Motorcyclist Stuck In Insurance

 After a motorcycle accident, John Bird has been in insurance limbo for a year and a half.

Bird was "in transition" between leaving Alberta and moving to British Columbia when he was hit by a kayak that was left unattended and it flew out of the back of a truck that was passing.

The collision sent him flying, shattered his neck in two places, and required him to spend eight weeks recovering flat on his back.

The Malakwa man said that when he went for a trip to take advantage of a pleasant summer day, his motorcycle was still insured in Alberta even though he had only been in B.C. for a short while.

The event occurred on Highway 23 south of Revelstoke when he made the decision to travel to Nakusp.

After a motorcycle accident, John Bird has been in insurance limbo for a year and a half.

Motorcyclist Stuck In Insurance :

Bird was "in transition" between leaving Alberta and moving to British Columbia when he was hit by a kayak that was left unattended and it flew out of the back of a truck that was passing.

The collision sent him flying, shattered his neck in two places, and required him to spend eight weeks recovering flat on his back.

The Malakwa man said that when he went for a trip to take advantage of a pleasant summer day, his motorcycle was still insured in Alberta even though he had only been in B.C. for a short while.

The event occurred on Highway 23 south of Revelstoke when he made the decision to travel to Nakusp.

"A pickup truck was running out of room as it drew out to pass me in a straight line. Another truck was moving in the opposite direction "Bird remembers.

He very closely drew back in front of me.

The two kayaks in the back of the box flew out as the driver did this.

"One struck me directly... The next thing I remember is waking up in a forest of trees with a highway worker standing over me."

The impact threw a bird over the ditch.

What just transpired, he questioned.

He had to be extricated with a chainsaw, and he was taken by ambulance to Revelstoke.

He was sent to Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops after X-rays showed he had a broken neck.

In addition, Bird sustained severe bruises and a dislocated knee.

It has taken him a year and a half to regain his footing, he claims.

But those are barely half of his issues.

Motorcyclist Stuck In Insurance :

Bird figured the truck driver's liability insurance would pay his damages since the collision wasn't his fault. But because the bike still had an Alberta licence plate, British Columbia's new "no fault" insurance system rejected his claim.

Bird asked, "How is this possible? "ICBC has not given me any money as of today."The truck driver received a $173 fine for having an insecure load, then he continued driving.

Why even have liability insurance, you ask? Bird asks, "Isn't that what it's for?

To attract attention to what he claims is an unfair system, he is engaging in a PR campaign. He acknowledges that the province tried to control the skyrocketing expense of legal defence, but he asserts that if the parties who were harmed are from outside the province, they may not have a case.

ICBC concluded their investigation, and the other driver never even stopped to ask how I was doing. He simply gathered his kayaks and departed.

He claims he has "no way" of competing against a powerhouse like ICBC in a civil lawsuit. They only see me as a man with a complaint.

It "makes a mockery of the entire insurance industry," he asserts.Bird, 62, claims his physicians have approved long-term disability for him even though he is no longer the physically fit and mobile specimen he once was. For him, even standing still for a while is too much.

However, according to Bird, his Alberta insurer has only provided "a few bucks" in coverage.

People are ignorant of the potential consequences of accidents, he claims.

Bird can hardly move his arms above his head and needs to take morphine every day to manage his discomfort.

His Alberta insurance requests that he visit doctors there, but he no longer resides there and is unable to make the necessary travel arrangements.

I'm pretty much on my own, he remarked.Bird has until next June to decide whether to pursue compensation through British Columbia's Civil Resolution Tribunal, but he freely admits that the convoluted process has discouraged him.

The worst aspect, he argues, is that everything could have been avoided.