Knocked down this morning

Stellite

Hi folks

Got knocked off the bike this morning. Luckily it was at a set of lights just as i was clipping in, a van turned left into me. I hit the van on the nearside back quarter by the brake lights.

No damage done except scrapes to the brake lever and side of saddle, wheel seems still to be true, which is a surprise. Lycra intact. Just sore fingers, must have twisted them under the hoods.

The van drove off and left me in the road, nice, I dont even think he knew he hit me, or just ignored the fact.

And a big thanks to all the folk standing at the lights who just looked at me and offered me no help what so ever, and all the other traffic which drove around me, its much appreciated

bobtbuilder

Sorry to hear about your "off". It's always distressing even with light injuries.

Have you reported it to Plod? It's technically a hit and run.

sicknote

Sorry to hear that as I was lucky I had a low curb to go up so I did not get knock off and would go to the police but it as it might be on a camera if you are lucky.

Glad your ok.

I drive to and it surprises me how little some drivers see :shock:

I think we should give out Specsave vouchers :roll:

mikeq

glad your okay.

Report to the police, although other drivers may not have stopped one may just have had the conscience to report it also

beaders

This is not technically a hit and run it IS a hit and run. It is an injury Road Traffic Accident and the driver of the van is meant to have stopped and provided you with his details even if he wasn't bothered about you having been knocked off. The local Police have to investigate all injury road accidents if you report it.It is irreveleant whether he was aware of hitting you or not. If possible take photos of any bruising/grazes etc and any damage to your bike no matter how small, it all helps

badback

Join the British Cycling association, its only £24 for the year. Lots of legal advice from experts. Sorry to hear about the off.

Stellite

Thanks folks. Will call the Police and let them know about it. From what I can remember there was a fire engine in the other lane, they might have seen something.

fnegroni

Hi, sorry for the accident. I hope you are not too shaken now.
Just out of curiousity, were you in the primary or secondary position at the lights?

Stellite

The van was parked over the red markings for cyclists so I was parallel with the car behind near the kerb. I did not see him indicating left, as the lights changed he drew off and i started off and put my head down as i was clipping in, then all i remember is going into the rear quarter of the van. I think the van may have let a car turn right in the oncoming lane then followed on behind it, but after i hit him he drove off, not at speed but as if he did not know there had been a problem.

To be honest i keep thinking it was my fault, even though it probaly wasnt.

Wallace1492

Hi, sorry to hear of your fall.

However, this sounds very similar to a lot of the incidents of cyclists from artics turning left.

The van may have been indicating, from what you say you are not sure. He then pulls away and turns left, and certainly would not be expecting a cyclist to be coming up the inside if he was turning left.

Also, as you pull away, you are not paying attention to the traffic, but more interested in getting clipped in, this is a dangerous time, and you should be paying full attention to the traffic and what is happening. I find there can be a lot of jockying for position just after lights, so clip in later, leaving feet free to touch ground if required.

I am not unsympathetic, but all cyclists need to be paying full attention especially at lights.

skinson

Deffo report it. I nearly got totalled by a tractor and trailer a few months back. Reported it and so did another guy who I hadn't even seen! Outcome was they traced the guy driving and he was awarded £60.00 and 3 points, or a day in court with 2 witnesses. Guess which he chose?
Dave

fnegroni

Thanks for letting me know.

I needed to know to confirm my view that we must not ever position ourselves to the left of a vehicle, and we should never be in the blind spot of the vehicle in front.
Taking primary position at the lights is paramount for our safety.

Although this is not required by law, I think it would at least mitigate the effects of a non-foreseeable maneuver by such vehicle.

I get occasional beeps from drivers when I indicate and change lanes to go straight ahead, or position myself in the primary position. But that fortunately has avoided being clipped by left-turning or even right-turning vehicles. Usually such drivers are the ones whose observation skills are obviously pathetic, so I made them and myself a favor by avoiding an accident.

I must emphasize I cannot obviously establish fault in this particular case and I am glad you are ok.

Quite depressing to hear no pedestrian asked if you were OK. Are we in a society where minding our own business is more important than looking out for each other?

daviesee

fnegroni wrote:

Thanks for letting me know.

