gadabout007

I almost got screwed by a driver in January of last year. Driver made a left hand turn in front of me and I t-boned him at 42 kph. Frame split along the bottom of the top tube, front wheel was taco'd, and my seat was shredded.

I refused treatment from the ambulance because they were only interested in transporting me to the hospital. The damage to his car and my bike were documented by police and we were told to go to a reporting center. In the drivers report he said that I was "speeding on the sidewalk" and "darted out from a driveway" giving him no chance to stop. The police had already found his story sketchy because there were no driveways on the street and sided with me when I provided them with my garmin data https://connect.garmin.com/activity/139728331 The driver was charged with failing to yield and driving without a valid permit (his license had been expired for a week) I ended up getting $6,500 from his insurance for my damages.

I ride every now and then with a lawyer... he's a property lawyer not a personal injury lawyer, but his advice to me after hearing the story was... if you hit the deck during the accident and have injuries, stay down and wait for the ambulance. Accept treatment and go to the hospital if they ask you to. Never tell the driver or witness' you're okay even if you are. There may be injuries you're not aware of. In my case it was bruised/inflamed kidneys and almost a month off the bike. Had I handled things differently, I could have also got some pain and suffering damages. Which I would have been okay with since the driver tried to lie to the cops and place blame on me.

Nachoman

Many years ago, when I first started cycling, the same thing happened to me. I got hit by a car, thrown off my bike and in the haze and confusion, thinking everything was fine, I told the driver not to worry about it, that everything was okay. Thirty seconds after he left, I realized my front wheel was tacoed.

fanfugutastic

To the OP, I would have gotten her details at a minimum. Glad you're ok, but it seriously sucks. I find it hard to shake encounters like that.

Here in Canada, it is mandatory to call the police if the collective damage is over $1000.

Personal experience: I got rear-ended at a stop light by a small Croatian man in a Ford Econoline E250. He couldn't see over the dashboard very well and obviously didn't see me. As he slowed down "through" me, I hurdled the handlebars and my bike got sucked under the van. Taco'ed the wheel, bent the frame a bit. I was fine, but shaken. Even though I got his details, and he promised to pay the cost of the bike but, it was a real chore trying to extract the exact money out of him. A threat to take it to his insurance was enough to get him to finally cough up $850.

Through this process, I learned some things. The advice I was given was to forgo trying to get money directly from the guy and do one of two things. #1 Get your money from the other party's insurance. No guarantee as to how much you get. #2 Or claim it on your own insurance. I learned that my house insurance will only cover a bike up to $500(with a $500 deductible hah!). The only thing that would protect my current investment would be to get a rider for the value of my bicycle.

crank_addict

+1
Also, one is foolish to think just because you were hit on a bike doesn't mean your not at fault... in court. Drivers insurance companies will fight and a drivers story can be totally different than the biker. Another issue is if the biker HITS the vehicle, as in t-boned. Biker can be liable.

mynameistaken

I am sure the girl was rattled for a day or so. I doubt that changed her driving behavior long term. I would have called the cops.

Long Tom

When I got hit head-on Nov. 2011 (in a car) I was still ok enough to call my wife after the accident and tell her she needed to pick up our daughter... I'm told I sounded normal. One of the first people to get to the scene was an acquaintance of mine and he says I was acting normal as they helped me get out of the car. When my wife tried to get to the middle school to pick up our kid, she was stunned that the road was closed, emergency vehicles everywhere, and they were using the jaws of life to try to get the other driver out, and our Land Cruiser was a smoking hulk. I was sitting on a curb unable to so much as transfer my driver's license info from card to accident report. I remember none of this to this day nor several hours afterwards.

Moral of the story: a head injury can take time to "kick in".... NEVER assume you are ok and send the other person away without at least getting their info.

Other injuries such as blood clots or internal bleeding can take time to manifest, as can injuries to the harder soft tissues (that don't have nerves) like tendons and cartilage.

I'm not a hypochondriac by any means; I rarely go to a doctor (drives my wife nuts). But if hit by a car?! Take care of business, big time.

Samfujiabq

Always always call the cops,documentation is most important.Like many have said here head injuries can manifest sometime later and without notifying the police you're stuck with all the bills.And yes when I was a cop we did and do assign blame based on our investigations.Also with police involvement that may have scared the girl enough to put that damn phone away.In our city its against the law to talk or text on a phone while driving.

Ray9

This is why I am getting cameras for both the front and back of my helmet that feed directly to my computer. The technology is here, might as well use it. It's not that expensive and it could prevent hit-and-run escapes. Of course it won't save your life but the insurance settlement might provide for your loved ones should you take that last ride as a hood ornament. Today you need to fight fire with fire. The same technology that allows drivers to text while driving can arm you with the evidence to catch them in the act.

copswithguns

It's pretty obvious that you have no idea how police policy works. Where did you come up with this?

Leinster

Personal experience of calling San Diego (first) and Los Angeles (second) PD to report accidents that happened 5 years apart. As mentioned below.

