Dane, I don't want to highjack your thread but:
Welcome to the Survivor's Club!!! I joined on August 19, 2004. I got rear ended by a guy in an Eagle minivan. It was about 3:15 on a sunny afternoon. My Greenspeed GTO has 3 flashing rear taillights and two flags for visiblity, but it didn't help. I also was going about 15 mph when he hit me from behind. My left front wheel and fender got shattered. The hub/drum brake assembly was shattered, the spokes broken and the rim in three pieces. Judging by the bent frame and the fact that this was on a rural highway, he had to be going 55 mph. His right front wheel hit my left elbow and rubbed (and blistered) my left forearm all the way to the wrist. Thankfully, I stayed with the trike and rode it down an embankment and into the ditch still upright on three wheels. Also, no head injuries due to a helmet, but the neck was a bit stiff. I still have nerve damage to the last two fingers on the left hand. Just some numbness in the fingers and a little scarring on the arm to add some character. The guy said that he saw me, but didn't get over far enough. His insurance agent didn't see how he could miss seeing me.
Good: His insurance paid all my medical claims.
Good: Added a little money over and above my medical expenses (to get me to go away?).
Good: They paid for a brand new (special order) trike, not the cost of the old one.
Bad: All the medical claims don't come in at the same time - it can drag on and on! They didn't pay each bill, but wrote one check to cover all of them.
Bad: No citation was issued as far a I can tell.
Bad: Prepare the get letters threatening you with a collection agency from just about everybody involved with the medical end of it (hospital, ER doctor, your own MD or dentist, in your case).
I didn't want to screw around with a suit (the lawyers get too much). Get as much as you can!!!
If you decide to order Survivor Club t-shirts (a tire tread up the back?), put me down for a large! Make a will if you don't have one!
Ron