I got hit by a car this morning and now things are worse.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

So if my day wasn’t bad enough. I was walking to work. I walk through the first crosswalk at an intersection with a light and the second one is just the zebra lines. I get there, the man in the minivan stops. I walk along the crosswalk behind another man who is maybe 2 feet in front of me. The minute man number one is out of his way the guy starts moving, hits me in my knee, I fall into his windshield/hood (it’s a minivan thing), smack my hand, smack the back of my head, and fly off a few feet in front of his car knocking my breath out and seeing stars. Somewhere in their, I manage to scrape myself up on my knees.

I give the report to the police, the guy is in the background screaming beforehand. He yells, “why does this always happen to me?”, “the car behind me hit me and i hit him,” and then “he jumped on my car!”

Well, it seems there were 6 eyewitnesses who saw me fly into the windshield after he hit the side of my knee and said I jumped into his car.

So, I’m at the hospital, I am basically alright, though achey, bruised and scraped. I get out, metro home, and then the police call again.

He says, I have bad news, and I have worse news. The bad news is that I am being charged with destruction of property because 6 witnesses saw me jump on the car. (I didn’t, he hit me and iIfell into it and then off.) And now the worse news, since 6 witnesses saw me “jump” onto the car, I am now being charged with falsifying a police report (I told the truth) and now there is going to be a warrant out for my arrest.

I have tried contacting a lawyer friend who practices out of the district of columbia for advice but don’t know if he will return the call. Now, I am at a loss for what to do. I am feeling really stressed. The day keeps getting worse and worse.

2

IANAL but his mention of “the car behind me hit me and i hit him” would to the untrained mind suggest he has at least some culpability in the matter. Where did this happen? DC?

3

This happened on my way to work (so about 1 block from Union Station), right downtown. I haven’t seen the police report, but I don’t know if that got put into the report at all. I wasn’t asked anything about it other than where my injuries were. I am ok, but achey. I also lost my breath and saw stars for a few minutes. But other than that I am ok. I am trying to track down some lawyer friends, but as of yet, no one has returned my call. I didn’t know what I was going to do until the police called back and said that I am being charged with falsifying a report. Now, I know I have to talk to a lawyer, but I don’t even have a clue where to start. This is where I was hoping the lawyer friend’s would give direction. My main friend may be on vacation in France, but I am not sure, since I haven’t talked to him recently.

4

These “eyewitnesses” saw you jump on the car, but they didn’t see the car move? Damn. I am sorry dorkus. This is unbelievable. Why on earth would you jump on the car? That doesn’t make sense. Out of the witnesses, no one seems to understand that you were hit?

Expect to feel worse tomorrow, after the adrenelin wears off. Take it easy for today.

And I too, question the driver’s rapid change of story.

5

I am going to fill my prescriptions. I think I am going to cry afterwards. He wasn’t moving fast at all but little me vs big minivan still will throw me. When the police called back it made me feel so much worse. Now I am not only achey I have nasty butterflies in my stomach and feel like I am going to die.

6

Don’t wait to hear from a lawyer friend…get a lawyer now before you hear a knock on your door. There has to be an attorney referal number in DC…call that and get the warrant taken care of first thing.

7

Absolutely! Take care of the warrant first thing. If you can not afford a lawyer you will of course by law be given one. Keep your story unfaultered. Do not change one iota. Make it a very anal personal point to adhere to. No changing story. I have a couple direct questions for you. This is one you may want to get right, each time you answer it…

Why do six “eye witnesses” think you “jumped” on the car?

Did the man who hit you think you jumped on his car, or does he think he was hit from behind and then hit you? This can be physically shown by looking at the back of his car.

There are mounted camera’s all over down town, especially where you were. So this incident is almsot certainly on film. Does this make you at all nervous that the incident will look like you “jumped” on the car?

