OK, sounds like driver at fault. Thanks.

Ok everyone I went to the doctor and got xrayed. They thought I might have had a hairline fracture on my femur but I didnt and the worst pain, my left ankle, is fine just super sensitive to the touch with a shooting pain plus I've been limping around. So they gave me a prescription for Lodine and Soma. The Doc also said dont hesitate to go back if it starts getting worse or I develop more pains.

I suppose the next thing to do is to research ebay for comparable bikes and prices so I can be ready for when I talk to his insurance company sometime towars the end of next week.

get to see a doc dude, accident consultations are free anyways no ? (well at least here they are)

if not, campus med center is the best, you normally pay for a a couple visit worth on your semester bill (obligatory insurance policy)

as for the bike, think about it after beeing sure your body is safe and sound.
lil advice i am giving you. I fell from a bar stool at home (cat ran between my legs when stepping up) and I have had wrist problems from this ever since, and you got hit by a car so it could be worse but comming up later!

In your research, find out:

1. What it would cost to have bike repaired (if that's even possible).
2. What it would take to replace the bike with identical.
3. What it would cost to get a new bicycle with comparable features, made of same material.

As long as you are truthful with the insurance company when you give them the costs, you're doing nothing wrong. fwiw - I sold a small Trek 520 with 501 tubing, and some non-original parts for a little over $420 about 17 months ago. If your bike were my size, in decent shape, and in a year they were made with 531 tubing, I would have been willing to pay up to $700.00 for one.

Hope your pains soon fade, and you get what you're due with minimal hassle.

I'd shoot for new, "replacement cost". Doesn't Trek still make the 520? I'd tell the insurance company that their client killed a perfectly good Trek 520, and that's what you want - a replacement 520.

Im actually on the central coast 15 mins south of Santa Cruz 25 mins north of Monterey.

Yea they still make a 520, I also like the way you think

It was perfectly good to me for those few hours I had it lol

For now my C'dale Six13 is using her for a prop.

Had almost the same thing happen to me 30 years ago. I took a trip to the ER in the back of an ambulance, out cold. Anyway, I had insurance that paid all my bills. When it came time to settle with the insurance company the woman asked me what I wanted to settle. I was so naive about how these things work that I said I insisted they pay for 100% of the repairs to my bike (new wheel, fork). She almost broke out laughing. They're not worried about what your bike costs, they're worried about ending up in court and paying you millions for the rest of your life because your neck/back/whatever hurts and you can't work anymore. I was pretty reluctant to go to the doctor as well, even though my shoulder hurt all the time. Big mistake. The bigger the medical bills the more they're willing to offer to stay out of court. She wrote me a check on the spot for the bike repairs plus three times the medical bills for "pain and suffering". Something like $5k which was a lot to me at the time. She probably got the gold star award of the month at work.

I'm not saying make stuff up, that's fraud, but don't tough it out if you're really hurt either. You've seen the doctor, keep going if it still hurts. Don't sign any settlements until you're sure you are 100%. The bigger the bills are the more they'll offer you to settle.

Dead to rights for what?
I talked to the police, the Quebec vehicle insurance and my own (I was a Saskatchewan resident at the time) and neither had any coverage for the bicycle, only injuries to me or, bizarrely, my clothes.

Since I wasn't injured, I could either try and take this guy to court or hash it out myself. since this isn't the US and the guy made an honest mistake, we worked it out.

Go to a Dr. anyway. The bill you receive will be your medical expenses, which the insurance company will pay when it settles your case. If problems related to your crash show up later, you'll have proof that they're related to the crash, because you'll have a medical record. If you don't have any problems, you haven't lost anything by going to the Dr.



Oh, I see you already did.....

What state do you live in assuming you live in da USA? Here in Michigan you would file a claim with your own car insurance company even though you weren't driving a car at the time. Michigan being a no fault state. I remember once I had to swear under oath that I didn't have car insurance so I could collect from the offenders insurance company.
Good luck
ray

I live in here in California. I dont have a car so I also dont have car insurance. From what I heard today at the bike shop I'm supposed to go off of the other guys insurance.

Back to the doctor tomorrow. I seem to be finding new sore spots on my body now such as ribs, the left side of my abdomen, back of my right arm. I cant tell if my necks a little bit sore or if I slept funky.

In regards to #2. He knows what it will cost already because he just bought the bike. whatever he paid is more or less what its worth. Or at least what he thinks its worth.

In regards to #3. Not possible. Due to technological advances there's nothing in any manufacturers catalog thats an 'equal replacement'. Whatever is the most entry level model in Treks catalog would be overkill.

Again, similar to #3 in USAZorros post......not possible.

The example I'll give is my 1970 Corvette. Lets say it gets totaled due to someone elses negligence. There's no way in heck they're giving me a new 2009 convertible.

Simply put he's entitled to whatever the average selling price is of a mid 80's Trek with Reynolds tubing is going for. That being said, I sold a 3 tube Reynolds Trek for $300 a few months back.

I had to retire early due to injuries that could be attributed to being hit by a car 25 years ago. Don't mess around with your health.

In spite of what others have said, get a lawyer, too. At least talk to one.

