New to the forum – crap first post though

[RayDC]

Hello all,

My name is Ray and I’m brand new to this forum despite being a daily bike commuter for the past two years, rain, shine, pretty much no matter weather. I have a nice an quite 1 and half mile ride from my condo on the 4th and NY Ave NW to the Rayburn HOB. Other than the construction on Massachusetts Ave on the bridge over 395 (can’t wait until that’s all finished!), the ride has always been pretty easy and safe.

Yesterday at 6:40am at 4th and I St NW, I was hit by car who failed to yield at the intersection when turning left. I was heading south on 4th, he was heading north and we both had the green light. I was the only moving vehicle on the road, it was dusk but plenty light out. I had my helmet light on (white facing front, red on the back). The car’s headlights were not on nor a turn signal. I realized as I entered the intersection that he wasn’t really stopping. Before I knew it, I was on the street face up, immediately got up (human instinct I guess) didn’t feel pain in my legs and was able to walk, and yelled at the guy. He was cooperative and apologetic and amazingly calm, especially after I saw his windshield:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]1709[/ATTACH]

Good samaritans were around, one called 911, the other stayed as a witness (so I’m told) and I was whisked away by EMS and went to GWU Hospital. I’m amazed to report that I have nothing broken, three scrapes, one on my left elbow and two on my left foot. A bruise appeared on my inner right thigh this morning from the saddle. I can’t believe how fortunate and lucky I am. I attribute it my helmet, my commuter backpack that cushioned my fall to the street, and wearing work clothes (a long sleeve button up, tie, and dockers… well the tie probably didn’t help lol)

MPD never came to the hospital to talk to me, but today I found out that they issued the driver a “failure to yield” citation. Although I’m happy that he was ticketed, he still hit me, broke my bike, sent me to the hospital, missed work, etc… the $100 fine (or however much) seems unfair to me when an actual collision occurred. I mean that’s how much my ER co-pay is.

I really haven’t had a lot of time to process the whole thing. I’m sure his insurance would have to cover my medical expenses, bike replacement and whatever else.

I appreciate everybody’s input, suggestion and/or advice.

Cheers,
Ray

Topic

[KLizotte]

Like everyone else I’m so sorry this happened to you. As you say, if it were two cars it would have been a simple fender bender.

The other driver’s insurance company should cover all costs you incur so keep your receipts, take photos of everything, etc. They should cover your medical costs and bike/helmet replacement. It’s unfortunate you didn’t get the insurance info right away but the police should be able to provide it to you. If anything, I’d call the police and see if they will give it to you over the phone. When a driver backed into my parked car my insurance company didn’t do anything on my behalf, I had to follow up with the drivers insurance and file a claim. Fortunately that insurance company was very easy to work with (Geico) and paid up quickly. The most important thing is to file a claim with the drivers insurance as quickly as possible; in all probability they have already been informed by the driver of the accident.

I really hope you only walked away with bruises from this accident but as a previouis poster said, monitor yourself for the next week for any unusual aches and pains.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

[RayDC]

Thanks KLizotte,

Your advice is great and mostly done on my end. Of course the all important getting the guy’s insurance really the only thing I have left to do, but will be taken care of tomorrow when I can get the police report. We have pics of the car, tags, etc so if there’s any issue, hopefully those will come in handy. From my understanding with my insurance company, USAA, they will be taking care of the claims with the other insurance company. I guess my only question at this point is should I still retain a personal injury lawyer or does my insurance company act as that? Or is litigation against the driver a total separate thing from the insurance claim? I feel pretty stupid, but I’ve never been in this situation.

On another note, if the Washington Post put an article up yesterday about bikers and cars that I found interesting, but one bullet point really caught my attention:

“●You may never feel more powerful than when your foot’s on the gas pedal, but if you are at fault in a collision with a cyclist — even if you just “brush” against the biker — you might lose your driver’s license for a while and your private auto insurance forever. You could be looking at criminal charges, too.”

I know when I was stationed in Italy from 1994-2001, pedestrian and bike accidents were extreme punishable offenses for the driver and nearly always resulted in automatic loss of driving privileges, pretty much all of Europe was like that. Any Italians or Europeans can correct as necessary as I don’t remember exactly the law, it’s been awhile.

