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Boyfriend Hit by Drunk Driver
Yesterday my boyfriend was riding his bicycle home from work after working late as a favor to his boss. He didn't know I'd gotten out of work early, or I would have picked him up. I should have insisted that I pick him up.
His bike is silver, with 2-headlights, and a flashing rear light. He obeys all traffic laws and has been biking to work for 2 years.
He was riding down the main road, in his lane with the right of way when a man in a truck decided to make a non-stop left-hand turn from a side road. Boyfriend couldn't avoid the truck and tried to swerve, clipping rear of the truck (smashing his taillight
) before tucking and rolling off the bike to avoid oncoming traffic. He called me to say he was going to be late 'because of an accident' which sounded funny, and he finally admitted to me that HE had been in the accident. I actually beat the ambulance to the hospital (we live a mile away). He was immobilized until they took xrays and cat scans. He scraped-up his right leg and arm, but tore-up his left knee as it caught on the bike pedal. The people behind the truck, and the people behind my boyfriend, stopped to help. They got him out of traffic and made sure the guy in the truck didn't leave before the police got there. He has witness phone numbers who swore that he had his lights on and was visible. To the truck driver's (it was a large pick-up) credit, he stayed and kept saying how sorry he was and how he just hadn't seen boyfriend. Boyfriend was loaded onto the ambulance and the police officer was nice enough to keep boyfriend's bike for us, which we picked-up later that night.
Boyfriend turns-out to have a fractured fibula and possible torn ligaments in the left leg, in addition to the abrasions. He'll be out of work for about 4-weeks and will need some physical therapy and possibly surgery. He was lucky, as he knows how to fall from riding horses all his life.
The police officer called us at the hospital and, guess what? They arrested the truck driver for a DUI. The guy was actually having his blood drawn at the same hospital we where at.
Our only other major concern right now is that boyfriend's bike had a gas motor on it. According to all our research into state law, as long as it's below a certain horsepower and speed, you do NOT need a license or to register the bike - it still counts as a bicycle. But we are concerned that because the law isn't clear, that the driver might try to argue that boyfriend was driving an unregistered moped (the only information on moped/scooter/motorcycles/gas-electric bikes I could find were on online forums; there is NOTHING about them even in our state's bike rider's handbook) and therefore he wouldn't be at-fault. I hope it will be a moot point since he was charged with a DUI, and that the fact that, motor or not, boyfriend would still have been riding home on that road, at that speed (because going downhill he wasn't using the motor anyway). The police officer did not seem too concerned about it, and I have never seen a electric or gas powered bike in my state with a moped plate on it. In any case, the driver's main argument seemed to be that he couldn't see boyfriend on the bike. Again, moot point because he had the required equipment and the guy was making a bad left turn.
So, it's going to be hard for boyfriend to get around the house (we have stairs) on crutches. His work switched to a new insurance provided so we're not sure how much of his expenses will be covered. We don't know if he'll need surgery until he sees the specialist next week. He won't be able to go on the trip we planned for next weekend, nor can he finish the housework he was trying to do before winter sets-in. He's already contacted his lawyer to go over the case and make sure that the driver will have to pay medical and the cost of the bike. He'll probably be called to go to court too. This wasn't something we needed, especially with all the household expenses this month. Just when it looked like things were going smooth too.
His bike is silver, with 2-headlights, and a flashing rear light. He obeys all traffic laws and has been biking to work for 2 years.He was riding down the main road, in his lane with the right of way when a man in a truck decided to make a non-stop left-hand turn from a side road. Boyfriend couldn't avoid the truck and tried to swerve, clipping rear of the truck (smashing his taillight
) before tucking and rolling off the bike to avoid oncoming traffic. He called me to say he was going to be late 'because of an accident' which sounded funny, and he finally admitted to me that HE had been in the accident. I actually beat the ambulance to the hospital (we live a mile away). He was immobilized until they took xrays and cat scans. He scraped-up his right leg and arm, but tore-up his left knee as it caught on the bike pedal. The people behind the truck, and the people behind my boyfriend, stopped to help. They got him out of traffic and made sure the guy in the truck didn't leave before the police got there. He has witness phone numbers who swore that he had his lights on and was visible. To the truck driver's (it was a large pick-up) credit, he stayed and kept saying how sorry he was and how he just hadn't seen boyfriend. Boyfriend was loaded onto the ambulance and the police officer was nice enough to keep boyfriend's bike for us, which we picked-up later that night.Boyfriend turns-out to have a fractured fibula and possible torn ligaments in the left leg, in addition to the abrasions. He'll be out of work for about 4-weeks and will need some physical therapy and possibly surgery. He was lucky, as he knows how to fall from riding horses all his life.
The police officer called us at the hospital and, guess what? They arrested the truck driver for a DUI. The guy was actually having his blood drawn at the same hospital we where at.
Our only other major concern right now is that boyfriend's bike had a gas motor on it. According to all our research into state law, as long as it's below a certain horsepower and speed, you do NOT need a license or to register the bike - it still counts as a bicycle. But we are concerned that because the law isn't clear, that the driver might try to argue that boyfriend was driving an unregistered moped (the only information on moped/scooter/motorcycles/gas-electric bikes I could find were on online forums; there is NOTHING about them even in our state's bike rider's handbook) and therefore he wouldn't be at-fault. I hope it will be a moot point since he was charged with a DUI, and that the fact that, motor or not, boyfriend would still have been riding home on that road, at that speed (because going downhill he wasn't using the motor anyway). The police officer did not seem too concerned about it, and I have never seen a electric or gas powered bike in my state with a moped plate on it. In any case, the driver's main argument seemed to be that he couldn't see boyfriend on the bike. Again, moot point because he had the required equipment and the guy was making a bad left turn.
So, it's going to be hard for boyfriend to get around the house (we have stairs) on crutches. His work switched to a new insurance provided so we're not sure how much of his expenses will be covered. We don't know if he'll need surgery until he sees the specialist next week. He won't be able to go on the trip we planned for next weekend, nor can he finish the housework he was trying to do before winter sets-in. He's already contacted his lawyer to go over the case and make sure that the driver will have to pay medical and the cost of the bike. He'll probably be called to go to court too. This wasn't something we needed, especially with all the household expenses this month. Just when it looked like things were going smooth too.
I'm kinda driving him nuts now by hovering over him now I think.
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