Victimized by Drivers and their Insurers

A friend of mine who I occasionally ride with in the AM from Oak Park to the Loop was hit by a car on Monday just west of the intersection of Washington and Homan. He was riding in the bike lane on Washington. As you cross Homan into Garfield Park, the road splits to the north (Schrader Blvd) and south (Washington Blvd). The driver crossed from the lane on the left of the bike lane (which is clearly marked and bends south onto Washington through the split) right onto Schrader NB, mowing down my friend, who was right next to her. Not only is the bike lane marked all the way through the split, but there is a right turn lane to the right of the bike lane, so there's zero excuse for a driver to cross the bike lane.

He's OK - a little road rash, sore ribs. The crash ruined his rear wheel, cranks and bars. He had a trip to the ER and will have some med bills.

The driver initially fled the scene, but a another driver who saw the incident gave chase, caught her, and somehow convinced/compelled her to return to the scene. She was completely belligerent and accused my friend of causing the accident. Police and paramedics arrived. The police acted fairly and took a full report. The driver told some unbelievable story about how she was being harassed and is the victim here. The driver who pursued the driver who hit my friend was driving a commercial vehicle with a front-mounted video recorder that was running and which he think captured the accident. That guy alerted the police officer and gave him a copy of the recording (how he did this I don't know).

So yesterday my friend gets a call from the driver's insurer, Geico. Although (1) the police report has not been finalized (the investigating officer says it will be ready early next week after they review the video) and (2) Geico has not even called the police to see what they say, Geico has concluded that no one is at fault and that my friend should be responsible for 50% of his damages. Based on a discussion with the police officer, the police appear to have concluded the driver was 100% at fault, but we have to wait to see the report.

Although he has only begun to fight, it just shows that you can be victimized not only by drivers but by their insurers, even where the police properly do their job.

(Incidents like this are extremely frequent at this intersection, either with cars making right turns onto Schrader from the left lane or cars exiting Schrader onto Washington and plowing through whatever is in their way--there are no stop signs.)

Tags: accident, car, driver, geico, insurance, police, schrader, washington

Replies are closed for this discussion.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by O on July 16, 2012 at 11:23am

The better question would be why you allowed the airing of the details of an as yet undetermined situation without any pushback. And instead wait until this thread to start showing your sensitivities to proper incident reports.

If the usual denizens of this forum were more vigilant at the start no one would have to point out the Double Standard being applied in this thread. I imagine though that had I raised these questions in the original forum there would have still be a hue and cry that I was blowing things out of proportion.

I don't think so. It's just that things here have been bordering on the uncivil for so very long that anytime you get pushback you assume that the person doing the pushing must be an idiot. I have been called far worse by better people than you might be.

notoriousDUG said:

So, um, if you feel so strongly about this why are you posting about it here and not in the original thread where this conversation would have been in context? You do have a valid point, one I think you are blowing way out of proportion, but still an opinion that should be voiced and discussed.

I would also like to point out that the rules of this forum and the restrictions that have been placed on me do not allow me to call you an idiot.

Permalink Reply by James BlackHeron on July 16, 2012 at 11:26am

I would imagine that it is mostly the latter -although being fueled by the former it might just embolden them.

Mostly I think the insurance companies try this because it sometimes works, and rarely will hurt. Insurance companies are not charities that exist to give away money. You basically have to pry it from their hands. If someone lets the insurer bully them into giving up then the company wins.

These are not the droids you are looking for...

Chris B said:

Wow Derek, that is just the craziest story ever. You know, in cases like that, I wonder if the insurance company tried because of lies the other driver told them, or because they will just try whatever they can to get out of paying.

Permalink Reply by Liz on July 16, 2012 at 11:30am

+1, if they can get the other party to admit to any guilt than they can spend less money paying them out.

Another big key is to clearly write down all of the details as soon as possible, and use the notes whenever you speak to anyone. Inconsistent stories will often hurt even a valid argument.

James BlackHeron said:

I would imagine that it is mostly the latter -although being fueled by the former it might just embolden them.

