I doubt you'll go to court and I bet they will accept any reasonable offer by you to replace your bike, gear and cover your medical expenses.  They don't need that kind of bad press.

what can brown do for you?.........

well i am very glad you are ok for now.  DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE   damage done to your body.  Gears and what not has a specific price but as you can well see.. you didnt realize some of your injuries until later.  Adrenaline basically makes you superman for a few hours if you have that much.. Which means it is a very likely possiblity that you wont see other effects on your body until few weeks from now.  Go to the doctor to get check up and get the documented.  Oh and make sure that supervisor signs document saying they were at fault because trust me.. once the manager hears of it.. the story will change if you did not get documentation first.  Because supervisors are low on the management level they are pretty honest with this kind of thing.. but depending on the manager they have..some will try to have supervisor change story if no documentation was involved the first time.

Dont forget to include in the price of your old bike the cost of rejetting your carbs because you will need to to that again with the new bike you will get if its a gs500.

I have everything documented and written statements. I'm covered on that end of the accident so far.
I should be receiving a written quote from my local Suzuki dealer for full replacement of the GS with all of the mods done. I have a quote from my insurance and they said I should just consider the GS a loss and look at a replacement.
I checked out pricing to replace my gear and it will not be cheap...prices have gone up.
I would settle for a replacement of everything from UPS if this is an option and they would also have to pay for the lawyer fees. It would really make my day if they fired the driver also. I will update everyone on what happens....

Jeppy

everybody has bad days; i think that UPS driver just had his. I'm sure everyone here makes mistakes but it isnt until theres a consiquence to deal with that people start to think about reprimand. I ran a stop sign a couple days ago in a new neighborhood; i had no idea until it was pointed out. OOPS :X

I used to work For UPS as a Driver. I'll tell you more than anything its other drivers that aren't paying attention and try to pass up the truck in a blind turn. Or Cut into my turn line while on a cell phone almost hitting my Truck head on.  As for this incident its clearly the Freight UPS drivers fault.  Keep in mind we have a Hard job, everything is based on Time and how far you progress through your route. And then you get a call from your local center asking you how many packages you have on board? And when they should expect the Truck to return.

Ok, I'm going to play big mean jerkface for a minute.  You listed your options as A) Hit the truck, B) Hit an oncoming car, or C) Lay it down.  That frightens me, especially when you note the bike had enough distance to right itself before hitting.  Before you get back on the road, take an MSF course, and practice panic braking.  You can stop that bike in a far shorter distance using the brakes than you'll slide in your gear if you lay it down.  The correct answer in 99.9999% of situations that riders claim they had to 'lay it down' is usually just stop the bike using the brakes it had.  With modern rubber, if you roll the front brake on, and not just jab at it, I don't care how strong you are, you're not getting that front wheel to brake loose, the bike will flip you before it slides if you use proper brake technique.  The only way to get proficient is going to be practice.

Sermon over, glad to hear you're ok.  It's even better to hear that you've got a damn near air tight case!  Put the screws to 'em and post up pics of the new, UPS sponsored mount when you get it.

Yea jeppy but sorry to say.. the driver will NOT be fired.  They are union. It takes murder if that even for someone to get fired in a union environment. 

As a general rule I would watch out for ALL retards in cars,trucks or whatever- they are all trying to kill you and if you ride without gear you are a dumbass. Glad you are doing okay.

I figured someone would say something about the bike going back on two wheels. I did try to stop and I rolled with the bike. I did take a MSF course. I took the beginners and advance courses. I did not have much time to make a full stop. I tried not to lock up the brakes but I have to admit trying to avoid hitting the gas tank and steel steps on the side of the truck or going head on with a car was not something I wanted to do. My bike went about five feet on two wheels on its own. There really was not enough time to be a defensive rider. Everything happened really fast. The only option to avoid death or major injury was to dump the bike when I could not complete my stop.
I don't blame UPS or their drivers. I know there is a small number of them that need to learn how to drive better... but my question is the driver did admit to seeing me to the police and to his supervisor then why did he not stop? Why did he pull out in front of me? Especially when drivers of the tractor trailers know the big trucks make wide turns....
I know he will not get fired. I was just taking trash but I still just want my gear replaced and at least full repairs to my bike or a replacement also paying for my medical would be great. I still feel a lot of pain but I will fully recover in time.

Jeppy

You should get all of those thing. It was his fault and that means UPS's insurance will be paying. I'd dump my bike or eject like you did before any of the other alterantives you mentioned.

