CB HI

Hawaii no fault, means driver's insurance pays full price for pedestrian or cyclist medical cost regardless of who was at fault for the collision.

At fault person gets to pay for property damages.

CB HI

Get good pictures of that face NOW.

bhchdh 

May you heal well, and soon.

curbtender

Any good claims adjuster will pay all documented bills (Bike/Medical) and probably toss another 5-10k in lost wage/time/pain. Don't sign off until you feel all the medical is resolved. Heal well brother.

KD5NRH

Yup; you might even want to go find a place that does passport photos so there's less chance anyone will claim they were altered, and get one done every week until things are back to normal.

aley

Riding on the street, positioned in the left tire track of the rightmost lane from which it's legal to go straight, makes you less vulnerable to a right hook at an intersection like this. It isn't absolute proof against boneheads like the Infiniti driver who hit you, but it helps. If he'd seen you, he almost certainly wouldn't have hit you - the trick is to be where drivers are going to be looking for traffic.

Heal fast, and get back on your bike! You're doing all the right things to get whole again.

That Linux Guy

The lawyer I'm working with was thrilled that I had taken a good close shot of my face just two days before my accident. (I had shaved for the first time in a good while and was showing a friend what I look like minus the scruff). She had a nice pointNshoot with an aftermarket lens for taking additional pics of my face, thumb, bruises and scrapes, as well as the bike itself.

Someone at work today mentioned this and I've been thinking about it ever since: They pointed out to me that I'm usually in the lane or a bike lane, in much riskier situations but the time I get hit by a car is when I'm ideally at my safest. They're kinda right too. I accept the risk of riding in the road and haven't had much of a problem with other cars since we cyclists know to drive like we're invisible and assume everyone's out to hit us. However, in the cross walk with the right away is when you'd think you'd be the safest and let your guard down a little. In this case, I didn't see him coming so I'd still have been hit, guard up or not, but it still weighs on my mind. I'm definitely planning on lighting my bike up a bit more and wearing more reflective clothing.

Thank you all again for the get-wells. I need them but I'm not doing too bad really. I'm hoping to be back on the road in a couple weeks. Until then, I've got a good friend to carpool with.

rex_kramer

Man oh man...

So sorry to read about your accident. Get well and heal up. God bless and good luck with all of the legal hooey.

funrover 

Hope you heal fast!

exile

Nothing wrong with being more visible That Linux Guy. Just remember it was an accident that may or may not have been preventable. From your description it sounds like the other guy was at fault and should take responsibility.

Just keep documentation and pictures, and hopefully things go smoothly. Heal up quickly.

Seattle Forrest

Don't worry; you won't be getting a butt-load of money. Hopefully you'll get enough to cover your bike, medical bills, lost wages, and such, after paying the IRS and your lawyer.

You should think about asking a moderator to remove this thread. Medical care is expensive, insurance companies don't really like paying claims out, and people keep speculate about insurance agents scouring the web looking for something to take out of context to cast doubt on a bad situation.

VeloBusDriver

You mean the 76 year old woman who received 3rd degree burns over 16% of her body, including her genitals, because McDonalds heated their coffee to 183 degrees to slow down consumption of coffee and thus require fewer refills? That dumbass? (For the record, she only wanted $20,000 to pay for her medical bills. McDonalds refused to settle.)

Yes, call a lawyer. Because, unfortunately, society assumes that because you were riding a bicycle you aren't worth protecting and probably did something to cause the crash anyway.

andrelam

When I was in my accident I was extremely luck that the insurance agent for the driver that hit me was enlightened and realized that nit was better to help me get through this quickly and fairly than to drag things out. He sent me a one page note from NY State that clearly showed what I was and was not entitled to. Since I had no serious long term injuries everything was very clear cut. The agent is the one that warned me that my health insurance would not cover me. I had gone to the ER and given my regular insurance. The problem is not the intitial billing, but the after affect. Once the health insurance company figures out there was an accident they will refuse to pay. With one of my friends he needed to get a lawyer to send a letter to the hopsital informing them that they WOULD get paid eventually, but that the legal responsibilities need to be figured out fully before they would receive payments. In that case it was multi car accident and took nearly a year to figure out. What made my life so much better it that the agent gave me the case number and billing information so that I could call the hospital BEFORE the bills were sent out and get everything billed directly to his insurance. That way I never had to get the bills, and then send them in... lots of paperwork.

In the case of the PO in this situation, teeth and a nose were broken... in NY state that puts you outside of the restrictions, the main difference is that you can actually get reimbursements for pain and suffering, with minor injuries you can not get that (right fully so... that is why that restriction is on minor injuries where there are no broken bones and no long term injuries).

It helps to know what your right are in your state and these things can vary greatly from state to state.

Best of luck with your healing,
André

GriddleCakes

The OP is just repeating a common misinterpretation of the case. You didn't read the thread. I'd say you're equal.

Anyway, the OP is nowhere near in the same situation as the McDonalds case, which involved a multi-billion dollar corporation callously deciding that the miniscule payouts from the +700 personal injury cases cost less than the price of the refills of coffee served at lower temps (anyone else see echoes of Fight Club?).

The motorist was found at fault, has insurance, and the OP has a lawyer. He'll be fine. Heal up quick, Linux Guy, and don't feel too bad about the (relative to the insurance provider's yearly profits) miniscule payout that you'll receive for "pain and suffering".

rumrunn6

thanks for sharing. document your injuries and have them itemized by a medical provider

curbtender

Why would you pay the IRS?