Ooh, a Litespeed! Bet the insurance company squeals when they find out how much THAT costs.

Glad you're okay, dude!

Do make sure you attempt to collect for missed work, pain and suffering, all the expenses associated with the accident. The woman who hit you has insurance, so you will not be taking money from her. Insurance companies are supposed to pay for damage their clients cause by accident. That's why we pay for insurance.

Ritalin: Don't forget about things like the clothes you were wearing - did they get messed up? How about your shoes or helmet? Were you wearing a backback or anything like that?

Also, contact Litespeed and send them pictures of the bike - I'll bet they would be interested in checking it out to determine why it broke like it did.

Zack

yeah that $2100 is a new jersey, helmet, shorts, bike computer and bike, plus tax, those are the only material things that really got damaged

and my dad said that we should write a letter to litespeed, i don't expect anything from them but like you said Zack, they may be interested... plus I'm only a few hours away from their headquarters if they need to me bring it to them in person

Same thing happened to me back in 1989, but this lady blew a stop sign and clipped my back wheel. My face looked like yours and I had a concussion.

Her insurance company paid for the bike and they gave me a 2,000 dollar pain and suffering check. We didn't sue since she was a nice lady without a lot of money. We know her insurance would have paid for it, but I still stand behind the decision not to sue.

However, if she got cash, go for it. Old people need to realize that just because they're old, they are still lethal behind a wheel.

FWIW, you could try selling the wreckage on eBay. I've seen people trying to peddle worse stuff.....

Glad you're OK, take your time recovering! (and enjoy the new bike, you deserve it after going through that.)

Dear God man that was close!! You really got out of that lucky. Glad your alive! What's amazing though is that it looks like only your frame was damaged ... that probably means that the car hit *you* and the force of *you* smashed the bike! That's a serious crash!! Are your legs alright? Are you alright??

Rit, your one lucky dude!!! Try putting it out out of your mind for now and just concentrate on getting better.

Ok, having gone through this whole experience I must say that if you can avoid lawsuits than the better for everyone. You don't sue to punish. You sue for compensation. It is too much of a pain in the butt and not worth anything to do it for any other reason., unless you are just a prick (which you are not).

She has insurance. OK. That is enough information to know you will not have to sue the woman. You may have to sue the insurance company but that is down the road. Usually you wait 3-6 months before asking for anything. It takes some time to know if you really are injured. Check Tennessee law but usually the statute of limitations on small claims is 1 year and insurance claims is longer. This varies.

You have the right attitude. Collect all your bills and loss from the accident (also pain and suffering). If you are unsure of the amounts, consult a lawyer or try to figure out a reasonable sum you can live with.

About laywers: DON'T sign anything! I guarantee they will want you to sign your power of attorney to them and exclusive rights to represent you. If you are looking for information, be clear and upfront and ask how much for that consultation fee. This is where a family or friend's lawyer can be helpful. If you sign with a lawyer, they will get more money for you but they will also take 1/2 of it. This is the reason our insurance is so high. For every $1,000 accident, it costs $3,000. $1500 for the laywer, $1000 in medical and $500 for you (for example). Don't use one unless you have to sue the insurance company. If it comes to that, be prepared to recieve your money sometime in April 2004 at the earliest.

Good luck with the healing!

It doesn't look like aluminum holds up very well in a severe crash. Years ago, I worked for a company in Wichita, KS that built dirt track sprint cars. We experimented with an aluminum frame. The car was super light, and faster than any steel framed cars we built, but it only lasted three races before the welds started breaking from the stress. Luckily, we never got the car upside down.

Wow, the x-ray tech said you have big lungs...COOL!

Glad you came through it relatively unscathed considering the pics of your bike. Does look like you're going to have trouble shaving for a while though.

The insurance company may try to place a portion of the fault with you, citing your failure to attempt to bunny hop the lady's car, don't let them get away with it

I know how competitive some of the people here are, what say you we just give Ritalin the award for nastiest crash of 2003 now, and not try to out do him.

Get Better, No encore please!

