Each year we must turn away injured people who fail to get the police to report at the scene.

It is imperative to have the police report to the scene and take an accident report so that the parties are identified, and the accident is documented.

Documentation of the occurrence is essential. We have had cases where the bike accident defendant has denied being present at the scene. The police report eliminates the possibility that defendant will claim that he was 100 miles from the scene. The report also documents that the accident happened and where the accident happened.

The identification of the defendant is also important. Without a positive identification, there is no possibility of recovery. Unfortunately, we have had injured people come to us who were flattened by a bicyclist who left the scene and were never identified. Bicycles do not have identifying marks, such as license plate numbers. In one instance a woman was runover by a bicyclist in Central Park who was from Denmark. He had rented the bike for the day. After helping the woman get-up, the bicyclist took-off. Without some minimal identification, we could not do anything.