crashed my bicycle today :-(

I was almost home, tired from fighting the wind, had my head down so I wasn't paying attention, and ran into the back of a parked pickup. Of course it was parked in a place where it shouldn't be parked.

Bent the front fork of my frame. The guy that made the frame is no longer alive so getting a replacement from him is out of the question. I don't know if mine can be straightened or if I can get a replacement generic carbon fiber fork. Surprisingly, didn't damage the front wheel.

Anybody know what the legal "right" and "wrong" are in this situation? If someone parks on the side of the road where there isn't enough room for them to get completely off the road, and this causes an accident, are they liable for it? Should I get a lawyer or file a complaint with the local police department? Should I assume it was my dumb_ss mistake and take full responsibility for it?

Ultimately this could be very costly since it is a custom bicycle frame.

BTW, I just got a little scrape.

I am glad that you were not seriously injured.

You can try to make a claim against the vehicle's owner, but...good luck. You should have been watching where you were going. I believe unless you called the police and filed a report at the scene, I don't think you'll be able to make a legitimate claim.

I was in my pickup stopped at a red light last week and got rear-ended. The guy that hit me will pay closer attention from now on, I think. Fortunately, him and his son were not injured. I only had some minor neck and back pain afterward. I am glad they weren't hurt.

Oh, and I rode my bike to college for seven years. I was hit by a car once because the driver wasn't watching for anyone in the crosswalk...looking left to see if he was clear and turning right.

Hope it works out for you.

JM-99

Bummer. Glad you weren't hurt.

Ouch, sorry. Dunno about the legal aspect, but I think you won't get very far trying to complain, right or wrong.

I've got a custom steel frame, and my understanding is that the forks are basically interchangeable, with very small differences in geometry (rake, trail). The steerer tube needs to be customized, of course. I would check the frame very carefully for wrinkles on the top tube and downtube especially.

My framebuilder could repair mine, or any competent steel framebuilder, but it would cost a fortune and the custom paint would never match.

You hit a stationary object/vehicle. The vehicle's position is irrelevant.

If you hit the vehicle, causing damage, and did not leave your contact info, you committed a hit and run, and could be criminally liable, as in most states, bicycles fall under the State's Vehicle Code and all applicabale laws pertaining to motor vehicles.

-dan

I was an avid bicyclist when I was younger and was hit by cars several times. (On average about once a year and always from behind. Okay okay, once from the side on the ONE time I rode against traffic - was hit by a car pulling out of a driveway.)

Anyhoo, as far as repairs to my bicycle went, and it always received damage, the driver's insurance company basically told me to go pound sand. My favorite thing to hear after explaining the sity-ation was dial tone.

I think the unspoken message was that if I wanted money from them for my bicycle I'd have to take them to court. To me at the time, $200 was a big deal... to them it's worth waiting for me to file a lawsuit before they pay out.

dano said:

You hit a stationary object/vehicle. The vehicle's position is irrelevant.

If you hit the vehicle, causing damage, and did not leave your contact info, you committed a hit and run, and could be criminally liable, as in most states, bicycles fall under the State's Vehicle Code and all applicabale laws pertaining to motor vehicles.

-dan

Click to expand...

Yep, this is how it goes.


A couple of months ago, my coworker was stopped in the middle of the street in a residential neighborhood so he could get some metal on the side of the street that was being thrown away. Well, along comes some lady who slammed into him. She argued that it was his fault because he was stopped in the middle of the street (which she said was illegal), and by the end of the day had already brought him repair estimates so he could fix it for her. Well, my coworkers insurrance told him that they'd handle it and apparently got the lady to back down. Luckily for her, there was absolutely no damage to his truck (he's got a heavy lift on the back of his flatbed truck. It's basically built like a tank. Her repair estimates were for $3,000!). The fact is, if you hit something from behind, it's your fault. I think, even if somebody rear ends you and pushes you into a car that's in front, you're responsible for hitting the car in front because you have control over the distance between you and that car just as you should have awareness of anything in front of you, and so are at fault.