Transit Miami friend Gabriela was rear ended by a car while stopped at a red light on South Beach this past weekend. The driver did pause to make sure she was ok, but then took off. Gabriela then called the police to file a report and was told by the officer that the MBPD could do nothing for her. This is what she had to say:
“ On Sunday afternoon I was riding my bicycle along West Avenue on south beach when a woman leaving Whole Foods failed to come to a complete stop and rolled into my back tire shoving me into the road. Luckily I was unscathed but my bike tire is completely bent leaving my bike (main form of beach transportation) un-ridable.
The woman paused to ask if I was ok- when I told her that I was fine but my bike was damaged she said ‘sorry’ and continued to turn north on West Avenue and drove away. I was shocked that she left the scene of the accident for which she was at fault. I called the police and filled out a report (including eye-witness information) with an obstinate police officer (to put it kindly) who basically told me that I could fill out a report but nothing could be done about it.”
She goes on to say:
“I gave the tag, car description and driver description to the cop along with witness contact info… The cop made it clear that nothing would be done about it…”
All I can say is “Wow”.
6 Responses to Miami Beach Police Department Can do More For Cyclists
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i would send her plate info and car description to the state insurance commissioner, asking that he/she forward the info to insurance companies in our area. perhaps when her insurance company finds out, her rates will go up. or you could post her info on Facebook and publicly embarrass her.
You obviously have little experience with the Miami Beach police department. If you want any kind of response, you have to press the issue with higher ups or city officials.
do you have the name of the officer? this would be a good training opportunity as they say in the corporate world. I’d be happy to follow up for you. Felipe knows how to get in touch with me.
essentially a hit and run or at the very least leaving the scene of an accident. push this up the ladder!!!
Take the name of the officer, and the description of events and the person who hit you and file a report at the station. Be sure to file a complaint on the officer who was derelict in his duties. There’s no excuse for that, they’re there to serve you and if they don’t they need to be reprimanded.
I have to say the exact same thing happened to me. I was pushed off the road by an angry driver. I took a pic of his license plate and headed straight to the police headquarters. Lesson learned: I should not have left the scene of the accident. If anything like this happens to you, you need to stay put and call the police to even file a report. Of course the report will not do much and from what I understand there would have been no implications for the offender anyways even though I had his license plate.