Crashed (Sorry Katman)

**Madness** · 25th April 2012, 18:58

Originally Posted by jrandom

Believe it or not, people like that actually exist.

....

He was Indian, of course. Probably believed in karma.

Many moons ago I was asked to play chaperone to a rather drunk senior manager at a work function and deliver him home in a taxi. The following morning I received a call from my own manager asking if I had the drunk managers wallet, I didn't. Weeks later I was driving through Wellington Airport and recognised the Indian taxi driver from that night standing beside his cab at the rank. I approached him and asked him if he remembered the fare, it seems my colleague made quite an impression. He reached into the glovebox of his cab and handed me a wallet, complete with all credit cards and a couple o' hundy in cash.

If you're going to crash, do it with an Indian. Fuck, I never thought I'd say that

**DODO``** · 26th April 2012, 11:34

Originally Posted by superman

Do I simply take it to a repair shop and then give her the bill?

Don't do that.

one of the hardest thing for me as former car dealer (was involved in couple of accidents caused by other party) was to fork out money from others, even if its in their fault.

Do not to spend your own money or put your bike in the repair shop first, then hope they will reimburse later. Most will not. or will be very hard.

Get the quote for the repair in at least 2-3 different places then get the money first.

**superman** · 26th April 2012, 11:42

Originally Posted by DODO``

Don't do that.

one of the hardest thing for me as former car dealer (was involved in couple of accidents caused by other party) was to fork out money from others, even if its in their fault.

Do not to spend your own money or put your bike in the repair shop first, then hope they will reimburse later. Most will not. or will be very hard.

Get the quote for the repair in at least 2-3 different places then get the money first.

Hmm... well the accident happened about 3km away from Botany Honda, so I've got them to pick it up today. Told them to assess the damage and send a quote to the household. Then if they accept it, would be all sorted, if they say no I guess I'll just have to pay Botany Honda myself and then go to small claims court over bills.

**DODO``** · 26th April 2012, 11:51

Originally Posted by superman

Hmm... well the accident happened about 3km away from Botany Honda, so I've got them to pick it up today. Told them to assess the damage and send a quote to the household. Then if they accept it, would be all sorted, if they say no I guess I'll just have to pay Botany Honda myself and then go to small claims court over bills.

sounds like a good plan. yup, let them know that you will go to disputes tribunal first if they say no.
if they say no, you WILL need 2-3 quotes (at reputable shops) order for the referee to decide how much needs to be back paid. so do that before you fix the bike.
I've been involved in couple cases.. it will be stressful and take looong time even when you know you will win.

good luck

**John_H** · 26th April 2012, 11:57

Originally Posted by Katman

Good on you for accepting your degree of culpability in not avoiding the crash but........

.....car drivers have a reasonable right to expect when on-coming traffic stops to allow them to turn across the traffic that no other vehicle is going to "appear out of nowhere".

If motorcyclists continue to fail to recognise gaps in traffic like this as major lane-splitting hazards it won't be long before laws are passed to make any form of lane-splitting illegal.

For once, I completely agree with you! Lane splitting is such a debated grey area but most evidence points to it not being legal and as such it's up to us to be so careful when undertaking it.

**tbs** · 26th April 2012, 13:12

Superman, I've been thinking about this, and if I understand things correctly, then the driver was at fault due to a technicality, but in reality it was your acceleration between lanes and subsequent freezing that really caused the prang? I read your description as suggesting the car on your right slowed and waved them through while you accelerated into the space that they were being waved into. If you were in the left lane proper they would have had a better chance of seeing you and stopping, and you would have had more scope to avoid the collision. While you were technically riding legally, I politely suggest that morally you might be in error to go after them for money to fix your bike. There's been a bit of talk on this thread about good people doing the right thing, and from my understanding of events I suggest the right course of action here is to take it on the chin, as you were prepared to do if you put the bike down yourself, and pay for your own repairs.

Lane splitting is legal, but when you put yourself in an unusual position in a lane at odds with the speeds of surrounding vehicles, then I reckon you can assume some extra responsibility for both your own safety and the consequences of any events influenced by it.

Last time I was up at Red Baron in Grey Lynn there were a number of scraped up Ninjas being stripped for parts. Shouldn't be too expensive to get the bits you need. Just try to avoid buying all new ones.

b.

**DODO``** · 26th April 2012, 13:24

'this person is friend of hers.. ' was my initial thoughts..

**bogan** · 26th April 2012, 13:37

Nah, in that situation the driver was being waved through, despite not having right of way. Have to be extra careful in those situations, which they weren't. Reckon that cancels out supermans negligence, and we're back to a good old failure to give way!

Speaking of decent people though, I had a similar thing happen to me, except nobody waved her through and I was the only oncoming. But they made sure I was alright, got my bike fixed, and gave me a few MTA vouchers for my troubles. It might just be that crashing right outside her house removes some anonymity though...
I watch the tyre direction and tread movement extra carefully when an oncoming is supposedly giving way no though.

**Asher** · 26th April 2012, 13:46

Im super cautious in the cage when people wave me through, its not so much about motorbikes filtering but cyclists blasting through on the far left cycle lane that im worried about collecting.

**The Singing Chef** · 26th April 2012, 21:04

Originally Posted by Fast Eddie

anyone know if u can insure racebikes? lol like against theft mainly.

Yep, mine is insured with Protecta for Fire and Theft. Reasonably cheap too.

**pritch** · 27th April 2012, 12:30

My experience with the small claims process is limited but in both instances unsatisfactory.

My employer at the time did some work for a guy who subsequently didn't pay. The business owner agreed to give him a credit of 50% if he promised to pay. The credit was passed - he didn't pay. He spun a line of cobblers at small claims and the adjudicator said that there was wrong on both sides and awarded 50/50.

At that point the reluctant payer must have been laughing. I left the job about then but would be surprised if he ever paid a cent.

In another instance a guy I worked with took a contractor to small claims. I also knew the "Judge Judy" (his words). He told me that he had awarded 50/50. I had the impression that he was more concerned with being safe than with being right?

To the OP, I wouldn't hold out much hope of getting much at all. Learn from it, and there are several lessons,
get the bike back on the road and get on with life. YMMV.

**Old Steve** · 27th April 2012, 20:13

Shouldn't that read, " .... if they say no I guess I'll just have to go round a couple of times to where they park their car at night with a baseball bat."

But, yeah, get a quote and give it to them first before you get the bike fixed.