So i was riding today, usual area i ride in. Going down the street at around 20-22 mph when a guy in a parked car flung his door open and i slammed right into it/clipped my handlebar. Happened so fast and had no chance of avoiding it. Bike seems fine, chain came off and my shifters are scratched but other than that its good. Gonna take it to my LBs and have them inspect the frame for any cracks. Helmet cracked and saved my life. I'm typing with one hand since my arm is in a sling, tore the ligament that connects the collar bone to the shoulder.

I wanted to know if the guys insurance company will pay for any damages to my bike if there are any and even give me the money to replace my helmet. The bike isn't insured so i want to know how the whole process works. I'm just thankful to be alive right now so if i have to pay out of pocket then i will, but if i can of course i'll have his insurance take care of it.

Make sure that your LBS knows this is for insurance too. You don't need scratched brifters, those should be replaced.

The driver's insurance ought to cover damages (bike and helmet) and your medical expenses (at least it did 20 years ago, when the same happened to me). Does the driver know/believe that he is at fault? If not, site CVC 22517, which applies in your case. You'd be surprised to see how many people believe the onus is on the traffic to avoid their door!

I hope you have the drivers info (name, address, Lic number, etc.) along with all of his insurance info. Call his insurance co and file a claim. Make sure to file a police report as well. The drivers ins. should pick up everything.

I presume that you filed a police report? It sounds like you were riding in a proper lane, and your speed seemed reasonable, so none of that should be an issue. What time of day was it? If it was at night, and you were riding without lights (or whatever is required in your state), there could be a problem.

If there was a police officer there, did he cite the driver that doored you? He probably should have, it sounds like. It should be the driver's responsibility to check his mirror before he opens his door - after all, instead of a bicycle it could have been a Kenworth!

You should definitely try to get a copy of the police report, then I would absolutely contact his insurance company.

The most important thing is that you are okay.

The other party's insurance should pay for the entire thing, including your medical bills (if your health insurance finds out it is someone else's fault, they may ask for their money back later). If you want, you can make an itemized list of every component that got damaged in one way or another and you should get reimbursed for those too. The auto insurance company may not realize how much those items add up to, so that is why it is important to make a list (include brand, model #, etc).

One more very important thing is to not accept any payment for your medical bills until you are sure you are okay. Once you sign a release of liability you cannot get any more medical payments.

Assuming that the driver is 100% at-fault, you have the right to be made "whole" again. This is why it's mandatory for automobile owners to carry a certain amount of liability insurance. In many cases like yours, an insurance agent may offer a lump sum for you to sign a waiver and go away. If they do go this route, make sure that the payment amount is sufficient to cover all of your bike repair costs and medical expenses.... Don't rush through things just to get the check cut quickly, give yourself a few weeks just to make sure you have no lingering injuries/pain/etc. that may need to be addressed later on.

Police came and got his license, insurance info etc. Might not be able to get my lbs to check it til next week so we'll see how much damage there is. Driver knows he was at fault and even gave me all his info before the police came. Was in the middle of the afternoon. Should i call his insurance company now or wait til the bike shop checks everything out?

My advice would be to get as much money in damages as the court will allow. People need to be punished HARD for that type of behavior......every driver who opens a door while not looking or on a cell phone is thinking about only one person...HIMSELF.....this is root cause of 99% of accidents especially in LA (MEMEMEMEMEMEME capital of the world). Selfish behavior that hurts others needs a spotlight pointed at it for the rest of this scumbag city to see.

Where in the city was this? I hope it all works out

Good to hear you are alive, but let's work on those priorities, ok?

Haha, not that i wasn't concerned for myself but since i've already been taken care of at the hospital i know for the most part i'm fine. Besides the shoulder pain and a lacerated finger that needed stitches i'm good to go. Still count myself extremely lucky that it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

This happened in the Burbank/Toluca Lake area.

Uh, no.

The OPS deserves to be made whole. That's reasonable and just.