+1 - I still have back problems from an accident 5 years ago. Trauma to shoulders and back can be lifelong.

Also, seeing as you're a student, check with your school to see if they offer free legal counseling. They do here at the U of Michigan (in fact the lawyer I talked to used to own a bike shop in the area). This was immensely helpful in seeking compensation.

And, again, to repeat what others have said, and based on personal experience, you're going to see the bulk of your compensation from medical costs. But you might consider getting a repair/replacement appraisal from a trusted bike shop. Having something in writing from 'experts' can go a long way toward proving your claim.

Good on ya for going to the doc. Make sure you mention the stiff neck to get it into the record, since you may be asked to release the record to the insurance co later. I'm not advocating any fraud, just leverage if things aren't working out to your satisfaction. But it will be fine dealing with the driver's insurance co, I'm sure.

The earlier posters that said that the bike is of little concern are correct- my friend got left-hooked, and the insurance co bought him a new complete groupset, wheels and fork for his high zoot ti Merlin (the frame was deemed to be OK) (around 3000 bucks). They paid for a couple of dr visits and a couple of accupuncture sessions and some compensation for lost work time- Like you, he was just bruised up some. He took the bike into the shop that originally built it for him to get an estimate for the work, and presented bills to the insurance co. They didn't bat an eye when they wrote him a check, and were quite cordial and cooperative. He had the impression that this collision was one of the least expensive claims they had to deal with in ages.

Just got out of Torts class and read this thread. We even talked today about physical harm to property.
Just keep in mind I am a first year law student and this shouldn't really constitute any sort of legal advice. If you feel like you wouldn't mind paying a lawyer to help you through this, then that would be good. A personal injury lawyer might not take the case if he thinks he won't be able to get a big remedy- it wouldn't be worth the time for the 1/3 of the award they take.

Anyway, here are the general outlines of common law physical harm to property:
If the property is destroyed- you get full market value at the time and place of tort
If the property is damaged- you get the decline in market value at the time and place of tort (repair costs can be an item of evidence, but if it doesn’t accurately describe the loss in value then it doesn’t say a lot)
You can also recover for deprivation of use- you get the monetary equivalent of that lost-use value

I doubt a claim for your bike would be worth the hassle of dealing with the courts (especially in California), and it might be worth discussing with the guy or his insurance company what compensation you would like for your bike. They would probably be willing to pay you more than what you paid for it.

I have no idea about the physical injuries. If those are really bad, then it might not be something to brush off or take a quick settlement for. And you know what is going on with yourself better than anyone here.

Good luck. Hope you get a sweet new bike out of this at least!

+1 on getting legal advice/representation. The sooner the better.

Sorry for the ignorance but what is tort?

Sure its not just from being old and fat, like me? Just kidding.

My knees are shot from an accident over 30 years ago, but I haven't retired yet, just sit on my butt in front of this computer...

A tort is a civil wrong instead of a criminal one. The remedy is usually based on money for damages instead of punishment for doing it (like jail time).

Neck injury that led to nerve damage in my arms. Check out the 'Did You Ride Today?" thread for a picture of my old, fat self.

If the cop assigned blame to the driver, your health costs are covered by the driver's insurance.

I got hit a couple of years ago. Flew up over the hood like you, turned the front wheel into a pringle and sheared off part of the pedal. We're lucky. Any day you get hit by a car and don't die is a good day.

I got the insurance money and bought a new bike. It was the end of the season so I got a great deal on a carbon fiber road bike.

The road rash cleared up in a few weeks, but I had a bad case of plantar fasciitis from the side of the bike that was against the ground. That lasted about a year and I really thought seriously about the long term implications. Eventually I found out that wearing shoes with good support in them and some rigid bike shoes fixed the Fasciitis. I actually went back to an old bike that I bought when my wife and I were dating and rode it all year, despite having the new one. I rode that bike hard last year until I could pretty much say I consumed it. There wasn't much left working or salvageable at the end of the year, but I liked the wheels so I kept them.

I kept the bike that got hit for parts and this year I re-built it. I used many of the parts to re-constitute a new one. Now that I know a little more about bikes I made some nice upgrades, like I found a nice new Campagnolo front caliper for $20.00 on-line and I'm really happy about some new road fenders I found. All the work kind of exorcised the demons from the bike and and with the upgrades it's better than it ever was.

I guess I could have avoided buying the new bike, but I think it helped me get over the accident emotionally. I was really mad. It was a life changing thing.
You never think that you could be riding home from work one day and Bam! You could be gone. I remember being very mad a couple of times shortly after the accident. My family thought I suffered from post traumatic stress disorder. Maybe they were right. I don't know. Buying the new bike kind of made it OK. I got over being mad at the guy and it helped me when I was still limping around a year later. After a year or so of limping around I really wondered if I should have sued him, but it did heal and eventually I was OK. I think the new bike helped me quit complaining, even though I didn't ride it much.

Now that my foot has stopped hurting and I've rebuilt the bike, I'm really looking forward to riding it this year. Both the bike and I are pretty much back to where we were when we got hit. We're not the same. We're both changed by the experience. But some things might actually be a little bit better.