garmon757 963 Report post Posted October 22, 2014 The independent contractor part puts you in the hole. The only thing I can suggest is don't take advice from here, but call up one of the personal injury lawyers that is all over the TV and bus wraps. As they say, they don't cost unless they recover something. If you don't trust TV, you can go to lawyers.com or findlaw.com, each based on a leading publisher's legal directory.Yeah, dealing with situations like this is tricky when it comes to being an independent contractor and I don't think it wouldn't make any difference if this happened while I was at work. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
garmon757 963 Report post Posted October 22, 2014 Makes sense. Also, can you use any bike for your job, or do you have to use a company bike? I have a smallish bike sitting around in Woodstock. It just needs some air and a switch fixed, and it should be fine.We have to have our own bike. I can't ride any bike though because of my height and I prefer road bike because of my experience riding them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jajuan 1055 Report post Posted October 22, 2014 First and foremost. Glad to hear you came out the accident relatively OK Garmon. Better your bike to have been permanently destroyed than you since unlike your bike, you can't be replaced. The good news is your kids still have your dad and we still get the benefits of what you bring to the forum. It sucks that this effects your income until you can get your bike replaced though. While Busjack raises some good points about whether the taxi driver can be to be held culpable. His not getting out the cab to see if you were injured and just driving off doesn't look good. Isn't that a leaving the scene of an accident/hit and run situation at least? 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Busjack 1593 Report post Posted October 22, 2014 ... Isn't that a leaving the scene of an accident/hit and run situation at least? Would be relevant only if the police wanted to press charges; was not a cause of the accident. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
garmon757 963 Report post Posted October 22, 2014 First and foremost. Glad to hear you came out the accident relatively OK Garmon. Better your bike to have been permanently destroyed than you since unlike your bike, you can't be replaced. The good news is your kids still have your dad and we still get the benefits of what you bring to the forum. It sucks that this effects your income until you can get your bike replaced though. While Busjack raises some good points about whether the taxi driver can be to be held culpable. His not getting out the cab to see if you were injured and just driving off doesn't look good. Isn't that a leaving the scene of an accident/hit and run situation at least? Would be relevant only if the police wanted to press charges; was not a cause of the accident.Both of you are right indeed. Thanks jajuan. The driver decided to get out the taxi after the passenger helped me getting up. The driver said that he was going to pull over to figure out how can we settle this if the police had to be involved but that didn't happened because of him lying to me by driving off. I did file a police report after I left the hospital (I can't believe they didn't show up after the nurse called them) and he told me that I have to settle this in civil court. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jajuan 1055 Report post Posted October 23, 2014 Would be relevant only if the police wanted to press charges; was not a cause of the accident. No I know it wasn't a cause of the accident. But he still drove off without an exchange of insurance info from what I understood of Garmon's explanation of what happened which is why I asked if it could still be considered leaving the scene in a legal sense. Both of you are right indeed. Thanks jajuan. The driver decided to get out the taxi after the passenger helped me getting up. The driver said that he was going to pull over to figure out how can we settle this if the police had to be involved but that didn't happened because of him lying to me by driving off. I did file a police report after I left the hospital (I can't believe they didn't show up after the nurse called them) and he told me that I have to settle this in civil court. You're welcome my friend. Just glad you're okay and didn't get hurt too badly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin 287 Report post Posted October 23, 2014 Now I don't know where to turn to when it comes to filing a lawsuit. I recommend contacting FK Law. They specialize in bike crashes. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Busjack 1593 Report post Posted October 23, 2014 No I know it wasn't a cause of the accident. But he still drove off without an exchange of insurance info from what I understood of Garmon's explanation of what happened which is why I asked if it could still be considered leaving the scene in a legal sense. You're welcome my friend. Just glad you're okay and didn't get hurt too badly. Of less import here, since the cab company has to have insurance, and more than likely it was a yellow, green, orange, or maroon cab (there are a few independents out there, but not many). But as Kevin and I pointed out, one has to consult an attorney to find out how to deal with this. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
