Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: mcboi on August 22, 2011, 11:29:20 AM
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Hey fellas so this morning i was involved in a motorcycle accident thank god i wasnt seriously injured just some roadrash and some bruising and sprained back. But the crazy thing is i was rear-ended while starting to make a turn. I did everything correctly as i was trained to do when i took the MSF safety course i.e. used turn signal applied brake.... ect. I checked my mirror right before i initiated the turn and saw that i had plenty of room (the car behind me was about 150-200 feet behind) next thing i know im 10 feet in the air looking down @ the hood of this guys car. Cops show up and the other driver lied and said i was in the right lane and just suddenly veered over and he had no choice but to hit me. Total BS but the cop believed him because EMTs were busy loading my in to the ambulance as a precaution. To add insult to my injuries the cop isnt citing either of us @ fault but is saying the " I WAS DISTRACTED". im so furious right now its totally unbelievable. Apparently in okaloosa county if you ride a sport bike and get in an accident by default you are either @ fault, riding reckless, or distracted. So now i have to go to court and defend my innoncence merely because i was on a sportbike. Gotta love our justice system. In this case im guilty for nothing other than the fact i was on my way to work riding a sportbike. So much for innocent until proven guilty theory.
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glad you are ok. I believe what you are saying is right, but if you think about it from the cop's point of view. no evidence whatsoever, so who is he supposed to believe? I nearly killed a guy a few years ago in a bike who jumped into my lane to make a left turn. had I hit him, i probably wouldda been in jail as he wouldda been dead. I had no witnesses and I had had a couple of beers. ever since then, i will not drive even with a "only one beer" excuse.
semp
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yea i understand he only has the driver of the car and past behaviors of sportbike riders to go on but being the victim and then having to defend yourself for doing absolutely nothing wrong is just mind boggling to me i havent had a speeding ticket or anything on my bike and ive had it for 4 years now it just burns the hell outta me that someone so in the wrong would bold-faced lie to the authorities to try and save his own tail. Im not one to sue people for mistakes only thing i care about is getting my bike back to running condition. It is unrideable right now, plus i have to pay $178 to get it out of the impound. :bhead
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just out of curiosity were there any witnesses?
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and btw gun, the evidence is on the front of the guys car that is completely smashed in. if i had merely swerved into his lane like he is claiming there is no way the amount of damage would have incurred on his car.
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there was one guy in a bmw that had stopped but when they loaded me into the ambulance i guess he left. other than that no one else stopped. It was about 6:45am and everyone was on their way to work.
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it's possible to put something in the paper looking for witnesses. It's a shot in the dark but might be worth it.
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Yup, Glad your ok too.....but, there is a reason bikers are refered to as organ donors. It's not a matter of if you get hurt is a matter of when and how bad. Everyone that I know that has had a sport bike (except one) has been seriously injured. Every time I see a future gimp fly by at a 140 mph or popping a wheely on the highway I pray that he doesn't kill anyone else and then I call the cops. Cops see it every day, people on bikes that think they can do anything with a little more throttle. So yea they might be a little bias, but they are basing their judgment call on past experiences.
:old:
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. the cop isnt citing either of us .
Gotta love our justice system. In this case im guilty for nothing other than the fact i was on my way to work riding a sportbike. So much for innocent until proven guilty theory.
Sorry you got rear ended and I'm glad you did not get injured badly.
Exactly how are you "guilty" and have to go to court to prove your "innocence" if there were no citations to you? Typically you have to be cited first, which is the accusation, before you go to court to defend yourself. So far, in your statement, I have not seen anything to indicate you are going to court at all, guilty or otherwise.
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yea that is what the cop told me to try and put an ad in the paper to see if there are any witnesses. i understand that there are many bike riders that do ride retardedly but im not one of em nor should i be treated as one. i hate to say it but had i been on a cruiser of some sort i bet the accident report would be totally different.
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Sorry you got rear ended and I'm glad you did not get injured badly.
Exactly how are you "guilty" and have to go to court to prove your "innocence" if there were no citations to you? Typically you have to be cited first, which is the accusation, before you go to court to defend yourself. So far, in your statement, I have not seen anything to indicate you are going to court at all, guilty or otherwise.
i will now have to go to court because im sure the guy driving the car will try to get me to pay for the damages on his car
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You can do nothing about the car driver getting charged. You can however, get the process going to get your medical bills taken care of and your bike fixed. Let the insurance companies fight it out.
Good to hear you are OK.
This process will take longer than you realize.
Best of luck.
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I had a similar accident in 06' I was rear ended when slowing to turn left into work. I ended up sliding under his truck a 100' or so...had alot of injuries.
The reason nobody got a ticket yet is probably because he didn't get your story yet...if they don't call, call them. The bike should get fixed if you had the proper insurance on it " your insurance will pay for it not his"
You shouldn't have to go to court if you weren't cited, he will most likely get careless driving.
