Talk to your attorney man. That whole bit about the city not pushing you off the ramp is of course true, but irrelevant. The owner of the ramp (the city in this case) has an obligation to maintain a safe premises.

 

The ramp has probably safely served thousands of people for years, but most of them don't slip off their boats...or is that irrelevant, too? I get so confused about legal matters.

FWIW, I was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident at a State Vehicle Recreation Area. Another rider was going the wrong way on a marked one way trail. My full face Bell Snell & DOT approved helmet saved my life and was broken when we hit heads at a closing speed of about 40 mph. My knee cap was shattered into 8 pieces in a head on collision with his fork tube. You could say it hurt a bit. The Dr. removed my knee cap. After two major surgeries and 18 months of physical therapy, and I was able to regain 15% of the strength of my good leg. I cannot run due to the injury. My brand new bike (had not made the first payment) was massively damaged.

The guy who hit me had no money or insurance, and basically threatened to declare bankruptcy rather than pay me a dime. Since it cost money to declare bankruptcy, we negotiated a deal where he paid me about $1,200 (not even enough to fix my motorcycle).

My attorney wanted to sue the state. I told him no, because the accident was not their fault. They did not make him go the wrong way, but I guess they did provide trails that allowed him to do so. I want the state to provide trails.

Sometimes, *hit happens. If you are worried about other people getting hurt, go remove the bar.

 

Imagine the trail that you were riding down was a clearly marked state maintained trail and there is a hole dug into the middle of the trail and covered now if you hit that hole and injured yourself and found out that the state put it there... thats how im feeling im not trying to take away from what really happened to you it sounded very painfull. but you did feel like you should be reimbursed from someone. in no disrespect should you have just watched out for him coming at you? the same way I should have had better footing?

As for me removing the rebar I doubt that will ever happen 1 that is why i pay taxes and it would take a backhoe to remove its chunks of re enforced concrete.

 

Sorry for the mis-understanding. I did not realize the city booby trapped you like they did. Reading your first post about the injury, it seemed like it might have been an accident or even partially your fault. You might want to ask your attorney if you should edit your earlier account before the city lawyers find it.

I was thinking a pair of bolt cutters or a saw might snip off that re-bar. You definitely don't want to disturb the evidence since you are suing, though. Maybe they will bring the jury out for a look-see in a couple of years, if the city fails to cut you a check.

As for my accident, it was on a blind corner - basically worst case scenario. Yes, I was going fast around that blind corner (like I had many times before) because it was a marked one way trail.

Live and learn for me - I don't ride at state parks anymore. Now I go out into the boonies where there are much fewer people (FWIW, I can still ride, but only sitting down and nowhere near to my potential).

BTW, in my time of need, the park rangers busted their asses getting me out of the woods to a spot where an ambulance could reach me. Putting my rescuers out of a job because I sued their park closed just did not feel right to me. My only beef was with the guy who injured me. He was poor and stupid. I had no legal recourse against him. Making others feel the pain he should have felt might have been good for my bank account, sure. But taking money from someone else for something that was not their fault is not right, IMO, and that's where that road was leading.

Yea, it changed my life in many ways, but over time I came to accept it as my fate. Basically, I would not have met my wife and had my same kids if my life had taken a different path.

 

Im not sure what the concrete is there for ive been told that it was from the old wall that fell down years ago.

Im thinking one thing that might help me is the park is monitered by cameras im trying to get ahold of the park service to see if the still have a copy of that day.

Im not worried about making the city go broke im not going to go after an insane amount of money and even so this town thrives off the military they arn't going to run out of money any time soon.

 

DBD, sorry to hear about your accident man, that sounds pretty bad.

you can't really compare the two cases though, one involves negligence on the part of a private party, and the other involves an accident on public property.

 

Doesnt answer the question of what it was you slipped on. your boat? the ramp? the dock? a cartoon banana peel ?

If it was their stuff that was slippery, they should've maintained it better. If it was your stuff, well, you should've maintained it better.

re: medical reimbursement
the claim will be for that amount + general pain & suffering damages. Your insurance co will then want to be reimbursed (usu a portion of) what they paid out. Any monetary claim will be based (pretty much) on your medical expenses.



What happened w/your meeting with the attorney?

 

I slipped off the front of my boat it was my boat and lack off balance that caused the fall. Its there debris thats in the water that caused the injury.

My lawyer appointment isn't until Tuesday.

 

mmmk. mitigates your claim, but if there was still dangerous debris in an area frequently used *shrug*, still seems decent. not as good, but decent.

have the names of those guys that said the concrete/rebar fell in years ago? documentation of stuff like that can help.

 

What? This is the first time I have ever heard of this - and I have been in the military 18 years. What regulation is this out of?

 

Its MCO P1400.31