Matthew Klahn
I'm resurrecting this long-dead thread to update the situation. In early
December, I got a letter from the Multnomah Traffic Court that had
re-scheduled the arraignment for this citation, and had a copy of a judge's
order to have the Sheriff serve the ticket on the person that hit me at
their address in Vancouver! So, I showed up at the traffic court on Dec.
26th, stood in line to check in, and found out that the driver had pled
guilty and paid the fine! (I just wish I didn't have to stand in line for
1.5 hours to find this out, but it's a small price to pay.)
So, my citizen initiated citation case had a satisfactory ending after all,
and I just wanted to let people know and encourage others to follow the same
process if (hopefully not!) they ever have to.
Matthew
On Nov 15, 2007 4:47 PM, Matthew Klahn wrote:
> Let me recount one particular frustration that I've had with this
> process, which I initiated after being hit by a driver who blew a red
> light on Aug 1st. I was eastbound on Hawthorne, and was stopped by a
> light. When the light changed, I looked right & saw that all visible
> lanes of traffic had stopped (this was at about 6pm), but when I
> reached the east-most lane of traffic, my path intersected with a
> driver that was talking on her cellphone and that had blown the light.
> I was taken to the hospital, had a separated shoulder, but am
> remarkably OK other than that.
>
> The officer who responded declined to give a citation or investigate
> the crash, so I initiated the violation process even though the police
> told me it wasn't possible, had never heard of it, etc. I was very
> happy with how it was handled after the initial period of the police
> never hearing of it, etc.; the office that came by to take the
> statement was very nice and was as helpful as he could be. When I went
> to traffic court to sign the ticket, everything seemed to be on-track.
>
> 3 days before the hearing was supposed to happen, I called down to the
> Mutlnomah county traffic court because I still had not received a copy
> of the ticket in the mail. I was told that because the driver was a
> Vancouver resident that the Sheriff would not serve the ticket on the
> driver, and that the case would be thrown out because she was never
> notified about the citation. I was told that I could show up to court
> for the hearing, but that since she was not informed, it would not
> affect the outcome of the hearing (i.e. it would be thrown out by the
> judge).
>
> So, while I'm thankful that there is some recourse, unless the police
> take the responsibility to follow through, at least in some cases, the
> outcome will still be unsatisfactory. I cannot understand why the law
> enforcement policy is the way that it is, but it seems that they are
> not willing to do anything that they see as an "inconvenience" to
> them...
>
> I am NOT saying "don't bother", even if your case was exactly the same
> as mine. In fact, I am partially saying this in a public forum because
> I hope that if anything like this happened to anyone else, that they
> could contact the Sheriff's department and somehow influence them to
> take the 10 mile trip up into the wilderness of Vancouver to serve the
> ticket on the person.
>
> Anyways, good luck out there, everyone. Be safe and take care of
> yourselves.
>
> Matthew
>
>
>
>
> On Nov 15, 2007 9:59 AM, RAY THOMAS wrote:
> >
> >
> > > >
> > > > What Shall We Do Now
> > > > Oregon's bicycle community mourns every time we hear about a
> seriously
> > > > injured rider. We share our vulnerability on the roadway so when one
> > > > of us gets hurt we take it personally. We know like few others how
> > > > much heart it takes to go out on the roadway and try to share it
> with
> > > > cars and trucks. Then when nothing seems to happen to the drivers
> > > > involved in horrific collisions it makes us frustrated with the
> whole
> > > > legal process.
> > > >
> > > > The last year has seen too many injuries and deaths. While it's
> > > > correct that there are more bicyclists than ever before and the
> > > > actual injury rate has gone down it still hurts when no matter who
> > > > makes a mistake that causes a collision, it always seems to be the
> > > > bicyclist who gets hurt.
> > > >
> > > > Our city leaders and law enforcement can make good on their promises
> > > > to improve facilities and traffic enforcement, but for right now
> it
> > > > is not acceptable that scarce police resources are used on bicycle
> > > > stings at stop signs while no one is ticketing drivers who are
> clearly
> > > > at fault in causing serious injuries in accidents. Following the law
> > > > is important for bicyclists, but the consequences of running a stop
> > > > sign and hitting the side of a car are almost always visible on the
> > > > body of the cyclist. We bear the consequences of our own mistakes,
> but
> > > > when we are hit by someone making a driving error, we are the ones
> who
> > > > end up in the hospital.
> > > >
> > > > As a community we can make a positive step forward by making sure
> that
> > > > breaking the law and hurting a bicyclist has consquences, even if
> > > > there is no accident investigation or tickets handed out at the
> scene
> > > > by the police. For almost two years we have encouraged injured
> riders
> > > > to use the traffic courts to take the law into their own hands and
> use
> > > > the traffic court to bring charges themselves. The process has a
> > > > clunky name, " Initiation of Violation Proceeding By Private Party",
> > > > but it is part of our legal right to issue our own tickets and use
> the
> > > > traffic court to convict folks of the violations that result in our
> > > > injuries, Failing to Yield to a Bicyclist in a Bike Lane, Careless
> > > > Driving, Illegal Right Turn, Dangerous Left Turn, all offenses that
> > > > cause injuries to riders, often by drivers who are repeat offenders
> > > > because they don't recognize bicylclists' legal right to the road.
> The
> > > > Violation Proceeding has been successfully used by a number of
> riders,
> > > > without lawyers-- a Bike Gallery mechanic, an architect who commutes
> > > > by bike. These folks pursued their own cases and obtained
> convictions
> > > > that were moving violations. Their experiences are available to help
> > > > others in using this legal process.
> > > >
> > > > Our goal is to assemble and train a group of citizen volunteers who
> > > > will help injured riders file a case and bring to court the
> > > > witnesses who saw what happened. We have already written a guidebook
> > > > available as a pdf at stc-law.com that contains instructions on how
> to
> > > > use the system.
> > > >
> > > > While we can take comfort that Portland is such a great place to
> ride,
> > > > we can also do something ourselves to make it better. As the old
> > > > saying goes, Don't Mourn, Organize!
> > > >
> > > > The website linked below contains materials including the red
> covered
> > > > guidebook, and a copy is linked below as a pdf.
> > > > Ray Thomas
> > > > www.stc-law.com
> > > > www.oregonpedestrianrights.com
> > > > email rthomas@stc-law.com
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > > >
> >
> >
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> >
>