If your back turns out to be more than sprained like mine was get a lawyer. "i had a herniated disc from it"
I'm just now getting money from his insurance company for my injuries and it's now 2011, long process.
Hope you fair better than I did as I have permanent back pain now. :(
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Get an attorney; there are plenty of attorneys out there that specialize in motorcycle accidents, particularly when it isn't the riders fault.
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I had a similar accident in 06' I was rear ended when slowing to turn left into work. I ended up sliding under his truck a 100' or so...had alot of injuries.
The reason nobody got a ticket yet is probably because he didn't get your story yet...if they don't call, call them. The bike should get fixed if you had the proper insurance on it " your insurance will pay for it not his"
You shouldn't have to go to court if you weren't cited, he will most likely get careless driving.
If your back turns out to be more than sprained like mine was get a lawyer. "i had a herniated disc from it"
I'm just now getting money from his insurance company for my injuries and it's now 2011, long process.
Hope you fair better than I did as I have permanent back pain now. :(
Yea my main concern is getting my bike back in running order but the cop told me as i was in the ER that he was goin to cite me with reckless driving but obviously didnt have the evidence because it never happened ive got to go meet with my lawyer soon maybe he will be able to come up with something
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This process will take longer than you realize.
That's putting it mildly.
It took me 7 years to get my day in court when I was injured while working. The guy who was responsible even admitted that he screwed up under oath during a discovery deposition, but the insurance company refused to settle and dragged it out as long as they could.
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Get an attorney; there are plenty of attorneys out there that specialize in motorcycle accidents, particularly when it isn't the riders fault.
Good advice. Do this immediately.
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Yea my main concern is getting my bike back in running order but the cop told me as i was in the ER that he was goin to cite me with reckless driving but obviously didnt have the evidence because it never happened ive got to go meet with my lawyer soon maybe he will be able to come up with something
Thats not good don't worry about your bike that's the least of your concern it will get fixed if you had full coverage on it.
You better lawyer up ASAP if your being cited as it wasn't your fault.
I didn't know how badly my back was hurt till about 4 days after the accident, I was laid up for 6 months...be careful for a few days you might have taken more damage then you know.
If it does start hurting get a MRI.
I'm sorry this happened to you but you can plan on dealing with it for a long time.
I was alot nicer person never thought I'd ever sue someone till it happened to me.
if you have any questions PM me I know all about what your going through.
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Curious where you were going. If this was a regular route you make frequently, than it doesn't make sense for you to make a last minute veer off your regular course. Makes sense to me, but I'm not sure it's something you can prove or even matters if it comes to that.
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Curious where you were going. If this was a regular route you make frequently, than it doesn't make sense for you to make a last minute veer off your regular course. Makes sense to me, but I'm not sure it's something you can prove or even matters if it comes to that.
i was on my way to work which is the same route i take 5 days a week for the last 4 years
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So you were going straight and getting ready to turn left? And the oncoming car hit you that was traveling in the left lane?
In that scenario it does sound more like you turned in front of him.
Or did you start to turn and get rear ended? In which case it's easy to prove it was his fault.
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So you were going straight and getting ready to turn left? And the oncoming car hit you that was traveling in the left lane?
In that scenario it does sound more like you turned in front of him.
Or did you start to turn and get rear ended? In which case it's easy to prove it was his fault.
I was traveling eastbound in the left lane about to make a left-turn when the car that was behind me in the same eastbound lane rear-ended me
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Then it is 100% his fault he was the one driving distracted if he didn't notice your turn...IE he was following to close
You win
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First off I'm glad you weren't seriously injured.
Second like others have said, get an attorney. Don't talk to his insurance company, or their attorneys at all before you get an attorney. Most accident injury lawyers will work on a contingency basis, (at least in my AO) so it won't cost you anything up front. The property damage should be taken care of fairly quick, but the injury part can take several years.
Make sure the police take your statement. When they see that the two don't match they should investigate the accident more closely due to injury being involved, but don't count on it. Most police forces are spread thin right now and investigating an accident where no one was seriously injured won't be high priority.
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Your bike damage should show you were rear ended and not hit in the side.
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Then it is 100% his fault he was the one driving distracted if he didn't notice your turn...IE he was following to close
You win
Yeah, that.
I thought any time you rear ended someone it was your fault. Get checked out good at the doctor..document everything..and someone suggested putting an ad in the paper for witnesses to the accident to come forward. Couldn't hurt to try it.
The police in this area(northern Ar. hills and twisties), seem to expect the worst from crotch rocket jocks cause there are a few around who seem to think that the public roads are their own personal race track. People don't remember the many bikers who ride responsibly.
Good luck in the healing process.
