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Hey everyone. Got out of the hospital a few days ago after being in an accident with a cager. Dumb *** ran light and pulled out in front of me making a right turn. I scrubbed as much speed as I could before laying it down and hitting him in the drivers side front tire/fender. Hitting the tire stood the bike back up and bounced me off the fender and hood. I suffered a severely dislocated and broken shoulder. The worst part is that the jack *** just kept on driving down the road like nothing happened. Pretty much slung me off the hood and never missed a beat. Didn't even attempt to stop. Another person at the light had to runthe guy down and told him that he had hit me. [:@]&nbsp\\;5 screws and a lot of pain later, I'm back at home trying to type this with only my left hand.

Couple of questions for everyone.&nbsp\\;

Should I take legal action against the guy? He was cited for running the light, but I'm not sure about leaving the scene of the accident.
This may affect my military career(only 4 years from being able to draw retirement)
Missed work.
I'm only 33. The surgeon told me that I will most likely need a shoulder replacement as I get older.
I will never recover to 100%
No more golf this year.
No more softball this year.
Worst of all, no more riding this year![:@][:@][:@][:@]
Should I fix the sporty and keep it? Get another sportster? Get a softail?
It's fixable, but I'm not sure if I want to keep it after it has been in an accident.
Here's some of the damage:

Broken tail light.
Dinged rear fender.
Scratched brake res.
Scratched batt cover.
Dented tank.
Broken left foot peg - damaged shift linkage.
Broken mirror.
Here's what makes me nervous - Bent front fender, possible bent front rim(I think he ran over the front tire), and
broken stop on the lower triple tree(I can turn to the left and the bars touch the gas tank.)

Thoughts?

Steve

 

Well it depends.&nbsp\\; (1)&nbsp\\; How much insurance does he have, and (2) Is he judgement-proof?&nbsp\\;&nbsp\\;Does he have attachable assets and/or wages you can sue for?&nbsp\\; If he doesn't have a pot to **** in, there isn't much use in suing him.&nbsp\\; Can't get blood out of a turnip, as the saying goes.

 

I would take him for everything he's got..&nbsp\\; Obviously he wasn't aware that he was hit after running the red light? Something must have been wrong with him. (Stupid, drunk, or on drugs?) You could have been dead! But I think I would have noticed someone bouncing off the hood of my car.

 

Hell Yes take legal action. I can only assume that he doesnt have insurance since he was going to bail out on you.
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Good luck!
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If you hit him on the front drivers side...He had to know something! He obviously saw the guy that ran him down. If he does have insurance, then it don't matter if he has any money or not.
Sorry to hear about it. Good luck with your recovery and getting some money iut of this guy.

 

Legal action yes. Have insurance company total your bike, most of 'em don't know a thing about bikes anyway, then buy a new scoot. My brother-in-law was hit last year by a 16yr. old girl in a mustang. Crushed his foot and it bothers him everytime he shifts his bike, his two little toe tendons were relocated to his two big to tendons. Docs had to operate on his foot for 4 hrs.[:'(]
Good luck.

 

I'm going to recommend that you research an attorney before considering it. I can tell you from experience that more than 1/3 of attorneys lose their licenses in the first 2 years. You can also check your State Supreme Court or the highest court in your state and public records to see if any of the attorneys you are considering have had sanctions or disciplinary action. One of the largest attorneys here where I live lost his license but probably does more cases than anyone else. He has a bunch of attorneys under him and he sweet talks you into hiring him and then you get stuck with the luck of the draw from his junior associates.

If he has insurance you should definitely sue as you will collect substantially more. Often insurance companies offer you a little pain and suffering but you would be entitled to future medical and future pain and suffering in Louisiana. In Louisiana we divide damages into compensatory which means you are compensated for your loss, then non-pecuniary which is loss of wages, future medical, future pain and suffering, and those types of non-punitive damages, then there is pecuniary or punitive damages. We can't collect punitive damages here unless the party is drunk or there is a circumstance that puts the other party in a condition where it was nearly imminent that something was going to happen.

These are just some suggestions. These are the circumstances in my state and I have not sat for the BAR. I am going into my 3rd year of law school though and can tell you that all the dirty nasty stories you hear about scumbag lawyers are true and you should really research what you are geting before you start.


I hope you feel better and don't feel like you are doing something wrong. Your life will be substantially different and after leaving the military because of an injury I can understand to some extent the position you are in. Its the people who aren't hurt and sue that ruins the system for everyone else.

 

He ran over your bike, and drove off after you bounced over his hood!&nbsp\\; Sue him for whatever you can get.&nbsp\\; I wouldn't give it a second thought.&nbsp\\; If you let him get away with it, I might be the next person he runs over and I might not be so lucky.

 

Definately consult an attorney.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; It may be the insurance company will admit liability (believe it or not some won't even when their insured is 100% liable) and settle without the costs of arbitration or a lawsuit.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; Also make sure your attorney checks into the possibility of an Umbrella policy.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; With more and more people owning their own business, etc. more and more people are buying umbrella policies to cover losses in excess of auto policies.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\;And don't forget that if you have UIM that can be collected on too.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; For example if the policy limits for the guy that hit you are 25K, and you have Uninsured/Under Insured Motorist coverage that can kick in to the policy limits as well.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; I always carry a MINIMUM of 50K UIM on all my vehicles.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; Just wish I could get 35K in PIP on the bike like I have on the car.
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PS.&nbsp\\; I'm a personal injury paralegal so I do this for a living.... hahaha

 

Thanks for the replies everyone. I have an appointment with an attourney on Wednesday.
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Steve