New Bike rear-ended while on bike hitch :(

[SadieKate]

You need to find out about the "little old lady". She's the one who hit you. She was too close to begin with. I have no idea if there is shared responsibility with the driver who hit her.

Was there a police report? Get your insurance company involved NOW. Do not wait. Do not pass go. Call them tonight.

I'd be leery of a frame that was hit that hard, especially since it was between the car and your husband's bike which was totaled.

[SadieKate]

BTW, I had a Yakima Hitchfork rack folded upright on my Trooper and was rearended by a Ford Expedition at 20+ mph. The rack folded around the spare tire and it looked like the car was untouched. Not so. The I-beam inside the door was bent and the entire door had to be replaced and painted. About $3,000 later and now owning I think Yakima's last Hitchfork rack, I was good to go.

The trailer hitch left a very lovely hole in the grill of that brand spankin' new Expedition.

I was stopped in wall to wall rush hour traffic in an Isuzu Trooper. He "didn't see me?" My a$$.

Anyway, you need to check the small things on the back of your car. The tip off was that the back door wouldn't lock due to the bent beam.

[VeloVT]

Every time we drive in significant traffic with bikes on the car, I'm thankful for my roof rack... something to think about, if it would be compatible with your car... back when I was using a rear rack I was constantly nervous.

Of course, this is totally secondary to figuring out the bike issues...

[cherinyc]

FH and I both just said, "the chance of this happening with the rear rack never would've occurred to me before this happened". We both have tall cars, which make roof racks difficult. I am 5'5 1/2" and he is maybe 5'8".

I still think I would prefer a roof rack though. Except that I have to go under low clearance areas a lot. I can only imagine the damage of driving through a low lying cover and smashing the bikes that way.

This is why I love my Road Bike. I walk out my door with it, and when I get outside, I get on it. I ride, get home, and place it back on the stand. Lather, Rinse, Repeat. No cars involved, except the jerks who almost hit me

[Blueberry]

Forgive my not remembering the details, but what material is your frame? If anything except steel, I wouldn't trust a repair. And I still think you should be able to get a new bike.

Ditto what the others have said on calling *your* insurance. It usually won't be a ding to you, and they can really help sometimes with negotiating the claims. May also depend on whether there were 2 impacts (did she hit you and then get rear ended again).

Good luck in any case!!

CA

[LoriO]

My questions is where you stopped at a light or stop sign when this happened or were you moving? If you and the old lady were stopped and the third car hit her and pushed her into you then I believe that the 3rd car is the one to be responsible for the accident.

If everyone was moving when it happened then that would probably change things.

Either way, I would write the bike off as a loss and make the other drivers insurance pay to replace it.

Getting rear ended with my bike on my tailgate hatch rack is always one of my biggest fears.

[SadieKate]

Who is at fault is a gray area but that is why you should always leave a safe distance between you and the car in front. When I was rearended, my car's bumper stopped about a frog's hair from the car in front of me. CHP officer was complimentary that in rush hour traffic I'd left that much space so that I wasn't also cited.

I've used a hitch rack for years and heard very few horror stories about bikes getting smashed that way -- and tons and tons of stories about the owners themselves driving bikes into roofs.

[TrekTheKaty]

So sorry to hear about your new "baby." Hope the insurance companies do the right thing. (running to the phone to call the insurance company about our coverage)

[andtckrtoo]

Absolutely call your own insurance company. That's why you have them! They know much more about how to negotiate with the other insurance companies that you do. This accident was not your fault, and you need an advocate. They are also the ones to tell you whether or not your bikes would be covered. I know here in California, if the accident is not your fault, the insurance company cannot raise your rates.

[maillotpois]

Don't sign any release unless you are COMPLETELY satisfied with the outcome.

In order to push a middle car into you, that rear guy must have been going way too fast for conditions.

Talk to your insurance, explain the situation and make them help you chase. It is possible your UM/UIM coverage may be called into play if the Enterprise guy didn't get the insurance, so better to get them notified now.

Also your policy's med pay will come into play immediately, so if you suspect any injuries be sure people know that now.

[Aggie_Ama]

My husband was in the middle of a 4 car sandwich last year. He rear-ended a guy (call him car 2) who rear ended someone (car 1) and was rear-ended by a lady (car 4). The insurance determined he was to blame for the guy in front of him but the lady behind him had to pay for the rear end damage because she should have been able to stop. Screwy thing? The guy he rear ended immediately told the cop if my husband hadn't hit him he wouldn't have hit car #1. My husband did rear end the guy first but our insurance refused to pay for for car #1. But at first they were saying we would pay for 3 of the 4 cars. After reviewing it they said guy in car #2 should not have been able to rear end car #1 if he was using appropriate following distance/speed. So it may be little old lady's fault for your bikes and I am stereotyping but she probably carries enough insurance if she has a Laredo.

Those multicare rear end wrecks get really messy, don't file a claim with your insurance yet but you might want to talk to your agent ASAP.

[7rider]

You need to find out about the "little old lady". She's the one who hit you. She was too close to begin with. I have no idea if there is shared responsibility with the driver who hit her.

Was there a police report? Get your insurance company involved NOW. Do not wait. Do not pass go. Call them tonight.

I'd be leery of a frame that was hit that hard, especially since it was between the car and your husband's bike which was totaled.

I was hit from behind by a guy in a Volvo who was hit by a pick up. The pickup pushed the Volvo into me. The guy in the pickup was found to be at fault by the police for the entire accident and it was his insurance who picked up the tab for repairs to my vehicle (actually, all 3 vehicles).

Bummer....foreign visitor...rented car...ouch.

[SadieKate]

I was hit from behind by a guy in a Volvo who was hit by a pick up. The pickup pushed the Volvo into me. The guy in the pickup was found to be at fault by the police for the entire accident and it was his insurance who picked up the tab for repairs to my vehicle (actually, all 3 vehicles).

That's why it's such a gray area. You never know who will or won't be cited.

[cherinyc]

I heard the old lady say that she was given a ticket, so maybe the police thought she was too close even if it was the other guy who hit her. These situations (car accidents) are always packed full with gray areas. FH's truck slid on some ice this past winter and spun around, hit the guard rail...
He didn't hit any other cars and stopped on the side of the road. He got a ticket for that. I had no idea you COULD get a ticket when ice was involved...

Oh well, so I think FH is going to look for a second opinion on my bike. He went to a pretty high end shop (big Seven dealer) for the estimates on both. This shop charges $80/bike to do the estimates, then if you buy the next bike from them, or get the repairs from them - they credit that $80 towards whatever.

They have plenty of $4000 bikes they are prepared to sell, but I think they would actually make more money off me if they did the repair, then if they sold me a new bike worth ~$900. I've heard there is not much markup on bikes. Am I just making this up?

[Irulan]

ice--- oh yeah. "driving too fast for conditions". My son got one of those when he put my Subaru in a ditch.