Recently I posted a tease for something I’ll be creating over the coming weeks and months for you: a one-stop-shopping resource for the cyclist who just got in a wreck with a car.  It’s also for the cyclist who will, some unlucky day, get in a wreck with a car.  Or for someone riding with someone who gets in a wreck with a car.  For spouses of cyclist victims, family members, trusted friends.  Anyone who has influence on the decisions the victim will be making very soon to set things right. The goal is to provide every little bit of information you’ll need to deal with the wreck, the bills, the paperwork—even, perhaps, the physical and psychological trauma.

I should say, right up front, that the most useful bits you’ll find here soon are designed to help you out with the inglorious parts of the situation: the bills, paperwork, legalities.  In other words, the money.  (The Interweb has inundated us with general resources on accident statistics, safety tips, and legal advice such as “bikes have as much right to the road as cars.”  I’ll reference some of those resources on occasion, but you’re all grownups and can find those easily if you need them.)

This is not to say that the money is the only “inglorious” step in the process, of course.  Bleeding on the asphalt and rocking back and forth in pain amid gawking drivers is not glorious.  Should the EMTs cut your bib shorts and jersey off to look for concealed wounds, you’ll not look glorious.  The stunned driver who just plowed you because the sun was in her eyes is not having a glorious day.  Having to actually think fairly hard before answering first responders’ questions (What day is today?  How many fingers am I holding up?  Who is the President?) is not indicative of a glorious intellectual state. Read the rest of this entry »