A Jourey of 1,000 Miles

[Apoc]

I've elected to let my insurnace company deal with Allstate (the lady who hit me has Allstate). Although I lose my deductible, I will, very likely, receive more money in the end

I'm confused a bit about this part. You shouldn't have to pay anything because it's not your fault. By that I don't mean "you shouldn't have to pay because that's morally shitty" but rather "you shouldn't have to pay because it's legally not your fault."

It's your company's responsibility to cover your loss and then get their money back from her and/or her insurance company. Unless Progressive is different than most, your cash outlay should be zero.

[Ginger]

I had the choice to deal with Allstate myself and be out zero money... but to not get any of the trouble, I chose to work with my company. From what I've heard this is kind of the norm if you want your own insurance company to deal with it. When I asked about it I was told that I have a shot at getting it back, but they don't normally have good luck with charging back deductibles.

[Evan]

damn


what are the details of the accident?

[Dave]

(The reason it's a write off is because you don't see all the front end damage. Something, and it's really hard to tell exactly what [or, more likely, the combination of bent things] is badly bent. She hit me, on the gas and still accelerating, square on the front wheel. Most of what's up there isn't straight anymore.)

Thanks for clarifying that, it didn't look bad to me.

That really sucks to have done all that work and really enjoy a new toy for some piece of shit to destroy it like that. How the hell do you run over a bright orange bike and keep on going? The important thing is that you're OK and I am really glad that somebody actually saw it and thought to pursue her and make sure she stopped.

[Apoc]

I had the choice to deal with Allstate myself and be out zero money... but to not get any of the trouble, I chose to work with my company. From what I've heard this is kind of the norm if you want your own insurance company to deal with it.

It's the first I've heard of it... and I worked in insurance. I know of several cases where the victim's insurance had to chase down that of the person at fault and the victim didn't have to pay their deductible. Hopefully you make out in the end.

Do you think the $ will be enough to indirectly make up the cost of airfare?

[Ginger]

damn


what are the details of the accident?

Soapstone and Glade 4 way stop. I pulled up at the same time as a white construction van headed westbound on glade from the east (on glade, east to west). I was headed north on Soapstone (south to north). We were all going straight. I made eye contact with the driver of the van and we both waited to see if the other knew what was going on. I let him go first since he was to my right and we had arrived at the intersection at the same time. When he cleared the intersection I entered. I noticed sometihng moving out of the corner of my right eye, looked, and grabbed thes brakes. The driver that was behind the construction van ignored the stopsign, didn't look, or something, and proceeded into the intersetion. When I hit the brakes it was just in enough time to relocate the impact from the broad-side of the bike to the front wheel.

I looked up from the ground in the direction that the SUV was traveling and noticed that the brake lights were not lit. My wittness, the driver of the white van, also noticed that she had not stopped yet. He stopped his van and the SUV that hit me was forced to stop. She had already cleared the intersection and was proceeding past the opposing stop sign.

On a bright note, the witness waited around something like 30-40 minutes for the police. He was a very, very nice guy. RJ picked up the bike for me while my girlfriend and my dad's girlfriend stopped by to check on me.

I really can't wait for tihs all to be over... even if it does cost me my deductible I'd gladly trade that for not having to talk to more people about the same dumb thing. Riding half way across the country was a cool, educational experience and I'm glad I got to do it. But I've been pretty down about things since the accident. I'm more nervous in traffic now than ever, my family is even more worried about me on a bike, and I'm down a bike I was really excited about (b/c it was on loan it means I'll have to wait to save for another bike or wait a while until I get a different loan). At the risk of being flame-fodder for MM, I've been asking myself if street riding is worth the risks.

[Ginger]

Do you think the $ will be enough to indirectly make up the cost of airfare?

Answered in IM.

[navin]

Wow Andrew - that really sucks. Know exactly the road you are talking about, hate it!

Hope everything works out well for you, and good to see there are some decent human beings left in the world (your witness).