Nearly every family member, co-worker, and friend who is aware of my accident and who saw the picture of the windshield has mentioned the seriousness of the accident, despite my relatively minor injuries. I’m not the kind of person to wish ill-will or make people want to suffer, but the driver shouldn’t get off too easy, I was hit hard by a car that any change of variables could have made things much worse. It’s quite the eye opener and I know if it were me behind the wheel and hit a biker the same way and was at fault, I’d be taken to the cleaners. I don’t know, there are so many things running through my head. So I don’t know, I feel like my accident could help bicycle laws get stronger, hopefully…

[Bilsko]

I was just reading up on Bicycle insurance options the other day, b/c another forum member noted that AAA offered them (years ago) some type of bike/ped insurance. I wasn’t able to find anything equivalent now, but there are a few insurance resources out there (beyond the standard Homeowners path):

http://bikeportland.org/2010/01/05/page-two-bicycle-insurance-options-whats-out-there-and-what-isnt-27792

[KLizotte]

@RayDC 31139 wrote:

Your advice is great and mostly done on my end. Of course the all important getting the guy’s insurance really the only thing I have left to do, but will be taken care of tomorrow when I can get the police report. We have pics of the car, tags, etc so if there’s any issue, hopefully those will come in handy. From my understanding with my insurance company, USAA, they will be taking care of the claims with the other insurance company. I guess my only question at this point is should I still retain a personal injury lawyer or does my insurance company act as that? Or is litigation against the driver a total separate thing from the insurance claim? I feel pretty stupid, but I’ve never been in this situation.

If your injuries were truly just bumps and bruises, you don’t have to take time off from work, and the insurance company covers the cost of a new bike and equipment then you don’t have a basis for a personal injury suit since you will not have suffered harm that hasn’t been reimbursed. Civil courts are for civil suits, not criminal justice. Unfortunately the laws simply do not adequately protect bikers and pedestrians as you’ve noted. All we can do is continue to petition lawmakers to change the laws and support organizations like WABA and the League of American Bicyclists.

Good luck.

[RayDC]

Just a quick update for those interested: The driver’s insurance company has been in touch with me and they’ve accepted total liability. What I though was going to be quite a hassle now seems like it will be a fairly easy process. They will reimburse me for a new bike, helmet, lost wages, all medical, clothes that were ruined and pain and suffering. Hopefully there’s nothing else I’m forgetting.

So now I just have to wait for the medical bills to come in so I can fax them, as well as upload photos of my bike and injuries.

I need to update WABA with information on the accident. I filled out the online accident report form Thursday evening, but I didn’t have the information they asked for.

Thanks to everyone on the forum who gave great advice and well wishes.

Ray

[Terpfan]

@RayDC 31421 wrote:

Just a quick update for those interested: The driver’s insurance company has been in touch with me and they’ve accepted total liability. What I though was going to be quite a hassle now seems like it will be a fairly easy process. They will reimburse me for a new bike, helmet, lost wages, all medical, clothes that were ruined and pain and suffering. Hopefully there’s nothing else I’m forgetting.

So now I just have to wait for the medical bills to come in so I can fax them, as well as upload photos of my bike and injuries.

I need to update WABA with information on the accident. I filled out the online accident report form Thursday evening, but I didn’t have the information they asked for.

Thanks to everyone on the forum who gave great advice and well wishes.

Ray

Glad to hear they came through and hopefully you don’t ever get hit again. And totally agree on DC’s bizarre enforcement of hitting cyclists or assaults against them. Until you go through it, you wonder. And belated welcome, albeit unfortunate way to find this community.

[Bilsko]

Bumping this thread – LAB posted this helpful list of new insurance options for cyclists:

http://blog.bikeleague.org/blog/2012/09/keep-your-wheels-turning-new-insurance-options-for-bicyclists/

THey list four options: Spoke Bicycle Insurance, Better World, Markel, and Balance Insurance

[arlrider]

Ugh, I guess I am late to the game here, but no, no, no….it is too late now but you should have RUN, not walked, THAT DAY, to an attorney specializing in cycle accidents. You do NOT get in touch with the other party’s insurance. They will be eager to make this go away with no compensation to you besides what you’ve paid out of pocket. The lawyer does all the communicating. You total up all the medical bills, the broken bike, all of it, these are your “special damages”. Even if you have superficial injuries these are still injuries, so there is pain and suffering involved. The lawyer will write up a demand package and send it to their insurance adjuster. Typically they will settle for about 3x the special damages. I know this from firsthand experience.

[Author]

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