Got into an acident today
 

So i got out of work today and went to cross the street, looked both ways and didn't see any cars. Started to cross and there is a little kia behind the dumpster next to me. We collided and the windsheild of the car was cracked and a dent on the hood. My front brake rotor is a little bent but i'm fine. The girl says that her insurance won't cover the damage and i don't have the money to do so. Anyone every been in this situation before?
I feel her comprehensive insurance should cover this damage, that is what it is for right?
Any suggestions or help would be great thanks.

She might not have comprehensive insurance. Who was at fault? A picture of what happened might help to figure it out.

Yes, we don't carry comprehensive on our older cars, and on the new ones it has a $1000 deductible so wouldn't be of any use for a windshield crack. Your description of the incident doesn't make it clear whose fault it was. Do you have homeowner's or other liability insurance? If so then that should cover the damage if you're at fault. In the absence of insurance the cost should be covered by the at-fault party.

I crossed because i didn't see any cars but, i hit her

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The box would be the dumpster and the <> are the car I would be the H H
I was moving to the right to cross and she was moving down.

I thought it was safe to cross because i couldn't see her.

Sounds like your fault. Glad you're ok, but you should be making it good. That said, since you had no insurance, if you live in a state that requires uninsured motorist coverage tied to an auto policy, she could claim against that. You then run the risk of the ins company suing you for $ which in the end is going to be even more than if you paid for it in the first place.

I by no means would let it go as far as suing in court. I would make good on it before it got that far. I was quite sure in NY state you had to have comprehensive and it would cover it, being a no fault state.

You don't give any info on stop signs, right of way, etc. No way to say which of the two of you was at fault.

BUT.... whoever placed the dumpster there where it's blocking view of an intersection bears some fault in the accident. I'd look into it. Most places have zoning or other laws regarding blocking views at an intersection.

You f'ed up, pay the lady.

hmmm, yeah. prolly shudda peekd around the dumpster, but it's an easy mistake to make. and don't take her word about the insurance--look into it yourself first if you can. then go from there. she might just be unwilling to make a claim for fear it'll reflect on her record.

Many auto insurance policies will cover windshield repairs without the usual deductible. Look into that.

You miss that he also dented her hood. I'm sorry, even as a cyclist, if I wasn't at fault and hit a cyclist with my car/cyclist hit me I wouldn't want to claim it nor pay money out of my pocket.

To the OP:

Also, maybe I missed it, but were you on the sidewalk or riding on the road? It's hard to tell by the diagram.

Just curious.

let her sue you - she is the one with the damage

Was an accident report filled out or a citation issued? If so, were you cited as being at fault? If yes, then you should pay up. My homeowners insurance policy payed out for motor vehicle damage I caused in a crash with my bike.

First of all, I'm glad you're OK.

I used to work in insurance claims.

The accident is actually a "collision" loss, not a comprehensive. If she was carrying liability only and you don't have insurance (e.g. homeowners or auto insurance of your own) then her uninsured motorist coverage on her policy will fix her damages. As someone stated here, her insurance company might subrogate against you to reimburse them for their payout.

I was on the road crossing from the sidewalk, just where the sidewalk dips down for people to cross. I was on foot and begain to mount my bike hence why i could not stop in time once i saw her.

Thank you very much this is the kind of informed answer i was looking for. I will be intouch with her insurance company.
Thanks to everyone for there coments. I will let you guys know how this whole thing turns out.

You were entering the street from a wheelchair curb cut? Was there a striped crosswalk? If so, failure to yield. I don't know if they would pick on the fact that you were in the process of mounting, but if you were standing in a crosswalk, she was obligated to stop.

in my state pedestrians have right of way no matter what. sounds like failure to yield here.

She said???? Could be a double dipper. Cash from you and and insurance claim.

Pay her if you want, but I would call her insurance myself and make a claim. See what they say, ya know?

It was a wheelchair curb cut for the valet parking for the near by apartments. No cross walk lines they are about 20 feet down the road where i should have crossed.


I just got off the phone with her and her insurance company. Her insurance is not willing to cover the damage and they said if they did they would be sueing me for there time and the repairs needed.

