Well, My Summer's Over

[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?

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!

[shootingstar]

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

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.

[lauraelmore1033]

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.

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.

[ny biker]

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.

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.

[shootingstar]

I 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.

Excellent for bead work. It seems to have come into resurgence ...here and there.

I've been doing art on my own, with evening courses here and there over the years. I walk a lot, some minor book reading and do stretching exercises during last 6 months. I also blog which taps into a lifelong love of writing and taking photos. All 3 activities /pursuits have been part of me ..a few decades ---before cycling passion bit me 24 yrs ago. And they are all passions for those who know me well, that are an integral part of me.


Cycling is icing on the cake ...and I view something to do as long as I'm healthy. If not, (and this will happen far off in the future), I have these other passions.

[lauraelmore1033]

Ha! Driver who thinks he can avoid responsibility by not co-operating with his insurance, is more than willing to co-operate with MY insurance! He was happy to give them the statement that he "didn't see" me (and didn't deny hitting me or hearing me screaming at him to stop) and didn't realize that my insurance company will now share it with his, and since it was under oath, it is official! Gotcha! I think.
1

[Crankin]

That guy must be a true moron.
It sounds like you are doing a good job of processing the memories. Just be aware that it's a somewhat recursive process, and odd things may trigger feelings when you think it's done.

My good news is that DH's lawyer called yesterday. The woman's insurance company has made a first offer for settlement. It's a pretty good offer, but she is going to make a counter offer for a bit more. We'll definitely be taking another cycling trip next year!

[lauraelmore1033]

And as an added bonus, there was a witness statement added to the police report that stated she saw the truck hit me in the cross walk!

[lauraelmore1033]

That guy must be a true moron.
It sounds like you are doing a good job of processing the memories. Just be aware that it's a somewhat recursive process, and odd things may trigger feelings when you think it's done.

My good news is that DH's lawyer called yesterday. The woman's insurance company has made a first offer for settlement. It's a pretty good offer, but she is going to make a counter offer for a bit more. We'll definitely be taking another cycling trip next year!

Dh had been protecting me by not letting me see the police report, and now that I have the chance to read it, I realize that it was the COP (who wasn't there) who said I'd fallen over, and that I hadn't fully stopped. He'd even changed the placements of the vehicles involved on the little diagram, so it looked like the collision had happened before the crosswalk,(rather than the middle) like I'd just blown through the stop. Small town police! To be fair, the Driver is probably a new comer to this country, doesn't understand how these things work, and might have felt intimidated by the police and the claims handler from his insurance company. It's also possible that the claims handler didn't bother to use an interpreter, and the driver just didn't understand what she was asking (which was convenient for her...)

[lauraelmore1033]

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?

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.