Capt. Z

Hi;

I went out yesterday for my regular 25 - 30 mile ride on Saturday. About half way through i got 'nailed' by a car.

As I approached the intersection I watched the driver looking for uncoming traffic in front of him, and to the left, but he never looked to the right, where I was coming. I know this because I did watch his face while approaching the intersection.

Well, I was going about 17 mph as he started pulling across the intersection. I did try to break, but I made conact with the car in less than a second, hitting his front fender and being dragged about 10 or 15 feet away from my bike.

i layed about 5 minutes in the road, due to the pain. But shortly after the pain got less, the Sherrif and the ambulance came. By the time they arrived I was able to stand up again and walk. The medics checked me out in the ambulance, but could only find some bruising on my shoulder, elbow and buttock. I declined going to the hospital, since I did not see any need for that.

After the sherrif and the ambulance left I proceded with my ride, since the pain had gone to a minimum.

On the way home I drove by at our bike shop to have the bike checked out. The owner said that the front wheel got damaged, so did the front shifter and maybe the left pedal. There is also some road rash on the bike, but since the bike is about 20 years old he said he could not tell the insurance that the road rash came from the acciden for sure.

He said mostlikely the wheel needs to be replace, which could be about $ 150, plus a new tire and tube, a new shifter and maybe a new pedal. He also mentioned that repqinting the bike could easily around $ 400.

The sheriff told me that the insurance of the car driver will conact me in the next couple of days.

I did take some pictures of the damage on the bike and the bruses on my body.

Question is: what do I need to do next? Should I wait untill the insurance conatcts me, or should I try to contact the insurance?
What kind of rights do I have?
What kind of 'settlement' from the insurance can I expact?
Would insurance pay for the pain I am experienceing now and in the next couple of days and the limited usage of the left side of my body (where I got hit)?

Thanks for your input and sharing of your experience.