"Peter R." wrote in
:

If it makes you feel any better about some of us here, back in 1985 I
was riding my motorcycle down a two-lane street when an automobile
pulled out of a driveway and crossed right in front of me left to right.
I was unable to avoid the car, hit the driver's side door and catapulted
over the top of the car. It was clearly the other driver's fault.

The insurance company covered my lost income while I recovered, my
medical expenses, and damage to my motorcycle. I let it go at that and
didn't bother suing them for large amounts of pain and suffering despite
the fact that it would have been an open-and-shut case.

In 1985 it might have been an open-and-shut case.

If that accident were to have happened today, you would have been lucky to
get off so easy - the attorneys for the driver of the other vehicle would
have taken everything as contingency for their suit against you...