Hit by car on electric longboard

[TimboSlice58]

Jurisdiction

Washington

So long story short I got hit by a driver that wasn't paying attention. I was going through a crosswalk and the driver pulled through the stop sign and into the crosswalk hitting me off my longboard but in the collision his tire rode up onto my longboard and cracked my board and its no longer rideable. I got all his insurance information but what are the odds of me getting anything from his insurance company? Anything I should do besides contact his insurance and file a claim?

 

[Tax Counsel]

Anything I should do besides contact his insurance and file a claim?

Were you injured at all in the collision? Do you have any medical bills from the accident? If you do you may want to talk to a personal injury lawyer before you file your claim to be sure you get fully compensated for your injuries.

If the long board destruction was the only loss you had as a result of the accident, go ahead and file a claim for the board. As the board was not brand new you likely won't get enough money to completely replace your broken one with a new one, but you may get enough to buy a used one.

 

[adjusterjack]

So long story short

Make it just a tad longer.

Did he stop at the stop sign and then move forward?

Did you come from his right or left?

How fast were you going?

Did you stop at the corner before entering the crosswalk?

 

[zddoodah]

what are the odds of me getting anything from his insurance company?

Odds? This isn't Vegas. Absent some argument why the driver isn't liable, you'll be entitled to reimbursement of medical expenses and lost wages and the lesser of the cost to repair whatever a "longboard" is or its fair market value at the time of the accident.

Anything I should do besides contact his insurance and file a claim?

Unless you were injured, no.

 

[justblue]

Odds? This isn't Vegas. Absent some argument why the driver isn't liable, you'll be entitled to reimbursement of medical expenses and lost wages and the lesser of the cost to repair whatever a "longboard" is or its fair market value at the time of the accident.



Unless you were injured, no.

It's an electric skateboard.

5 Top Q&A | Electric Longboard Skateboards - Surf Hungry

 

[TimboSlice58]

Make it just a tad longer.

Did he stop at the stop sign and then move forward?
no, he just kept looking to his left on his right turn and never stopped.

Did you come from his right or left?
I was coming from his right

How fast were you going?
only slightly faster than walking pace

Did you stop at the corner before entering the crosswalk?
no I didn't. the crosswalk light was on and there was already a couple walking ahead of me about 7 or 8 feet.

Were you injured at all in the collision? Do you have any medical bills from the accident? If you do you may want to talk to a personal injury lawyer before you file your claim to be sure you get fully compensated for your injuries.

If the long board destruction was the only loss you had as a result of the accident, go ahead and file a claim for the board. As the board was not brand new you likely won't get enough money to completely replace your broken one with a new one, but you may get enough to buy a used one.

I wasn't really injured besides some scrapes and the mental freakout of being pushed into oncoming traffic. Its just my board that was destroyed.

 

[zddoodah]

It's an electric skateboard.

Thanks. Looks like these things cost just a few hundred bucks, so the OP may get lucky; the insurer might just scratch out a check for the value of a new one.

 

[Zigner]

So, you darted out into the crosswalk at a pace faster than that of a normal pedestrian. You may be found partially at fault.

 

[TimboSlice58]

Thanks. Looks like these things cost just a few hundred bucks, so the OP may get lucky; the insurer might just scratch out a check for the value of a new one.

sadly its not one of those boards. ill link my current one. Backfire Hammer Sledge

 

[TimboSlice58]

So, you darted out into the crosswalk at a pace faster than that of a normal pedestrian. You may be found partially at fault.

I didn't dart out in front of them. I was going maybe 4 mph.

 

[Zigner]

So, faster than even a "brisk walk"...one might even say at the pace of a slow jog.

You were likely at least partially at fault for this. You were NOT a pedestrian (RCW 46.04.400: Pedestrian.). You have to take some responsibility to watch out for traffic. In fact, the more I think about this, because of the motorized device that you were riding, you may, in fact, be mostly at fault. Depending on the municipality this occurred in, what you were doing may even have been illegal.

