T bone collision with a bicyclist

[JASONA70]

I was driving to the dmv to get the supra registered. I stopped at the supermarket to pick up some of those hand held chicken pies for lunch. I was easing out of the driveway to make a right turn. Suddenly I heard a loud bang!! and then I saw a tiny man flying off his bike. I turned off my car and then quickly jumpped out of my car and called the police. I took a close look at the bicyclist, he was moaning in complete pain. I can see that he had a brusied up left eyebrow ridge and a light scratch on his left under eye area. He had his hand over his left ribcage and I assumed he broke some bones. When the ambulence arrived and did a complete body examination he ended up with just brusies on his eyebrow ridge and rib area. He was sent away to a local hospital and I was then questioned. I was making a right turn into a one way street. The speed limit was about 40-45 mph I eased out of the driveway looked to my left and then to the right and then back to the left. I gave my car some juice and thats when the accident occured. The biker was riding on the sidewalk and agaisnt oncoming traffic. The police officer told me these accidents happen all the time, the bicyclist was clearly not riding where he should have been. Has anything like this happened to you or a friend? I was scared shitless when all this happened, I thought I killed someone! :aigo::aigo::aigo:


oh btw who the hell is going to pay for all those scratches on my car?? I only have liability on this car.

 

[GotBoost?]

Did either of you get ticketed? Just to be sure, I'd find him and get his identifying information, and tell him he needs to pay for your damages. At lease here in AZ, if you're on a bike, you are to follow the same rules of traffic that apply to cars. So he needed to have been travelling in the same direction of traffic, or walking his bike on the sidewalk if he needed to travel against traffic. I don't know what your state law says, but you sure can find that out online. Chances are good he's gonna find a lawyer to sue you for the accident, plus pain and suffering. Good luck.

 

[JASONA70]

I'm sure I will be hearing from him again, I hope he does not sue me. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't stand a chance against the facts against him. I just don't have the time to deal with all the court time, I am a full time student and a part time internee. I just want him to pay for the damages on the car. I was going to list this car for sale, but now since its damaged the value of it is going to be a lot lower than it is. Hopefully he is willing to pay for the damage without any hesitation, I really don't want to take this guy to court. I don't understand how he can't see me, the car is the size of an elephant! I mean he was in my blind spot and that's understandable, but how can a bicyclist not see a big Lexus SUV pull out of a driveway. I was going extremely slow on top of that. I didnt recieve a ticket, it was a case number. It was more of a notification than a ticket, I didn't disobey and traffic laws so there was no reason for the officer to give me a ticket. The case was marked as a traffic accident.

just found this online: (assuming you are riding on the bike)

1. Don't ride on the sidewalk. When you come off the sidewalk to cross the street you're invisible to motorists. You're just begging to be hit if you do this. Keith Vick was killed this way in Austin, TX in Dec. 2002.

2. You're riding the wrong way (against traffic, on the left-hand side of the street). A car makes a right turn from a side street, driveway, or parking lot, right into you. They didn't see you because they were looking for traffic only on their left, not on their right. They had no reason to expect that someone would be coming at them from the wrong direction.

3. Slow down. If you can't make eye contact with the driver (especially at night), slow down so much that you're able to completely stop if you have to. Sure, it's inconvenient, but it beats getting hit.


Bicyclists are generally subject to the same laws as motor vehicles (e.g., must ride in the same direction of traffic, must stop at stop signs and red lights, etc.).


It doesn't look to good for him.

 

[PROJECT N00b]

Good job!

 

[JASONA70]

My friend hit a bicyclist earlier on in the year. Except this situation the bicyclist knew that he was at fault... the bicyclist picked up his bike and pedaled as fast as he could to get away from my friend. He just bought the car and had 3M protective sheets on the front part of the hood and bumper. The bicyclist scratched the whole front bumper and the whole front end of the hood. He sold the car for 12k later on that year.. it was worth 13k if there were no scratches.

 

[GotBoost?]

It doesn't look to good for him.

Thru your eyes. Thru his eyes, this is what happened: Dude on a big white Lexus SUV ($$) didnt look/didnt see me. Threw me off my bike, I got hurt, went to the hospital ($$$$) in a lot of pain, busted my bike, lost many work hours, Im messed up for a while, etc, etc. Did I say I was in a lot of pain? I need me a lawyer to sue the bastard!. So he files against you and your Insurance Co, which if you're lucky, your coverage is enough to cover it. So the Ins Co decides to settle with him b/c is cheaper than litigation with unknown results. A first year law school student knows that.
Oh, he prolly won't care you are a busy student who doesnt want to be in court, tough for you.
The legal climate here in the US sucks, and you don't need to be on the right to be able to sue. You just need a little cash for the filing court fees. Sorry to be so pesimistic, but that's the truth in the real world.

 

[JASONA70]

lets just hope it doesn't come to that scenario.

 

[PROJECT N00b]

im hoping it doesnt.

 

[suprahero]

How is your driving record? First thing they're going to want to pull if it goes to court. Hopefully it's good and the prosecution won't want to see it, but if it's bad, you can bet that it's going to be Exhibit "A"

Good luck.

 

[dirtlord420]

can they ride threw a construction zone? there was about 15 riding threw where they are building a new brige. about only enough room for a car, and there riding down the brige. then they got in the lane and slowed down traffic. i think next time i'll call the police. let the red neck cops deal with them. i think they were wanting to get hit.

 

[JASONA70]

I have a very clean record, I've been driving since I was 16 years old and have only received 1 ticket. (going 60 in a 45mph zone) I cleared that ticket up a while ago, I went to traffic school and the works. I just called my insurance company today and they told me I am very much covered for everything. They also said they can not sue me for any reason at all, its some kind of protection thing that my insurance has. All I have to do is explain my side of the story and hopefully everything pans out alright.