garmon757 963 Report post Posted October 23, 2014 I recommend contacting FK Law. They specialize in bike crashes.Thanks man! They're already informed about it and I have to give them a call back. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BusHunter 2176 Report post Posted October 24, 2014 Both of you are right indeed. Thanks jajuan. The driver decided to get out the taxi after the passenger helped me getting up. The driver said that he was going to pull over to figure out how can we settle this if the police had to be involved but that didn't happened because of him lying to me by driving off. I did file a police report after I left the hospital (I can't believe they didn't show up after the nurse called them) and he told me that I have to settle this in civil court. Damn no charges were filed? Not even a ticket? What a joke!! But it sounds right, i've called the police a few times and their response was basically figure it out yourself or some nonsense that doesn't make sense. The cab driver was supposed to curb his vehicle not let people out in the middle of the street. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
garmon757 963 Report post Posted October 24, 2014 Just to give you guys an update, I'm currently at Freeman Kevenides Law Firm downtown discussing the situation and coming to an agreement to hire Brendan Kevenides as my attorney for this case. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Busjack 1593 Report post Posted October 24, 2014 Best of luck in getting some restitution after what happened. I hope it's not all for naught, however... a couple of things concern me... ..... I think even Busjack would agree with some of what I've mentioned above. No. As I pointed out several times before, he should get competent legal advice, and not from here. And it appears that he is doing that. I'm not going to second guess FK. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sw4400 802 Report post Posted October 24, 2014 Scratch what I said above, and apologies to garmon if he read it before I deleted it... I am an independent contractor for GrubHub. I do have the cab number and the name of the company. I consider the driver very responsible because of the fact that he left the scene. That's a no no in my opinion. BusHunter, you're silly but kudos for handling all that like a man! The bottom line is it's not fair for anybody to suffer with or without injuries and I'm out of my job for God knows how long. I read this in a hurry and thought it said "I don't have the cab....etc...." But since he has all that, I think he now has a decent shot.... Go get 'em, garmon!!!! 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Busjack 1593 Report post Posted October 24, 2014 ... This part is what I'm talking about: Link Collect evidence to prove each element of the tort. Any evidence that you can gather that proves each element of your cause of action will help you win your case. Evidence may include documents, photographs, or testimony from witnesses. But, I'll defer to the experts.... The lawyer is going to know better how to use private investigators and the discovery rules than some anonymous writer of some wiki. I had come to some preliminary conclusions of the merits of this case, but then realized what the proper response is, and now I am sticking to it. Also, rereading the thread, apparently Garmon has more information (such as the cab number) than the others are crediting him with (as you just edited, as I hit post). 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
garmon757 963 Report post Posted October 24, 2014 Effective immediately: Under the circumstances of this case, I will not discuss anything that was discussed between me and my attorney until the case has been concluded. I don't know for how long (depending on the taxi company cooperating with this case) but I have a feeling that it may be a while. Thank you all for the input and support but now it's time to move forward in life. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Busjack 1593 Report post Posted October 24, 2014 Effective immediately: Under the circumstances of this case, I will not discuss anything that was discussed between me and my attorney until the case has been concluded.... That's the right thing to do. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
garmon757 963 Report post Posted October 24, 2014 That's the right thing to do. Indeed. It can interfere anybody's case when exploiting it online especially on social media. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Busjack 1593 Report post Posted October 24, 2014 Indeed. It can interfere anybody's case when exploiting it online especially on social media. As Perry Masonry would ask in cross-examination, "Mr. Garmon, didn't you say on chicagobus.org on October 22 ....?" 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
garmon757 963 Report post Posted October 24, 2014 As Perry Masonry would ask in cross-examination, "Mr. Garmon, didn't you say on chicagobus.org on October 22 ....?" Damn! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sw4400 802 Report post Posted October 25, 2014 Gotta give garmon a theme to go into court with.... I can think of no other... cue the music.... Garmon 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
garmon757 963 Report post Posted November 22, 2014 My new bike and basket! 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sw4400 802 Report post Posted November 22, 2014 My new bike and basket! Nice. Still in legal limbo with that court case? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
garmon757 963 Report post Posted November 22, 2014 Nice. Still in legal limbo with that court case? I still am. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Juniorz 253 Report post Posted November 22, 2014 Congratulations 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jajuan 1055 Report post Posted November 25, 2014 My new bike and basket! Nice to see you will be able to return to work soon if you haven't already. Also good move on not speaking on the court case until you reach a resolution. Along those lines, all I'll say further on that for the time being is I wish you luck in reaching an equitable solution since it seems you got yourself good legal representation in the matter. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
