andre21a1

I got hit by a car while riding my bike crossing the street. I got throw off my bike and scratch my knees and elbow. I believe that I did not hit my head. I went to the hospital and got my shot and bandaged everything up. The driver agree to pay the hospital bill and in fact he drive me to the hospital. He want to pay it out of his pocket. However, I think I need compensation money for the days I will be missing from work so I think it is his insurance company that need to pay me my compensation. Please tell me what to do and steps to take. I did not file the police report yet and just go straight to the hospital.

Maelstrom 

Get his insurance information and contact the insurance company.

HardyWeinberg

Some symptoms take time to develop (or take time for you to notice them), it's worth waiting a year or more before settling your claim w/ his insurance in case you wind up w/ some aftereffects from your accidental chiropractor spinal adjustment.

Scummer

Uhhh... you didn't wait for the police to show up to file a report right then and there?

andre21a1

"Uhhh... you didn't wait for the police to show up to file a report right then and there?"

Unfortunately, I did not. That is a stupid mistake but he offer to take me to the hospital and I was hurt so I take it right away. Do you think I should file before contacting his insurance company?

ManBearPig

The same exact thing happened to me in college. Hit by a car, while crossing the street on my bike, didn't hit my head, but broke my wrist and had other probs. The difference was it was a frat boy who hit me and he got back in his car and ran, leaving me to fend for myself.

Here, the guy not only helped you but he drove you to the hospital and paid your expenses out of pocket. It would be bad karma to try and "milk" him. So you had a few days off from work w/o pay -- yes, he may be technically responsible under the law, but use your good judgement -- the world is too litigious already, and I think you should consider thanking him and letting it drop, being thankful you are alive and well.

And this is coming from an attorney.

Hobartlemagne 

You should file a police report if you want to follow up with anything legal.

andre21a1

"The same exact thing happened to me in college. Hit by a car, while crossing the street on my bike, didn't hit my head, but broke my wrist and had other probs. The difference was it was a frat boy who hit me and he got back in his car and ran, leaving me to fend for myself.

Here, the guy not only helped you but he drove you to the hospital and paid your expenses out of pocket. It would be bad karma to try and "milk" him. So you had a few days off from work w/o pay -- yes, he may be technically responsible under the law, but use your good judgement -- the world is too litigious already, and I think you should consider thanking him and letting it drop, being thankful you are alive and well.

And this is coming from an attorney."

I understand where you are coming from and believe me I am not trying to "milk" him. I understand it is an accident and it could happen to anyone and of course he did not want to hit me. He miss a whole day of work too and he did wait at the hospital with me. However, the hospital bill still coming to my address but he say he going to take care of it and just call him when I got the bill. I don't want him to pay out of his pocket but I know that I can not work for at least 3-4 days and I want his insurance to pay for the out of work compensation.

trsidn 

I tend to agree w/MBP..
You needed a shot? Missing work a few days because of scratches?

eidt: hospital bills can easily get out of hand, and you might make the report to protect both of you....

andre21a1

"I tend to agree w/MBP..
You needed a shot? Missing work a few days because of scratches?

eidt: hospital bills can easily get out of hand, and you might make the report to protect both of you...."

It is Tetanus and Diphtheria Vaccine shot. It is painful to walk and stand up. SO I don't know if I can come to work in my condition.

donnamb 

Moved to A&S.

ManBearPig

I doubt that insurance (his or yours) will pay you lost wages. If you sue someone you can probably get a damages award that includes a few days wages and expenses -- BUT -- the idea of suing someone in this situation is petty IMHO.

I know 3-4 days wages might feel like a lot at the moment, but in the grand scheme of things it is nothing. The only way you are going to collect that is to sue, and you would be doing the rest of us a huge disservice -- doing so only deters other people from doing the right thing. That frat boy who hit me probably fled from fear of a lawsuit.

And you admit you don't even KNOW if you can't work. Sounds like you don't have a really good reason not to work. I can't judge your motives without knowing you, but it sounds kinda like you want to treat yourself to 3-4 days off with pay.

Take his insurance info just in case, but don't use it unless you absolutely have to.

As Dr. Laura would say, "now go do the right thing."

bikesafer

Apparently not from a good attorney. If he was hit and it was the drivers fault he should have all his expenses paid plus any compensation for pain and suffering. It's not milking him it's getting what he is rightfully owed.