[ScottyB]

How the hell do you run over a bright orange bike

i was about to ask the same thing....next time around, try a flare on the back and sparklers on the ends of the handlebars, hopefully that will help these idiots.

really sorry to hear Andrew. Glad you're OK, and i don't blame you for thinking about your future on the street. lots of "coulda been worse" thoughts i'm sure.

[HAULN-SS]

The accident I was in, it was not my fault, legally, and I never had to pay a dime. I've never heard of having to pay a deductible to have your insurance company talk to the other insurance company. switch to state farm

[PGK]

At the risk of being flame-fodder for MM, I've been asking myself if street riding is worth the risks.

It was risky before your accident too. You're number came up, so what? Having an accident doesn't make anything more or less safe. You were willing to accept the risks before, and the level of risk has not changed. If anything, learning from this relatively painless and potentially profitable accident can help you be a safer rider.

If you take the right lessons from this chance encounter with the darkest, vilest, and most malicious side of four-wheeled vehicle operators you can enjoy decades and hundreds of thousands of miles of safe and enjoyable motorcycling. If you take the wrong lessons, you will leave as a statistic and nothing more. You will spend the rest of your life cowering behind a steering wheel, pining for the good times you had on a bike, enduring the wistful and melancholic pang in your heart every time you see a motorcycle on the street.

I know you aren't going to quit riding on the street and every day. So why even bring it up?

[Ginger]

At the risk of being flame-fodder for MM, I've been asking myself if street riding is worth the risks.

It was risky before your accident too. You're number came up, so what? Having an accident doesn't make anything more or less safe. You were willing to accept the risks before, and the level of risk has not changed. If anything, learning from this relatively painless and potentially profitable accident can help you be a safer rider.

No, the risks haven't changed... but next time you get hit by a 4,000 pound SUV tell me about your perceptions.

So why even bring it up?

Because I realized that the only person with the resources to look after me if I do, god forbid, get seriously hurt, has voiced a serious objection to the hobby. Who would take care of me if I was hurt? If I were in for a long term recovery, or worse, permenantly disabled, who? Val, with her 3 days of leave a year? Dad, from Alabama? My sister, from nursing school? Either of my questionably sane grandparents? The only person with the facilities to do it is my Mom. That raises some serious moral questions for me.

That's why.

[.paul]

andrew, i am glad you are unhurt, all that crap can always be replaced. Getting in serious accidents like that you will always make you question stuff you have done with no thought. i questioned everything after my accident.

I am sure you will get back on, and get yourself into the 30k a year.

let me know if you need any help. Also, i am with Apoc, if you are not at fault, you should really do nothing, especially if the cop sided with you.. you should have a police report and should get a check within the week from the other insurance company.

[Apoc]

Wow... Ginger is starting to sound like Mikey.

The world really is going to shit.

[Ginger]

Wow... Ginger is starting to sound like Mikey.

That's kind of harsh. What's so wrong about thinking about your family?

[.RJ]

It was risky before your accident too. You're number came up, so what? Having an accident doesn't make anything more or less safe. You were willing to accept the risks before, and the level of risk has not changed. If anything, learning from this relatively painless and potentially profitable accident can help you be a safer rider.

I had this same discussion with ginger not too long ago, basically looking at the risk vs. reward of riding every day on the street - it was nothing more than a hypothetical train of thought, it but it was spurred on from reading about the annual parade of riders that made simple mistakes on the street and paid the ultimate price for it.

At the time, andrew said the same thing you did, and if you cant accept the risk after having some sort of accident on the road, then you shouldnt accept them now - certainly understandable. My contention with that is, that if something does happen then your viewpoints (and the amount of risk you're willing to accept) can change, and I wondered if mine would. I really dont know if I'd still ride if I got taken out on the road, even without injury. I'm not too worried about family, because I could get hurt riding my bicycle on the road, riding on track, driving my car - it wouldnt be any better on them if I got hurt doing something other than riding a motorcycle on the road.

