anyone have experience with this (follow up to ca traffic accident)

well things have taken a turn for the worse. the driver who struck me
while sitting at a red light because she was checking her drive-thru
order instead of paying attention gave a policy number on the police
report that had lapsed due to non-payment.

i've hired a PI to run an asset check to see if she has any and it
looks like just the job (at the hospital ironically). so there's not
much to sue for other than garnishing wages.

since my bills and claim is way over 5k i'm not eligible for small
claims court but what to do next? do i still hire an attorney? i doubt
they'd work on contingency for this since there's not really any money
to collect.

as for the medical bills i've applied for medical and hopefully i'll
be accepted.

it really sucks to be down and know that that driver will still be on
the road able to make the same mistake. even if i suspend her license,
she was most likely on her way to work when the accident occurred.
with a provisional she'd be driving the same route and we'd all still
be in danger...and if she can't get to work then i can't garnish her
wages.

if anything, get that UI and medpay on your policies! the rider and
passenger need to be insured the most if a motorcycle is involved,
especially if there's a solo get-down.

damien g

frmr ironhorsemen

 

Major bummer.

If the medical insurance does cover it, how much will you be out
out-of-pocket?

Also, might the threat of a lawsuit be sufficient to arrange a payment
program?

Where does she live? Might she be able to take public transit?

It seems you have a choice: You can either try to extract the money
from her, or keep her off the road. If you don't think you can get
the money from her, is it possible to go for criminal proceedings,
make sure her liscence gets revoked and she has to take public
transit?

I just look at the statistics: 2/3rds of multivehicle accidents are
the fault of the bonehead cager, not the motorcycle rider. As a
result, I make it a point to carry $100k uninsured medical coverage,
even if it becomes the bulk of the insurance: On my girlfriend's
EX250, its $40/year for the liability, but ~$160/year for the
uninsured coverage.

 

Yes...I've thought for a long time that it would be a Good Thing to
require insurance companies to notify the DMV of a policy lapse. I can't
fathom why they don't do this, it would sure get a lot of uninsured
jerks off the road. (in theory, anyways)

barbz

 

Even if everyone had the state minimum, I'd still want the $100k
uninsured/underinsured policy. The state minimums are pretty low, (I
think it is $20k medical), and a broken leg can easily eat up more
than that.

 

I topped that with just a concussion at Stanford Medical[1].


[1] Bastards! They attached a lien to my accident settlement so they
could recover the money they lost by agreeing on a set price with my
health insurance company *before* they discovered it was an accident and
I had an attorney.

--
Mike

I didn't crash, there was a sudden burst of gravity.

icq - 219328929

 

That doesn't actually get them off the road. That's the problem in CA.
As it stands, several insurance companies (21st, probably AAA) are tied in
with DMV so that you don't need to submit proof of insurance for renewals.
I imagine that within a week or two of a failed renewal, they could mark
that change. But then what? It shows up when a cop runs a license check,
but generally that's done when the vehicle and its driver have been pulled
over. (and it's not illegal for a car to sit parked, uninsured)

 

Is that the case always, or just on private property?

R, UB

 

Cars need registration, drivers need insurance. On private property,
I believe both become optional.

 

However, if you plan on storing a car for a while (> 1 year) - do not
let the registration lapse -- spend the annual $5 (may be more now) to
file a Non-Op. It pays for itself in reduced hassle if/when you want to
re-register or sell the car.

 

Didn't she have a car?

 

Insurance companies don't want to notify anyone of a cancellation because they
don't want to have to insure everyone. They know people get insurance so they
can register a vehicle, then drop the policy. And it's okay with the company
because those people are bad risks generally. So they get the bucks for the
frst installment, hold their breath, and lapse the policy quietly. That way
they get rid of the bad risk, and keep the money. If everyone had to keep
insurance all the time, or face license and registration suspension upon
notice of policy lapses, then everyone would have to be covered by the
insurance companies, and they want to cherry pick. It's way more profitable
this way.

Bob