Last March, as I was riding my Peugeot folding bicycle to the Metro North train station in New Haven, I was doored by a motorist and my bike was totaled. I contacted the police, and Jan Piorkowski , the driver of the vehicle, was ticketed for a traffic violation.Image 1: Diagram from the police report.
Assuming this unfortunate incident was nearing a conclusion, I contacted his car insurance provider with a copy of the police report, asking them to pay for the damages to my bicycle. But, his car insurance was expired, and when I contacted Piorkowski to explain this, he refused to reimburse me personally and threatened to make me pay for what he claimed were damages to the vehicle.
Wanting to see justice served, I filed a case in Connecticut small claims court. A week later, I received a letter from the People's Court inviting Piorkowski and myself to have our case heard on the show. I was a little conflicted about agreeing because I worried that my visual impairment would be held against me, but ultimately I decided the opportunity to educate the public about a bike safety issue was worth this risk. However, since the People's Court is technically arbitration, both parties have to agree to go on the show, and Piorkowski declined the invitation.
Image 2: Invitation to appear on the People's Court.
Six months later on October 5th, Piorkowski and I finally got our day in (real) court. After taking the day off work and taking the train up to New Haven, I was worried he wouldn't show up, leaving me with no real recourse to get reimbursed even if the judge ruled in my favor. But
Piorkowski was there, and we were sent into a judge-ordered pre-trial conference. Although he initially flashed around a stack of photographs documenting the "damage" I did to the paint job of the car, after I pointed out his precious vehicle happened at the time of the incident to be completely uninsured, Piorkowski agreed to settle for the full amount I was asking, delivered to me in cash as soon as we went downstairs to find an ATM.
A small victory, and in retrospect probably not worth the drawn-out process, but in the end, I figure every step we take towards creating safe, shared streets is worth reporting.
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6 comments:
Congrats. I just got a check this week from the insurance of the driver who ran into me two months ago... can finally replace my bike. Even with insurance it was a drawn out process. It's a good thing I had a car to drive to work instead.
Congratulations! It's great to hear that there is at least 1 more person out there who now understands they are responsible for their actions while using a car.
from my understanding of People's Court, he screwed up by not taking the opportunity to go on. I think TPC ends up paying the settlement, basically as compensation for you going on the show.
Yep, that's right. People's Court is responsible for the settlement, rather than the defendant. And even if I had lost, People's Court would pay me $200 for my time.
I'm glad you won this case.
In Madison, several months ago, a woman got doored and went to the hospital for back injuries. While she was there, a police came and gave her a ticket because she hadn't given the parked cars 3 feet of clearance. On the basis of this ticket, the driver's insurance company resisted paying her medical bills.
The happy ending (for the rest of us, anyway) is that the City and the State both passed laws to prohibit opening a door in front of a moving bike, so future dooring victims won't be treated this way.
Congrats! He would have looked foolish on TV and was smart to settle before the actual trial. He really didn't have a case.
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