Smashed at an Intersection

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  • June 28, 2011 at 3:50 am #910080
    bmcbiker
    Participant

    Last week I was biking through an intersection not far from Dupont circle when the driver “failed to yield the right of way causing this accident to occur” (as quoted from the police report). I had a green light as I approached the intersection yet a car traveling towards me on the opposite side of the road made a sharp turn into me and my bike and I ended up on the driver’s car bumper-window screen and all I remember after that is waking up on the ground with people around me. I’m still shocked at this driver’s negligence and really cannot comprehend how he did not see me. I had a new bike on the road (retail price is $2000) and I have no medical insurance, my medical bills so far have come to about $700. Given this guys negligence and the police report that details the driver’s fault (and one witness I have to go along with this) do you know if the driver’s insurance company will cover my medical costs, missed time at work, not to mention the destruction of my bike? Or should I consult an attorney to contact the driver’s insurance on my behalf? I’m a foreign national, not sure how things work here, and just wont to approach this the right way and get a fair hearing. Any advice you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

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  • June 28, 2011 at 8:56 am #927434
    CCrew
    Participant

    @bmcbiker 5085 wrote:

    Given this guys negligence and the police report that details the driver’s fault (and one witness I have to go along with this) do you know if the driver’s insurance company will cover my medical costs, missed time at work, not to mention the destruction of my bike? Or should I consult an attorney to contact the driver’s insurance on my behalf? I’m a foreign national, not sure how things work here, and just wont to approach this the right way and get a fair hearing. Any advice you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

    If the driver was cited at fault then his insurance should reimburse you in full. Doesn’t matter if you’re a foreign national or not.

    I would contact his insurance carrier directly, and if you get no satisfaction there, then consult an attorney. Reason I say that is once an attorney contacts an insurance carrier on your behalf then the carrier will not speak to you. I will say document, document document EVERYTHING related to the accident. Meticulous recordkeeping is your friend.

    Given your screen name, was the bike a BMC? I have two… love them. Tell the insurance company you want an new Impec :)
    You are entitled to full reimbursement of all losses. DO NOT sign off on any medical releases until you know you are 100%. Medical and physical (bike, lost wages, etc) can be settled separately.

    June 28, 2011 at 12:25 pm #927442
    StopMeansStop
    Participant

    +1 on the documentation.

    I hope you heal fast!

    June 28, 2011 at 2:38 pm #927457
    eminva
    Participant

    Nothing to add, just sorry to hear the news and hope you recover quickly and that the insurance company makes things easy.

    Liz

    June 28, 2011 at 2:44 pm #927458
    OneEighth
    Participant

    Was it a taxi?

    June 28, 2011 at 5:16 pm #927461
    bmcbiker
    Participant

    Thanks for your concern and advice guys, everything has been documented, I will contact the insurance company after I’m done seeing doctors. (it was not a taxi btw).

    June 29, 2011 at 12:11 am #927468
    CCrew
    Participant

    @bmcbiker 5114 wrote:

    Thanks for your concern and advice guys, everything has been documented, I will contact the insurance company after I’m done seeing doctors. (it was not a taxi btw).

    BMC, there’s no harm, and as a matter of fact I’d call the insurance company asap to get the claims process rolling. Just don’t release the medical portion of the claim until you know you’re all well. Opening the claim early is in your benefit. That way the insurance company can assign the necessary folks to follow up.

    That way your bike repairs can be out of the way and you only have to worry about getting better.

    July 1, 2011 at 12:01 am #927557
    Riley Casey
    Participant

    BMC please be sure that ‘everything documented’ includes a runnining log of notes of phone conversations with names, dates and times. Contact with a insurance company is inherently adversarial regardless of the tv advertising.

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