My kind boss greeted me in the jolliest tone this morning -"You look fabulous today!" We've been charting the steadily healing cells on my face after a bicycle accident on Monday morning left me achy and swollen with a gnarly little squiggle of stitches up my right eyebrow and a bust to my right lower ribs. I was on my daily commute up first avenue when a cab swerved into the bike lane and a slick of dirty water grabbed my braking tire and flew me off into the street, face first. Red face red hands yellow taxi racing off into the blue sky. I'm so lucky- things could have been much worse. I feel like I am always re-booting in these years, and Monday was another reminder of how brief the hours we have are- lives rising and falling like hot flames licking at the ever ceasing dusk. A (painful) reminder to be very tender in these days, throw old grudges aside, forgive, to be grateful, and to celebrate the successes and wonders of friends. Joe said it's called getting a new lease on life.
If you are ever in a hit and run/ stop and run accident in New York City, it is important that you follow these steps after the accident to insure that you have an opportunity to recover lost wages or hospital charges from the city. I didn't know about any of this, so hopefully these tips are helpful for you if you are ever in a similar accident.
- File a police report within 24 hours. The city has rules in place in an effort to prevent fraudulent cases and this is one of them. If you wait 26 hours, it will be very hard to bring the case to court.
- File a complaint with the 311 against the Taxi and Limousine Commission- http://www.nyc.gov/html/tlc/html/passenger/sub_consumer_compl.shtml. Someone will get back to you in 14 days by mail regarding a hearing on your case.
-Find an attorney. Adam White's firm - http://adamwhitelaw.com/ was very helpful in explaining the process to me and I would recommend his counsel. Flanzig & Flanzig, LLP also handles a number of bike-related (and dooring) cases every year http://www.newyorkbikelawyer.com/.
Finally, wear your helmets, folks!
Full hearted,
NRG
The vegans of the world are very thankful you're okay.
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