Well, My Summer's Over

Boy what a winner! The @$$ hat driver has tried to evade responsibility at every turn. I don't think he's going to get away with it, because of Wa State law, but it is almost as traumatic as being hit was. First, when we got the police report, the driver claimed that there had been no collision, that I had fallen over and hurt myself. (yeah, thrown three feet into the street, no injuries on the side I landed on, but broken bones in the side facing the truck...) My statement was not included on the report for some reason, and the cop reported that I was uninjured and my bike was undamaged. Our insurance agent called and said that the insurance listed on the report had no record of our boy as a client. My husband tried calling the driver and when he realized who Brian was, and what he was calling about, he said, "sorry, no hablo inglese, bye, bye." Brian called the officer who'd taken my statement and found that he was on vacation for two weeks. He spoke to someone else who was able to pull up the picture that had been taken of the insurance card and give him the number of his local agent. Brian called the agent, who noted that the jerk had actually cancelled his policy after the accident. probably thought that a claim couldn't be tied to him if he no longer had the policy, but the agent said that since he had coverage on the day of the accident, I would be covered. I was eventually called by an insurance adjuster from that company who took my statement and seemed to believe my story. She said it should be fairly straight forward, and they should be able to wrap things up soon. She expressed concern that her client wasn't returning her calls, so I imagine, he thinks that being uncooperative will make it all go away. We shall see if things pan out. My insurance agent has assured me that State law compels that insurance company to cover my medical costs for the very real injuries I have sustained. Thank goodness they are minimal!

It's amazing what is ok to not include in a bike accident police report. It sounds like all will go in your favor.

Fingers crossed... I was shocked also! Of course, no citation for the driver was generated.

Ugh.

If you gave a statement, you should make sure it gets attached to the police report. Your lawyer will have a better idea how to do that in your particular jurisdiction.

Hope you're recovering well.

I suspect the statement is sitting on the desk of the officer who went on vacation. I'm fairly confident it will get attached. I'm also fairly confident that the insurance company is going to cooperate. If they don't, then, we will be adding legal fees to the cost of the settlement.

Physical recovery is going ok. The pain gets better every day, and I am able to get out and do a long walk on my favorite river trail every day. I can actually ride my tadpole trike, but I am restricted from lifting it into the van to ride on a trail, and I can't bear to ride it on the road with all those crazy drivers. I cannot stop running the accident over and over in a loop, and that is massively upsetting. Almost makes me wish I HAD sustained a head injury, so I wouldn't have to keep remembering it...

It sounds like acute stress disorder... what you are describing is extremely common and normal after an accident, natural disaster, medical emergency. Now is the time to practice some meditation and/or other calming strategies, as well as learn how to stop AND replace that loop in your head. It may be worth seeing a therapist for just a couple of times, to learn this stuff, and be able to ride on the road without fear.

You might want to look into counseling to deal with the emotional effects of the collision. And those costs should also be covered by the driver's insurance.

As for the rest of it, I recently was involved in a 3-car collision and had problems getting cooperation from the insurance company of the driver who caused the crash. Some of those problems were because both of the other drivers were trying to avoid responsibility by not returning phone calls. I found my own insurance company to be extremely helpful in dealing with all if it -- advising me on what I should do and what I could expect, as well as calling the other company at one point when I couldn't get past voicemail. At one point they told me that after a certain amount of time they will go ahead without any statement from the driver. Hopefully your insurance company can provide similar support to you.

One thing to note is that you do not want to accept any money from them until you are sure that you are completely 100% healed -- once you cash their check, they will consider it final and you will have no recourse if any injuries require additional treatment.

Dealing with the aftereffects is truly a frustrating process. I hope you're able to get through it without too much difficulty.

How are you doing ma'am?

Yeah, I know I probably should see a therapist. I am doing a lot of things in a meditative fashion,like my walks. I do think it is helpful. Nybiker, that is awful! What is wrong with people? Don't they have a conscience? Yes, my insurance has been very helpful and supportive (STATE FARM, everybody). They even sent me a hand written get well card. I understand about not accepting any money until I am healed. I already had a complication with the fractures, requiring another visit and xrays. The fractures, which were "nonseparated' are now slightly separated. My Dr has warned that I need to be especially careful to avoid further damage to lungs and heart. Not signing anything with that hanging over my head!

qcuthbert, I'm doing a little better every day. Hope your riding is going well.

