NEED SEVERE HELP

[Revan]

Hey all,

Check it out, stupid noob got into a massive crash. Just moved down here last year, got my first bike a few weeks ago, went on my first ride on Saturday. I was the green kawi ZX6R. So for everyone who went, tons of fun! On my way to work I got into an accident. So let me first explain what happened in detail, and then let me explain to you what my problems are. So I split from the group at Blackhawk and headed East on 191/6 to I25 South, to 225 North, to Parker South, to Quincey East (I work at Quincey and Buckley). So whole trip went well, traffic got back on Parker, ended up behind this little green Bug. Driver was young female (ended up being a new driver of 16) the time I was behind her I noticed she was playing with her phone quite a bit, what I can only assume was texting, which is illegal in CO. Anyway, I was stuck behind her, got into the left turn lane onto Quincey and we both got into the middle of the three lanes. we made the left hand turn, I was behind her, giving her ample room as any normal rider would. Between Buckley and Chambers, the traffic had slowed due to a red light at Buckley, but was now accelerating. Remember this happened at 1:30 on a Saturday, so traffic was slightly heavy. SHe was playing with her phone, looked up, realized traffic had slowed, DID NOT realize traffic was now accelerating, and decided to SLAM on her brakes coming to a complete and total stop in the middle of the street approximately 1/4 mile before the light at Buckley, which was green at the time. I was chugging along behind her at 40 mph. not speeding, but I was in 6th keeping the RPMs low. I saw her brake, I dropped into 3rd and hit both front and rear brakes, but ultimately I was unable to slow all the way down in time. I ended up rear ending her, flipping over my handlebars hitting back first into her rear window. while flying over and landing, the rest of my bike made impact and fell to the ground, I next came to the ground where I fractured my radial head in my left elbow. My total injuries include, fractured radial head in left elbow, road rash on left knee and right forearm and strained every muscle in my back including both shoulders. This guys stopped (Jason) and told me he'd be a witness, and saw the girl come to a random stop. ambulance got there along with the police, I was rushed away in ambulance. Police said I was following too closely and was found at fault. So I have no idea how to proceed, in my mind I was clearly not at fault. please let me know what you think I should do, Wolfeyez gave me the idea to call Law Tigers, which I am planning on doing, but I'd like to hear from you guys, your advice, experience, and help. I was told some of our members here in the CSC are MSF certified instructors, if any of said members reads this post will you PLEASE PM me.

If you've gotten this far through, you deserve a thank you!

Rich

[Bueller]

Sorry to break it to you but if you were behind and couldn't avoid her you were following too close or your emergency braking skills are not were they need to be. If you saw her screwing with her phone early on that should have triggered a red flag about this driver and should have caused you to take extra precautions around her. This is a lesson to take away with you. If she would have stopped for a legitimate reason like a kid running into the road the outcome would have been the same. You have to look out for yourself because no one else will.
You can fight it if you want but I don't think it'll do you much good.

[fiveninerzero]

Probably not what you wanted to hear, but an eerily similar situation happened to me a year ago. Luckily I was not injured like you, but I have found that Colorado law does not really protect you when you rear end someone. I ended up paying for their repairs, even though the police arrested the other driver for running away and cited them for no insurance, among other things. The policeman did not write me a ticket, but the other insurance company decided to attempt suing, which got my insurance company's attention.

My advice would be to chalk this up as a learning experience, and next time stay away from cars that have visibly distracted drivers. Also, be aware that braking is not the only solution to a problem, you always have swerving as an option.

[Penadam]

Really sorry to hear that you and the bike are hurt, but it sounds like you're at fault. Panic braking in a sportsbike is a difficult skill, and you probably didn't brake anywhere near as hard as you thought you did. With the superior tires on your bike, it's capable of out-braking a car, but if you don't practice the skill, you won't be able to do it. The most you can probably hope for is for her to get a ticket for some kind of careless driving. Sorry again.

[fiveninerzero]

Not to rub salt in your wounds, but I've actually sadly been on both ends of the rear end accident, and both times, the person that caused the rear end accident was the one paying, regardless of the circumstances. (First time I was rear ended by a Ford Ranger on my Ninja 500, and the second incident was the one described above.) Unfortunately, rear ends are the one type of accident where fault is black and white, 100% of the time assigned to the vehicle in the back.

[Revan]

there were cars on both sides of me, so i was unable to switch lanes, and I'm not ready to lane split. I'm in such shock that because some driver young and stupid, decided to brake the law and text while driving, and because of this distraction incorrectly reacted to traffic, resulting in my body adorning her back window, and I'm found at fault. Just wondering if I took it to court and summoned her texting records from the phone company and proved that she was distracted and therefore her decision making abilities were altered, if it'd help me

[BC14]

ALWAYS assume that everyone is out to kill/crash into you. I've stayed, so far, accident free because of it. Maintain good gaps and try to, as much as you can, anticipate what the sheep in the cages are going to do. Anyone being a distracted driver, such as the way you describe the person you hit, requires extra attention.

That being said, I hope you a speedy recovery and that you take a few more classes on advanced riding technique... We all could use that here(in CO).

[WolFeYeZ]

You might want to look through this thread some as it has some similar topics but I think someone brought up that slamming on the brakes for no reason is "break checking" and can be a deciding factor.

http://www.cosportbikeclub.org/forum...ad.php?t=38751

I dunno if it will help much, but its just an idea. Get well soon dude and good luck

[fiveninerzero]

there were cars on both sides of me, so i was unable to switch lanes, and I'm not ready to lane split.