[Ginger]

I'm not too worried about family, because I could get hurt riding my bicycle on the road, riding on track, driving my car - it wouldnt be any better on them if I got hurt doing something other than riding a motorcycle on the road.

The end result is the same. But if you get hurt riding a motorcycle and your mom says "now I've got to take care of you because both your legs are broken after your accident on that stupid donorcycle that I asked you not to ride" what are you going to say?
"I could have gotten hurt walking down the street" isn't a satisfactory answer to the moral problem of the whole matter. You're asking somebody else to, potentially, bear the burden of the choice you made to ride. If they're not OK with that then you're imposing a cost on them that isn't fair.
Am I still OK with the risks of riding on the road? I'm more aware of them, but yes, I'm OK with them. Had I thought of my mom having to take care of me before? No, she brought that up when I told her about the accident and I hate to admit it, but she's got a point.

[.RJ]

If they're not OK with that then you're imposing a cost on them that isn't fair

I wouldnt consider it imposing in any way. Of course, they're going to take care of you if your legs are broken but thats because you're family - and no matter how you get hurt the result is the same. Sure riding a motorcycle can increase the potential risk for serious injury but do we look at everything we do and say "well, I dont know if I should do that because if I got hurt then mom would have to take care of me... " There's a pretty good chance that most of us will ride for a long time and not sustain any serious injuries as well, and if there's something that I enjoy doing I'm not going to stop because of the 'what ifs' about it. You could get hit by a bus tomorrow and lights out, game over. Probably wont happen, but, enjoy it while you can.

[Apoc]

if you get hurt riding a motorcycle and your mom says "now I've got to take care of you because both your legs are broken after your accident on that stupid donorcycle that I asked you not to ride" what are you going to say?

"That's for being a bitch Mom."

If it's such a burden and something they're going to try and guilt trip me about then frankly, I don't want their help.

You're asking somebody else to, potentially, bear the burden of the choice you made to ride. If they're not OK with that then you're imposing a cost on them that isn't fair.

Am I still OK with the risks of riding on the road? I'm more aware of them, but yes, I'm OK with them. Had I thought of my mom having to take care of me before? No, she brought that up when I told her about the accident and I hate to admit it, but she's got a point.

I'll go back to what I said in Mike's thread... if you haven't had this discussion with the people the would end up caring for you then you don't belong on a bike. If they're not okay with bearing the burden then tell them, before you get hurt, that you don't expect them to.

I know someone's going to say "we can't all be as perfect as you" but I really wonder if people thought any farther ahead than "oooo fast thing, I want!" I mean you ride without ever thinking how it might impact your family? That's the first thing I thought about before buying a bike. I upped my life-insurance, I discussed my medical directive (in case I'm a vegetable) with family and made a list of all the financial accounts/passwords/names for reference. There can be consequences, dire consequences, you owe it to everyone around you to discuss/prepare beforehand.

[Ginger]

I think you're missing the point. You're imposing a cost on somebody that has speifically said they do not approve of the activity which may make that chance a reality. I'm really surprised that you can't see the difference.

The disapproving party is asking me to avoid a documentedly high-risk activity because of the burden it could impose on her. The fact that they're your family, so they'll take care of you isn't, or rather shouldn't, be free license to do whatever silly activity crosses your mind, regardless of your perceived risk. It's like you treat your family as a free insurance policy - that creates a moral hazard, and also, in a way, makes you a bit of a freerider. <-- Even looking at it economically it's not fair.

The reality of the matter is that we've all got people in our lives that provide more than companionship. The effects of our actions on those people needs to be considered when they are unusually, uhm, unusual. My Dad didn't just up and move to Alabama without talking to my sister and I about how we felt, and he didn't get engaged without talking to us, just for example. He, and a lot of other fathers, gave up motorcycling because he had kids... what would we do if he were a Veg, or killed?

Sometimes the risks are fair and sometimes they are not. When the only person capable of taking care of me has a very strong opinion against the hobby, that's something I've got to seriously consider.