You need to be reimbursed for everything you put into the bike, all your time off work, all medical bills, attorney's fees, and future physical problems, because if you popped joints out of sockets (unless this has happened previously) the ligaments are stretched now and everything will pop out easier there. Also there is usually some kind of joint abrasion that eventually leads to pain and arthritis as you age. So let your atty get as much as possible. I got rear ended in a car so bad that I couldn't ride a gentle trot on my horse for a year and I always had problems with my neck that just kept getting worse, and now I have bone spurs that, 20 years later, lead to chronic  inflamation, headaches, and muscle weakness. I got a $5,000. settlement then which wasn't much for the pain I was in from whiplash and back injury, and I'd gladly pay it back waaaay more in today's $$$ to have that pain and physical limitation removed.

Ok everyone. I pretty much got what I wanted. I hired a lawyer and he had me call the supervisor of the driver. The supervisor informed me I was at fault and the driver was just a witness to my accident.
I informed my lawyer of this and the two of us presented our case to him and informed him all I want is just to have all the damages paid and the fee for the lawyer. This is really all I wanted as I did not want to drag this out in court and I'm not one of those dip-shits that think thousands or even hundreds of thousdand would make me feel better. I just wanted my GS fixed or replace, my gear replaced, doctor bill paid and lawyer fee paid.
After the supervisor was shown video footage of his driver that cause the accident along with other drivers not stopping at the clearly posted stop sign when leaving the property he got all kinds of nervous. He also saw in the video every driver crossing into the lane I was in along with crossing into on coming traffic he was super pissed. I made my offer to him and he contacted his insurance and his supervisor. He informed them of the situation and I got everything covered. I got every penny I wanted and even a few extra just to make sure I had everything covered.
So...long story short I will have my GS back on the road and I will have all new better gear and I will not be riding pass the UPS location again. The supervisor is relocating the driver to a different location and will make everyone take a madatory driver saftey course and he will be installing cameras to watch his drivers better and avoid future incidents.
I'm happier but still in pain. Just remember everyone. Don't take shaZam! from anyone, take a rider saftey course...and get some gear on. A helmet, tank top, shorts and flipflops will not protect you.
Thanks for everyones help...

Jeppy

Glad justice was served!  Gotta love what a little video footage will do for your case! 

Quote from: theUBS on September 22, 2008, 06:44:29 PM
Glad justice was served!  Gotta love what a little video footage will do for your case! 

Yeah...I'm pretty happy about how it ended. I just need to wait for the check to arrive in the mail. It should take a few days from what the insurance rep was saying. The major downside to everything is I will not be able to ride for a while even when the GS is fixed. My dislocated hip needs time to heal up or getting on the bike could knock it back out. The doctor said it needs about three or four months at the very least to heal before getting back in the saddle. I have a follow up appointment in two months to make sure everything is healing up or healed enough to ride. I should just give it the four months because having things pop out and put back into place was so very painful. I don't want to have it happen again.
Thanks again everyone for the support.

Jeppy

Hopefully you won't have any enduring health issues, because when an insurance company does a payout you basically release them, the company and the driver from any further responsibility and you would be out of luck. Glad you got what you wanted and are healing up well.

Glad to hear they paid up! Get well soon.

Quote from: Kurlon on September 18, 2008, 05:58:39 PM
Ok, I'm going to play big mean jerkface for a minute.  You listed your options as A) Hit the truck, B) Hit an oncoming car, or C) Lay it down.  That frightens me, especially when you note the bike had enough distance to right itself before hitting.  Before you get back on the road, take an MSF course, and practice panic braking.  You can stop that bike in a far shorter distance using the brakes than you'll slide in your gear if you lay it down.  The correct answer in 99.9999% of situations that riders claim they had to 'lay it down' is usually just stop the bike using the brakes it had.  With modern rubber, if you roll the front brake on, and not just jab at it, I don't care how strong you are, you're not getting that front wheel to brake loose, the bike will flip you before it slides if you use proper brake technique.  The only way to get proficient is going to be practice.

Sermon over, glad to hear you're ok.  It's even better to hear that you've got a damn near air tight case!  Put the screws to 'em and post up pics of the new, UPS sponsored mount when you get it.

Glad someone pointed this out. IMO it's NEVER a good idea to dump the bike. You don't stop faster that way, or avoid additional harm. In any accident your best bet it to ALWAYS stay on the bike and apply massive braking. You may hit something but the amount of Kinetic energy in your body (1/2)m*v^2 will be significantly less than if you dump.

Think about it. KE is a function of V squared. Going 50mph versus 30 mph is 2500 vs 900. Almost THREE times as less and not even half the speed. Just .02 from an engineering student.

Glad you're ok.

I had a UPS driver pull out in front of me yesterday. He ran a stop sign. Thankfully i had time to brake and I was in my truck.