Since we practice our sport on public roads, most cyclists have
the occasional run in with a driver who, for whatever reason, isn't
driving safely.  The vast majority of these cases end up as "near misses",
where we can just be releived there was no collision and then go on with
the ride.  Occasionally, however, something more serious happens, such as
a collision.  In some cases it is the fault of the cyclist, but there are
also cases where accidents are caused by the carelessness of motorists,
and cyclists can save a lot of expense if they are prepared to deal with
those situations.
        My bike is now in the shop, getting a few hundred dollars worth of
repairs done to it after a collision with a car.  I was coming home from a
ride, going straight through an interesection with a green light, when a
car coming the other way made a left turn right in front of me.  I tried
to stop, but there just wasn't time.  Fortunately, the swerve I made to
try to avoid it caused me to hit it sideways rather than head on, meaning
that I bounced off the car and was pretty much ok, rather than the serious
injuries I could have had if I had hit it head on.  The bike, on the other
hand, was not so lucky.
        So there I was, lying on the ground in the middle of one of Ann
Arbor's busiest streets, with the woman who had just hit me driving off
slowly and yelling at me that I needed to look where I was going.  I
realized right away that if she got away I would have problems if the bike
turned out to be damaged, so I got up and started running after her -- in
cycling shoes -- and got her to stop so she could yell at me some more.  
        I did my best not to lose my temper, although it was very
difficult.  The first thing I asked her, on the verge of wanting to bash
in her car windows or something like that, was what she thought she was
doing turning in front of me like that, when I had the right of way.  She
then informed me that I most certainly did not have the right of way, as
she makes that turn three times a day.  She insisted it was completely my
fault, and said she was leaving.  AT this poitn I had to be a little more
forceful, holding her car door open to keep her from driving away and
telling her that I was going to call the police.  She got very upset about
this telling me that she was the victim and she didn't need the police.  I
persisted, and somehow managed to convince her to stay while I went into a
nearby house to use the phone.  I got her car license number -- she
wouldn't tell me her name or anything -- before going into the house, just
incase she left while I was in there, but she stayed put.
        Then I suddenly realized that I had forgotten to get the names of
any witnesses, which is something one is alway supposed to do in a
situation like that.  There had been tons of cars stopped for the red
light on Packard -- this was Art Fair traffic after all -- but they had
all driven away when the light turned green.  Fortunately, she was arguing
traffic law rather than what had happened, so I figured I was probably
safe.  I would have had major problems, though, if she had disputed what
had happened in the crash.  Just then a guy pulled up saying that he had
seen the crash.  This was good, because he would have been there to back
me up if the woman had changed her story when the police got there.  I got
his name and address and he left again, on the assumption that it wasn't
too important to have him there if there was no dispute over what
happened.  It turned out he was just going to park his truck, and he
returned just as the police arrived.
        The police pulled up, and were immediately greeted by a tirade
from the driver about how horrible I was being, accusing her of causing
the crash and making her stay there to wait for the police.  She had the
right of way, she told them, because she makes that turn three times a
day.  The police officer explained to her that that isn't how right of way
works, but she didn't seem satisified with the explanation.  When she was
asked for her drivers' license and registration she refused at first,
saying she shouldn't have to show them to anybody when she had done
nothing wrong.  The officer eventually convinced her to get them out, and
from then on it seemed kind of straight forward, except that the driver
kept on yelling about how unfair everybody else involved was being towards
her.  The stories told by the driver, the witness, and me, all agreed on
the facts, and the driver's claims about traffic law were pretty
rediculous, so the officer told me that I was "not at fault" and how to
collect insurance money for any damage to the bike, and then sent me away
so she could deal with the driver without risking her trying to lash out
at me.
        What this rather long winded example (of the sort that I could
only write at 3:30 in the morning) illustrates, is that there are some
things cyclists need to do immediately if they get hit.  While I got
lucky, I made some rather big mistakes here, such as not stopping any
witnesses.  If the driver had made up a story saying that she had come
from a different direction, and if the witness hadn't come back after
driving away, I might well have been stuck with a few hundred dollars of
repairs to the bike and no way to pay for them.  I am hoping this item
will be used for discussion of what to do, and what not to do, in
situations like this.  I have made this seperate from the biking item
because dealing with colisions seems like a very different subject from
just riding bikes.  In a response in the next few days I will dig up one
of those lists of what to do in a situation like this and post it.

5 responses total.

I was run down by a drunk driver in 1973.  Broke my leg and
destroyed a brand new Fuji S-10-S which I'd paid $200 for -
a small fortune for me back then.  After I picked myself up
and realized I was still alive, I was literally ready to kill
the guy, but he was beside himself & hysterical - thought he
*had* killed me, I guess.  Anyway, I was surprised to find out
that my homeowner's insurance, of all things, covered the bike.
(Deductibles were low in those days.)  I contacted a lawyer
and we successfully sued the driver's auto insurance carrier
for all of my medical expenses plus the deductible on my
homeowner's insurance, plus pain and suffering.  This happened
on a country road where there were no witnesses, but as I
said the driver was stricken with guilt.  He drove me and
what was left of my bike home (I was in too much pain to
worry about it).

I saved the bike's saddle and installed it on the new Fuji
S-10-S I bought with the insurance proceeds.  That was in 1973.
I took that bike with me to New York City when I moved there
and ~rode it 
and rode it all over Manhattan and the boroughs, mainly Central
Park of course; then I brought it with me to Michigan, where
I've been riding it around Oakland County for the past fourteen
years.  Except for new tires and handlebar tape, it's the same
bike.

Thanks for the advice Steve.
It just sucks that although bicyclists must obey all traffic laws, and we are
considered drivers too, the motorists think themselves superior and always
belive they have the right of way.

        I wouldn't say always; for all the bad drivers out there, there
are also a heck of a lot of good ones.  We just don't notice the good ones
as much.  The thing to remember is that if you are obeying the traffic
laws and the driver wasn't, you can make them pay.  All you need is the
police report, so make sure you get the police to come. 
        I got my bike back from the shop today.  The total repair bill
came to about $300.  In other words, I'm really glad I wasn't paying for
it.  This doesn't include the brake levers, which now have a really jagged
edge on them, but that I don't want to replace when I will probably be
getting STI so soon.  I'm waiting to see if I can collect money for them
and put it in my STI fund, or if I have to replace them to get the money. 
If I can replace them, but not just get money for keeping them the way
they are, then I will replace them.

What are you using now if you want STI?

I'm using RX-100 downtube shifters with an Ultegra rear deralleur.  It's
affordable, but I can't shift while sprinting, and that's a problem.

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