Quite depressing to hear no pedestrian asked if you were OK. Are we in a society where minding our own business is more important than looking out for each other?

Sadly, yes :evil:

Stellite

Normally I would be in the primary position, as indicated by the red paint and cycle markings at this location but the van was stopped on this area. To enable me to see the lights i was a little back next to the car behind. The van must have overshot the lights when they changed to red.

Ill put it down to experience and next time maybe should be on the right of the inside lane?

stfc1

Stellite wrote:

Normally I would be in the primary position, as indicated by the red paint and cycle markings at this location but the van was stopped on this area. To enable me to see the lights i was a little back next to the car behind. The van must have overshot the lights when they changed to red.

Ill put it down to experience and next time maybe should be on the right of the inside lane?

Just get in front of the traffic wherever it stops. If the first vehicle is blocking the cycle box, go in front of the cycle box. The most important thing is to be seen. You'll soon know when the lights have changed, the considerate motorists will start blasting their horns.

I nearly got hit head on by a bus on the way home last night that swept speedily round a sharp corner, completely taking up the contraflow cycle lane. The driver could see me and didn't even brake. Hasty braking and evasive action on my part was required. The only person who gave a monkey's was the cyclist 20 yards behind me, who stopped and watched open-mouthed as the bus hurtled past. Every time you don't get killed out there, you win.

fnegroni

I would disagree with the above recommendation.

If I get to a junction line (stop or just give way) and there is no one in front, I will take primary position but stop behind the line.
If I get to a junction and other vehicles are there, I will indicate and take primary position on the approach, checking behind for other approaching vehicles, I might check if there is a gap ahead and carefully overtake the vehicles in front on the right, but I will stop in primary position at least 2 vehicles behind the line.

The reason is simply that you cannot always tell when the light will turn green and if that happens as you are on the *side* of the vehicle in front, you are in a dangerous position. Aiming to stop some distance behind allows time to regain position in the flow of traffic.

As a cyclist, rather than try and beat cars, I just try and avoid being run over by them: make yourself visible, but don't expose yourself too much.

On the approach to some junctions I am more willing to let traffic overtake me if I can tell they are already committed to the overtake, even if myself as a driver would not commit to it.

ride_whenever

Exactly, chalk up every day with no-one being killed as a win i always say!

adydow

Sorry to hear about you being knocked off, nearly had an idiot do the same to me yesterday evening I was on a roundabout and this clueless prat in a yellow 106 carried straight on instead of giving way to the right as he should of, I was going straight on, but I nearly turned to chase him down at there wwas a hill just over the roundabout and I could of caught him. I just shout idiot and a pedestian agreed with me.

sicknote

Have to say the driver of the van that did the same to me did stop as I banged on the side of his van and he said he did not see me but drove pass me :shock: :roll: :roll:

Ps This was at 7.30 in the morning a few months ago so was bright.

NWLondoner

Firstly I am glad that you are ok. I would report it to the police as it is a hit and run.



Always a tricky one when a car/van stops in the ASL box. I tend to hold back just to the left of the primary position behind the inconsiderate car/van if the lights are parallel to the ASL box. If I can get in front of the ASL box and still see the lights then I will usually go up front and wait in primary. Of course these are always split second decisions and how many times have we come to a standstill and then realised we have overshot the lights :oops:


I am always worried about getting it and stories like this always give me a pause for thought. My nightmare would be to get knocked down and not being able to unclip being left sprawled in the middle of the road NO drivers stopping to assist me.

The worst set of lights for me is wood lane northbound as you cross the Westway (next to the new BBC site. Cycle lane and ASL on the left but traffic usually always turning left (always at last moment) Now I know this road I always lookout but a newbie to the area could easily be knocked over.

Mothyman

glad you're ok. its good to share this sort of advice/experience with us newbies as I'm sure we'll all learn which common recurrent RTA themes crop up and it'll prevent a few accidents hopefully- cheers

freehub

I'm very nervous are traffic lights now, I treat every car as if they are all turning left and not indicating, unless they are indicating of course , Audi driver turned left on me last year, was not indicating, I was coming up the side in a cycle lane so I guess it was my fault really.

badback

Caution on overtaking vehicles who have parked in the cycle area at the front of the lights. An arctic driver ran over a cyclist who positioned himself infront of the arctic to get away first and not have to wait. Arctic driver never saw or felt him as he struggled to clip in. He only started to slow when the oncoming traffic at lights watched the cyclist disappear under the arctic and flashed their lights at him. Another white bicycle at the junction.

