Got hit today (man does that hurt)

downfader

Spent the last 40 minutes writing a message here and me puter killed it all. :x

Anyway, going down a cycle lane a guy pulled out from the left on me. One big slap and I'm flying like superman and end up hitting the deck. Driver comes running out, already got his mobile out and an ambulance is on its way. A couple of other people stopped, including a local cyclist.

Driver starts patting my legs down. :shock: I started screaming "Let go on my f***ing legs, leave my legs alone!!!" And then he tried to pull my left leg out straight, cue more screaming. I think the cyclist pulled him away and had a go.

Woman leans over me "I think you've dislocated both your knees" :shock: Cheers, thanks for telling me that. :shock: Quick reponder arrived, then the police, then the ambulance. All were fantastic. Got hoisted up in a neck and back brace, despite my protestations that I didnt think it was necessary.

A few hours in A&E, spoke to a couple of visitors, got seen to and no major damage. Bruised n cut shoulder, knees too a right beating, bruised thighs, road rash on the chin. Helmet is ****ed. Camera was running too, havent checked it over yet though. Was well enough to take the bus home (as the police have my bike, sounds like thats ****ed too )

And here I am.

Watch this old video of the junction where it happened: 3.40 is the cycle lane crossing over past a round about and 3.42 is the junction on the left (where the van is). All happened very fast. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_GwnqJcN8DY

lost_in_thought

Bl**dy hell.

Hope you recover, take it easy and sue the pants off the driver.

The bike is not as important as your health.

Gussio

Glad that you are just about in one piece. Sounds like it could have been much worse....

Hope that you get a new bike from the driver, together with suitable compensation.

Littigator

Jeez DF, make sure you rest up and take it easy and take care of yourself for a few days...

I'm glad you're here in a state fit to type to us.

If you need a bit of cheering up feel free to read a bit of the SCR thread where it seems to be open season on calling me a girl etc etc

Mend soon mate

cjcp

Bl00dy hell. Glad the injuries aren't as serious as they could have been.

Heal fast.

Kieran_Burns

I echo the above comments mate - very glad to hear you're okay but take it easy for a few days, just in case you're not,

It's an odd situtaion in that you've clearly lost the bike but can now look forward to a new one! If the driver has any decency he'll dig into his own pocket and pay for one, or admit full liability so the insurance claim can go through quickly.

gtvlusso

Get well soon.

snooks

Glad yer alright, get the pain killers in now ....Was that the S'ton side of the itchenor bridge??

GyatsoLa

Very glad you're alright. What I'm gonna say sounds like cynical advice but I do think you should get yourself a solicitor quickly - might be a claim in this.

I had an accident this morning too, pedestrian stepped off the pavement, right in front of me - I couldn't avoid her due to bus approaching behind. I was lucky though, she had bags of shopping which gave me a nice soft landing :-)

Coriander

DF, so sorry to hear that. And very glad to hear that you hadn't dislocated your knees, though it does all sound rather grim.

Get well soon.

hisoka

Wow that sounds horrible! Ergh.
Only time had something like that I was clipped by some motorised machine (unclear to me as I was busy wrapping around a lamppost) and that was bad enough but not to your extent, just bruising for me.
Get well soon, and I'm sure that something human in the driver will make sure that he gets you a new bike, one way or another.

DonDaddyD

Sounds awful

Hope you get well soon!

Clever Pun

oh my... ouch

hope you mend all ok...

yeah that junction looks pretty fast...ouch

Littigator

GyatsoLa wrote:

Very glad you're alright. What I'm gonna say sounds like cynical advice but I do think you should get yourself a solicitor quickly - might be a claim in this.

I had an accident this morning too, pedestrian stepped off the pavement, right in front of me - I couldn't avoid her due to bus approaching behind. I was lucky though, she had bags of shopping which gave me a nice soft landing :-)

No no no, you only need a solicitor if the driver or their insurance company refute the claim in anyway. Wait and see what their response is. People revert to solicitors far to easily these days

downfader

snooks wrote:

Glad yer alright, get the pain killers in now ....Was that the S'ton side of the itchenor bridge??

Cheers everyone for the kind words.

Snooks, I was on the cycle lane on the citycenter side just about to head up centrel bridge.

Have watched me video back, got a fair bit of info on there it has to be said. Sadly me puter has died now, so I'm using my fathers. Why cant they design PCs to just work :? I'll look into the legal angle tomorrow

always_tyred

Looking at that junction, the nicely engineered cycle lane appears to divert cyclists further out of the field of vision of the motorist checking the traffic coming from their right. Genius. (Absolutely no excuse though.)

The video will be interesting, that's for sure, particularly now that we are safe in the knowledge that you are not permanently damaged (assuming that you do not drop dead from rotational brain injury this evening).

Note of caution - I think that the moderators are understandably concerned not to have open police matters discussed here. I'm not sure how far that goes, so might be best to drop one of them a line and ask.

OldSkoolKona

Downfader, sorry to hear about your hit - hope nothing's too damaged (body wise)
:shock:
Get well soon!

il_principe

Heal up well! Glad you're ok and that the driver stopped and helped.

Here's hoping you get a fat insurance payout to put towards a lovely new bike.

The Greg

Get well soon lad.

