Cyclist doesn't want to pay for damages in accident

[Sugarphreak]

...

[lasimmon]

The insurance company claims he ran a red.. But no where else is that reported.

[ZenOps]

Theres always someone bigger



You scratched my tank treads! Time to sue.

[lasimmon]

I'll just say from my initial hearing of this incident both parties claimed they were at fault. Buddy made an insurance claim because he didn't want to pay out of pocket and now the insurance company is coming after him for the money.

This was what I heard when the guy was initially telling me about the incident.

[Xtrema]

I had to read it twice and here I originally thought the insurance company is going after a homeless man.

It's just a dude that get paid to work at homeless shelter.

In that case, he should pay what's owe in full. I'm not sure why cyclist get a break when they are on the road and fucked up.

[lilmira]

Defensive driving, the Toyota driver should be able to stop in time. You need to be more careful when you spot poor cyclist on the road, those guys are unpredictable as they have nothing to lose.

I actually don't mind insurance for my bikes. I value them as much as my car. I'll cry if there is even a small scratch on any of them.

[googe]

There's no way that is 6k worth of damage. Insurance company should get nothing just for being so full of shit. I just got a car back with 7k worth of damage and that thing was mangled.

[Masked Bandit]

Squeeze that stone until the blood flows.

Just because you're "poor" doesn't mean it's okay to damage someone else's property and wash your hands of it.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by googe
There's no way that is 6k worth of damage. Insurance company should get nothing just for being so full of shit. I just got a car back with 7k worth of damage and that thing was mangled.

I can believe it if that hood is aluminum. And unless Toyota build quality sucks, there seems to be huge gap on grill and dent in bumper too.

[Kloubek]

yeah, I believe it. Damage adds up real quick on today's cars.

[Moonracer]

Originally posted by Kloubek
yeah, I believe it. Damage adds up real quick on today's cars.

Yeah especially when the body shop knows it's being paid for by an insurance company.

[syscal]

Saw a Lexus get a nice long scratch/dent up the side of it when some douchebag cyclist used it to keep from falling at a red light. His pedal ran the length of the car. Who pays for that? Apparently not the cyclist, he just ran the red and kept going like nothing happened.

How is that not a hit and run?

Not to mention another cyclist that completely annihilated this young gal at a crosswalk. Got back on his bike and rode away, no apology, didn't even check if she was okay.

From that point I felt like cyclists should be insured and have plates if they are going to ride on the roads in the core/beltline.

Pathway and burbs, nah.

[snowcat]

This is why cyclists need plates, so they can be identified, and insurance, because they're on the road.

[nissanK]

Exactly why I got a dash cam......

[Team_Mclaren]

Originally posted by nissanK
Exactly why I got a dash cam......

and what?

[a social dsease]

Originally posted by Sugarphreak
If you are going to be riding on the street, you should have a drivers licence, a plate, and insurance. I don't know how many times I've said that, but it is the minimum

Originally posted by snowcat
This is why cyclists need plates, so they can be identified, and insurance, because they're on the road.

Not going to happen. Simple economics. This would only be feasible if: total cost incurred as a result of uninsured cyclists >> total cost of setting up and administering bicycle registration and insurance program.

Just to get a ballpark estimate of the economic feasibility of this idea, let's run a few numbers:


Everyone is saying bicycle registration should apply to downtown only, so lets take the average # of downtown bicycle commuters. This is about 6,300/day (source: http://www.calgary.ca/Transportation...Bike-Data.aspx )

Now we need the frequency for which these 6,300 cyclists cause collisions. Let's assume the average collision rate for cyclists is the same as for motor vehicles (in other words, the average person has the same likelihood of causing a collision, whether they are cycling or driving). This is: 351.9 per 10,000 people, per year, or in other words, 0.03519 collisions per person per year. (Source: http://www.transportation.alberta.ca...Glance2013.pdf )

Therefore we have 6,300 cyclists, multiplied by a rate of 0.03519 collisions per cyclist per year = 222 bicycle collisions per year, in downtown Calgary (seems about right).

Now to assign a $ value to that, let's just assume the average cost per collision is the same as in the article ($6,223 - probably an unrealistically high number, but let's run with it to be conservative).


Therefore the total annual cost of bicycle related collisions for Calgary (downtown only) is: $6,223 x 222 collisions = $1,381,506 per year.


Now I have no idea how much it would cost to set-up registration and insurance for all cyclists downtown, not to mention ongoing administration and enforcement of the program, but if it could be done for anywhere near $1.3MM, I'd be shocked.

I don't know what the perfect solution is, but based on my estimate I don't think this is as big of a deal as people are making it out to be.... Heck, it might even be cheaper and easier to just build some more bike lanes downtown, that way cyclists don't have to ride on the road and risk colliding with cars?

[shakalaka]

Originally posted by nissanK
Exactly why I got a dash cam......

So you can get their license plate to track them later?

[syscal]

So everyone but the cyclist are out of pocket for repairs. Insurance companies will punish the drivers in premiums overall because SOMEONE has to pay.

This makes me dislike cyclists more than I already do.

Not arguing your post, it makes sense.

[ercchry]

Originally posted by a social dsease



Now I have no idea how much it would cost to set-up registration and insurance for all cyclists downtown, not to mention ongoing administration and enforcement of the program, but if it could be done for anywhere near $1.3MM, I'd be shocked.

if it was done right, it would be a positive cash flow... the infrastructure is there. registries would just have to add a new sku to the system, plates would have to be made and police would enforce. current insurance companies could also add the service. so charge the end user and now we have additional funds to go towards incidents that involve the uninsured

[rage2]

How would a bike lane prevent a bike from running a red light?