Many Albuquerque and New Mexico accident lawyers are aware of a trend involving pedestrian or bicycle accidents. Typically in such cases, the injured pedestrian or bicyclist has been taken away from the scene, the driver of the vehicle is emotionally upset, and the officer arrives to begin the investigation. Given the dynamics of such accidents, there is a phenomenon in which the investigating officer tends to empathize with the motorists rather than the absent and seriously injured pedestrian.Fortunately, new training for Albuquerque police officers regarding pedestrian and bicycle accidents will hopefully yield more accurate and unbiased investigations. Sponsored by ABQ Ride, a training recently occurred during which a vehicle continuously slammed into a mannequin on a bicycle or on foot on Albuquerque’s West Side. Police officers were then briefed on how to examine the clues at the scene, including debris and personal effects to determine information regarding the impact.
It remains to be seen at this training will have any effect on how public or the police reports are written out following pedestrian or bicycle accidents. As an aside, I’m not quite sure what to make of the fact that ABQ Ride spent $10,000 to assist in the investigation of serious accidents rather than in preventing them.