes a point of mentioning that I had not crossed at the crosswalk that is much further up the street (and in my opinion more dangerous to cross at night because of the speed people drive at and the limited visibility there to both driver and pedestrian)

' had not crossed at the crosswalk ............in my opinion more dangerous to cross at night because of the speed people drive at and the limited visibility there to both driver and pedestrian'

This statement will get ya wacked by any insurance company. Crosswalks are designed to control both pedestrian and auto traffic in a safe and judicious manner. If one chooses to diregard the designated crosswalk or roadway the liability rests upon the individual who chooses to disobey the legal crossing.

[August]

Well i just hope Scandium is alright. Who else would i have to argue with on the Subsim forum?