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Originally Posted by lauraelmore1033

I usually eat a lot of avocados myself--when I can readily go to the store, and am not relying on a stash of pre made microwaveable crap. Did not know that they are great for diabetics. Is that because they are low GI? Well, anyway, I've been off the opiates for a couple of days now. I'm finding they are only good for taking pain levels down a couple notches when it is at higher levels. When the pain was at an 8-9, it maybe took it down to a 3 or 4. My ambient pain level is around 3-4, so the Vicodin doesn't seem to do much.

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Glad you're off the opiates and not in as much pain. Have you lined up rehab yet? It seems crazy when you're hurting, but my doc wasn't happy when I delayed starting rehab after my neck went out, he said I needed to not wait and let things lock up.

Yeowtch!

Off topic: eat avocados, watch your blood glucose readings improve. They're slick!

Whew, pretty hard to believe someone would act that way, what a pin head... I assume that he wasn't driving a company vehicle then, just his own personal car?? I would sure wait to cash any settlement check from the insurance company, with broken ribs something might still show up later... a lawyer would still be a good idea. Maybe just call and talk to one and see what they say?

I can imagine how scary to be back on your bike after all that, how brave to try... keep trying, it will get better. Start slow, take it easy! Don't let the pinheads win! After I fell and hit my head (after my bike hit a ridge in the road, totally my fault), the first few times I was back on my bike I was gripping the handlebars so hard it made my hands hurt. Every bump I hit made me panic. I'm still very leery on poor road surfaces, that's for sure, but don't feel nearly the panic I did the first couple of weeks. I kept reminding myself that I had ridden nearly 10,000 miles over the last five years or so without incident and could probably do it again, ha ha.

Unbelievable that the driver got off without even a ticket! What happened to the vulnerable user law in this state?

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Originally Posted by lauraelmore1033

Boy what a winner! The @$$ hat driver has tried to evade responsibility at every turn. I don't think he's going to get away with it, because of Wa State law, but it is almost as traumatic as being hit was. First, when we got the police report, the driver claimed that there had been no collision, that I had fallen over and hurt myself. (yeah, thrown three feet into the street, no injuries on the side I landed on, but broken bones in the side facing the truck...) My statement was not included on the report for some reason, and the cop reported that I was uninjured and my bike was undamaged. Our insurance agent called and said that the insurance listed on the report had no record of our boy as a client. My husband tried calling the driver and when he realized who Brian was, and what he was calling about, he said, "sorry, no hablo inglese, bye, bye." Brian called the officer who'd taken my statement and found that he was on vacation for two weeks. He spoke to someone else who was able to pull up the picture that had been taken of the insurance card and give him the number of his local agent. Brian called the agent, who noted that the jerk had actually cancelled his policy after the accident. probably thought that a claim couldn't be tied to him if he no longer had the policy, but the agent said that since he had coverage on the day of the accident, I would be covered. I was eventually called by an insurance adjuster from that company who took my statement and seemed to believe my story. She said it should be fairly straight forward, and they should be able to wrap things up soon. She expressed concern that her client wasn't returning her calls, so I imagine, he thinks that being uncooperative will make it all go away. We shall see if things pan out. My insurance agent has assured me that State law compels that insurance company to cover my medical costs for the very real injuries I have sustained. Thank goodness they are minimal!

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Almost makes me wish I HAD sustained a head injury, so I wouldn't have to keep remembering it...

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I know you were kiddin'....but no one wants a head injury. No I don't remember my accident ...at all. But my partner said just after I was knocked down by another cyclist...I got up and was talking. But medically in terms of my brain....all the short-term memory for 6 hrs. after accident was lost forever. Yes, true, better for me, not to have been aware of actual accident.

Later all, if available to you, take up some counselling. What sorts of activities /hobbies do you /are your pursuing outside of cycling, besides hiking? Do you think when you are healed you will need physiotherapy too?

I've been cycling just on weekends when there's less traffic and more time for me. I hope to return to bike commuting to work soon. I had my accident on Jan. 1/15.

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Originally Posted by AppleTree

Whew, pretty hard to believe someone would act that way, what a pin head... I assume that he wasn't driving a company vehicle then, just his own personal car?? I would sure wait to cash any settlement check from the insurance company, with broken ribs something might still show up later... a lawyer would still be a good idea. Maybe just call and talk to one and see what they say?

