and DOWN GOES Danny

[dannyW]

Well, they say:

"it's not If, but when"

When, turned out to be yesterday at 10 am at an intersection (Highland and Wilshire) here in Los Angeles.

First of all, I'm basically okay. I am so lucky to have gotten up from the pavement with only some pretty ugly abrasions on my legs and knees, and a sprained wrist.

I am Lucky, so very very Lucky.

Here is what happened:

I was waiting at the light going south, and as it turned green I accelerated, (not too quickly either). I immediately saw a pick up truck to my right sticking slightly out of a 7-11 that seemed to be waiting for on coming traffic to pass.

Well guess what? the pick up didn't wait. The driver pulled out quickly in front of me, I reacted by hitting the breaks and swerving right....

Well guess what now?

She stopped and turned right into the next driveway.....

But at this point I had swerved to her right and then BAM, I was on the ground.


Thank god no one hit her, for they would have then hit me......

Here is the kicker, the driver got out of the car, and screamed at me, still on the ground, telling me that I was an "idiot", and even better, "didn't you see me?"

I didn't get scared, my heart wasn't pounding, but I just calmly pulled my buddy onto the curb.
I looked down at my road rashed knees, (went right through my jeans).

I pulled up my other pant leg to see what appeared to be a broken leg, swollen to twice the normal size.

At this point the driver is still screaming, si I lay down to get off my legs and call 911.


The ambulance(s) come within 30 seconds strangely, and as they pull up the woman tells the firemen that, "He saw me and drove into my car!"

"I work in construction, and people blow this kind of panzy injury off all day long"

and my personal favorite:

"You are a drama queen!"

I went to the ER and everything came back negative.

Now I'm in the "constant replay stage" of traumatic experience.

Her insurance should cover my buddy repairs, and medical bills, and whatever.

I will be back on my scooter as soon as possible, and I will be more prepared to scoot.

Split second decisions.... If I hadn't swerved right I would have plowed into the back end.

And If I hadn't quick stopped It may have been much worse, I think I was only going 10-15 mph upon impact.

wow.

[ericalm]

Danny,

Sorry to hear about the crash but glad you're not more seriously injured. I know that intersection well. Making left turns one of the scariest parts about driving in LA, where there are few intersections with arrows and where drivers feel like they have a 60 second grace period to run a red light to make a turn. Sounds like you had a run in with a real a-hole, too.

Crashes like these are a good reminder to all of us that an incident can happen at any time and that even a crash at very low speeds can cause injuries. I frequently read or hear people saying they don't need proper gear for riding under 50mph or on a 50cc scoot. Nope; you can get pretty messed up at 10-15mph.

[gt1000]

She's a total moron but at least she stopped.

[ericalm]

I was just at NoHo Scooters and saw 3 crashed Buddys: Matt's, Danny's, and a SI which got nailed in the exhaust in a hit & run and is probably totaled.

Very sad indeed. Danny, I didn't get a good look at yours, but Matt's is in really bad shape. Having totaled one myself, they're hard to look at without wondering how someone could walk away from so much damage.

[x-mojito50mod]

Damn LA drivers...sorry to hear it Danny. At least you're ok. How does one fault you when they pull out of a driveway/parking spot/etc., and you have the RIGHT OF WAY?! Same thing happened to me...entitlement issues I guess. If only it was like Europe...it would be safer for all of us. Heal up soon.
-M@

@ Eric...yeah, I stopped into NOHO and saw the aftermath the other day...not too pretty!

[jrsjr]

The ambulance(s) come within 30 seconds strangely, and as they pull up the woman tells the firemen that, "He saw me and drove into my car!"

"I work in construction, and people blow this kind of panzy injury off all day long"

and my personal favorite:

"You are a drama queen!"

They always do this. It's a panic reaction.

I went to the ER and everything came back negative.

Excellent, glad to hear it.

Now I'm in the "constant replay stage" of traumatic experience.

Crap. I hate it when that happens. As you know, it'll get better with time, maybe quickly maybe slowly.

Her insurance should cover my buddy repairs, and medical bills, and whatever.

It better!!!

I will be back on my scooter as soon as possible, and I will be more prepared to scoot.

Split second decisions.... If I hadn't swerved right I would have plowed into the back end.

And If I hadn't quick stopped It may have been much worse, I think I was only going 10-15 mph upon impact.

Good on you. Glad you're going to be okay. Heal fast.

[Keys]

...what John said...

--Keys

[dannyW]

thanks everybody....

It's gonna be a couple weeks of carpooling for me until the buddy is fixed. and then I'll be right back on it.

It's still killing me that my gut told me that this vehicle was going to pull shenanigans, and I still couldn't prevent the fall, BUT to get away with only a sprained wrist, I am so very very lucky.

I'll be going to the doctor, on Friday so, hopefully she'll give me a clean bill of health.

The question I have now is this: will this driver's insurance cover lost wages for work I will not be able to perform for the next week, (I'm a part time musician)?

[vitaminC]

That sucks! Hope you heal up fast!

Also, note to self: start wearing armored pants to work...

