I never wanted to get hit by a car when I was 15, but sadly the experience happened regardless.
I rode my bike to school and to work at that age, often traversing throughout our medium sized city for years without any issues.
My parents on the other hand constantly worried about me and told me to always look both ways before crossing a street. As a kid, you don’t want to constantly hear complaints from your parents that you’re not listening to them about fears they have when you go out with your friends for long bike rides. In my mind, I was always being as careful as I absolutely needed to be. Of course I looked both ways before crossing busy streets, or so I thought until one fateful on my way home from school when I was just 15 years old. I was crossing a busy intersection while all of the cars were at a standstill. To my dismay, the light went green while I was halfway across the intersection. Every single car but one stayed in a stopping position, but the driver in the one closest to me hit the gas pedal and immediately collided with my front tire. The collision sent me careening into the asphalt, face first. After all of the damage to my teeth, I needed immediate emergency dental work. Thankfully we found a good personal injury attorney after we asked my mom’s estate attorney to give us a good referral. We had spoken to five separate personal injury attorneys until my mom found the best one for me. He focused on finding a resolution through legal mediation, instead of pushing for a trial.