best person to highside into

[Monkie]

so i was headed north on westwood blvd for those of you in LA and a mustang made a left in front of me and yea hit it and all that fun stuff.  I was pissed beyond belief as you can imagine.  My poor gs was freiking embedded in between her right tire and passenger door.  fianlly got it out without anybody's help (nobody even stopped to see if i was still alive; other than the girl).  but here comes the kicker...her dad is the Phillips in Lockhart Phillips.  SWEEETT imma get soem free repairs and hopefully a little soemthing something for not reporting to insurance.  on top of that the accident occured literally 1 block form the entrance to UCLA medical center so had it been worse i wouldnt have been so far.

not that i'm happy to crash, but..

[RVertigo]

Could have been a LOT worse...

Yeah...  If you're gonna crash, crash into someone rich while you're right by a hospital.

[annguyen1981]

Nice!  Could ya send some supplies my way?   

[surlybruce]

I know some people in low places if it does not work out for you.

[pantablo]

well I hope it works out for you. people say lots of things in the heat of the moment when you agree to not report it, but later on they'll change their story and wont pay up. really hope this isnt the case for you. sorry you crashed. what color bike you have? Maybe I've seen you around. I live in Santa Monica and I'm always around the area.

[rritterson]

publically declaring who the other party was mostly negates not reporting it to insurance. If I were him, I wouldn't give you anything now. Sorry.

[Monkie]

first off bruce...thanks but i used to work for the PD so i got friends in high places.
pantablo thanks too and im on the same page as you are...tomorrow im gonna give the driver a call and ask her to sign a paper that says she accepts responsibility for the crash and will pay for/replace all damages...i'm a block away from SaMo and Federal..let me know if you're ever gonna go riding (just gime me a week or so)...btw is your clavicle better now?

as to..

publically declaring who the other party was mostly negates not reporting it to insurance. If I were him, I wouldn't give you anything now. Sorry.

i don't get what you're saying...the point of not reporting is so that his daughter's insurance doesn't go up...so unless insurance agents randomly check all the motorcycle boards that exist for names they might recogonize this wont be a problem

[mastrind]

publically declaring who the other party was mostly negates not reporting it to insurance. If I were him, I wouldn't give you anything now. Sorry.

yeah....I don't get this philosophy either  ...not reporting has nothing to do with confidentiality....it has to do with:

no citations
not involving ins. and therefore no ins. rate increases

[that_guy]

I woulda called the cops and sued the dogshit out of her for being negligent.

[annguyen1981]

And chances are, you wouldn't sue if you didn't find out who here father was.  That really ticks me off.  People who sue over crap things just to get rich.

[brett]

It's good to hear you weren't seriously hurt. I don't think I realized just how bad LA drivers were until I got my bike this weekend. Driving my car I was more worried about reaching for the horn to let them know they were dumb rather than having to ride defensively.

PS - Lemme guess. It was a V6, convertible Mustang with no spoiler. Those just cry out "I bought a Mustang because I thought it was cute but don't really know how to drive."

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

And chances are, you wouldn't sue if you didn't find out who here father was.  That really ticks me off.  People who sue over crap things just to get rich.

Easy there, An. I agree, frivolous/greedy lawsuits really piss me off, especially as they seem to be more and more common, as more and more of them WIN, for no good reason. However, this doesn't strike me that way. If I was riding, and a car cut me off, and I ended up running my bike straight INTO THEM and highsiding, I'd be (rightfully) pissed. I don't think a lawsuit to cover damage to the bike, damage to gear, and a (not overly large) punitive amount for driver negligence (especially if she was on her phone, I know so many teenage girls who do this... drives me nuts!) is too unreasonable. Now, I wouldn't sue for $40K, but say $6K to cover the bike, the gear, and the punitive damage. Nothing too bad. Just IMHO.

[Cal Amari]

Does she have a cute sister I could run into? I need some new gear... wouldn't mind a new girlfriend, either...

Glad you're OK; now, see if you can get a date, then take her to the Rock Store once your GS is back on the road. That way, she'll start paying more attention to motorcyclists while driving, and won't be driving with her brain on auto-pilot in the future.

[annguyen1981]

And chances are, you wouldn't sue if you didn't find out who here father was.  That really ticks me off.  People who sue over crap things just to get rich.

Easy there, An. I agree, frivolous/greedy lawsuits really piss me off, especially as they seem to be more and more common, as more and more of them WIN, for no good reason. However, this doesn't strike me that way. If I was riding, and a car cut me off, and I ended up running my bike straight INTO THEM and highsiding, I'd be (rightfully) pissed. I don't think a lawsuit to cover damage to the bike, damage to gear, and a (not overly large) punitive amount for driver negligence (especially if she was on her phone, I know so many teenage girls who do this... drives me nuts!) is too unreasonable. Now, I wouldn't sue for $40K, but say $6K to cover the bike, the gear, and the punitive damage. Nothing too bad. Just IMHO.

From what I understand of Massachusetts law, if you call the cops  and they determine that the damage is over $1000, then by law, you are REQUIRED to report it to the insurance company.  Obviously, when a bike is crashed, most likely the bill is over $1g.  At this point, the insurance will cover the bill.

Don't get me wrong.  If the at-fault driver COULD HAVE avoided the mishap (actually paying attention, although this is difficult to prove somtimes), or if you incur LOTS of medical bills and the insurance company doesn't cover the bill, then go ahead and file a law suit.  But if both parties have insurance and you didn't have permanent disabling injuries, then let the insurance companies go at it.  That's what they are there for.