I can imagine how scary to be back on your bike after all that, how brave to try... keep trying, it will get better. Start slow, take it easy! Don't let the pinheads win! After I fell and hit my head (after my bike hit a ridge in the road, totally my fault), the first few times I was back on my bike I was gripping the handlebars so hard it made my hands hurt. Every bump I hit made me panic. I'm still very leery on poor road surfaces, that's for sure, but don't feel nearly the panic I did the first couple of weeks. I kept reminding myself that I had ridden nearly 10,000 miles over the last five years or so without incident and could probably do it again, ha ha.

Unbelievable that the driver got off without even a ticket! What happened to the vulnerable user law in this state?

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Well, I have been able to get out and ride the trike on both the Sammamish river trail and the Centennial. Dh was kinda babysitting as I did the Centennial, since there are several crossings (did ok!) and a bit of elevation gain, which made breathing fairly painful with the broken ribs. He made me a light weight ramp out of garage door track which attaches easily to a central cross piece that rests on the bumper, so I can easily load and unload the trike from the van. I'm still on the fence about getting a lawyer. I initially thought I just wanted to have the medical costs covered and the bike repaired, but as I get angrier, and have more time to think about it all, since every effort requires a considerable amount of recovery time, I begin to see what every one is talking about. Before May 27th, I was in excellent health, had lots of stamina and strength. Now, I'm feeling like I'm made out of glass, still in a fair amount of pain, and have lost so much ground as far as stamina and strength are concerned. That jerk took something very precious away from me.
We were supposed to do a little mini tour in Bend Oregon this weekend, but it was too late to cancel, so we are stuck going. Dh will get to ride, and I will be twiddling my thumbs. Stp is cancelled as is our Idaho tour.

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Originally Posted by shootingstar

I know you were kiddin'....but no one wants a head injury. No I don't remember my accident ...at all. But my partner said just after I was knocked down by another cyclist...I got up and was talking. But medically in terms of my brain....all the short-term memory for 6 hrs. after accident was lost forever. Yes, true, better for me, not to have been aware of actual accident.

Later all, if available to you, take up some counselling. What sorts of activities /hobbies do you /are your pursuing outside of cycling, besides hiking? Do you think when you are healed you will need physiotherapy too?

I've been cycling just on weekends when there's less traffic and more time for me. I hope to return to bike commuting to work soon. I had my accident on Jan. 1/15.

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I thought about you after I posted that, and realized, yes, what you just said there. I wouldn't want to have gone through your ordeal. I hope i didn't upset you by saying that. I don't think I'll need any physiotherapy. Everything still works as it should, it's just the ribs that are broken, and all the restrictions are to avoid falling and/or worsening the break. my Dr told me a fall could kill me!

I am actually doing much better with the traumatic aspect of things. When I was still hashing and re-hashing everything, I didn't seem to have the "processing space" in my brain for anything other than reliving the incident. I took up a beading project to keep my hands busy as I was sitting, staring blankly into space. Pretty soon, I noticed I was able to shift my focus onto the project. Every row of beads represented another instance where I was going over the crash in my mind, and after quite a while, I was just focusing on the placement of beads, and the mental image was losing it's power. I'm not explaining it well, but at some point, a switch seemed to flip and, well, I'm not just sitting and staring anymore. I do still seem to have a lot of moments where a rage boils up inside, but I get a sense that there is an end point to it. Somewhere close.

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Originally Posted by lauraelmore1033

I thought about you after I posted that, and realized, yes, what you just said there. I wouldn't want to have gone through your ordeal. I hope i didn't upset you by saying that. I don't think I'll need any physiotherapy. Everything still works as it should, it's just the ribs that are broken, and all the restrictions are to avoid falling and/or worsening the break. my Dr told me a fall could kill me!

I am actually doing much better with the traumatic aspect of things. When I was still hashing and re-hashing everything, I didn't seem to have the "processing space" in my brain for anything other than reliving the incident. I took up a beading project to keep my hands busy as I was sitting, staring blankly into space. Pretty soon, I noticed I was able to shift my focus onto the project. Every row of beads represented another instance where I was going over the crash in my mind, and after quite a while, I was just focusing on the placement of beads, and the mental image was losing it's power. I'm not explaining it well, but at some point, a switch seemed to flip and, well, I'm not just sitting and staring anymore. I do still seem to have a lot of moments where a rage boils up inside, but I get a sense that there is an end point to it. Somewhere close.

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I'm glad you're progressing. It is hard to balance -- you don't want to ignore the emotions but you don't want to dwell on them either.