From: dahls@fhydra.dnet.unit.no (Joern Yngve Dahl-Stamnes)
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles,rec.bicycles
Subject: Re: Bicycles & liability insurance
Date: 8 Apr 92 14:28:29 GMT
Article-I.D.: FHYDRA.00958CAF.8A1CDAC0
Reply-To: dahls@fhydra.dnet.unit.no (Joern Yngve Dahl-Stamnes)
Organization: University of Trondheim, NORWAY

Thus spoke the keyboard of James Treworgy:
>I am posting this for David Harker, which is in reference to bicycles causing
>accidents... 
>** BEGIN message
>  I just read your post on Rec.bicycles regarding the slight chance of
>any bike ever damaging a car beyond the car insurance deductible,
>and being at fault in the collision.  I'm a bicyclist (Cannondale) but
>I also drive...
>
> A few years ago (while driving) my car was struck (on the front SIDE)
>by a bicyclist.  The tubes of his frame put several nice dents in the
>top 'corner' of my front fender, where it bends sideways to meet
>the hood surface.  His body hit my side mirror on driver's door, which
>(being a Toyota) is hinged, and flexed backwards, saving the bicyclist
>a bad injury, but punching another nice dent, this time in my driver's
>door.  Neither of us was moving fast, and he was OK.  Fixing the 3 dents
>cost $550, and my deductible was $250, which I was NOT reimbursed for.
>(and my ins. company fought for me w/ his, too).

In Norway the car owner is always to blame when it comes to cost of getting
any damage repaired! Even if the bikers did something wrong (exept when it
can be proven than the bikers wanted to get hurt/kill himself)! This is
because the biker is uncovered.

>He was at fault (admitted it) and caused serious damage to my car.
>He was  a minor - the parents freaked (at me) at first, but when they
>saw my car, knew their son had struck me, and not vice versa.
>Even so, they fought hard to keep me from collecting my deductible from
>their home-owner's policy, which supposedly covers this under their
>liability coverage (or so my agent said).  So my agent dropped it (after
>they mentioned 'lawsuit' to him ...  'our son was hurt - how dare you!'.

How many times have I heared "My little kid does not do anything wrong!"

>PS - I was beginning to accelerate from a stop, after the light turned
>green, when hit.  He was crossing the street, failed to make it before
>lights changed.  A bus next to me (also stopped at light) kept us from
>seeing each other until just before impact.  The bus driver had _real_
>nice view of it all, was great witness. (biker crossed in front of bus, then
>hit me as I began to pull ahead of the very slow bus).
>
>Kind of scary experience, since I often bike in traffic...
>** END message
>
>Yes, things like this happen.  But I think that the incidence of accidents
>caused by bicycles is low enough that mandatory liability insurance
>shouldn't be required... where do you draw the line? For example a friend
>of mine was playing frisbee in the street and ran into a parked car.  He
>caused a pretty substantial dent.  He was not a driver, so therefore
>uninsured, and didn't have any money. I am not even sure auto insurance
>would cover this type of thing.  But anyway the person whose car he
>ran into got screwed because he had no way to pay for it and she
>couldn't get any money out of him short of an expensive lawsuit which would
>not have been worth it.  I don't think that cyclists should be required
>to have mandatory insurance any more than pedestrians should.. certainly
>someone is going to take a loss here and there, but that's life.  You can't
>expect to have every possible situation covered for unless you live in a
>communist society.

Agree! But when watching L.A. Law and reading articles in the newpaper about
the same issue, I sometimes wonder why does so many people sue each other
just to get a lot of money out of nothing! Sometime I have heared about the
most horribel stories about what people has been sued for.

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* I went back to my mother,           * Joern Yngve Dahl-Stamnes           *
* I said, "I'm crazy ma, help me!"    * University of Trondheim            *
* She said, "I know how it feels son, * The Norwegian Institute of Tech.   *
* 'cause it runs in the family."      * Division of Physical Electronics   *
*       - The Who, Quadrophenia       * e-mail: dahls@fhydra.dnet.unit.no  *
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Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles