First, and hopefully, last accident

[PassedByAScooter]

Hello All,
 I experienced my first accident - and hopefully last - yesterday afternoon.
 I was attempting to turn right into my driveway, was at a near-stop, and was rear-ended by a 17 year old girl who initially claimed her brakes didn't work. She eventually confessed that she was watching the road, she was looking at her clock.
 She hit me going 35-40 mph, while I was nearly stopped. She didn't brake until after she had hit me. A concussion and neck sprain are the extent of my injuries. Nothing life-threatening, but life is miserable right now because of the pain and discomfort.
 Here's the moral of the story:
 I noticed she was following closely. I placed on my blinker early and began braking earlier than normal to give her reaction time. Before attempting to make the turn, I went nearly all the way over in my lane to the white line. It didn't matter. I did everything right when I knew she was following too closely, and yet it didn't help.
 Please use every precaution available when you are riding. Never take for granted that another driver knows you're there. Every movement on your scooter should be about defense, but even then bad things can go wrong - like with this accident. Wear all of your gear, all of the time. I was told that the proper gear made it so my injuries weren't worse, or potentially life-threatening.

Be safe brothers and sister. Protect yourself, as no one else will!

PBAS

[blue]

Sorry to here about your accident. Hope things turn out good for ya. Did she have insurance.Or did you.I take it the scoot is not rideable. And do you plan on geting a new scoot.

[PassedByAScooter]

Sorry to here about your accident. Hope things turn out good for ya. Did she have insurance.Or did you.I take it the scoot is not rideable. And do you plan on geting a new scoot.

Thanks, Blue! She does have insurance, as do I. The claim has started, but it's so damn slow. My riding gear was all cut off from me. Oddly, I find myself really irritated and will try to demand her insurance pay me for all of my ruined gear. The scoot is definitely not rideable. she hit me square in the back. Air box, muffler, mud guard, rear and side panels, were all smashed. We think the scooter actually shut off  when it was hit. I'm not sure if this was the case, as I did lose consciousness for a bit. It was leaking gasoline, too.
Right now, I can't say I'll evernget back on a two wheeled vehicle. So, this insurance investigation can take as long as it wants.

[big blue]

Sorry to hear about your crash. Sounds like they will zero out the scoot. Inattentive drivers are on the rise and the scooterist ALWAYS gets the worst of it. Take care and I hope they pay off as they should. Len

[08087]

Hey Past, hope you recover quick from the rear end job you got into. I'd hate to see anyone get clobbered like that. Feel better, how's the scoot?

[jprestonian]

Yeah, I hope you heal up quick and get back in the saddle.

Plans B, C and D -- please always keep them in mind. It's a lot of work, but I've done u-turns to get out of situations where the following vehicle is paying more attention to their phone than the road. It's not easy, but it's necessary.
.

[TroutBum]

Dam* dude, that sucks. Don't be so quick to settle. Make sure the medical end of it is extended for as long as you need to be put right. Insurance companies are all to eager to settle.

[CROSSBOLT]

That really sucks and hurts too. Clean her out or her insurance company anyway. Heal up and get a new scoot if the Yager is too pooped to repair. Keep us in the loop.

My greatest fear is from behind. I tend to deal with tailgaters quickly especially if they are distracted. I will probably wind up "wearing" one someday but there will be many "dealt" with.

Get better!

Karl

[claynine]

Sorry to hear that you had such a miserable experience on your scooter,  PassedByAScooter.  Sounds like it could have been fatal.  I really appreciate the warning to me and others that a relatively high percentage of drivers DO NOT SEE US.  You moved off to the edge of the road, knew there was something wrong and still got beaned!  That's a heads up.  I thought it interesting what jprestonian had to say about making a U turn to avoid the accident.  Thanks jprestonian for the little trick that may prevent an accident.  That's what we all need is "pre-thought out" tricks to use when we become aware of dangerous situations. I used to ride motorcycles and know that we are not seen.  I really pay attention to my rear view mirror and drive defensively but I would likely have been hit too under these circumstances too, but now I think I would pull a U turn to avoid the car.  We can all use more defensive driving tricks.  Thanks.

[AVGuy]

Sorry to hear about it and glad it wasn't worse. Her insurance should pay for your gear, medical bills, damage to scoot and pain and suffering. Don't accept a settlement too soon. If your scoot is repairable, have a good shop give you an estimate for repairs. Have them check for hidden or mechanical damage that may not be apparent. You want to make sure all your medical bills are in before settling. Once you sign an agreement, that's all you'll get from them.

I had a crash caused by a bicycle rider and his parent's homeowners insurance paid for all of the above. Document everything and keep receipts. The insurance company was actually pretty good to work with, I just had to send them receipts for everything. This included replacements for my jeans, which were cut off at the emergency room and my shoes, which were torn up in the accident. When all the bills were in they made an offer and I counter offered, which they agreed to.

Good luck and get well quickly.

[bleys]

Sorry to hear about your accident.  Getting hit from behind is one of my biggest fears as well.  Make sure that you wait until you are sure that you have no lasting medical issues before you settle.  I still experience vertigo from an accident, and I didn't start to experience the vertigo until about 2 weeks after the accident.  I had some dizziness immediately following the accident, but it went away after about 24 hours.  Now there are days I can't ride because of my vertigo.  Glad to hear that you were not more seriously hurt.  Hope you decide to ride again in the near future.

[Vivo]

Hi PassedbyaScooter... I'm glad you're all right... and thanks for the reminder!   I had an accident once but not on a scooter but in a car... was rear ended with a car with no brakes... it was a 5-car mess... After that accident I always look at the rear especially now that I have a scooter... I always make sure that everything's clear behind me but one can never be too carefull... accidents really happen... and that is very sad.... One nice thing about our city here is the slow traffic... 20 mph is the average speed of most vehicles during peak hours... just avoid late nights and very early mornings... lots of drunk drivers...  Ride Safe Man!