<p>Your D is very lucky. Make sure she wears a helmet from now on, as another head injury could lead to permanent brain damage. (I was the mother of a football player). The witnesses or security people should have asked her some basic questions to determine if she suffered a concussion. If she couldn’t tell them how the accident happened or she mentioned not remembering the accident, they should have insisted she be seen immediately. You definitely have a complaint.</p>
<p>I would be very very extremely upset about how this incident was handled by the university and THEIR employe.</p>
<p>It is my understanding - (limited, so any experts please chime in) that in an accident like this involving a motor vehicle the auto insurance must pay for the medical care of anyone involved. In fact, it might even be your auto insurance that is supposed to pay. I know that sounds extremely weird, but that’s how it works in some states.</p>
<p>I’m so glad your D is okay - incredibly scary. They should have insisted that she see a doctor. </p>
<p>Most states have regulations regarding bicycles. She should review them and make sure she is in compliance. Not all require helmets of adults, but there may be a requirement for lights after sunset. I doubt citations are written on campus, but being compliant would help in any situation like this.</p>
<p>Since D is a student & used student health center, the bill is already included in the school expenses/tuition and there won’t be any extra bill for anyone to pay. I just sent off an e-mail to the kids telling them they need to wear helmets (to prevent brain damage) or stop riding their bikes (tough to enforce from 3000 miles away).</p>
<p>Just got off the phone with the Vice-President’s office. They are following up and very upset that procedures were not followed and that D was treated so poorly. They could not find any incident report and will be following up further to find out who was involved and more information about this.</p>
<p>The U’s procedure is to follow up with a phone call within 24 hours after any incident. None occurred in this case because there is no incident report that anyone can find in the system. There were also a lot of witnesses to the incident but may not be any record of them either since there is no incident report.</p>
<p>Wow. No report. that’s almost unbelievable. Ya gotta wonder if someone will lose their job over this. What were they thinking?</p>
<p>I really wonder what went through the campus security officers’ heads. There were at least two campus security officers who knew about the accident and did not file the report. This is just so wrong on so many levels. It is fortunate that D does not appear more seriously injured but no one knew the full extent of her injuries, especially since they did not insist that she receive any medical care on the scene. It is fortunate that she was able to make her way safely to her apartment after being told she could leave.</p>
<p>I didn’t write the letter earlier to give them time to file a report (if they were going to), but it appears they decided not to file any at all (the incident occurred last Thursday). I’m really more concerned that people who are involved in accidents receive the care they deserve–that is the bottom line.</p>
<p>She should pay a visit to the campus newspaper.</p>
<p>I would not be surprised if the school places an ad to find witnesses if they need to follow up, since the officers didn’t write ANY report and probably shooed away the many witnesses that were present at the time of the accident. Will see how the school handles this before going further.</p>
<p>Most likely they were hoping it would all blow over and that a parent wouldn’t get involved. Doing that is exactly how things get worse, not better. Now someone may lose a job.</p>
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<p>I think you are smart to pursue this for your daughter’s sake as well as for future accident victims. It’s amazing that no incident report was made and no witness statements gathered.</p>
<p>My daughter has had 2 very serious concussions. The second time, she claimed to be “fine” even though she had completely lost consciousness for over a minute and took 20 minutes to remember her name and age. Later, she had symptoms any time she tried to play her beloved sport and these lasted for 8 months. Her focus seemed a little compromised and her grades tanked. She’s been advised to quit the sport. I only relate this so you keep in mind that symptoms can sometimes be a little insidious and you certainly want the University to step up to the plate in the event that more specialized tests need to be done in the future or if she experiences any residual problems. Sounds like all’s well that ends well, but it never hurts to be a little vigilant.</p>
<p>Also, I really hope that she wears a helmet! A mild concussion is one thing, but a SECOND concussion closely following the first one can be very very serious.</p>
<p>Yea, I will talk with her & may also talk with her room mates parents about the kids wearing helmets (she lives with her HS buddies & perhaps peer pressure will get them to all wear helmets for safety’s sake). Sorry about your D having two serious concussions. I have a friend whose S had so many concussions he is always having problems now (had 1st one at age 12 & many more afterwards) & had to give up soccer. He is never “normal” any more. He has a lot of “brain fog,” and other issues.</p>
<p>Somewhere there is a car with a busted headlight, your D’s bike is bent, and there are records of her visit to the health center. Witnesses would be great, but the fact that your D was hit by a car is not in question, and the fact that there is no report only further reflects negatively on the driver. I would expect the school to take this very seriously (as it sounds like they are doing.) I’m very glad she was not seriously injured.</p>