Consult an attorney, an attorney not found on a message board. Just becuase you contact an attorney doesn't mean you have to sue or "milk" someone. They know the insurance regulations better than you and can save you a lot of aggravation and possibly a lot of money later. Don't sign anything until you've talked to a qualified attorney, preferably a bike specialist.

Good Luck

ManBearPig

Yeah, great advice. With that attitude, you can expect more and more people to find hit-and-runs tempting and more and more lawsuits to tie up the legal system. And you can kiss good-bye any notion of having a driver take responsibility the way that this driver did.

We are talking soft-tissue injury only here -- and based on the OP, even "soft tissue injury" is a stretch. Here's a clue -- soft tissue injuries don't win you "pain and suffering" damages, you nimrod. Better he take advice from a "message board attorney" than a message board ignoramus.

ATAC49er

MBP -- +100!

You are absolutely right. Let's be human beings here, and worry less about our entitlements.

Real talk, people -- who told you that you were guaranteed to wake up in the morning? Where do you get this idea that you are 'entitled to' or 'deserve' anything? Morally, you deserve to be treated as well as you treat others; but just try to make that stick in court.

FWIW, I broke my wrist in a similar situation 3 years ago; the guy stuck around to help until I told him he could leave. My medical care was paid for already (veteran), and I missed a total of 3 days work. I used a couple vacation days, a personal day, and went back to work after being casted to my armpit. Three weeks off the bike, then a reduced cast, and I was back pedaling! I got a small settlement from his ins. co., basically lunch money for a month, and the three weeks I couldn't ride were the last three weeks my last car ran! It quit the week my reduced cast came off, I called the junkyard, and never looked back.

Blue Order

What an utter crock. "Dong the right thing" would have been not hitting the cyclist. "Doing the right thing" would have been waiting for the police to show up after the driver called the accident in. "Doing the right thing" does not include paltry under-the-table efforts to keep collisions with bicyclists off his driving record.

If the OP is out of work because of another person's negligence, he's entitled to compensation for all of his losses, not just the hospital bill. That would include his present and future medical bills, damages to his bike, and lost wages. It might even include pain and suffering. If the driver wants to keep it off his record, that's one thing, but the driver still owes the OP for all of his losses-- and that includes present and future medical expenses, it includes damages to his bike, and it includes time off from work.

OP, if there were any witnesses, you need to get their contact information. Document your injuries with photos. Document damages to your bike with photos. You should also file a police report. As one poster pointed out, some injuries take time to appear, or to heal. You don't want to be in the awkward position of having to explain why you're trying to file an accident report a year after the fact. I don't know what state you're in, but many states have statutes that define, by law, what "doing the right thing" is-- and that includes providing the other person with contact and insurance information. States also specify that drivers-- and often victims-- must file an accident report with the DMV within a short time-- about two weeks or so. Many, many drivers change their stories after a collision-- from "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit you," to "I don't know what you're talking about, I never hit you." If you wait too long to file a police and/or accident report, you're only strengthening the ability of the driver to claim that he never hit you. It happens all the time.

Blue Order

It's the law.

BikingGrad80

The law is not a moral compass, It is a minimum standard that we believe we can tolerate. Be better than that and let good Karma bring good Karma. The motorist did the right thing. If he drove away after ranting that bikes shouldn't be on the road then I would agree sue the pants off him. Just settle for medical and property damage as to encourage more people to act as he did. By all means let's not further clog the court system or enrich greedy trial lawyers [sorry in advance to lawyers reading this].

Blue Order

Once again, doing the right thing would be not colliding with cyclists (assuming that the OP was not at fault). Doing the right thing would be following accident reporting procedure-- not attempting to conceal the accident from the authorities and his insurance company. Doing the right thing would be paying for ALL of the OPs losses, not just his hospital bill.

And for what it's worth, when somebody asks "where do you get the idea that you're entitled to be made whole after somebody else's negligence injures you," the correct answer IS "it's the law."

That doesn't mean that there must be a lawsuit, or lawyers involved, but the OP is still entitled to be made whole for his losses, even if it's under the table.

