First of all, I've been riding for a very very short period of time, probably 2 months. I luckily was wearing long pants, boots, t-shirt/long sleeve fleece and a helmet. The one time this happens I don't wear gloves. I know I should've worn more, but I was lucky. Well basically I was heading home which was about 2 mintues away and I'm about 200 feet away from an intersection heading East. There are two lanes and I'm in the right lane to turn. Someone in the left lane stops to let this driver on my right make a left hand turn and this 17 year old driver decides that he'll go with out looking. Smack! I hit his passenger side door and I'm not sure of what happened exactly after that. I have cuts on my hands/elbows/knees/legs, etc. The worst is a cut/bruise right by my bladder and a bad cut on my right clavicle. I went to the hospital today and got checked and X-Rayed and everything turned out ok. I'm glad the injury wasn't worse. Now I just have a few questions on how to handle this legally. The driver was insured and was given a citation, so there is no question that he is at fault. I've contacted both my insurance and his and a paralegal (no contract as of now), but have not heard from the claims officer from Farmers which is the company that hit me. Now I'm definitely in pain and the doctor said I shouldn't go in to work until 11/5. My bike is a 1994 GSX 600 w/ 13K miles and I'm sure it will be totalled. What would everyone here recommend me to do? This is the first injury involving accident I have been involved in and I'm somewhat lost. Also, the one thing that really irritates me is the fact that the young guy that hit me never asked if I was ok, never said sorry, nothing. BTW, my insurance under my bike doesn't have PIP (Personal Injury Protection).

Thanks,

Isaac

 

good to see you are ok. Are you going to court? I would go simply because he didnt ask if you were ok or apoligize. If he had done that, then I might be a little more leinant becuase hey, **** happens. But because he didnt apologize, I would go to court. But im a bastard like that

 

Find a personal injury lawyer and milk his insurance company for any medical bills plus damages.

It'll take a while but the end result is worth it. And the lawyer usually doesn't collect unless there's a settlement.

 

And people wonder why insurance is so expensive... Where do you think the money you'll be milking comes from???

 

Yea, when you break arms and spend weeks at a hospital and get a $70k bill at the end for an accident SOMEONE caused don't come complaining.


[Modified by redblues, 8:10 AM 11/3/2001]

 

you will say "us" and be partly right but remember that the insurance companys have TRILLIONS in assets and money! Guess what, they NEVER lose! Even if they have to pay out BIG TIME they still make TONS of money. It's like owning a casino that everyone HAS to play at and getting to make the odds as much in your favor as you want. My ancestors used to call that what it was: A RACKET!

 

So what you're saying is let it go because you afraid of the stupid premium is increasing??? Well premium only increase with the part at fault. Also, you're pumping your monthly payment to the insurance to help them get rich for nothing? What the hell are you thinking?

 

Did I ever say "let it go"??? Hmm...let me read my post over again... Oh my! It would appear that I NEVER SAID THAT! When the hell will people in this damn country learn to READ??? Oh sure, the premium will only increase for the at-fault person RIGHT AWAY. Did you ever stop to think why insurance is so much more expensive for males in the 16-23 age group than for anyone else?

And to those who are bitching about how "rich" the insurance companies are, why don't you actually use a little LOGIC before shooting your mouth off. Strong financial base = security and durability. The terrorist attack in NYC cost insurance companies HUGE quantities of money, and several smaller insurance agencies (those WITHOUT a strong financial base) folded, leaving the policy holders high and dry with nothing to show for the years of premiums they had paid.
The strong companies on the other hand (i.e. State Farm, All-State, etc..) were able to survive the hit and continue to help the victims families.

I would also like to point out that the term "milking" implies getting more money than the damages or injury actually require. I'm not saying that redblues necessarily meant it that way, but that IS what milking means in reference to insurance.

 

I used to think insurance companies ripped people off until I started working for Allstate. Believe it or not, insurance companies don't make that much money. Go take a look at earnings for the major insurance companies at some financial website, they're nothing compared to other companies. In many cases, Allstate actually pays out more money than they take in on premiums. High insurance cost does suck and I'm in no way compensated (since I don't actually SELL insurance) for defending them but it's not really the insurance companies. The real cause of high insurance premiums are sharply increasing medical costs, not money-brubbing insurance companies... and before you go saying "He works for an insurance company so of course he's gonna say that" you should know that I pay $2800 a year in car insurance so I'm in the same boat as you.

Edit: I did a quick check of the numbers and we LOST $2 million in the DC area (5 states) in the month of August. That's a bottom line loss of $2 million... which means Allstate has $2 million less than they did last month, that's not just what was paid out in claims.


[Modified by SpeedFreek24, 3:20 PM 11/5/2001]