Saying that you would recommend sueing the person BEFORE all the details are in is just plain GREED.  Profitting from other people's misfortunes is immoral.  Yes, she caused the accident, but that's why they call it "accidents".  If she was being wreckless, then that's a whole other story, but still, you need all the details.

My last cage I bought was two years ago.  I had just gotten it on a Monday, and Wednesday night I already got into an accident.  I was driving late at night, when this car with a bunch of young kids (20-ish) ran a red light and hit me on the passenger rear quarter-panel.  I spun around 270 degrees, and when I came to a rest, I was facing the other car.  They started to F*cking drive off!!!  In the heat of the moment, I drove after them.  The punk driver pulled over about a half mile away (I think his g/f convinced him to stop) into a parking garage, so I come barreling behind them, blocking them in.  He gets out first, but I wait a good minute or so before I get out.  When I do, he's REALLY apologetic, but I'm PISSED.  He was going to try and skip out on his responsibilities by running away from an accident.  So I call the police, and they come to take a report.

IMO, I shouldv'e sued the punk just to teach him a lesson, but I also think that that night gave him a scare, with me being firm and ordering him around.  He was trying to get me NOT to call the cops while I was on the phone with them, so at that point I just turned to him and basically forced him to sit down on the curb away from me.  From then on, he didn't say a word to me.  His insurance company took care of everything, and his premium went up dramatically.  By driving away from an accident scene, BOTH insurance companies deemed that he was at-fault.

Sorry for the long post.  I just very passionate about this subject.
My $0.02 worth.

[john]

And chances are, you wouldn't sue if you didn't find out who here father was.  That really ticks me off.  People who sue over crap things just to get rich.

Easy there, An. I agree, frivolous/greedy lawsuits really piss me off, especially as they seem to be more and more common, as more and more of them WIN, for no good reason. However, this doesn't strike me that way. If I was riding, and a car cut me off, and I ended up running my bike straight INTO THEM and highsiding, I'd be (rightfully) pissed. I don't think a lawsuit to cover damage to the bike, damage to gear, and a (not overly large) punitive amount for driver negligence (especially if she was on her phone, I know so many teenage girls who do this... drives me nuts!) is too unreasonable. Now, I wouldn't sue for $40K, but say $6K to cover the bike, the gear, and the punitive damage. Nothing too bad. Just IMHO.

From what I understand of Massachusetts law, if you call the cops  and they determine that the damage is over $1000, then by law, you are REQUIRED to report it to the insurance company.  Obviously, when a bike is crashed, most likely the bill is over $1g.  At this point, the insurance will cover the bill.

Don't get me wrong.  If the at-fault driver COULD HAVE avoided the mishap (actually paying attention, although this is difficult to prove somtimes), or if you incur LOTS of medical bills and the insurance company doesn't cover the bill, then go ahead and file a law suit.  But if both parties have insurance and you didn't have permanent disabling injuries, then let the insurance companies go at it.  That's what they are there for.

Saying that you would recommend sueing the person BEFORE all the details are in is just plain GREED.  Profitting from other people's misfortunes is immoral.  Yes, she caused the accident, but that's why they call it "accidents".  If she was being wreckless, then that's a whole other story, but still, you need all the details.

My last cage I bought was two years ago.  I had just gotten it on a Monday, and Wednesday night I already got into an accident.  I was driving late at night, when this car with a bunch of young kids (20-ish) ran a red light and hit me on the passenger rear quarter-panel.  I spun around 270 degrees, and when I came to a rest, I was facing the other car.  They started to F*cking drive off!!!  In the heat of the moment, I drove after them.  The punk driver pulled over about a half mile away (I think his g/f convinced him to stop) into a parking garage, so I come barreling behind them, blocking them in.  He gets out first, but I wait a good minute or so before I get out.  When I do, he's REALLY apologetic, but I'm PISSED.  He was going to try and skip out on his responsibilities by running away from an accident.  So I call the police, and they come to take a report.

IMO, I shouldv'e sued the punk just to teach him a lesson, but I also think that that night gave him a scare, with me being firm and ordering him around.  He was trying to get me NOT to call the cops while I was on the phone with them, so at that point I just turned to him and basically forced him to sit down on the curb away from me.  From then on, he didn't say a word to me.  His insurance company took care of everything, and his premium went up dramatically.  By driving away from an accident scene, BOTH insurance companies deemed that he was at-fault.

Sorry for the long post.  I just very passionate about this subject.
My $0.02 worth.

Yes in Mass the law requires it, but many people don't bother -even the insurance companies don't really care.  You know those accident reports you send to the state/local and registry are for?  For determining at fault points on your record.  I never sent in a report to the registry and never got points for an accidoo that was my fault.  Anyway...

If the driver wants to be a duck they can tell you to go shaZam! in your hat.  It's a hard thing to balance being nice and not getting screwed.  If the bike is totalled the insurance will probably pay you more than the driver will (I bet they piss and moan about the costs).  I'd get on the horn and speak to her and the parents and tell them that you want to resolve things quickly or you'll just go to her insurance company.  That way of they give you any crap you can get to the insurance co and start things rolling.

[Jake D]

publically declaring who the other party was mostly negates not reporting it to insurance. If I were him, I wouldn't give you anything now. Sorry.

That makes zero sense to me. 

People report stuff to their company often, then get a repair estimate, and decide not to make a claim (fix it themselves rather than pay the deductable). 


So yeah.  Pretty sure the insurance companies aren't looking at GSTwin waiting for people to mention un-reported accidents. 

[pantablo]

if there was more than $750 in damage DMV requires accident to be reported to them in CA.