[scullyfu]

woah, danny! glad to hear you walked away from that...well, kinda.

did you call the police and get a report? good to have if you have to take this idiot to court for anything. or fight with an insurance agency. did any witnesses step forward for you?

so very glad to hear you're alive and kickin'.

[echochamber]

It's still killing me that my gut told me that this vehicle was going to pull shenanigans

You have a good gut, listen to it. Glad it wasn't worse. ;>

\e

[ericalm]

The question I have now is this: will this driver's insurance cover lost wages for work I will not be able to perform for the next week, (I'm a part time musician)?

If the responsible party's insurance is covering all damages and they have assumed responsibility for the crash then they definitely should be. I received lost wages plus pain and suffering from my crash last year. It can take quite a while to get reimbursed for thins kind of thing, though, and you'll definitely need a statement from your doctor saying that you were unable to work for X number of weeks. Also, as a musician, I'm not sure how you're employed but the insurance will also need something (paycheck stub) stating how much you earn doing that.

[dannyW]

mike from noho just called.

the bikes frame is bent, so the scoot is done.

now I'm nervous...

I have a ride to my day job, which is fine.
But I'm nervous that state farm will not cover this.

and they haven't called yet.

what should i do?

call them?

[ericalm]

mike from noho just called.

the bikes frame is bent, so the scoot is done.

now I'm nervous...

I have a ride to my day job, which is fine.
But I'm nervous that state farm will not cover this.

and they haven't called yet.

what should i do?

call them?

Is State Farm your insurance or theirs?

Either way, call them. Your insurance will help you negotiate with them if necessary. But the responsible insurance co. will probably need to send an estimator or adjuster to NoHo. Then they'll make you an offer based on what they see as the value of the scoot. From there, it just depends...

[dannyW]

so it turns out, the driver who hit me is UNINSURED

i have uninsured coverage thank goodness.

but this is still so wacky... do I get a lawyer?

[tempalte]

You are probably out of luck. If they don't have insurance, then odds are they don't have much money to go after. A judgement is no good if you can't collect.

The other thing is, if you collect from YOUR insurance company, your insurance may have you sign away your rights to sue (sign then over to YOUR insurance company). Meaning, your insurance company pays for the scooter, then they go after the other driver to recoup their costs.

good luck though.

[ericalm]

so it turns out, the driver who hit me is UNINSURED

i have uninsured coverage thank goodness.

but this is still so wacky... do I get a lawyer?

Well, be grateful for your insurance.

It's very difficult to squeeze money out of an uninsured motorist. I had a drunk and uninsured driver total a car I had a few years ago and basically I just had to eat it. I did have her license suspended, but that was about it. Even then, you can't get blood from a stone.

[Macpherson]

i kinda thought she was un-insured by the way she was reacting after the crash. your insurance company will try to get her money, so you won't have to.

[Keys]

A number of years ago, I was riding my sportster through a parking lot and was hit by some kid in a Fiat. Totalled my bike and put me in the hospital. He was cited for careless driving and I was exonerated of all culpability in court. He fought the citation and lost...it was upheld. His insurance carrier was State Farm and they REFUSED to pay me ANYTHING. Said I'd have to take them to court. A month later a friend of mine (who was insured with State Farm) got a form letter from them stating they were raising everybody's rates across the board because of all the law suits being brought against them. AND THEY WERE FORCING THE LAWSUITS TO BE BROUGHT!!!!

I will never again have any dealings with State Farm...

--Keys

[jetboy]

Nightmare scenario. Man, I feel for ya'. Glad you're okay.

Might want to consider these:

https://www.motoliberty.com/prod_detail.asp?Prod_ID=409

I just bought a pair. I hope I never have to see how good they are.

-jetboy

[10gallonhat]

I have been looking at some of the Armored Jeans.. You will have to let everybody know how they are.

I am curious if anybody has used the Knox strap-on kneepads - and just slipped them on under existing jeans, instead getting the pre-padded jeans?

http://www.planet-knox.com/detail2.aspx?ID=37

I would be curious to here how these have worked out. Or, what they would lack in comparison to the armored jeans.

Thanks.

[gt1000]

Regular jeans offer no protection. They'll melt away just like khakis in a slide. There are all kinds of armored and/or reinforced jeans out there and they're much better. Draggin Jeans are a good value and reinforced with kevlar. They also have removable armor. ESquad makes some remarkable jeans that are supposedly more abrasion resistant than leather, but they're pricy at $400 a pair.

There's also all kinds of textile riding pants out there from a number of companies and this is the time you'll start finding sales. If you want full protection you do need some sort of riding pants.

[beelzebubbles]

so it turns out, the driver who hit me is UNINSURED

i have uninsured coverage thank goodness.

but this is still so wacky... do I get a lawyer?

People like that should not be driving - reckless, uncaring, uninsured. Dangerous people. Menace on the road.

Maybe it is your karma to bring justice upon them, maybe not.

A good lawyer may be able to tell you, with the caveat mentioned already (you could probably get them in some trouble, but you may not get much $$$ in return). It's worth investigating, at least, I think.