Alternate Facts

This is the second post about the bicycle accident that Greg was involved in over two years ago and the subsequent lawsuit that was filed against him. We were not allowed to discuss the case with anyone other than our attorney, so if our families and friends are reading this, please know that we wanted to tell you but couldn't. You can read the first post here: The Accident.

When Greg was served with papers in mid-August 2016, our insurance company, State Farm, stepped in and hired an attorney to represent us. Greg met with the attorney for the first time in late September 2016. After producing all of the evidence as required by the lawsuit, which included Greg's detailed written account of the accident and data from the Strava app on his iPhone, our attorney filed a response disputing all of the allegations made by the other rider, who claimed that Greg was negligent in causing the accident and the ensuing injuries and damages amounting to almost $330,000.

On October 31, 2016, just over one year after the accident, the plaintiff's attorney made an offer of settlement in the amount of $100,000 (our insurance policy limit). Our attorney declined the offer as, based on the evidence presented, he felt strongly that we would prevail on liability.

As with many legal proceedings, there is often a lull in activity for the parties involved as the plaintiff's and defendant's attorneys continue to gather evidence to substantiate their cases. Greg and I tried to live our lives as we normally would, even going on a long-planned two-week-long cruise through the Panama Canal with members of both of our families over Thanksgiving 2016 after our attorney assured us that nothing would happen during that time.

On February 1, 2017, we were notified that the opposing attorney had asked to take Greg's deposition. On February 10, Greg and the plaintiff answered questions related to the case under oath with both attorneys present. The plaintiff alleged that Greg was riding at an unsafe speed, did not ring his bell to warn them before his attempt to pass, tried to pass when there was not adequate space, and did not maintain control of his bike when passing.

After the deposition, there was another very long lull in activity. At the end of June 2017 we were notified that a trial date had been scheduled for the week of October 9. In the meantime, the court ordered both parties to meet with a mediator. This occurred on September 1 and was also unsuccessful. The plaintiff would not agree to a settlement of less than $75,000 while our attorney (and insurance company) would not go above $55,000.

In mid-September, a revised trial date was set for December 4, 2017, forcing us to cancel the vacation (another two-week-long cruise) that we had booked a year ago. In the meantime, we began to prepare for the trial, with Greg returning to the accident scene in late October (now two years after the accident) with his attorney and his assistants to reenact the events and document everything with photos and video.