The problem is, if you want to, you can carry just $15,000 worth of such coverage — an amount that has remained unchanged since it was first set by the Arizona Financial Responsibility Act back in 1972.

What that means is that if you get hit by somebody who is carrying the minimum policy — whether you are driver, a bicyclist, or a pedestrian — the most you are going to recover from the driver’s insurance company is $15,000. And, sadly, most people on the road in Arizona carry the minimum coverage.

Arizona’s requirement is particularly low. Only four states in the U.S. require less coverage than Arizona; thirty-seven require more.

Now, in most collisions that involve modern, motorized vehicles, $15,000 is more than enough. Most of the time most people are not badly injured if they are inside a motorized vehicle.

But if they are hit while on foot or on bike, $15,000 often doesn’t even start to pay for their injuries. If you have an ambulance ride, a CT scan, and a couple of X-rays, you are probably going to be pushing that $15,000 policy limit pretty hard. Throw in a broken bone or an overnight stay, and you’ve exceeded it. You will owe the hospital money for your troubles.

The AZ legislature could easily bring Arizona in line with the times by increasing the minimum to $25,000 or more. This would provide much better protection for our state’s pedestrians and bicyclists, and the increase in coverage should cost the consumer very little (remember, unless a driver actually hits a cyclist or a pedestrian, he or she is still only going to pay whatever the costs are now — so the actual increase in rates should be small).

Of course, the likelihood of our legislature doing such a thing is nil.

If you are a bicyclist, please be sure you are carrying health insurance or, at a minimum, underinsured motorist coverage on your driver’s policy. This will usually protect you even while you are on your bike or on foot.

I too often see people in my office who have hospital bills that exceed or nearly exceed the minimum policy limits of the driver who hit them, and it breaks my heart to have to tell them that most likely the best we can do is make a sizeable dent in their hospital bills. It’s worse still when they have permanent injuries.

–Erik Ryberg

Like most states, Arizona has a statute that allows ambulance services to charge for their services even if the person they treat was not the person who called them. (It’s A.R.S. 36-2239.) There are obvious policy reasons for this law — ambulance companies perform services for people who are unable to request them, and the ambulance employees need to be able to focus on aiding wounded people, not on getting paid.

But there is room for abuse in this system, and I am starting to wonder if Rural Metro might be taking advantage of it.

A client of mine complained to me that when Rural Metro came to his aid after he suffered a minor bicycle/car collision, he rejected their assistance. He had already phoned his wife, who was on her way, and he was not badly injured, mainly just scraped up. He had not called Rural Metro, but apparently the Sheriff’s Deputy who responded to the collision had done so.

Some time later, as my client was preparing to leave the scene with his wife, he says a Rural Metro employee came up to him and swiftly put a band-aid on him. He asked the man if he would have to pay for that service, and the Rural Metro employee assured him that he would not.

My client then went home with his wife. The next week he got a bill from Rural Metro for $912.49.

I called Rural Metro to dispute this bill. The woman I spoke with, Lisa, made a big show — it seemed rather staged — of doing an investigation to see if the bill was legitimate. But then she let out a sigh and said, oh, well, this call was from a Sheriff’s deputy, so if I had a problem with the bill, I would have to take it up with the Pima County Sheriff’s Office. Mmmhmm. Right.

She then informed me that even if my client had not been treated at all, even if he had rejected all treatment, they would still charge. I thought that was strange. I had not researched the exact wording of the statute, and I believed her, but it seemed odd to me that they could charge even if the injured person successfully rejected their aid. I asked her if Rural Metro would charge my client even if he had left the scene and they had never even laid eyes on him. She assured me that they would still charge him.

After I hung up I researched the law, and of course it does not say that. You have to be either transported or receive “basic life support services” in order to be charged. Lisa had not told me the truth. I wonder how many non-attorneys she has told this to over the years? How many people like my client have called to challenge their bill, but have given up after hearing this tall tale from Rural Metro employees?