<p>I hope they start wearing helmets. I have seen a comatose 19 year old on a respirator. It is uglier than bad hair.</p>
<p>Whoa, I can’t believe how irresponsible security was! It sounds like they were hoping a magic fairy would poof up in a cloud of glittery pixie dust, wave her magic wand, and make it all go away. Meanwhile, back in the real world, your daughter could have been seriously injured thanks to their negligence.</p>
<p>Please try to get your daughter to wear a helmet, when my brother was in college he too got hit by a car while on a bicycle and he went over the handlebars and landed RIGHT on his head. Thanks to the helmet, he didn’t have any head injuries. Blinking lights and a bike headlight are also a good idea.</p>
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<p>binx would make a good detective! Be sure and mention the headlight to the school. This will narrow it down real fast!</p>
<p>Yes, the letter to the VP did mention the busted headlight. The VP’s office sent a letter to the Chief of Campus Security & we will see how soon we hear back. Have NOT heard from the latter yet.</p>
<p>I spoke to S about having him & D wear helmets & he claims he’ll try to convince her. We can only hope.</p>
<p>Sometimes I think some folks are like little kids who figure “Just close my eyes and no one can see me.” Somehow, when they grow up, they still think that way but the consequences are much more serious.</p>
<p>I am so glad that your D is OK!</p>
<p>As to campus security, what they did (and didn’t do) is wrong in so many ways and on so many levels, it’s hard to know where to start. One of them ran down a student cyclist, injured her, damaging the university’s vehicle and the bicycle, didn’t provide identifying information to the victim, and didn’t seek medical consultation for a head injury? And then two different campus security guards, the guy who injured your D and the person who was called in to look out for the victim, got together and decided not to file any kind of report – even though there was an injured victim who had lost consciousness and damaged property. And, of course, they didn’t get the names of the witnesses because their plan was to bury the whole thing. Aaaugh!</p>
<p>At many universities, there are both campus security forces and an outpost of the local police. (I believe I have a child on the same campus, and the local police are there and very available to students and parents.) If I were you, I think I’d give the real police a call and make a formal report. I’d want someone who knows how to mount a real investigation finding the damaged vehicle, figuring out who was driving it that night, collecting evidence, questioning witnesses properly – not a security force where the wrongdoers work and which might not have a real strong interest in getting to the truth.</p>
<p>The fact that no one walked your daughter home, informed her RA if she is in campus housing, offered to drive her to the hospital, called a paramedic (Surely they have training that tells them that when someone has a head injury and loses consciousness, you call a paramedic.), and made an appropriate report, is deeply disturbing.</p>
<p>Please keep us informed. I know I’ll feel that my child is a lot safer on campus once both the security guard who hurt your D and his coworker who joined him in failing to help her because they were too busy covering up what happened, are no longer working there.</p>
<p>Yes, I am disappointed that none of the bystanders names were collected. D said there were LOTS of people milling about as it was a Thursday night. D does live in a university apartment and it probably would have only taken about 5 minutes to escort her home. There is also a free escort service available on campus which was never called. I hadn’t thought about calling the local police about this but am having second thoughts because so little was done correctly.</p>
<p>HImom, can you give us a few more details? Was this a marked (or unmarked) campus security vehicle, or was it the security officer’s personal vehicle (and was he in uniform)? How did the accident occur (was your daughter sideswiped by the car, rearended, t-boned, etc.)?</p>
<p>Did they know that she couldn’t remember the event (poss. loss of consciousness), or that she hit her head? Either way, they should have called an ambulance since it was a bicyclist vs a car. But if they did know that she hit her head or that she couldn’t remember the actual event, they aren’t medically or legally qualified to make the determination that she was competent to refuse medical attention.</p>
<p>There is definitely some shadiness going on here that needs to be sorted out, and there is definitely some revisions that need to be made to the security department’s protocols. You should also make sure your daughter knows to try to get as much information that she can in situations like this (i.e. write down the vehicle’s license plate number, etc.) and that she should know her rights and assert them in demanding the driver’s information. But also remember that this is a two way street - the driver has the right to her information as well (regardless of who is at fault).</p>
<p>I once got rearended on the freeway in traffic at relatively low speed. I immediately started pulling to the shoulder and motioned for the other driver to do so as well, but I made sure to look back and make a mental note of his license plate number, which turned out to be a good idea because he decided not to pull over and exchange information. When I made a report with the police, they told me that the plate came back to a rental car.</p>