I would say she is responsible to bringing everything back to the condition it was pre-crash. If that requires replacement, so be it!
She is probably happy to be getting off that easy since the results could have been far worse! Good luck and heal fast.

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B.Oliver -My Blog...triguywithavx.wordpress.com
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I know you didn't ask about your injuries, but have you seen a doctor yet? If you have swelling in or around your neck . . . that is not a good thing. Obviously you've suffered some trauma, and maybe it heals up just fine, but then again maybe it doesn't. If it does not, then you'll probably wish you'd seen a medical professional to document your injuries.

As for the bike, if someone hit your car with their car and dented the hell out of one of your fender wells, your car may still function perfectly well, but I bet you'd be asking the other driver to make you whole. The same thing should hold true with your run in with the car.

Best of luck to you.

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Mike Sparks


I have competed well, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Thanks and good point...I did get checked out by ems responders at the scenes, as I wanted everything that  could potentially be an issue covered and documented. They gave me the good to go...

She caused the crash, she is responsible for all damages. She may have an insurance policy that pays these for her; either way you need to get paid. Parts that can be repaired (ex. wheel truing) get repaired; many bike parts cannot be repaired (ex. scraped brake lever) and need to be replaced. A bike is no different than a car in this regard. Damaged helmets, shorts, etc. are also covered.

Search on some threads here in the forum, but get checked out by a doctor. Don't sign anything or say anything to her insurance. Figure out if your injuries are really superficial or not (you may need PT, ART, chiro, whatever to get back to pre-crash condition.....it's the soft tissue injuries that are a bitch).

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Well, my 2 cents...if you had been in a car and a nice old lady sideswiped you. Scraped the crap out of the rear quarter panel, door panel, etc. All working parts but some heinous cosmetic damage, would you give her a pass on that?

Not sure what the difference is in that case.

Glad you are otherwise healthy though and good luck at IMLP.

Sounds like you were very lucky. Glad you are ok. I got hit by a car last weekend, separated shoulder -- done for 6 weeks and my bike is toast. Consensus here seems to be --get a lawyer!

Get a lawyer!!! I would go after her insurance to pay and not even try to deal with asking her to pay, doubt she will when she finds out the costs - most people are absolutely clueless about the costs of a high end bike.She may have appeared cooperative at the time but her story may change when it's time to pay up. I have never heard that it is up to the person at fault if she wants to submit to her insurance company or not. I'm sure if she's at fault you can submit to her insurance company whether she wants you to or not. Otherwise what recourse would you have if she said she didn't want to pay? Also, if you have a carbon bike there is a good change the frame is trashed. My husband was hit a couple years ago and the frame "looked" fine but the bike shop did an extremely thorough and detailed assessment and found a small crack in the carbon frame; therefore, it was unrideable. Basically, everything that was damaged (yes, even his cycling shoes, sunglasses, cycling kit, helmet, etc...) was included in the costs that her insurance had to pay. Our bike shop wrote up a detailed inventory of everything damaged and the replacement costs. I also took him to the ER since he hit his head so her insurance had to pay for that as well. We were lucky that one of my husband's teammates was a lawyer so we called him immediately on the way to the ER, but if you don't have a lawyer friend that can help you I'll bet you can find a cyclist or triathlete you know who can recommend someone. It may work out in the end. In our case my husband was planning to buy a new bike so it ended up that his new bike was paid for by the insurance company of the woman who hit him... but not really the way you want to get a new bike. Good luck! And get that neck and collarbone checked out!

I believe in New York State the driver is required by law to report to their insurance company that they were in an accident. Police responded, a report was written, thus the event = accident in my book. You need to be reimbursed through her auto policy.

I would say anything that is scratched should be replaced. Like you said you take care of your stuff for the resale value. That's potentially thousands of dollars lost when you try to sell. From reading other accident reports on here.... don't talk to her insurance, don't sign anything, get a lawyer. What I don't know is if you can go ahead with the fixes and then get paid later... or if you'll have to use a different bike for the race? Or use it as is and fix it later?

and where was it? how'd it go down?

Was New York state...I think she was considering just paying the expense out of pocket if it where within a reasonable amount and not having the insurance company cover the cost....
My concern is that I need the bike restored to pre-hit condition asap...and really dont have the time to do the song and dance with her insurance company waiting to get the payout...Was planning on bringing it to my shop and have them right up what needs to be fixed, having it done and giving her/ her insurance company the bill.... I need to race on it in 2 weeks. 

When someone dings your bumper or fender on your car with superficial damage, do you say, "Don't bother to pay me--it still works fine"? As others have said, it's her responsibility to bring it to pre-crash condition, and if it can't be repaired, it should be replaced at her expense.

You need to also consider doctor bills. You probably have medical insurance, but it's not your insurance that should pay for your doctor visits. She (or her insurance) should be paying. And don't sign any settlement because you might have medical issues (whiplash) in the future.

If she does pay and you get new stuff (which I think you are entitled to), she should technically get the old stuff to what she wants with.

1. Take good pictures of all the damage.
2. Get estimates from the bike shop replacing all damaged components.
3. Get a copy of the police report.
4. Find out our her insurance company and call her claims adjuster. Send all the estimates and police report to the claims adjuster.
5. Since I am financially sound I would replace the broken components to make sure I can race without waiting for the settlement, but not replace the cosmetic ones.

When I was hit I followed the first 4 steps and borrowed a bike for a HIM the following weekend as my frame was cracked.

Within 2-3 weeks of the accident the insurance company cut me a check for the entire bike estimate including damaged clothing. Luckily I was hit by someone who had a good insurance company.

If you are injured or this accident impairs IMLP then a lawyer is your only recourse as many hundreds of hours of training will have been wasted, which is more than a thousand dollars of bike parts.