The OP is entitled to be made whole on ALL of his medical bills-- present and future-- resulting from this collision. If all he's got is a skinned knee and elbow, then his medical bills will likely be limited to that tetanus shot. On the other hand, if he did sustain other injuries, which haven't appeared yet, then he's also entitled to compensation for his medical bills for those, too. Suppose, for example, he DID hit his head (remember, he doesn't know whether or not he hit his head), and sustained a concussion-- that's an injury that may require future medical attention, and he's entitled to compensation for those medical bills.

If the driver's negligence resulted in injuries that cause him to lose wages, he's entitled to compensation for those lost wages too. "Good karma"-- assuming that karma is even operative (and I say that as a Buddhist)-- doesn't require that the OP suck up to the guy whose negligence has injured him. He's entitled to be made whole.

This driver isn't a hero-- he's trying to evade full responsibility for what he's done. He's not quite a villain, either. He didn't hit & run. Most people don't, unless they're DUI. The argument that drivers will engage in hit & run if they think the person they hit might talk to a lawyer is specious. People hit & run when they have a reason to hit & run-- they're DUI, they have warrants out, they have no insurance, they're driving on a suspended license. Sometimes they're immature young drivers. People who have insurance and aren't DUI don't hit & run-- the risks are too great, because it's a felony. Ignoring the reality of why people hit & run, and arguing that we should encourage people to stop by not asking for the compensation we're entitled to, is risible at best. Arguments that we should "not clog the court system" are the first line of offense for insurance companies, along with bemoaning "greedy trial lawyers" and "frivolous lawsuits." Sadly, you appear to have fallen for insurance company propaganda hook, line, and sinker. If it's any consolation for you, I can assure you that no "greedy trial lawyer" will be suing anybody over a skinned knee and elbow-- 30% of a few hundred dollars wouldn't even begin to pay for the "greedy trial lawyer's" time spent in pursuing the few hundred dollars.

cudak888 

In what manner were you crossing the street, on what direction of the road, and from what direction were you hit?

Newbie + insufficient accident description = guilty of wrong-way and/or improper sidewalk cycling until proven innocent, in my book.

-Kurt

filtersweep

I don't know where you live, but in several cities in the US, police will not show up at accident scenes anymore unless someone needs an ambulance and/or there is more than X-many dollars in property damage. That is fact. YOU yourself need to stop in the copshop to fill out your own paperwork these days.

I don't know enough details about the accident to pass any judgment, but that fact that the OP describes the accident as occurring while "crossing the street" rather than riding in the street leaves some questions in my mind.

Finally, the lawyer lovers club that comes out of the woodwork whenever there is an accident completely blows my mind. The OP has a few scratches--- big deal. Never even mentioned damage to the bike. Someone here mentions waiting a YEAR before settling?! Settling what? Getting hit is NOT winning the lottery. Suck it up Nancies!

Blue Order

True. When my car got rear-ended, they refused to come out and make a report. Of course, the jackasses were able to come out and impound my car.

I think what's important here is documentation, in the form of a police report, because without it, the driver has full deniability. If he really wants to avoid any accident on his driving record-- and I'm not sure that the public is served by that-- then he needs to pay full compensation immediately. And that's assuming that all of the cyclist's injuries have already manifested themselves.

It's entirely possible that the OP is at fault, in which case he should be glad that he's got somebody willing to pay for his medical costs.

Settling what? Settling his claims for the injuries he suffered. Nobody-- not even the OP-- knows the extent of his injuries immediately after a collision. You say suck it up? why should he? The driver injured him, and if the driver was negligent, why should he suck it up? So the insurance companies can have a higher profit for the year? You're right- getting hit is NOT the lottery, it's an injury. Nor is recovering for your injuries the lottery, as you seem to believe it is. It's being made whole again by the person who injured you.

SSP

When I got hit last year, my "uninsured motorist" coverage kicked in. They automatically paid for my lost time at work...it was part of the standard package of coverage/reimbursement, and I didn't even have to ask about it.

If the OP has to miss time at work, insurance should cover that. It was, after all, related to the accident.

The OP may also be offered a shockingly large amount of money for "pain and suffering" and "contingencies", as part of a settlment offer. In the case where there are injuries, witnesses, and a driver at fault, this can easily be a 5 figure number ($10-30,000 would not be out of line). Again, this is just part of the standard insurance settlement process and does not require filing a lawsuit.