In an emergency, you are already outside of your comfort zone. You just need to develop the muscle memory and mind state to perform these evasive maneuvers without thinking twice. Hopefully this incident does not discourage you from riding. Then again, I wasn't present on scene, so perhaps I should not speak on such events.

Just wondering if I took it to court and summoned her texting records from the phone company and proved that she was distracted and therefore her decision making abilities were altered, if it'd help me

You may be able to pursue a lawsuit on the civil side to establish civil liability, but you are then fighting an uphill, time consuming and expensive battle. A lot of it will be your word against hers as well.

[Bueller]

there were cars on both sides of me, so i was unable to switch lanes, and I'm not ready to lane split. I'm in such shock that because some driver young and stupid, decided to brake the law and text while driving, and because of this distraction incorrectly reacted to traffic, resulting in my body adorning her back window, and I'm found at fault. Just wondering if I took it to court and summoned her texting records from the phone company and proved that she was distracted and therefore her decision making abilities were altered, if it'd help me

Even if they find that she was breaking the law by texting, and hit her brakes in error, you were still following too close and that is what you were charged with. Her actions have nothing to do with your violation.

[Revan]

Thanks for pointing out my spelling errors there Bueller, Oxycodone just doesn't mess me up like it used to. Really just trying to figure out a way to not get screwed out of 3k

[Vellos]

Balls. Stupid people are stupid, but running into the back of them is still your fault. Get well soon and I hope you don't give up on motorcycling.

[Revan]

Was really hoping to hear some better news. Thought maybe someone found a legal loophole. or how to rid the world of stupid people. As for motorcycling, I'm not sure. Doc said I might have lost slight permanent mobility in my left arm. and did a number to my back. For the time being this endeavor has been more of a financial burden than a pleasure.

[~Barn~]

From what I've read in this thread, you're not in any danger of getting screwed out of anything, but rather you've just invested 3k (plus pain and suffering) into yourself, to hopefully prevent something like this from ever happening again to you.

As Bueller pointed out at the beginning, you noticed that you were behind a distracted driver, but yet you weren't able to avoid slamming into the back of this person. (?) That pretty much says it all, if you ask me... But don't get too down on yourself, or the person you collided with. Just take the lesson at face value, and be thankful it wasn't worse for anybody involved.

[Revan]

well i have insurance, but doesn't do anything if I'm found at fault. so that means I just lost the bike I just bought. and i'm feeling screwed because i'm the one in extreme pain, with hospital bills, and with a totaled bike with an impound bill. just feel like this is a little unjust. I mean if this is the case, I should just go on the interstate slam on my brakes randomly and collect the insurance check when the poor bastard behind me is found at fault.

[WolFeYeZ]

I mean if this is the case, I should just go on the interstate slam on my brakes randomly and collect the insurance check when the poor bastard behind me is found at fault.

Now that you posted that publicly, you cant :P People do it and I am assuming some get away with it too but its not an idea to really go and try. Call those law tiger guys, they are professionals and not just forum peeps giving advice. Ive never used them, but the card I saw in TFOG made them sound pretty good. And you cant top free

[Revan]

yea i definitely will. thanks a lot bro. as for my "plan" not thinking about it at all. just pissed off about the whole thing. I definitely feel like the system is a little flawed

[CaptGoodvibes]

Just to clarify, this was on your very first ride day and you have zero training correct?

[Revan]

not my first day riding, but my first official CSC ride, yes.

[CaneZach]

Interesting thread going on in here. Yes, she was unlawfully stopped in the roadway. Yes, she was likely texting. She was also a very inexperienced driver. But none of that changes the fact that you failed to maintain a safe distance between you and her. I'd suggest talking with your insurance company first. They sure as hell don't want to pay for her car, so they'll gladly look for any reason to fight it. With that said, you will probably end up paying the ticket.

[Vellos]

He came out for my ride and broke off 1/3 through to get to work. But yes you (Revan) have very little experience and more could have avoided this situation. Most of us just get lucky when we're just starting out and have close-call situations that we learn from... you are learning the hard way. I'm sorry for what happened, always sucks to have a fellow rider go down, but rear ending someone is still your fault*.

*Unless you can prove braking abruptly was intentional act against you (Ramon's case).

Also when people get injured, traumatically and especially head, some of the stuff you remember happening, such as she being very far from the light or coming to a complete/abrupt stop, didn't really. Not saying that you're lying, the brain just tries to fill some blanks and I've seen it happen before. If you can get video (traffic camera footage?) it may help your insurance situation.

[Revan]

maybe i didn't post this correctly... I know i'm getting the ticket. honestly the ticket i couldn't care less about. its the bike i care about. if she's at fault, i get money from her insurance to pay for it. if i'm found at fault by insurance, my insurance pays for her car, my rates go up, and i get nothing for my bike. I was looking for some help with insurance, im not experienced with crashes and dealing with insurance companies. thats the part i'm concerned about. does this change anything?

[CaneZach]

Hmmm, seems to me I already said call your insurance company and talk to them, but I could be mistaken. If I didn't mention calling your insurance company two posts up, allow me to say CALL YOUR INSURANCE PROVIDER!

[~Barn~]

<Snip...> if she's at fault, i get money from her insurance to pay for it. if i'm found at fault by insurance, my insurance pays for her car, my rates go up, and i get nothing for my bike. <Snip..>

Why wouldn't your insurance cover your motorcycle loss, and give you some $ to get a new one [or help pay this one off]?

Regardless of fault, collision insurance coverage is collision insurance coverage. I hope you have it, and that your deductible is reasonable.