8

I guess the “eye witnesses” think I jumped on the car because they saw me on the hood/windshield of the minivan after he hit me. The man said I jumped on his car after he went through the above two iterations (why does this always happen to me, the car behind him hit him). I have contacted many lawyers but none with specialty in this type of law have returend my calls yet. I just took my prescription muscle relaxing pill and am hoping that I can nap for a bit.

9

Seems to me that the doctor who examined you should be able to tell if your injuries are more consistent with being hit by a car vs. jumping onto a car. Get a statement from him/her while it’s still fresh.

10

Oh good call, I didn’t even think about that. Well, Dorkus?

And never, ever wait for a lawyer to return your calls. They won’t. You need to check the yellow pages for accident attorneys I think…

11

I don’t suppose there’s any chance the guy or his friends are trying to freak you out, is there?

Get a lawyer. Good luck.

12

There’s something really fishy about this. Are you sure it was the police who called you? It sounds like they suspect that you might be trying insurance fraud, but that would be an enormously hard case to make without previous history. And you have considerable evidence on your side – medical records, testimony of your boss that you were expected at work at a given time, all of which adds up to a plausible “innocent pedestrian gets nudged by minivan” scenario.

Not to mention that someone who gets knocked in the knee will naturally jump and topple, so what you’ve described happening is absolutely consistent with what the witnesses are describing. A competent attorney would make mincemeat of them in court.

Of course I suppose it’s possible that the guy who hit you spread some dollars around or has an “in” with the investigating officer.

Also, I’m not sure of the rules in your jurisdiction, but in Mass, the pedestrian has absolute right of way in a crosswalk. If you and the guy’s car were in the crosswalk simultaneously, there’s no way he can be considered not at fault.

13

If I were you, I would jump on the heads of those witnesses, what a bunch of asshats.

I hope you feel better, good luck.

14

OK … I checked the Washington, D.C. DMV page, and in the online driver’s test study thingie, there is a reference to right of way with regards to pedestrians in unmarked crosswalks. You can find this info at:

Washington, D.C. DMV study guide

It says that drivers must yield to pedestrians even at UNMARKED crosswalks, and I imagine that the same would hold true for marked ones as well. IANA lawyer either, but you might at least have that on your side.

I spoke with a paralegal friend of mine, and he strongly advised against waiting until tomorrow to get this taken care of. You should definitely find a lawyer right away. I know, I hate lawyers too, but sometimes they are necessary.

Good luck with this, and please let us know how things turn out!

15

That doesn’t sound like a real call from the police to me. I suggest that you call the police and find out whether they called you. If not, you can add “impersonating a police officer” to this guy’s transgressions.

16

I agree- AFAIK, the cops don’t call you up on the phone to tell you that they’re going to charge you with something- they do it, then arrest you. WTF? Something is fishy.

Did you get an officer’s name on the phone? I think it’s a ploy to get you to not persue the guy’s insurance company or something. Put your mind at ease- call the police and just ask. Talk to the officer that was at the scene, if you can.

17

I agree- AFAIK, the cops don’t call you up on the phone to tell you that they’re going to charge you with something- they do it, then arrest you. WTF? Something is fishy.

Did you get an officer’s name on the phone? I think it’s a ploy to get you to not persue the guy’s insurance company or something. Put your mind at ease- call the police and just ask. Talk to the officer that was at the scene, if you can.

18

Well, the muscle relaxer put me to sleep completely. I just woke up. I had called a friend who has ties in the police department and through roundabout knowledge, I find that you guys are correct about the police thing. They aren’t supposed to tell you that there will be a warrant. Anyway, it is too late to do that tonight since I just got up. I will be doing that all day tomorrow. I am stiffer now than I was before I went to bed earlier but still basically feel ok.

19

Thanks for the update, I been worried 'boutcha since I read the OP. Please keep us posted. Hope you help nail the bastard.

20

I’m so sorry, dorkus.

I’m glad the call is suspect, and I’m hoping it was fake (only so you don’t have the charges of destroying property).

Let us know if we can do anything for you!