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Old 06-13-2013, 08:24 AM
 
733 posts, read 982,976 times
Reputation: 683

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For the sake of anyone who might read this thread, listen to 1AngryTaxPayer.

The details of alexiana's accident aren't clear, but if you are in a crash and either you have auto insurance that covers you on the bike or the person that hit you sticks around (not likely) and has insurance, you should absolutely get the police there immediately, get a copy of the report and go to an attorney.

Insurance companies will do their best to get you to settle for the lowest amount possible. My girlfriend was in a hit-and-run and her insurance company (with whom she had a pricey, premium policy) was absolutely pathological in their attemtpts to avoid paying her (fairly cheap) medical bills. I couldn't believe it. The back and forth went on for months until she contacted an attorney about it, and I can assure you, she is the last person in the world who would file a suit against someone, haha.

Anyway, the attorney was fantastic and finally got the insurance company to pay the medical expenses...and a good chunk more for their negligence.

Moral of the story: Definitely go to an attorney in this type of situation. The consultation is almost always free, so you have nothing to lose. Insurance companies are much bigger, much smarter and much more devious than you; don't deal with them without an expert.
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Old 06-19-2013, 08:27 PM
 
Location: NYPD"s 30th Precinct
2,565 posts, read 5,489,913 times
Reputation: 2690
A settlement depends on how much insurance the person has. If they only carry $25,000, that's the max you could get (and take away one third of that for the personal injury firm's cut).

Most likely this wasn't 100% the car's fault or 100% your fault. There are plenty of scenarios that could have happened, but no matter how it seems, cars do not appear out of nowhere. If you make a statement like that, all the opposing attorney is hearing is, "I was not paying attention" and he will present it to a jury like that.

Also, the fact that you weren't wearing a helmet isn't going to do you any favors either. The opposing attorney will say that you failed to take even the most basic of preventative measures to protect yourself.

If it goes this far, a judge or jury will weigh these things and decide how much you are at fault and how much the driver is at fault, and award accordingly. As an easy example, let's say they feel that had the driver been totally, 100% at fault, you should receive $100,000. However after those mitigating circumstances, they feel that the driver was 80% at fault, and you bear 20% of the blame, they will end up awarding you $80,000.

This is obviously pretty simplified and there's plenty more to it than that, but that's the gist of it.

But under no circumstances will the insurance company offer more than whatever the maximum amount of insurance the driver carried is. If you feel you're entitled to more than that, you can try to sue the driver personally.
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Old 06-20-2013, 06:16 PM
 
100 posts, read 268,955 times
Reputation: 137
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tek_Freek View Post
I say not much since you are too stupid to wear a helmet.

Oh, and "out of nowhere". When you go buy the helmet take a course in observational driving (works for riding). If they came "out of nowhere" you weren't paying enough attention and probably shouldn't be allowed to ride a bike or drive a car.
Nice work with all the sympathy shown to someone who is suffering from some pretty serious bicycle/car related injuries.

Another classic example of people not missing any opportunity for some victim blaming.

+10 for trolling
-50 for demonstrating a total lack of compassion
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Old 06-20-2013, 06:31 PM
 
100 posts, read 268,955 times
Reputation: 137
Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainPittsburgh View Post
Moral of the story: Definitely go to an attorney in this type of situation. The consultation is almost always free, so you have nothing to lose. Insurance companies are much bigger, much smarter and much more devious than you; don't deal with them without an expert.
I completely concur. I was hit by a car while on my road bike about a year ago and sustained a fair amount of injuries and my bike was shattered into three pieces. I tried working the Sisyphus method to get paid for damages and the driver resorted to everything in their power for several months to avoid dealing with the situation. Once I managed to get the driver on board, the insurance company started using their hardball tactics. It was a major mess that generated a lot of stress in my life when I was struggling to recover from injuries. I cannot recommend strongly enough using an attorney and save yourself additional stress and hardship.

Best of luck in a safe recovery from your accident and injuries.
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