I am a complete cycling addict and drive an LGV. Cyclists really need to understand their vunerablity on the roads. i know how easy it is to be speeding thru traffic however larger vehicles need to be respected. I've never seen a lorry in A & E.

I was at a set of lights the other day alongside a double decker. Two cyclists managed to get inbetween us only half way down each vehicle. Then both shat themselves when we edged away. Had either myself or the Bus driver not checked our mirrors they would be completely squished. Don't be under any illusion that we would have been able to stop on hearing or feeling the impact as a combined weight of twenty five tons moving off is some velocity. We must all take care as cyclists and sacrifice speed for safety. I'd rather be six minutes late than six foot under.

stfc1

badback wrote:

Caution on overtaking vehicles who have parked in the cycle area at the front of the lights. An arctic driver ran over a cyclist who positioned himself infront of the arctic to get away first and not have to wait. Arctic driver never saw or felt him as he struggled to clip in. He only started to slow when the oncoming traffic at lights watched the cyclist disappear under the arctic and flashed their lights at him. Another white bicycle at the junction.

I am a complete cycling addict and drive an LGV. Cyclists really need to understand their vunerablity on the roads. i know how easy it is to be speeding thru traffic however larger vehicles need to be respected. I've never seen a lorry in A & E.

I was at a set of lights the other day alongside a double decker. Two cyclists managed to get inbetween us only half way down each vehicle. Then both shat themselves when we edged away. Had either myself or the Bus driver not checked our mirrors they would be completely squished. Don't be under any illusion that we would have been able to stop on hearing or feeling the impact as a combined weight of twenty five tons moving off is some velocity. We must all take care as cyclists and sacrifice speed for safety. I'd rather be six minutes late than six foot under.

Good advice. As I said, the most important thing is to make yourself visible. You need to be able to get much further ahead of a lorry to be visible than you do in front a car.

fnegroni

And if stopping behind a lorry, or a white van with no rear windows, ensure you can see them in their side mirrors, which will ensure they will see you.
That might mean moving to the right of primary position, within your lane.
If unsafe, stay well back: we are cyclists, not superheros.

Stellite

well first ride out since getting knocked off the bike tomorrow. Hope there are no dramas!

Blonde

It does not matter who caused the accident - It is still an offence to leave he scene of a road traffic accident without leaving your insurance details or contact details. This driver must be reported for that. Hope you got a good description of the vehicle and driver. Try to remember at least the fist few digits on the number plate as this really helps the police traffic accident clerk. Once you have your incident number from the police (allow at least two weeks) you can proceed with an insurance claim. You must log all details of the accident - time of day, weather conditions, the road names/numbers involved, any witnesses. Drawing a "before" and "after" diagram showing what happened is also useful. Do this now, as you will tend to forget details if you leave it too long. Log any injuries, even if minor. You may find that soreness or injury (and bike damage) is not immediately apparent so keep a daily log. Also log your mood - you may have experienced shock and you may also experience depression or low mood in the few days afterwards or be worried about subsequent bike journeys. If you do, this is quite normal, but should be taken into account when making an insurance claim for the driver. Take digital photos of all injuries and clothing/luggage/bike damage. Also log any time off work. Your employer may be asked whether any time off you had affected their income or your income - as this too must be claimed for if it is relevant. I suggest using Cycle Aid as they make a "no win, no fee" claim on your behalf (remember that if your claim is successful, the drivers insurance pays the fee, not you. if not sucessful you don't pay anything either). Remember that as the driver has committed an offence the police may wish to prosecute - if they can track the driver down. This can delay your claim as you can't proceed until they have prosecuted. However it really is worth doing. It takes about a year to see the recompense, but the process is not difficult - you just fill in the forms the solicitor sends to you - Just the same as if you had been in a car when you had this accident when presumably you also would be making an insurance claim. Of course, the driver may not have been insured, which may be why they drove off - in which case the police will definitely be interested in prosecuting. Do report it!