A Road Traffic 'Incident'

unclemalc

Daughter's boyfriend wants to give up the car and cycle to work.
He buys old MTB and is pleased with £40 price. :?
I take a look and after two weeks and another 60 quid its actually roadworthy: 'new' saddle (from 'stock'), new grips, chain, tyres (Marathons - £9 each!), pedals (he has big feet...), brake blocks and properly indexed gears.
On shakedown ride, half a mile out, a driver takes out my right handlebargrip with wing mirror and I'm in the road with what feels like busted ribs on my left side.
After attention from: 2 First Aiders (thanks for the blanket Rebecca) and 2 Doctors (all just passing :shock: ), the Police and subsequent Ambulance Crew, and a quick once over from the A&E doc, within 2 hours I am back home, stiff down my left side ("just bruising") and finding that the bike is undamaged apart from a stuck brake cantilever.
Police are taking no further action: although the driver is over 70, can hardly walk except with a stick, she apparently passed all roadside tests (drink/eyes etc). I suffered no bike damage worth noting so its up to me to pursue any claim for personal injury.
If I puncture a lung later laughing about the whole thing and how I love 'elderly' drivers (this is the second time an old one has had me off (the last one got an official warning...) then I may stop one of those i"Have you had an accident lately" people in the town :twisted: ....
Can't ride: thats the thing that hurts the most....

STEFANOS4784

ooooh , nasty, also a bit of a dilema as to whether or not to claim off rthe biddies insurance(i would, take no prisoners, she could kill some-one next time)

Bikerbaboon

I still think its crazy that you pass your test at 17 and as long as you are lucky you only need to think about it again once you hit 70...... 53 years. :shock:
I would hate to think about how the roads have changed. how the cars have changed and how many cars there are now on the roads compared to 50 years ago. I think my grandad was 80 when he stopped driving. We begged the police to take his licenses but they did nothing. The only reason he stopped driving is he forgot he had a car after we put him in to supported accommodation, he would say to petrol attendants i cant remember how to fill my car or how i pay you. The funny thing is is he had never taken a test to drive as he was driving when the licenses started.
People still think that they have some kind of right to drive.

If a driver hits you from behind while overtaking its driving with out due care, I for one would push the police on this one pointing out what may have happen and that you and the driver got very lucky.

Slow Downcp

It sucks that someone could have potentially killed you, you the police think no action is necessary. I guess the excuse was didn't see you - in which case should be done for driving without due care - or they didn't judge the distance correctly - I guess the same charge could be brought.

If it was a 18 year old chav, the police would have taken action no doubt and you'd have no hesitation seeking compensation. Age shouldn't make a difference - sweet, little old ladies (or men) can still kill if in charge of 1 1/2 tonne of metal.

Get well soon whatever you decide to do.

unclemalc

I was lying on my back with all these faces around me and I asked one: "Were you right behind me?"
"yes" he says
"Did you see it? " I asked
"No mate" he says
"I am lucky you didn't drive over me then" was my reply.... :shock:

Tonights press-ups are definitely out.

Cheers for the good wishes Folks.

dag_on_a_bike

unclemalc wrote:

...so its up to me to pursue any claim for personal injury...then I may stop one of those i"Have you had an accident lately" people in the town...

As a PI lawyer I have to say "Don't do that".

Yes, do seriously consider making a claim - your compensation may pave the way to a shiny new steed (so you can get knocked off something with style?), but consult a decent lawyer, perhaps via CTC/British Cycling or check your home insurance to see if you have legal expenses cover.

I know there's many who go on about the so called 'compensation culture' but if you have suffered injury due to someone else's negligence you are entitled to seek compensation.

_Brun_

Is it fair to assume the police can't take further action because the only potential witnesses 'didn't see it'?

Good to at least hear you weren't more seriously injured. Has to be asked: How keen is your daughter's bloke on cycling to work now?

unclemalc

DAG on a bike wrote:

unclemalc wrote:

...so its up to me to pursue any claim for personal injury...then I may stop one of those i"Have you had an accident lately" people in the town...

As a PI lawyer I have to say "Don't do that".

Yes, do seriously consider making a claim - your compensation may pave the way to a shiny new steed (so you can get knocked off something with style?), but consult a decent lawyer, perhaps via CTC/British Cycling or check your home insurance to see if you have legal expenses cover.

I know there's many who go on about the so called 'compensation culture' but if you have suffered injury due to someone else's negligence you are entitled to seek compensation.

LOL. No I wasn't going to really do that: the hassle just isn't worth it.
The net damage is a bruised chest and a damaged helmet (Once again, Dear Readers, I advocate the use of a helmet - it's too late getting one AFTER the accident.... :shock: ).
As I watched the bike skittering away down the road I was cursing the probable waste of money it had potentially turned out to be, but amazingly, it's ok: in fact I went out on it this morning; more as a gesture of defiance in the face of motorists than anything else.

No - I think she'll get a bill for a new helmet and the whole thing'll just be another addition to my scrapbook... :?

unclemalc

_Brun_ wrote:

Is it fair to assume the police can't take further action because the only potential witnesses 'didn't see it'?

Good to at least hear you weren't more seriously injured. Has to be asked: How keen is your daughter's bloke on cycling to work now?

The Police gave her roadside tests which she passed; she admitted fault but I was not seriously hurt THEREFORE as a police case, their 'warning' to her is deemed sufficient... :shock:
If I feel hard-done-by, it's up to me to pursue a case, but as I am potentially long-term UN-injured, there is no personal case to pursue.
If the bike, or my kit, had been trashed then I have all the details to claim from her insurance, but I have nothing to show apart from a damaged helmet, so I can't really fool the insurance assessor.

Such is the knife edge we, as cyclists, live on: if the guy behind me had been less aware/on his mobile/sorting the radio, I would have gone under his car. She herself could have locked my handlebars in the mirror and dragged me. Both scenarios would have warrented a bit more interest from the Police, at my expense.
I was lucky, that's all.
Be aware and safe out there - it could all change in a second. :roll:

unclemalc

Oh - one last thing...
Daughter's boyfriend was impressed that his Dad had gone past an 'accident' where "some poor sod had been knocked off his bike".
Was that you?" he asked.
"Unless there were two of us, in the same road, at the same time, causing the same amount of maximum road chaos, then 'Yes'", I said.
"Cool" he says, "Fancy that"..

It's a small world...