In my case, Rural Metro has not backed down. They say they did provide “basic life support services” to my scraped-up client who actually wanted nothing to do with them. And they also say they do not ever negotiate a charge down. It’s a flat $912.49, and you can either pay it or watch your credit rating tank. They do, however, assure me that Lisa’s error was very unusual, and that they will speak with her so she does not tell people that any more. My problem is that the tone of every conversation I have ever had with Rural Metro — there are many — causes me to suspect that, on the contrary, Lisa was performing her job exactly as she has been trained to perform it.

So beware, readers. If you don’t think you need that $900.00 band-aid, make sure you have witnesses while you plead with Rural Metro to leave you alone and go away. If you need them, or think you might need them, they are probably good to have by your side, but if you don’t, they can be awfully expensive.

And don’t believe what they tell you on the phone.

–Erik Ryberg

The daily activities most associated with happiness are sex, socializing after work and having dinner with others. The daily activity most injurious to happiness is commuting. According to one study, joining a group that meets even just once a month produces the same happiness gain as doubling your income.

Did someone say Tuesday Night Bike Ride?

-Erik Ryberg

But it’s a different matter in Pima County Justice Court. This is where you end up if you get pulled over by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.

There, the judges do not, apparently, have the ability to keep the information from the DMV. They use a different form.

I learned this, of course, the hard way — and my client now has to not only pay the fine but suffer the consequences to her driver’s license. (The judge did reduce the fine amount substantially, because he said he appreciated the argument and would like to be able to do what I asked.)

Shortly after that hearing I received an email from another person who tried this argument on his own. He had the same experience but he said the judge decided to let him take the Tucson bicycle safety class in lieu of payment, even though officially Pima County does not recognize these classes! That’s quite a step, and I am sure it is because the judge is gradually getting educated about these tickets.

Even when you lose a case like this, you still make progress. Judges are human beings, and they think about things, and their behavior and approaches to problems will change. I suspect that Pima County will soon adopt the Tucson bicycle safety program, especially if the judge who handles these matters starts sending people over there whether they have adopted it or not.

–Erik Ryberg

Monique’s bike was stolen 3-1-10 outside the art building at the U of A. It’s a spray painted brown track bike with a typewriter sticker on the head tube and a sticker that says “my bike takes me places that school never could” on the chainstay. It has drop bars with brown cork tape and two interrupter style tektro brake levers/brakes and a cane creek threadless headset. A black crankset with I think a 48 tooth black chainring. The rear wheel is a black flip flop fixed free hub on a black mavic cxp33 with I think 17 tooth fixed and free. It has wellgo pedals with metal toe clips and one toestrap is missing. Most of the logos are scratched off of the parts. The saddle is made by serfas and it has an origin 8 seatpost. She built this bike herself and really loves it so we’d be really grateful for any information on it’s whereabouts! Also it can be dropped off at Bicas no questions asked!
Any leads can email me ppbageloas@gmail.com or call me at 520-971-9514

Monique has ridden more miles in Mexico City than I have, and she did it on a cooler bike, and even though she weighs 1/3 or less what you do she can stomp you, so dumbass, you would be smart to return that bike asap. Just sayin.

–EBR.

And several of my readers have asked me what to do should they be stopped for this offense.

So here is my answer.

First: by courteous to the officer. You need him not to hate you.

Second: if you were riding in a pace line, explain that to him, and explain that the rider was being passed by other cyclists. He won’t let you off for this, but it helps later on to be able to say you explained this to him.

Third: Make some kind of a marker on the road where you were stopped — pile some rocks or something so you can find the spot later. You will need to come back to the exact place and measure the width from the shoulder line to the center line or dashed line that marks the edge of the lane.

Fourth: Make sure the officer is aware of the kind of traffic on the road. If a truck goes by, ask him to note it.

Fifth: Get the make and model of his patrol car. It’s probably a late-model Crown Victoria, but be sure to ask him what it is so you can find its dimensions later on-line. This is the only car you will be able to prove was on the road with you, so you need to know what it is.

Finally, explain to the officer that this issue has been appealed twice in Pima County and the cyclists have won both times. Tell him that you will get him those appeal decisions and accept a ticket by mail if, after looking them over, he still thinks you violated the law.

Then if he gives you a ticket anyway, call me.

–Erik Ryberg