 

[TimboSlice58]

So, faster than even a "brisk walk"...one might even say at the pace of a slow jog.

You were likely at least partially at fault for this. You were NOT a pedestrian (RCW 46.04.400: Pedestrian.). You have to take some responsibility to watch out for traffic. In fact, the more I think about this, because of the motorized device that you were riding, you may, in fact, be mostly at fault. Depending on the municipality this occurred in, what you were doing may even have been illegal.

As far as I'm aware and from the city police I've talked to there is no laws defining what category an electric longboard falls in to. As far as what the police have said it falls under the same category as a normal Longboard. I've tried doing as much research as possible for my area (Vancouver, WA) but there is nothing that I've been able to really find.

 

[adjusterjack]

I didn't dart out in front of them. I was going maybe 4 mph.

Did he stop at the stop sign and then move forward?

no, he just kept looking to his left on his right turn and never stopped.

Did you come from his right or left?

I was coming from his right

How fast were you going?

only slightly faster than walking pace

Did you stop at the corner before entering the crosswalk?

no I didn't. the crosswalk light was on and there was already a couple walking ahead of me about 7 or 8 feet.

Will it take getting crippled for life to convince you to stop at the corner before zooming across the street, or does this experience convince you.

 

[Zigner]

As I previously mentioned, you did not fit the definition of a pedestrian.
RCW 46.61.261: Sidewalks, crosswalks—Pedestrians, bicycles, personal delivery devices. puts the duty on the driver to yield to pedestrians, bicycles, or personal delivery devices, none of which apply to you. In fact, the closest definition I could find for your device is that of a motor vehicle (RCW 46.04.320: Motor vehicle.). The more I dig into this, the more it seems that you are likely mostly, if not completely, at fault.

 

[welkin]

OP, why don't you call the guy that hit you and ask him to pay you for a new board before you file a claim. You said in your first post that you had all his information. Paying out a few hundred is better than an insurance claim against the driver and he also will have a deductible that is more than the cost of the board.

 

[welkin]

As I previously mentioned, you did not fit the definition of a pedestrian.
RCW 46.61.261: Sidewalks, crosswalks—Pedestrians, bicycles, personal delivery devices. puts the duty on the driver to yield to pedestrians, bicycles, or personal delivery devices, none of which apply to you. In fact, the closest definition I could find for your device is that of a motor vehicle (RCW 46.04.320: Motor vehicle.). The more I dig into this, the more it seems that you are likely mostly, if not completely, at fault.

The use of bicycles, electric bicycles, skateboards (motorized or not), nonmotorized scooters, electric scooters and in-line skates are all street legal in Washington state.

If OP was going straight down a street and a car hit him it would be no different than if he were in a car.

 

[adjusterjack]

Paying out a few hundred is better than an insurance claim against the driver and he also will have a deductible that is more than the cost of the board.

He? The driver? The driver has no deductible on a liability payment by his insurance company to others.

It's his insurance rates that are bound to go up for an at-fault accident.

 

[Zigner]

The use of bicycles, electric bicycles, skateboards (motorized or not), nonmotorized scooters, electric scooters and in-line skates are all street legal in Washington state.

Nobody said they weren't, except that I wasn't able to find any reference to skateboards specifically. Please let me know where you found the information that pertains specifically to skateboards.

If OP was going straight down a street and a car hit him it would be no different than if he were in a car.

Cars (vehicles) aren't allowed to travel on the sidewalk and aren't allowed to cross IN the crosswalk.

 

[TimboSlice58]

OP, why don't you call the guy that hit you and ask him to pay you for a new board before you file a claim. You said in your first post that you had all his information. Paying out a few hundred is better than an insurance claim against the driver and he also will have a deductible that is more than the cost of the board.

I talked to him about that but he said he would rather deal with his insurance.

 

[Zigner]

I talked to him about that but he said he would rather deal with his insurance.

Contact his insurance and file the claim.
Sooner is better than later.