Ritalin,
Glad you came out as well as you did in this situation. Once you get all of your expenses computed then set down with the total figure and consider all the time that you put into recovery of self (doctor visits, rehab, drug store runs, etc) and then figure all of your time for the replacement issues (getting quotes from the bike shop, shopping for a new bike, talking to the attorney, etc) this will give you a figure of the total hours spent on this issue. Then you could put a dollar figure that could support part of the pain and suffering piece.

Just one word of advise on suing the lady or the insurance company. While it is happening and when it is over, you still have to live with yourself. Sometimes the emotional cost and the added stress are not worth it. Just my $.02

Hey Rit, glad you're o.k., and you seem to have a good attitude.

My only suggestion, forget about salvaging anything significant on the bike. We just got two bikes in for estimates where the riders where cut-off by a car pulling in front. Both riders slammed the side of the car, and their wheel are now touching the downtubes. We told the insur. co., the frame fork, wheels, stem, handlebars...etc. we totalled. No point in even risking it. The accident could've caused a tiny stress crack that will not be evident for some time. And hard to prove the cause 6 months from now. Not worth the risk! I'd have the insur. co., total out the complete bike. Take it into you LBS and have them make the suggestion from a "Professional Point of view".

L8R

Rit,

Glad you're ok.
Interesting to see what happens to Alu in
a crash, I'm sticking to steel!

I'll leave the legal advice to those who know
more than me.

Marty

I'm sorry, but my opinioin differs greatly. Not paying attention is no accident. I'm sure that she didn't wack our fellow rider on purpose, and I'm sure that she's not evil - but that's not my point @ all.

My point is that one must pay attention while operating a potential killing machine. If one does not, there should be a price to pay. If I put myself in the "driver's" place, I would expect to pay. I would expect some type of negative reinforcement so that I will pay more attention the next time I get behind the wheel.

Again - not paying attention is NOT an accident, and being behind the wheel does not absolve you of fault.

Anywho, I'm just glad that other than the scoot, and some injuries that will heal - no permanent harm was done. I hope I'm as lucky the next time I get struck.

oh man!! Wow, I'm glad you're looking pretty good Ritalin, especially with the shape of that bike. It looks like the crumple zones worked. Thats an amazing story, and I'm glad you came out okay in the end.

Trust me, a failure to yield causing an accident is a pricey traffic ticket, and her insurance will go up. I don't want to talk about how I know, but I didn't hit a cyclist.

-Middi-zon

I agree consult attorney, but don't sue unless you have to. A friend of mine was in a traffic accident about 14 years ago now. He was rear ended in his suburban while stopped on the freeway. It bent the frame of the suburban, yet the guy who hit him said he was only doing 35Mph!!! Well it took 10 years to get to court, he ended up getting $40,000 which was less then they were asking which was $50,000 so he had to pay half the court costs.. plus pay for his laywer, plus pay for the specialist. So in another words after medical bills, he lost money. I'm sure litespeed would like to take a look at that frame, maybe they have a crash replacment policty to. It's possible because the frame broke like that it absorbed alot of the force, that otherwise would have been transfered to you, so might be a good thing.. How about a titanium litespeed this time?

yeah Kev, I'm thinking that most of the impact was absorbed by the frame because the wheels are still pretty round, the front one was flat and won't roll very well but looking at the frame... it's amazing how round it still is!

I'm sure I was knocked out as soon as I hit the car, and I'm sure if the frame hadn't taken the impact it did I'd have been in much worse shape. I'll write litespeed just to see if they're interested, who knows.

I'm going to ask for pain and suffering, but I don't have any idea how much is reasonable, I'm not trying to abuse the system or "make her pay!" because I know she already feels really bad about it. I just think I'm entitled to a little something. That's where consulting a lawyer comes in, so I'll talk to one this week.

As far as replacing the bike, it'll definately be a titanium litespeed this time... the question is which one?? I saw a Vortext with black logos and Ksyrium SL wheels yesterday *drool*

we'll see how it turns out.

Thanks again guys, you've been great and very helpful!