 

[JASONA70]

can they ride threw a construction zone? there was about 15 riding threw where they are building a new brige. about only enough room for a car, and there riding down the brige. then they got in the lane and slowed down traffic. i think next time i'll call the police. let the red neck cops deal with them. i think they were wanting to get hit.

Well as stated in the California bicycle association blah blah blah they have all the rights as a motor vehicle does. I'm sure if you have to deal with this every day while driving to work/school I would file a complaint to the local police station and they will deal with it one way or the other. :icon_bigg

 

[ForcedTorque]

Let's just hope the guy had bicycle insurance to cover your damages.

 

[Big Wang Bandit]

Some guy hit me on my bicycle once. I was riding acros a instersection after making eye contact with this lady that stopped. Then there was no one to my right(the stop side of the sign) and this bastard turns around a corner(in a downtown area) and is looking at his phone, and just rolls thru(5mph) knocked me over.

I didn't fly or anything, but man was I pissed when I got up, He rolled his windows up and started to drive away. I ran after him and kicked the quarter panel of his truck and dented it, I'm still looking for that fucker. Who does that? hits someone downtown in front of TONS of people, and then drives away, knowingly.

 

[Clip]

I have a very clean record, I've been driving since I was 16 years old and have only received 1 ticket. (going 60 in a 45mph zone) I cleared that ticket up a while ago, I went to traffic school and the works. I just called my insurance company today and they told me I am very much covered for everything. They also said they can not sue me for any reason at all, its some kind of protection thing that my insurance has. All I have to do is explain my side of the story and hopefully everything pans out alright.

and if it doesn't, you should've hit him harder.

 

[figgie]

Well as stated in the California bicycle association blah blah blah they have all the rights as a motor vehicle does. I'm sure if you have to deal with this every day while driving to work/school I would file a complaint to the local police station and they will deal with it one way or the other. :icon_bigg

well here is the thing about the bike laws in Cali.

If he was on the streeet as part of traffic. Then the driver that pulled ahead without checking was in the wrong as they have to yeild the right away to the flow of traffic.

If the cyclist was on the sidewalk, the driver of the car is going to be mostly at fault. A cyclist on the sidewalk all of a sudden becomes a pedesterian. One of the only times that a "vehicle" inherits pedestrian laws UNLESS there is very CLEAR AND CONCISE ORDINANCE in your jurisdiction stating that it is infact illegal for the cyclist to be on the side walk per

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc21201.htm

(d) ( )3 A bicycle operated during darkness upon a highway, a sidewalk where bicycle operation is not prohibited by the local jurisdiction, or a bikeway, as defined in Section 890.4 of the Streets and Highways Code, shall be equipped with all of the following:
(1) A lamp emitting a white light that, while the bicycle is in motion, illuminates the highway, sidewalk, or bikeway in front of the bicyclist and is visible from a distance of 300 feet in front and from the sides of the bicycle.
(2) A red reflector on the rear that shall be visible from a distance of 500 feet to the rear when directly in front of lawful upper beams of headlamps on a motor vehicle.
(3) A white or yellow reflector on each pedal, shoe, or ankle visible from the front and rear of the bicycle from a distance of 200 feet.
(4) A white or yellow reflector on each side forward of the center of the bicycle, and a white or red reflector on each side to the rear of the center of the bicycle, except that bicycles that are equipped with reflectorized tires on the front and the rear need not be equipped with these side reflectors.
(e) A lamp or lamp combination, emitting a white light, attached to the operator and visible from a distance of 300 feet in front and from the sides of the bicycle, may be used in lieu of the lamp required by ( )4 paragraph (1) of subdivision (d).

So no. In either case the driver will have a hard time convincing a judge, well I did not see him IF the biker had all the appropiate gear on.

 

[JASONA70]

I'm sure he would have been able to ride on the streets at the time of the accident. The traffic flow was very limited and I was making a right turn onto a oneway street, the reason why I smashed into him was not only because he was on the sidewalk but also because he was coming agiasnt of traffic, I looked left right and then left. He was going at a pretty quick speed so I couldn't catch him on complete view. They're 2-3 skid marks and scratches on my front bumper and hood . We had a witness that reported that he was going a bit to quick, not only dangering drivers but also dangering padestrians as well. He was not wearing any gear at all, his bike was not equipped with anything extra besides the original equipment. I will get pictures of the damage later on tonight.

 

[figgie]

I'm sure he would have been able to ride on the streets at the time of the accident. The traffic flow was very limited and I was making a right turn onto a oneway street, the reason why I smashed into him was not only because he was on the sidewalk but also because he was coming agiasnt of traffic, I looked left right and then left. He was going at a pretty quick speed so I couldn't catch him on complete view. They're 2-3 skid marks and scratches on my front bumper and hood . We had a witness that reported that he was going a bit to quick, not only dangering drivers but also dangering padestrians as well. He was not wearing any gear at all, his bike was not equipped with anything extra besides the original equipment. I will get pictures of the damage later on tonight.

Ok apparently I am not making it clear

If it is not against the law, the cyclist can ride on EITHER the sidewalk OR the Street. Niether is illegal unless iunless it is explicitly stated by the jurisdiction statutes. On the sidewalk, the cylist does not have to flow with traffic. They can go either way, exactly like a ped.

btw quick speed. Unless he was a pro-cylist. 17-20 mph tops. That is not quick.

 

[PROJECT N00b]

bikes are not allowed on the sidewalk, they are vehicles here in cali. they are supposed to ride on the street which is why there are bike lanes.

 

[IJ.]

So the car was unregistered at the time of the accident?