It was such a pleasure to again
sponsor the Encinitas Sports Festival.
There were some great races and rides,
great people, and of course it was great
FUN! But, while I was in the midst of so
many capable bicyclists I couldn't help
but think about the danger many of these
road warriors face sharing the road with
cars.
During these hard economic times, I
continue to see serious bicycle
accidents happen to people who don't
have adequate insurance coverage.
According to a recent Harvard University
study, 62% of injury victims are driven
into bankruptcy. Moreover, about 78% of
the bankruptcy filers burdened by health
care expenses were insured, according to
an American Journal of Medicine survey
(Los Angeles Times Business Section,
6/4/09)
During the recession, many people
will scale back and take a chance in
order to save a few bucks. Some will go
bare, some will go underinsured, and
some will go with cheap insurance
companies. Don’t be tempted. Instead, I
urge you to retain strong auto insurance
(including under and uninsured)
coverage, because in this economy it is
more important now than ever. Think
about it: the stranger who hits you may
be underinsured or uninsured entirely!
Studies show that about 13% of all US
drivers are uninsured. While that
doesn’t sound like a very high number,
it translates into 32 million uninsured
motorists on the road—which is more than
enough to cause trouble! (North County
Times Business Section, 6/17/09)
One sure-fire solution to this
frightening problem is to carry strong
un/under insured motorist auto coverage
with a back-up umbrella policy that
extends to under/uninsured motorists.
Read your policy carefully, though, as
there is a trend to exclude this type of
coverage if injured while riding a
bicycle. (Rumor has it, AAA is doing
this).
Many bicyclists are unaware of how
important it is to carry a strong
automobile uninsured/underinsured
(UM/UIM) motorist coverage policy. Most
people think it only protects you in
your car, but it will also protect you
if you are hit by a car while on your
bicycle or on foot. It seems
counterintuitive that a bicycle injury
is covered by your auto insurance
carrier, but it’s true!
Follow this link to read the entire
article I wrote on this topic.
http://911law.com/bicyclist_need_strong_insurance_coverage.html
