Crash!! You’ve had an accident with a car. What do you do now?

[WillStewart]

Just finished watching attorney Bruce Deming’s presentation at WABA Summit, and he has a number of important points for everyone to know (don’t take my word for it as I can’t speak for him, watch the video about 45 minutes after the beginning);

1. After a crash, people will ask “Are you all right??”. Never, ever say “I’m OK” or “I’m fine”. No accident victim is able to answer that question objectively, as they are pumped up on adrenalin, cortisol, endorphines, etc. Only say “I don’t know” and get checked out by medical professionals.

2. Don’t get up right away. Make sure you check yourself out thoroughly before even sitting up. Don’t take a hand up from someone who may think they are being helpful.

3. Get witness names and phone numbers as soon as possible. Don’t rely on the police to do so, witnesses may be gone by the time they get around to it.

4. Don’t discuss the details of the crash with medical personnel beyond what they need to know about your injuries. If they write down an improper interpretation of the accident, it is a legal record.

5. Take pictures as soon as possible with the bike and vehicle in their positions/conditions. As someone to do it if you are not sure you are up to it. Cellphone cameras will suffice if no high res camera is available. Have the pictures emailed to you immediately.

6. Virginia, DC, and Maryland are contributory negligence states. If you the cyclist are even 1% at fault, you will get nothing from the driver’s insurance company. Don’t give statements to insurance agents from the driver’s insurance company (they’ll call up and sound very friendly) . No matter how willing they say they are to pay your claim, they are looking to trip you up to discover that 1% fault. Tell them you have nothing to say to them and stick to it, no matter how much they cajole you.

7. How to dispute a ticket where you are at fault – don’t argue with the officer. Don’t pay the ticket as that admits guilt – take it to court and contest the ticket. In DC, your odds are 50-50 that the officer won’t even show up and you will have it dismissed.

Topic

[americancyclo]

@WillStewart 10162 wrote:

3. Get witness names and phone numbers as soon as possible. Don’t rely on the police to do so, witnesses may be gone by the time they get around to it.

Make sure the witness actually saw the crash, not just the aftermath.

@WillStewart 10162 wrote:

4. Don’t discuss the details of the crash with medical personnel beyond what they need to know about your injuries. If they write down an improper interpretation of the accident, it is a legal record.

make sure to mention you were in an accident with a bicycle and a car. Bruce noted that he’s heard of medical staff writing down “fell off bike” instead of “hit by car”

[Dirt]

You had to know I was gonna comment here… like I do on every other thread.

I’ve probably been involved in more bicycle/automobile crashes with injuries and damage over the last 34 years than you can count on your fingers and toes. I’ve done things EXACTLY as described above on some and done things completely wrong in every way on others. I have only received compensation for 3 of them.

1) I was unconscious more more than a day and unable to take any action in any way and had no recollection of the event. Insurance company paid for a lot of my treatment. The dude that hit me paid for my bike because he felt bad. To this day I a) have no recollection of the day before or 3 days after the crash; and b) exchange holiday greetings cards with the dude that hit me.

2) Dude paid me out of his pocket to have my frame fixed (dented tube replaced and complete paint/sticker refurb).. total cost of about $600. To this day his late-model Toyota Corolla is by far the most comfortable car I’ve ever been hit by. His girlfriend was seriously hot!

3) Mr. Road Rager bought me a new helmet because he intentionally rolled forward to hit me in the crosswalk he was blocking the box and I was walking my bike across the street. A DC Police officer was sitting 3 feet away watching the entire thing. Dude decided after the police officer gave him the lowdown that his best option was to “settle out of court” for the helmet. (The only damage was to the helmet as it bounced off the bumper of the car in front of him.

Only instance #3 listed above had any positive interaction with the police that I know of, though the bottle throwing incident that we went through on the Total200 ride this year resulted in no injuries, but positive police interaction.

How do I react when I’m hit, these days? I pretty much keep quiet and get as much info as I can.

Not sure how much help that is.

Pete

[PrintError]

Last time I got hit, my immediate reaction was to scrape myself off the ground, pound his hood into the shape of a cereal bowl, then proceed to convince myself not to remove him from the car via. the driver’s window. Thankfully he ended up being a nice guy and I didn’t have to go WWF on him. Driver apologized profusely, we had a nice little chat after I got out of the ambulance. He had USAA insurance, which didn’t hesitate to replace E V E R Y T H I N G. Helmet, lights that broke, my bag that tore, and most importantly my bike. I think the reason I was so mad was the completely unlikely way I got hit… Broad daylight, 4 in the afternoon, stopped at a red light in the middle of the left turn lane behind a big SUV. I’m in hi-vis reflective everything, dual SuperFlashes strobing on the back, and cars all around me. I’m the most visible thing on the planet, until WHAMMO!

No hard feelings towards him honestly. For some reason I almost feel bad for severely denting his hood.

[pfunkallstar]

@PrintError 10181 wrote:

Last time I got hit, my immediate reaction was to scrape myself off the ground, pound his hood into the shape of a cereal bowl, then proceed to convince myself not to remove him from the car via. the driver’s window. Thankfully he ended up being a nice guy and I didn’t have to go WWF on him. Driver apologized profusely, we had a nice little chat after I got out of the ambulance. He had USAA insurance, which didn’t hesitate to replace E V E R Y T H I N G. Helmet, lights that broke, my bag that tore, and most importantly my bike. I think the reason I was so mad was the completely unlikely way I got hit… Broad daylight, 4 in the afternoon, stopped at a red light in the middle of the left turn lane behind a big SUV. I’m in hi-vis reflective everything, dual SuperFlashes strobing on the back, and cars all around me. I’m the most visible thing on the planet, until WHAMMO!

