Yesterday, some campaign workers jaywalked on a one-lane road, and I had to swerve to avoid them, causing my wheel to overlap with the bicycle in front of me, resulting in both of us going down.
I got my bike up and helped the other rider up too, but they just stared at us without saying a single word and walked away.
I started picking up the items that had fallen and scattered around. Just then, one of the people involved came out of a nearby restaurant.
So I confronted them — I said how could you jaywalk without even looking left or right, we had an accident trying to avoid you, so please compensate us.
The city council candidate personally gave me their contact information and said they understood, so I took the bikes to a bike shop without filing a police report for the time being.
About an hour later, I received a text message.
I'll write the contents exactly as they were:
"First, I would like to apologize for the accident. I hope you receive proper treatment. I checked with the police station and this is what they said: since there was no physical contact between a person and a vehicle, it cannot be processed as a criminal accident. In cases where an accident occurs while trying to avoid someone, it is a civil matter, and in such cases the pedestrian is said to bear 10–30% of the responsibility. That is what was reported at the police station. As this is something I should take moral responsibility for, please send me the repair estimate and I will review it."
I was absolutely dumbfounded lol.
I sent a reply:
"You jaywalked without looking in either direction, while we were riding normally at the 1/3 point of the road, and we went down trying to avoid you, resulting in our riding gear, shoes, and bicycles being damaged — and you're calling it 'moral responsibility'? That's a bit much. I'll send you the estimate for now, and as for medical treatment, I wasn't planning to go but I'll see how things go. Even when ordinary citizens jaywalk it's frowned upon, but this is really too much. Take care."
After I sent that, they called me saying not to misunderstand and that they would compensate me.
After that, it seems the estimate was passed on to the other party. They apparently called me when it was nearly 9 PM, but I missed the call.
When I checked today, there was another text message. Even before reading it, I could roughly guess what it said. The contents were:
"I called you after receiving the estimate but you didn't answer. I apologized because you requested an apology regarding the fall on moral grounds. The estimate seems to have very little to do with moral responsibility. I will once again apologize on moral grounds. As for compensation, it does not appear to be something we are responsible for, so I called but couldn't reach you, hence this text. I have already filed a police report, so if there is an issue, I will accept any fine."
That's what it said. I wonder if they agreed to pay because they had no idea how much bikes cost these days? Why are people in politics so good at playing word games?
First they admitted it, but then kept going on and on about "moral responsibility"... honestly.
Is there any way to receive compensation for a no-contact crash caused by jaywalkers like this (there were 3 of them)? I'm just frustrated that the other party has suddenly done a complete 180.
The frame paint is all scraped off, the light is smashed, the cleat shoes and bib shorts are torn, and the wheelset is a mess.
Any advice from the experts out there...