Mostly I think the insurance companies try this because it sometimes works, and rarely will hurt. Insurance companies are not charities that exist to give away money. You basically have to pry it from their hands. If someone lets the insurer bully them into giving up then the company wins.

These are not the droids you are looking for...

Chris B said:

Wow Derek, that is just the craziest story ever. You know, in cases like that, I wonder if the insurance company tried because of lies the other driver told them, or because they will just try whatever they can to get out of paying.

Permalink Reply by kiltedcelt on July 16, 2012 at 11:34am

I just want to know why that Troll "O" is in this thread trying to hijack it.

Permalink Reply by notoriousDUG on July 16, 2012 at 12:49pm

I think insurance companies make calls like that regardless of fault or actually liability just to see if they can get people to pay with petty threats and mock authority.

Derek said:

My car was parked street side when an elderly lady, that was just released from a local hospital 3 blocks away, ran into it. She tried to flee the scene but the cars were stuck together due to the crash's impact and her car die while attempting to drag my Taurus down a wintry Wisconsin road. (she made it almost 100 feet)

Two days later her insurance company called trying to collect damages from me. They stopped calling after a few days.

Permalink Reply by notoriousDUG on July 16, 2012 at 1:03pm

I don't think it matters in the other thread and it is not my job to stop people from talking about what they want to talk about. Personally I think what was said in that thread will have zero effect on any disciplinary action against the officer in question; in fact I doubt there will even be an investigation. Secondly it was not my story or my thread to complain about that in.

I think the two situations are different and you are tying to compare apples to oranges. That was a call out to find witnesses and information on an incident involving a officer of the law in order to better round out a complaint. This is a thread with a person giving a detailed account of an accident that may, or may not, end up in court or arbitration where any differing accounts by the participants in the accident or their representatives can cause damage.

People jumped on the details in this thread because it is something preached by every attorney out there when it comes to getting in a accident. It is sound advice and I stand by it and question the competence of any person claiming to be an attorney who does not agree with it.

Either way, no matter how you see the issue the fact of the matter is this: THE APPROPRIATE THREAD TO DISCUSS THIS IN WOULD BE THE ONE YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH!

I don't assume people who disagree with me or 'push back' are idiots; I assume people who disagree and push back about an issue in a unrelated thread or inappropriate venue to be an idiot.

O said:

The better question would be why you allowed the airing of the details of an as yet undetermined situation without any pushback. And instead wait until this thread to start showing your sensitivities to proper incident reports.

If the usual denizens of this forum were more vigilant at the start no one would have to point out the Double Standard being applied in this thread. I imagine though that had I raised these questions in the original forum there would have still be a hue and cry that I was blowing things out of proportion.

I don't think so. It's just that things here have been bordering on the uncivil for so very long that anytime you get pushback you assume that the person doing the pushing must be an idiot. I have been called far worse by better people than you might be.

notoriousDUG said:

So, um, if you feel so strongly about this why are you posting about it here and not in the original thread where this conversation would have been in context? You do have a valid point, one I think you are blowing way out of proportion, but still an opinion that should be voiced and discussed.

I would also like to point out that the rules of this forum and the restrictions that have been placed on me do not allow me to call you an idiot.

Permalink Reply by Daniel G on July 16, 2012 at 1:09pm

Auto insurance companies are a joke. Some wannabe antique restorer did not know the right amount of brake fluid to put in the lines and had to use my Yamaha scooter to stop (it was parked). State Farm calls a few weeks later with an offer of like $700. I reject it, and they call back with an offer of $900. Reject it, offer of $1,100. Then $1,300, then $1,500, then I finally accept $1,575, which was its used-replacement value or maybe a little bit above it. It was less of a negotiation and more a case of them using settlement offers to decide just how dumb and scared this rube on the phone was, exactly. If you're ever owed money by some driver's shitty insurance company (most of them are), just wait them out and keep your case file open for as long as it takes to make them decide to cut and run.