I was involved in a bike vs. car a week ago, and last night was the first time I had looked at my bike very closely since it happened. I already noticed that the front wheel is wobbly, but now I'm also noticing that my pedals are hitting the tire when I turn, and my brake pads have migrated about 1/8" up onto the tire. There are no cracks in the paint or the welds, and everything seems to be pretty solid. Until i looked very closely, I didn't even realize it had been bent. My question is, is it possible to bend it back, or do I need a new fork? Also, if I do need a new fork, is the bike going to be safe to ride until I can afford a new one?

EDIT: No, I have not been riding on the bike with it damaged. I'm still too damaged to be doing any riding.

do you have photos?

you can bend back steel forks, but it's really messed up trying to fix it might not be worth it.

I'd have the frame checked out before even thinking about getting a new fork...

yeah, I can take pics, but most of the damage was her car and my body. You can look at the bike and nothing seems wrong. When it gets closer to payday I'm gonna take the bike in and have them look over the whole thing. The driver's insurance company is paying for it, but I gotta pay first ya know?

Yes, steel can be bent. The caveat is you need a keen eye and patience, not to mention a bit of muscle and wooden contraptions, to get the dropouts aligned properly. Front wheel may need to be trued.

Get healthy, all the best.

From the OP description this sounds like a pretty substantial bend. I wouldn't feel comfortable bending it back and continuing to ride it since I'd worry about the stress possibly leading to the formation of a crack in the fork or steerer tube. The steerer is hidden inside the headtube and therefore difficult to inspect and a crack can grow unnoticed and then lead to a sudden failure. That happened on one of my bikes and resulted in a very nasty crash. One moment we were riding along and the next moment the front wheel and fork were no longer attached to the bike. Get the driver's insurance company buy you a new fork and replace whatever other damaged parts may be on the bike.

I'd just have the insurance company replace the bike, they can keep it, salvage whatever they want off it. BTW, look very closely at all of the tubes and ensure they aren't bent ? Even if it's just slightly where the steerer tube and down and top tube(s) connects. Your not really looking for crimp, but rather just a slight offset there in either or both. Sometimes the impact is enough to not only bend the forks, but those tube(s) as well, even if it's only ever so slightly.

Example:

https://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe...e_Comment1.jpg
vs
https://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe...lSideClose.jpg

https://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe...ity_8_Page.htm