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Your bike damage should show you were rear ended and not hit in the side.
problem is is that my bike has an extended swingarm so the impact was on the wheel/tire. I havent spun the wheel yet to see if the rim is bent but if there isnt a bend in the wheel then i dont know how im going to prove that he hit me from behind other than the fact that the front of his car is pretty messed up
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problem is is that my bike has an extended swingarm so the impact was on the wheel/tire. I havent spun the wheel yet to see if the rim is bent but if there isnt a bend in the wheel then i dont know how im going to prove that he hit me from behind other than the fact that the front of his car is pretty messed up
Let your attorney worry about proving it. It's important that you get the lawyer going on it sooner rather then later though. First thing he will do is pay a licensed investigator to inspect both vehicles and take tons of photographs. It's important that this gets done before the other guy's body shop gets to work on the car, and before you have anything done to the bike.
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You, mentioned the officer said he was going to write you a citation while you were in the hospital he said this...at least in MA the officer legally has to write the citation at the scene of the accident while he is there. If the patient is unable to receive it due to injury it is to be mailed. Assuming your state has the same laws and I read that post correctly... you have the officer by the testicles if you should go to court and he should appear to testify your guilt. Proving your innocence will be a challenge unless your rim is bent. It is hard to tell to tell whose at fault when its front end damage to car, don't ya know? *sarcasm off*. Unless someone somehow can prove you were driving recklessly, you should be innocent un all ways..
This is all going off MA laws, check your state laws and get your lawyer sooner then later
Glad to hear you aren't banged up too bad, to a speedy recovery!
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Glad your ok one reason I stoped riding. Are there any gas stations on the corners friend of mine tboned a car that turned in front of him. The car driver said my friend was speeding but they got the security cam video and it showed the whole accident and showed the car was at fault, there is a video that shows almost the same thing and ATMs take pics every couple of seconds. And if you were in Texas its automatic if you hit someone in the rear your at fault no matter what they did. Good luck.
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Let your attorney worry about proving it. It's important that you get the lawyer going on it sooner rather then later though. First thing he will do is pay a licensed investigator to inspect both vehicles and take tons of photographs. It's important that this gets done before the other guy's body shop gets to work on the car, and before you have anything done to the bike.
^^^^^ THIS!!!!
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Hey Monte Carlo glad you're ok bro!
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Scope out that spot at the same time. Maybe the BMW driver will drive by again then write his license#. Maybe a lawyer could contact the guy.
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This thread is TL;DR so sorry if this has been covered, but did the accident happen in an area with lots of businesses, maybe a gas station on one of the corners? If so maybe there is a surveillance camera that caught the accident you could track down. Seems like that would get you off the hook liability wise, and prove any falsifying of police reports by the other driver.
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You, mentioned the officer said he was going to write you a citation while you were in the hospital he said this...at least in MA the officer legally has to write the citation at the scene of the accident while he is there. If the patient is unable to receive it due to injury it is to be mailed. Assuming your state has the same laws and I read that post correctly... you have the officer by the testicles if you should go to court and he should appear to testify your guilt. Proving your innocence will be a challenge unless your rim is bent. It is hard to tell to tell whose at fault when its front end damage to car, don't ya know? *sarcasm off*. Unless someone somehow can prove you were driving recklessly, you should be innocent un all ways..
This is all going off MA laws, check your state laws and get your lawyer sooner then later
Glad to hear you aren't banged up too bad, to a speedy recovery!
You do not have to prove innocence...you are innocent until PROVEN guilty. They have to prove that he was distracted and veered into the other lane in front of the car.
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So much for innocent until proven guilty theory.
Does that county have camera's @ every intersection?
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You do not have to prove innocence...you are innocent until PROVEN guilty. They have to prove that he was distracted and veered into the other lane in front of the car.
I understand this, but my point in my original post is that (at least in MA), you must be issued a citation at the scene of the accident if you are mentally/physically competent to do so. If the officer does not issue you a citation at the scene and you are mentally/physically competent to receive it you have Hom by the testicles if he is putting the blame on you. It appears that is what happened in mcboi's case, he was mentally/physicakky competent to receive it but the officer didn't issue it until he was at the hospital.if the officer is saying he's guilty of the accident for whatever reason he could fight it and have an easier fight in court because the officer failed to issue the citation at the scene. It was also put a bad impression on the crown/city/state police (whichever agency deals with MVA's) and of course the officer (I would hope) would get some sort of punishment for his actions.
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but if you think about it from the cop's point of view. no evidence whatsoever, so who is he supposed to believe
the cop doesn't get a point of view if he has no evidence... It's called a no fault accident. The only reason they cite for BS stuff Now is to make money. They can't charge you money if your not cited. It is no longer to protect and serve. They are revenue generators.
I used to always give cops and the justice system the benefit of the doubt, not anymore. Justice is no longer the goal of most.
Btw glad your ok physically, but your about to get sent through the meat grinder. Nothing makes me madder than an officer that justifies bad judgement with circular reasoning.