Your state may have different policies.

mystang52

I drove an hour today just to get to a [new for me] rail trail to bike on. It was a glorious 18 miler. While cycling I was thinking how great it was to just enjoy the ride without worrying (fearing??) about cars. I'm glad you came out of this relatively unscathed. For me, I think there are more drives-to-rail-trails in my future.

Stratman351

Lot of interesting comments. To address a few:

- Cops absolutely would have responded here where I live (Montgomery County, MD). Any time a pedestrian or biker is hit, it's an automatic response.

- In hindsight I probably should have let the people who came to my aid call the cops. But again, I was pretty certain I wasn't injured seriously (and I wasn't). I didn't hit my head or anything, just went flying and landed on my hip/side. It literally took a day to develop, but I've got the ugliest purple bruise on my hip I've ever seen. Ironically, there was nothing there at all when I went to bed that night, but the next morning was a different story. Someone did hand me her plate number, so I knew I had that.

- She failed to stop at the entrance/exit to the station - as she was required to - and thus didn't check for traffic in either direction, whether by bike or car. In hindsight, the accident probably had less to do with the probability she was using her cell phone and more to do with poor driving habits, as evidenced by her failure to stop and look. She was just rolling out to the street, and might almost as easily hit a car if there was one in range. So, yeah, after thinking about it I lean more toward the idea I should have called the cops, if for no other reason than her parents probably ought to know.

- I do most of my own wrench work, so I trued the front wheel the next day and was back on the road, so there was no expense to me. I was able to do enough on-scene checking to determine the wheel was the only issue. I was turning the front wheel hard to the right when we collided but it still hit her front right fender and then I was thrown off.

BoSoxYacht

I know the type of bruise. This one took 2 days to swell to full size, but it got huge, and stayed that way for about 6 weeks.



Rest Ice Compression Elevation will help, but it can be difficult for a hip bruise.

mprelaw

Really? I was struck by a car 12 days ago, and four cops responded. One was a detective who happened to be in the area, and showed up just to make sure that I was OK, OK as in not lying in the road with broken bones, or blood coming out of my ears, or spitting up blood. He told everyone to leave my bike and everything that came flying off it and me in the road, right where it landed, until the uniformed officers arrived and took pictures. And radioed the ambulance to slow it down because I was up and walking. A witness had already called 911. Drivers say the damnedest things when they're rattled. Like admitting liability. Stuff like that.They even say that to the cops. Even if the cops don't interview witnesses, or the driver, they take down their names and contact info.

Even where they don't interview the driver, they take down information from him so the information exchange between the parties is documented. That includes the driver's insurance carrier. If the driver doesn't notify them, you can.

Bike Gremlin

Makes sense - when the adrenaline passes, you start feeling the pain.

I was hit twice by men who were riding small children (once two, once one). Didn't want to traumatize the kids so I jumped right up both times, laughed and waved, like I was making a prank with their dad.

Once by a man who was driving an obviously pregnant woman. Did the same thing, jumped right up, said I'm OK, but they behaved like ********. Still didn't want to bother with the police - no damage to me or the bike that time, so I just rode on.

Stratman351

Yep, that's it.

rgwinn

This ^ Hopefully she had insurance, but the odds of her actually learning to put away the cell phone are slim. There needs to be consequences for actions. Not holding our teens responsible is eroding any sense of responsibility. And if she does it again, there is no record of this incident.

danmc

Am I the only one that sees Jesus in that bruise?

Number400

The problem with getting hit by a car the first time is that it could have easily been your last time. Sometimes one is just so happy to be alive and walking afterwards, that the details don't matter. In your case, with a leg bruise like that, it could get complicated. Compartment Syndrome leading to other damage, or the hematoma just does not go away and may need to be taken care of.

If you go through the motions at the scene and collect all data and get a police report (you were hurt, just not badly), you will be in a better position if things go sour later. If not, then toss it in can and live on.

mprelaw

Not going to the ER isn't the kiss of death to a personal injury claim, but it is important to seek medical attention afterwards, and as soon as possible. Who pays for that depends on the no-fault law in each state. Car on car, the injured party's insurer has primary responsibility in a lot of states, with recourse against the other insurer if that driver is deemed at fault. The idea is to make sure the injured party doesn't have to pay out of pocket.

Car on pedestrian/cyclist isn't as clear cut. Always a good idea to talk to your agent, if you have car insurance and get hit by a car while not driving. Logic says the driver's insurer should pay, but laws often defy logic. If you have to go to the ER by ambulance from the accident scene, let them know that it's a motor vehicle accident. Then clear up the issue of which insurance is responsible, once you're released, get a claim number, and submit that to their billing department as soon as you have it.

If you get hit by an uninsured driver on a bike or walking, or a hit and run, God help you. Better have health insurance with a low co-pay. Maybe, in some places, your car insurance medical coverage kicks in. I wouldn't presume to know.

puckett129

What hell hole do you live in?

JonnyHK 

Depends which Jesus you are thinking of. I think I can see a bit of this one in there...

BykOfALesserGod

Agreed. Get the driver info at least. You never know what else is broken until you've been looked over by your doctor.

BykOfALesserGod

I see the caricature of Mohammed that was protested over a couple of years ago.