Bicycle Accident Lawyers Welcome Promise of Protection for Los Angeles Bicyclists
The Los Angeles police department is promising more safety and better protection for the city’s bicyclists. That should come as welcoming news to bicycle accident lawyers as well as bicyclists in California, who have long been complaining that police officers ddo not do enough to protect cyclists from aggressive motorists.
It’s hard to understand the challenges facing a bicyclist in Los Angeles, unless you’re actually one. This is a city that was designed mainly for the motorist. This auto centric culture has helped to develop a segment of motorists, who believe that all cyclists are trespassers and have no place on the roads. Los Angeles bicyclists complain that they are constantly harassed by motorists who strike them, and then drive away without a second look back. Many times these episodes of aggression have turned fatal. Bikes have been hit, and cyclists have been killed by motorists who then drive off from the scene.
This aggression was clear to see just two years ago in a high profile road rage-related bicycle crash case in which two bicyclists were injured . In that case, the motorist was a Brentwood doctor, who had been annoyed at the frequent breaking of rules by cyclists in his neighborhood. He pulled his car in front of the two bicyclists as they were riding along. The crash that resulted, caused serious injuries to the bicyclists. One of them had to be hospitalized for several days. The doctor was sentenced this January to five years in prison.
Although a high profile case, the anger that the doctor Chris Thompson showed the two cyclists was hardly rare or unusual. Cyclists in Los Angeles will tell you that every day they come across motorists who proceed to yell at them or taunt them. Other times, this aggressive behavior turns dangerous with motorists trying to run the bicyclist off the road. In rare but increasingly frequent cases, the motorist hits the bicyclist, causing severe injuries or death.
The Los Angeles police department is now promising cyclists that they can expect more cooperation form the police department. LAPD police chief Charlie Beck made the promise this week at a meeting of the city’s police department, bicyclists and bicycle advocates.
Bicyclists have one serious issues that must be dressed immediately. They complain that the laws do not help them when they are struck by motorists. They insist that they should receive more cooperation from LAPD police officers after a crash or a hit and run accident. All too often, however, they see that officers take their complaints lightly.
Chief Beck is promising that this will change too. He said at the meeting that he is in the process of preparing a document for officers to understand their responsibilities when responding to a bicycle crash scene. He is also focusing on special training for police officers to handle a bicycle accident.
Bicycle crash lawyers in California hope that the LAPD follows up on its promise, and enacts more measures to protect cyclists.
The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of bicycle accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.
The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.