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Swim - Bike - Run the rest is just clothing changes.

Rent a very very nice bike for LP since yours won't be ready anyway.
Have her insurance company cover. do not, I repeat do not deal directly w her. Very bad idea. Call her insurance asap and get the ball rolling.

dude, that carbon fiber is done now.... fatigue resistance once you hit the fibers is gone.

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-Jason
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Is that all you've got? Are you sure?

When something similar happened to me, I brought my bike to the LBS and got a quote. Then, I contacted both insurance companies. I contacted mine because they are supposed to know how to handle such things and give advice (in reality, they didn't have a clue but were willing to learn). I contacted theirs to make a claim against the driver. Then, I went ahead and had the LBS do all the necessary repairs to bring my bike back to the pre-crash condition.

I sent the receipt to their insurance company. They sent me a check.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

Contact her insurance company. You should be reimbursed for all the damages. Also, go to a doctor. Keep records of all the things you pay for. Don't assume that the insurance company will be difficult to deal with.

thanks ...that what I plan to do in about an hour...since time is of the essence I am going to have all work that needs to be done...done... and have all other issues noted on an invoice by the shop and will submit all receipts and invoice to her insurance. I spoke with my insurance to let them know the issue and they said since they dont have bike experts they take the word of a reputable shop. 

Stephen,
I'm sorry, but you are not going about it the right way and failing to see the big picture. By right way i mean minimizing your potential loss and protecting yourself from possible insurance problems.

Shit happens, it's true, but racing in 2 weeks will seriously compromise your ability to seek medical treatment covered by her insurance company should issues arise in the future.

Jumping the gun and attempting to "fix" the bike and noting other defects will not maximize your recovery either. If you are patient, you could very well get a brand new bike (frame + similar upgraded components that you had on your original bike etc).

Trust me, if you build that frame, race it, and then you realize something is wrong with it , you will be SOL. Her insurance will not cover it and you will get refunded some minimal cost of parts and labor.

All items damaged during the accident are her responsibility.- Jersey, glasses, helmet, shoes etc.


My advice would be:
- Honestly assess your condition. Ensure you will not need medical treatment in the future, because unless you get a good ass attorney after your race, racing in an endurance event after your collision will likely waive your rights to seek future medical treatment.
- If you need medical treatment, then forfeit the event. Her insurance will refund you the money paid for registration and other expenses. With an attorney, i'm sure you could come up with a reasonable figure as to what missing this event entitles you in damages. Yes, you will not compete in an event i'm sure you've been training very hard for, but again, look at the big picture!!

- If you do race, RENT a bike. DO NOT USE YOUR BIKE. deal with having the bike replaced/fix/whatever properly AFTER you get back and have more time. With little care, you can get a brand new bike if you are patient. You can get the rental fee refunded also.

Good luck and I wish you a speedy recovery.

Edit:
- A note on billing the driver directly. People usually suggest paying for damages out of their own pocket for fear of having their insurance rates go up; However, people are seldom aware of repair costs- Whether it is car repairs or worse yet bike repairs. I suggest you deal with her insurance directly. It will save you headaches in the future. Good luck

If you haven't seen it already, read through Ray's account of his car accident and the steps taken after:
http://www.dcrainmaker.com/...ting-hit-by-car.html

It's a comprehensive list of lessons learned and should serve as a good guide for what you could potentially be doing.

I had a very similar experience except the A**hole that hit me tried to deny that he caused the crash. I immediately called HIS insurance and filed a claim. I got an estimate from my shop to bring my bike back to pre-crash condition. I forwarded the estimate to the insurance company along with photos of the damage on my bike. I had scrapes and bruises but did not claim any injury. The insurance company issued me a check for every penny of the estimate and added $500.00 for "incidental medical". Took about 6 weeks for everything to go through and the check to arrive. I too, had a police report written. ALWAYS have a report written.

Immediately call her insurance company and file a claim. There is a possibility that she does not have insurance at all and is trying to avoid that disclosure. Since a vehicle was involved, both her car insurance (liability and property damamge) and your car insurance (uninsured motorist/underinsured motorist coverage) come into play. You will not have the protection and support of your car insurance company if you don't file a claim with her insurance company right away. You are doing no one a favor by not filing a claim, and you are assuming way too much risk of loss by working directly with her. You have an obligation to your car insurance company to file a claim with her insurance company immediately.

Anyone involved in a bike-car accident (or a car-car accident, for that matter) should call the other driver's insurance company immediately at the scene to verify that a policy is in force. All major insurance companies have 24/7 claims reporting, and if you find that the other driver does not have insurance, the police will issue a citation (depending on your state's laws) to the other driver for failure to maintain liability insurance (most states). This citation goes a long ways to support a judgment for your losses.

I had someone hit my car once. I was stopped at a stoplight, he was too, then he decided he had stopped long enough and just drove into me (light still red).

Cracked my (already ugly) bumper. Police came, got report, his fault... the guy said he did not want to do his insurance and that he'd rather cut me a check after I got an estimate for repair. Estimate came back as +$1000, then all of a sudden he was like "Fuck you, you're trying to take advantage of me! There was hardly any damage!" I said, "fine, we can totally use your insurance if you prefer" , the cop already recorded the damage and placed fault, and I had pictures. I guess he knew his rates would go up, so he reluctantly cut me a check.

My point, people often don't realize what it will cost. Luckily I got my money but that woman might not be so understanding to hear a bike costs several grand. I mean, it's a bike, can't you just get a new one at k-mart!?!


Go the insurance route, replace EVERYTHING back to mint shape, and get the insurance to cover your high end rental bike for IMLP. And good luck at the race, glad you're not hurt! Try not to drop me on the course!

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Empire Tri Coach
Team Gatorade Endurance
USATF Coach | NYRR Distance Pacer
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