The repair quote on the car was only $175 so i can handle that (thank god). This just means the savings for my fixed gear wheel set with have to start from 0 again. After i got over my brused ego i'm just glad no one got hurt.

Lesson learned be much safer when commuting, time is not of the essence.

Oh also went to take a look at the rotor on my bike today and turns out the front scewer just slipped loosened it and tighted it back up and all is well with the bike. I'm very happy as i just bought this brand new Giant seek 1, frist new bike i have ever owned.

What state? Her uninsured motorist's should cover her. They could come sue you.

If the accident was her fault, then your damage could be paid by her liability coverage. Coverage for her damage she depends on what she paid for (e.g. collision, UM, etc...).

If the accident was your fault, then your damage obviously isn't covered by her liability insurance. Her damage might be covered by her carrier then (depending on how much it cost them) they might try going after you to recoup.


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He was riding his bicycle. In that case, he's not a pedestrian. It's possible that it is illegal for him to be riding in the crosswalk.

Generally (I think), it's pedestrians in crosswalks that have the right of way. (Note that it is never OK to run into pedestrians or anything.)

Here's info about pedestrians in Georgia.

http://peds.org/resources/pedestrian_right_of_way/

The "unisured motorist" stuff is basically so you don't have to wait to get reimbursed for damages. This coverage does not mean the insurance company won't pursue compensation from the person responsible for the damages.

It kind of looks like you were "jaywalking". Actually, what you did was worse, since you were not walking. It looks like she had the right of way and you "pulled out" in front of her. It would seem that she has little responsibility in this case and that you had the responsibility of entering the roadway when (if) it was safe to do so.

From the above link:

But, the person was riding his bicycle (therefore, he's not a pedestrian).

Wow, this isn't a simple one, is it? On the one hand, you were sort of e pedestrian. On the other hand...you sort of weren't, and you weren't in a crosswalk. Sorting out who's at fault is far beyond me, but I do think that what you did, while possibly legal, wasn't prudent. A bike's a vehicle -- when it's in a travel lane, it's supposed to be traveling, or maybe stopped, but in any case behaving like a vehicle. Walking your bike out into a travel lane and then mounting is taking an unnecessary risk. If you can see a block in either direction and there's no traffic coming, it's no biggie, but that wasn't the case here, and that was the source of the problem. In the future, I'd suggest mounting at the curb so that by the time you're in a travel lane, you're ready to move with the traffic.

I never stated otherwise.

Anyway you look at it I'm on the high end of the fault. I crossed when i couldn't see both ways and didn't have the right of way. I was not looking for an easy free way out here, only wanted to know how to persue the situation and what to look for.

It looked like other people were confused by this (not you). It was clear that you understood it with "They could come sue you".

Not exactly, uninsured motorist coverage insures that your expenses/cost are covered when the person who caused the collision does not have insurance and does not have sufficient assets for you to recover your expenses/cost in a civil suit. If the motorist does have assets, then it puts the burden off the civil suit on your insurance company, if they choose to attempt to recover some or all of their payout to you. Seems most of the drivers running around without insurance, also do not have assets.

If the motorist does not have insurance, does not have assets and you do not have uninsured motorist coverage, then you get nothing. That is the reason for having uninsured motorist coverage.

I'm glad to hear your OK.

The rest will work itself out one way or the other.

Great way to generalize everything enough to make it very clear you don't know a damn thing about the subject.

Depending on location, circumstances, local and state laws, bicyclists can be classified as vehicles, pedestrians, or both.

Yes, in SOME PLACES it is illegal to ride on the sidewalk and/or crosswalks, but this is FAR from a universal rule.

In Colorado (I know the laws here best... it's where I ride) it's legal to ride on the sidewalks in most places, and cyclists on the sidewalks (And by extension, crosswalks, too...) are treated as pedestrians. Cyclists in the road are treated as vehicles.

In most other places that I've lived and/or visited it was legal to ride on the sidewalks... though I'm not too sure on how the laws read in those places regarding whether a cyclist on the sidewalk was considered a pedestrian.