Homeowner's tree fell, telephone line hung down in the road, I was riding an e-bike.
Questions:
What may I expect, assuming the homeowner has insurance? Will my medical bills be covered at the very least? Do you have any advice on what I should I do from here?
Context:
(US, California, Sacramento county) I'm a 20 year old male working at a local grocery store about 6 miles away from a place I stay at in the country. I work nights and typically get off work at about 10pm. I ride an e-bike which maxes out at 20mph.
It was a hot day, very still, not much wind if any, no storms, etc.
I was riding home and had gotten to the darker parts of the country roads, unfortunately my headlight on my bike doesn't reach much above the road. I was going about 19-20mph and didn't notice the hanging telephone line until it was right in front of me. It ended up catching on my neck and I dragged the slack of the line with me for about 15-20 feet, maybe more. It was hard for me to control the bike as it was happening until the line stopped and I was thrown off the bike. Did some flips and rolls and slammed on my knee. I had tried to get up and felt and heard a loud pop in my knee. I wasn't able to stand up nor walk and crawled to the side of the road.
I ended up having severe friction burns on my neck and I had dislocated my knee (knee cap I believe).
Didn't want an ambulance to come due to the medical bills until I realize my leg was going numb and I wasn't sure if anything was broken, if I had hit my head, etc.
Medical stuff:
As stated before it resulted in severe friction burns across my neck and my knee (cap?) dislocating. After the ambulance ride I was assessed and they were worried that some small muscles used for head stabilization were torn (not sure if this is exactly what they said, but it was something of the sort). They said it was a rarer injury and they wanted to check it out for a study.
I ended up having a CT scan for my head and neck. They cleaned my wounds, wrapped them, put me in a knee immobilizer and gave me crutches and then sent me on my way with my parents.
Random info:
Calling the responding fire department and the CHP tomorrow to get the records (My mom works with stuff like this often and is going to help me with any sort of claims). Let me know if there's any details you want that might help such as when help was called for or details in my time laying in the road, etc. I still cannot fully walk on my own, today I managed to shuffle around my place while only sometimes holding onto things (from my kitchen to my room) but for longer distances I need at least 1 crutch.
IMAGES BELOW ARE GRAPHIC, SHOWING THE SUSTAINED INJURIES
https://ibb.co/WvhPZXJN - 5/31 (Night of incident)
https://ibb.co/Tq4WdJWD - 5/31 (Night of incident)
https://ibb.co/QWdDbX3 - 6/1
https://ibb.co/TBnp2LvP - 6/1
Posted Jun 3, 2025, 7:48 AM UTC