But accidents are not a means to win the lottery.

"Selfish behavior that hurts others needs a spotlight pointed at it for the rest of this scumbag city to see." Really? Do you honestly believe that a court judgement would make one iota of difference to anyone else? Do you peruse the court records every day to learn life lessons? I doubt it. It's highly unlikely that a cut-and-dried accident like this will ever make it to a courtroom. It will be a private transaction between the OP and the insurance company. And that's all.

thank god the whole world doesn't think like you. the guy opened his door. it was an accident. not road rage, not throwing something out of his car window trying to be funny. According to the OP, he was cooperative and by reading between the lines, you may even be able to assume that he was remorseful. attitudes like yours only widen the divide between drivers & cyclists.

get "what's coming to you" (related medical expenses, bike repairs) and be done with it. hosing the guy down for anything more than that is "selfish"

It's very clear to me that the most intelligent people in NY live west of Albany. ;-)

You live in CA, so if the guy was insured and at least 51% at fault, you're completely covered. This includes your bike and any damaged parts/equipment as well as your hospital visit and compensation for any time off the bike due to the incident. I've never needed a police report for an accident, but you need to report it to the driver's insurance company as well as the DMV. The driver will get the same points on his record whether they replace just the shifters or the whole bike, so don't skip the scratched stuff thinking you're doing anyone a favor. Not that I'm saying to milk it like Spacemunkey suggests, but you deserve to have everything the way it was before the accident.

Sorry about your accident. I live in the neighborhood: lots of places with parked cars lining narrow streets. Heal fast.

Glad you're okay.

Driving around parked cars, always get out in the middle of the lane, which is to say leave enough space to pass by a suddenly-opening door, and people emerging from the sidewalk into the street to get into their cars. In car v. bike accidents, you can legally win, but still lose. It's better not to have them, part of which is learning defensive-riding methods.

Thanks everyone for your replies. I'm not gonna try and milk anyone, i just want my bike the way it was before all of this and to replace my cracked helmet. If medical bills are covered too then great. So should i wait to call his insurance company after the bike gets looked over by my LBS or call asap? Thanks.

+1. I always assume that some idiot is gonna car-door me, so I always leave enough space when riding by parked cars.

Heal quickly, and let's all be careful out there.

well i wouldn't feel bad about milking their insurance....

Call his insurance now and get the claim process started. They will want you to fill out a report and they will need to get a copy of the police report. You can give the the damage information from the LBS later.

Damn...those car doors are none too friendly! Glad you are alive!

I hate idiots. Like my city council. We used to have two one-way streets with lots of room for bikes to ride well away from the curb, and ample room for cars to pass. Some idiot thought it would be "cool", showing this city is "bike friendly" (and getting some Obama dollars) to stripe "bike lanes". Which Kansas law requires cyclists to use, if striped. But the city doesn't do frequent street-sweeping. So debris, no longer being swept away by car tires, accumulates. Tree branches, sharp-spicule winter road sand, etc. Then, at intersections, cross-street drivers aren't looking for cyclists in the far right, they're looking for cars in the middle of the street.

If I ride out where it is safe, it irritates drivers (who still have ample room to pass on my left, but they're thinking, "Get in the bike lane!" I could be ticketed at some point, or at least pulled over, and hope I can explain things to a cop who is more logical than "rules-are-rules" mentality. I think i could reason with most of our cops, but still, I'll bet they would at least pull me over, and in these hard economic times, traffic citation fines are helping police departments operate.

It's just bad news that something that in theory is supposed to promote safe cycling has the opposite effect, and cyclists may be injured complying with the law using the "lanes made for them", or be harrassed and/or fined for not using them

My "solution" BTW is just to ride on heavier traffic non-bikelane-striped parallel streets. Too bad, because the now-striped streets used to be really nice, before pols screwed them up.

Um. I'm not sure what that has to do with this thread.

There's a thread over on RBR that fits your topic better.