Not a nice story. Having someone pull out in front of me without seeing me (they look but they don't see) is probably my greatest fear when out on the bike.

girv73

Yow! Take it easy and get well soon. Looking forward to the video as well, whatever you can recover from your flight recorder

Jon8a

Very similar accident to mine. Hope you get well soon. I hate to tell you this but it's going to hurt a lot more tomorrow, it was only after the adrenaline wore off that I realised it hurt when I moved my wrists (so off to a and e about 3 hours after the accident). And then comes the bruising and the stiffness.

So on that bright note, I failed to get the driver prosecuted. I wasn't bothered about the money beyond recovering my losses but I really did want to see him with at least some points on his licence, after all you get them for speeding where you have only the potential to cause an accident but actually causing one....

saveswalking

Kieran_Burns wrote:

I echo the above comments mate - very glad to hear you're okay but take it easy for a few days, just in case you're not,

It's an odd situtaion in that you've clearly lost the bike but can now look forward to a new one! If the driver has any decency he'll dig into his own pocket and pay for one, or admit full liability so the insurance claim can go through quickly.

I'm sure you are strongly advised not to accept any financial 'compensation' directly from the other party (ie the person that hit you) or this could/will seriously undermine any legal action you take after the incident ...
http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=401

Rest up mate -

sw

AndyManc

Hope the camera is OK :?

jam1e

downfader wrote:

snooks wrote:

Glad yer alright, get the pain killers in now ....Was that the S'ton side of the itchenor bridge??

Cheers everyone for the kind words.

Snooks, I was on the cycle lane on the citycenter side just about to head up centrel bridge.

Have watched me video back, got a fair bit of info on there it has to be said. Sadly me puter has died now, so I'm using my fathers. Why cant they design PCs to just work :? I'll look into the legal angle tomorrow

They do, they're called macs Hope you don't feel to bad tomorrow mate.

moonio

Hope you feel better soon :!:

dondare

Tough luck mate. You'll get used to the pain before it goes away.

The only thing more invisible than a cyclist in a cycle lane is a cyclist in a cycle lane approaching a junction.

attica

Get well soon DF

Never accept the insurance company's first offer, they always start low in the hope that you're a sucker.

downfader

Always Tyred wrote:

Looking at that junction, the nicely engineered cycle lane appears to divert cyclists further out of the field of vision of the motorist checking the traffic coming from their right. Genius. (Absolutely no excuse though.)

The video will be interesting, that's for sure, particularly now that we are safe in the knowledge that you are not permanently damaged (assuming that you do not drop dead from rotational brain injury this evening).

Note of caution - I think that the moderators are understandably concerned not to have open police matters discussed here. I'm not sure how far that goes, so might be best to drop one of them a line and ask.

Got up because I cant sleep... :?

Yes that cycle lane is indeed genius. There is a special cycle sign before that junction to warn drivers of a cyclists approach. A number of people raised concerns that perhaps it would have been wiser to install a set of traffic lights - after all there is a sensor to link it up to.

If I'm being honest the bend also seems to stop motorists from tearing around from the righthand junction (and they do). About a cyclist a month seems to get hit on or near that bridge - I guess it was my turn

Fair point about the open-police matters. Duelly noted.

biondino

How are you feeling today, DF? What hurts most? Are you going to be off work for long?

After my little tumble yesterday I have some neckache but it's hardly the same

Kyrotek

Hope you're feeling better DF.

Being a So'toner meself I pass that coming from the other direction on the way home (different route each way for fun) and it gets hairy around that roundabout no matter what time of day. The left-hand turn leading into it is just as dodgy as the cycle lane passes right across it and when out with the missus, she pulls a trailer with our wee boys in, I always start making a nuisance of myself to make sure we are seen crossing.

Didn't an old chap on a cycle get killed there not so long ago, maybe a month? Closed the whole bridge for a night, blue lights up and down the terrace and everything, lots of people involved, driver and passengers injured and arrested on release. So much for green pain and white lines...

downfader

biondino wrote:

How are you feeling today, DF? What hurts most? Are you going to be off work for long?

After my little tumble yesterday I have some neckache but it's hardly the same

Having trouble getting in and out of bed tbh. :oops: I realised within an hour of being in A&E that my right thigh was strained. Today I realised my neck and stomach muscles are "whiplashed", lol, if you can call it that

TBH my injuries are nothing, I found out late last night that my aunt has had an accident. Finally this morning I hear what happened and she'd fallen out of a loft hatch into a heap. Broken ribs, shoulder the lot. It never rains it ****ing pours. :shock:

BTW bio, what happened to you?

Kyrotek wrote:

Being a So'toner meself I pass that coming from the other direction on the way home (different route each way for fun) and it gets hairy around that roundabout no matter what time of day. The left-hand turn leading into it is just as dodgy as the cycle lane passes right across it and when out with the missus, she pulls a trailer with our wee boys in, I always start making a nuisance of myself to make sure we are seen crossing.

Didn't an old chap on a cycle get killed there not so long ago, maybe a month? Closed the whole bridge for a night, blue lights up and down the terrace and everything, lots of people involved, driver and passengers injured and arrested on release. So much for green pain and white lines

I've navigated that bridge so many times... the actual itchen bridge itself feels a lot safer compared to the two roundabouts (central bridge and woolston ends). There seemed to be an unnerving amount of traffic yesterday.

NEWS LINK to the poor fella that died. This was much further on up on the itchen bridge itself. A lot of people have or rather had been posting all kinds of rubbish about this on the net. I think the trial is coming soon, I'm sure we'll find out the facts there. :?