No hard feelings towards him honestly. For some reason I almost feel bad for severely denting his hood.

Sadly, the two accidents I’ve had over the past decade or so have been in the same circumstances: super visible, middle of the day, birds chirping, dogs and cats frolicking in a peace coexistence. It is worth noting, however, that both of my accidents involved drivers who were busy on their cellphones. Way back in college I was riding up a road heading out of campus when the car in front of me started to make a left turn, realized that she was heading towards the pavement rather than the driveway to the parking lot, slammed on the breaks then shot back across into my lane in reverse – all while on the phone and driving a stick, which is hard to fathom. After realizing that I was no longer vertical, I traced the line of torn spandex over to her bumper and we had a healthy conversation about “prudent things to do.” I got everything paid for by her insurance and I think, judging by the tears, that she learned a BIG lesson.

With regard to the OP, CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE, never, ever, say anything even remotely admitting fault, ever! Let your insurance company send their buddies carefully worded statements with the facts and accountable parties.

[pfunkallstar]

I think they missed a step or two, at least in my experience the first thing I do is “regain consciousness” and “feel for wet spots.”

[txgoonie]

This is just a shout out to Bruce Deming. I really didn’t wanna go legal after my accident this past June, but the fact is that he got me results when everything else I tried didn’t work. Plus he’s an avid cyclist himself, a super nice guy and really easy to work with.

[OneEighth]

On a related subject, does anyone know of insurance companies who will cover cycling? Statefarm wasn’t interested the last time I checked. Honestly haven’t spent the time digging further so I thought I’d just see if anyone else has had any luck.

[CCrew]

@OneEighth 10195 wrote:

On a related subject, does anyone know of insurance companies who will cover cycling?

As in liability/collision/medical, etc? None that I’m aware of. As far as theft is concerned, most will cover theft under homeowners/renters insurance but you’ll need to ask about your particular policy with your carrier. Some require a separate rider under the policy.

[KLizotte]

All of these examples of how people have been hit by cars is one more reason to pressure the politicians to keep the “transportation enhancements” in the federal budget since that funding stream pays for bike trails.

[dasgeh]

@OneEighth 10195 wrote:

On a related subject, does anyone know of insurance companies who will cover cycling?

We have Erie Insurance and have been very happy with both service and prices. I don’t know about liability/collision/medical, but our bikes are on our jewelry policy, which I believe has 0 deductible. We had Metlife the last time we had a bike stolen, and they paid for the current model year of the same bike (a carbon racing bike, so no small price difference) and paid for all the upgraded components. Very happy with that service.

[Rufino]

Hi Everyone,
This is my first time posting and, actually, I just signed up today. I moved to DC in June and decided it would be best to ride my bike to work. On my way home today, I was hit by a car, as it was attempting to make a left turn. I definitely had the right of way. The driver was trying to beat the light and in an attempt to do so, hit me, knocked me off my bike, and (worst of all) took off. I managed to get up and get the tag number. I called the police gave them all the information. When the officer showed up, I repeated all the information (including – type of car, style, color, model and tag number). The officer asked me if I saw the driver. I let him know a general description, but he said that was not enough to do anything. The officer even told me that there was a car registered that matched my description 100%. I find it hard to believe that someone can get away with a hit and run so easily. The officer just repeated – unless you can identify the driver, there is nothing we can do.

Please let me know if anyone has encountered this before.

Thanks!

[Greenbelt]

Very sorry to hear you got hit and run. I think WABA should know about this case? Seems like a police report should have been filed, even if the officer thought it would be hard to get a conviction if you couldn’t identify the driver. I don’t understand why they can’t at least contact the owner of the vehicle.

[KLizotte]

@Rufino 10334 wrote:

Hi Everyone,
This is my first time posting and, actually, I just signed up today. I moved to DC in June and decided it would be best to ride my bike to work. On my way home today, I was hit by a car, as it was attempting to make a left turn. I definitely had the right of way. The driver was trying to beat the light and in an attempt to do so, hit me, knocked me off my bike, and (worst of all) took off. I managed to get up and get the tag number. I called the police gave them all the information. When the officer showed up, I repeated all the information (including – type of car, style, color, model and tag number). The officer asked me if I saw the driver. I let him know a general description, but he said that was not enough to do anything. The officer even told me that there was a car registered that matched my description 100%. I find it hard to believe that someone can get away with a hit and run so easily. The officer just repeated – unless you can identify the driver, there is nothing we can do.

Please let me know if anyone has encountered this before.

Thanks!

From a legal point of view, police arrest people not cars which is why they need some description of the driver. That said, I’m guessing a quick follow-up by the police to the driver’s home or workplace would have a high probability of eliciting an admission of guilt given that most people would be in panic mode in such a situation.

All that said, why is that we can be issued a ticket by one of those red light gizmos even though there is no proof as to who was driving? Why can’t the owner of the car that hit you be likewise held responsible for at least material damages? Only the lawyers know how to divine the finer points of law in cases like this.

Glad you are ok and hopefully still riding.

[MCL1981]

That is pure laziness and I would be on the phone or in the station with whomever is higher up than he is.

[OneEighth]

@KLizotte 10344 wrote:

All that said, why is that we can be issued a ticket by one of those red light gizmos even though there is no proof as to who was driving? Why can’t the owner of the car that hit you be likewise held responsible for at least material damages? Only the lawyers know how to divine the finer points of law in cases like this.

If the answer isn’t “money”, then you asked the wrong question.

[Author]

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