Someone Hit My New Car!!!

[Floridabassking352]

Well, after only two days of driving my new stickshift, someone on a bike ran into me and dinged it. > My initial reaction was, "Oh my God, I hope he's alright!" Now I'm kind of ticked about it. My dad managed to bang some of the ding out, but there's still a little indentation and a small scratch or two that I can touch up. It happened tonight at about 9:30pm. I had just got off the interstate and was turning right at a stop sign. I stopped and looked both ways to make sure traffic was clear. Well as I pulled out this guy on a bike came tearing by and caught the tail end of my car just before I was in the lane. I had him follow me into a gas station parking lot to assess the damage and unfortunately I didn't notice the ding until AFTER I was home. The damage isn't really too bad (I only need to buy touch-up paint), but I'm still pretty angry (not as angry as my dad though, you shoulda seen his face). What makes this story even better is that I KNOW the guy. I went to middle school with him and we used to play basketball together. Anyway, I don't think I should really have him pay for anything since there's not too much damage and I used to know him. What do you think I should do? Do you think I did something wrong? I mean I have to admit I wasn't expecting a bicycle to come at me on a busy road at night (so I didn't check the sidewalk, only the road) especially one without any reflector lights (although now I will ALWAYS watch for one). Basically I heard a yell, turned around and watched him run into me. I'm kinda afraid to drive now. It ticks me off that my new car is dinged cause of some freak incident. Honestly, how often do you see people riding their bike at 9:30 at night?

[Daniel My Brother]

I wasn't there, so I don't know exactly what happened...BUT it sounds like you pulled out in front of him. I'm sorry about your car, but I'm more relieved that the guy on the bike didn't get hurt.

Please be extra careful.

[burleytog]

These things happen...

[Floridabassking352]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention one thing. When I talked to the guy on the bike he told me that one of the handbreaks on his bike was broken, and he just happened to use that one in the spur of the moment so he wasn't able to stop. In my opinion, he should have seen my car before he got near it cause I was at a stop for a few seconds. I think it's partly his fault and partly my fault, although I think it's more his fault cause he didn't seem to be riding very fast and it's not hard to stop a bike (also, he didn't have any reflectors to make himself visible). Plus, personally, if I had the option of crashing my bike into a car or swerving to the side and falling (no one was behind me), I think I'd swerve. Anyway, I'm going to be more careful from now on and "expect the unexpected." Guess I have to watch for night-time bike riders now. In all though, I'm just glad I didn't get to the stop sign a few seconds later because he would have been crossing in front of me and I might have hit him. At least no one got hurt. The situation definitely could have been worse.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

In my opinion, he should have seen my car before he got near it cause I was at a stop for a few seconds.

A bicycle in the road is considered a vehicle.

You are the vehicle "entering" traffic.  

HE has the right of way.  If it were a car, you may have been cited for "failure to use caution when entering traffic"

He hit the back of your car so it would seem that he was at fault BUT,......had he been 14 feet ahead, he may be dead.

If this were more serious, fault would be irrelevant, life would have changed for you VERY quickly.

Now, I'm not being a jerk, but being a new driver, I am just trying to point out just how much of what happens out there is YOUR responsibility.

BE CAREFUL!!

I train drivers at UPS, if you would like some of our safe driving literature, let me know.  We have created our own training program at UPS, we go way above and beyond what many driver training companies do.  WAAAAAY beyond.

PM me your address if interested.

(sorry bout the ding, that sucks)

[fish-fighting-illini]

 No offense but those stinkin bicycles cannot have it both ways. One minute they want to be considered a "vehicle" then next minute they don't want to be a "vehicle". Its all about being most convenient to them. They don't want to be crowded on a road and be treated like a vehicle then come flyying up and pass you on the right up next to the curb. I don't know all of the ins and outs of the law but if he is considered a "vehicle" then I'm guessing he needed to have lights on.

 Florida I'm sure your not 100% out of the woods on this but lets face it the guy was riding like a bat out of heck with no lights on and he can see a car pull up to the intersection. At a minimum he's not too bright.

 If your car is new you might look into it further. I'd stay away from the touch up paint unless it is just a beater. Maybe try having it buffed first. If your car is newer you might want to think about filing a report with the police.

 

[Micro]

Hey, right up my ally.  I'm an insurance adjuster.  I investigate liability and handle damages.  My specialty is serious bodily injury.  I'm licensed in several states (not Florida), but I do understand liability.

I believe Florida has a pure comparitive negligence law.  That means you can collect for your damage to the extent of the other guy's negligence.   He can collect for any damages to the extent of YOUR negligence (if he has any damage).  This means that if you are 80% at fault and he is 20% at fault, you can collect 20% of your damages.  

Liability is another issue.  Establishing "how much" negligence he has can be tricky.  You say he was riding a bike on a sidewalk?  At night?  With no light?  Your locality may have a law prohibiting bikes on a sidewalk.  Your state may prohibit the operation of a bike after sunset without a front and rear light.  The more rules he violated, the more negligent he is.  Get it?

I recommend you report the loss to your insurance company.  Don't let someone tell you not to do this "because your rates will go up."  There are important reasons to report all AUTO ACCIDENTS to your insurer.

1)  You have a contractual obligation to report accidents.

2)  Your insurance company MAY deny coverage later if you fail to report the accident now.

3)  If this guy sees enough TV attorney adds and decides to sue you for bodily injury, then you report the accident to your insurer, they may deny coverage due to a "failure to report in a timely manner" leaving you to pay the claim out-of-pocket.

Report the accident, even if the cost of the damage is below your deductible.  You probably won't be surcharged (rates increased) since your insurer didn't pay anything.  And you've satisfied the requirement to report all accidents in a timely manner.

[Floridabassking352]

Hey, right up my ally. I'm an insurance adjuster. I investigate liability and handle damages. My specialty is serious bodily injury. I'm licensed in several states (not Florida), but I do understand liability.

I believe Florida has a pure comparitive negligence law. That means you can collect for your damage to the extent of the other guy's negligence. He can collect for any damages to the extent of YOUR negligence (if he has any damage). This means that if you are 80% at fault and he is 20% at fault, you can collect 20% of your damages.

Liability is another issue. Establishing "how much" negligence he has can be tricky. You say he was riding a bike on a sidewalk? At night? With no light? Your locality may have a law prohibiting bikes on a sidewalk.  Your state may prohibit the operation of a bike after sunset without a front and rear light. The more rules he violated, the more negligent he is. Get it?

I recommend you report the loss to your insurance company. Don't let someone tell you not to do this "because your rates will go up." There are important reasons to report all AUTO ACCIDENTS to your insurer.

1) You have a contractual obligation to report accidents.

2) Your insurance company MAY deny coverage later if you fail to report the accident now.

3) If this guy sees enough TV attorney adds and decides to sue you for bodily injury, then you report the accident to your insurer, they may deny coverage due to a "failure to report in a timely manner" leaving you to pay the claim out-of-pocket.

Report the accident, even if the cost of the damage is below your deductible. You probably won't be surcharged (rates increased) since your insurer didn't pay anything. And you've satisfied the requirement to report all accidents in a timely manner.

Micropterus, this is true. It IS against the law here to ride bikes on the sidewalk. However, I don't think I'll need to take any legal action since the damage is barely noticeable. Thanks for the information though. I still think he is mostly responsible, even though I should have checked the sidewalk, although even if I did I'm not entirely sure I would have seen him due to his lack of visibility.