Sardu

I've been commuting daily to work for about two months now with no incidents (just a couple of close-calls), but today my biking luck ran out, as an old woman driving an SUV made a left turn in front of me (oncoming) and I tagged the side of her car. I'd say it was at least partially my fault, since my attention momentarily wavered from the road for a second, and when the car crossed my path I had about one second to brake. Fortunately, it was a low low speed accident, and I just got a little road rash and an out-of-true front wheel (though the LBS says the forks may be a bit "off"). The woman said she had just been to the eye doctor, and had had her pupils dilated and she hadn't seen me and apologized profusely (though maybe not too sincerely). This begged the question of what she was doing driving. I was a little embarrassed by the whole thing, and wasn't even very shaken up, just irritated that I'll have to commute using my MTB tomorrow.

bjkeen

No matter what she oughtta be paying you for your repairs and the accident reported and etc. If you leave DNA on the road, man, it should be recorded somewhere.

Bottomfeeder

I don't know what you consider a little road rash. But if your injuries were in fact minor and she seemed sorry enough I don't see where a police report would be necessary. But how sorry do you really think she was? Did she even ask about you and your bike? One sure fire way to guage someone's apology is if they put their money where their mouth is.

DanO

argotnaut

Yikes -- no one should drive after having their pupils dilated. My eye doc's office informs patients that they MUST have someone pick them up if they have it done. (Of course, the bus stop is a block away, so it's no biggie for me.)

Glad you're OK!

superted

Ya, you gotta inform the Police, an accident is an accident, especially if theres damage and blood on the road, glad you're unhurt. and she shouldn't be driving

tacojohn

That's a new one. At least she didn't say "I didn't see you because I had my pupils dilated, and it made it really hard to see the numbers on my cell phone I was dialing while was making the left."

DataJunkie

..and applying makeup while drinking a biggie diet coke and eating a triple with cheese with extra cheese with bacon.

e_a_olson

She should not have been driving, and could/should probably lose her license.

brunop

dude! make a huge claim on her insurance and get a brand new custom frame!

DanO220

Well isn't that the (sometimes I'm embarassed to be) American way? Every unfortunate situation should be a pay day for someone. Why consider simply recouping your actual losses when you can bamboozle the insurance company into 'settleing' for ten times the actual amount. Hey, it's their fault if they don't actually check these things out. And besides, they're a big corporation anyhow. And I wonder why my auto insurance is higher than ever?

Insurance fraud is wrong. And it really is too bad that it is cheaper to right a check than it is to investigate the majority of claims, because there are a lot of cheats out there.

DanO

caloso

Get a police report. She shouldn't have been driving in the first place, failed to yield, and struck you causing damage to your bike and personal injuries. No need to make an inflated claim, just state the facts, get your body and bike back to good condition, and if there are criminal or administrative actions against the driver, that's on her.

Hold her accountable. If not for your sake, for the next guy on a bike.

rec-cyclist

Sardu I would file a report too. I agree against filing an inflated claim. But all this begs the question....did you get any of her information? Without it or a license flate number it may be impossible to track her down. She said she just had her pupils dialted, that sounds pretty damming to me

bbonnn

The dilated pupils probably had nothing to do with it, it was just an excuse for general inattentiveness. Not that you should drive right after an eye appointment, but dilation doesn't prevent you from seeing things right in front of your face like oncoming traffic.

superted

As I said before, you should definitely make a police report, for the sake of all road users, the next person might not be so lucky............................

Sardu

Yeah, I got her info, and it turns out I'll need a new fork, which isn't great (though the bike is a hand-me-down from my father). I guess I'd like to be civilized about the whole thing and just bill her for the cost of a new fork/installation (the LBS offered me a deal on a used fork) and not get the authorities involved. I figure if your stupidity costs somebody time and money you owe them that much, but then again I'm not holding my breath. After all the close calls I've had over the years, I'm just glad my first (and last, I hope) car/bike accident was so minor.

hubs

I think you are being sensible and kind. Kind is good. Just be 100% sure you have accounted for all the damage. If you need a chiropractor next week, or something, it would be too bad if you'd closed off opportunities. Jot down your notes on what happened and give the lady a chance to make good on your damage. That's downright civilized. Glad you are ok.

SingingSabre 

Hubs is right.

If you need a chiropractor (which is a good idea to see one), her insurance company should be paying for it.