Side-Swiped by Car:It Refused to Stop:Advice?

mercsport

In brief : side-swiped by car pulling out of side road; car refuses to stop; bike unrideable; what to do?

I would suppose this is a common enough cautionary tale here in Cake-Stop, but I haven't been paying attention to the travails of others here for awhile (.. usually go to the Pro-Race forum to see if they've turned up any more incriminatory stuff on Lance ! :oops: ).

Yesterday I ventured out on the bike for the first time since mid December, plodded my way into a headwind to the top of the hill here, and after a lovely swift descent I anchored on to turn right into the lane that leads to the village. I was on the crown of the road ( ..an A road, incidentally, and although about 2pm I had my front and rear LED lights on too) about to turn in when a Fiesta came up the laneI was to enter, hesitated at the junction and pulled out straight into my side, which floored me.

One mercy: at least he stopped his car so as not to run me over. However, as I was picking myself up he wound his window down and proceeded to bollock me for not indicating, then, because I'd picked myself up and asked him to pull over to discuss the matter further, he scornfully declared my condition as "you're alright" and "can't stop, ...the wife's got an appointment at the doctors". Then theatrically we commenced a farcical series of lunges and feints in the middle of the road as he tried to drive around me and away. Which, eventually he did (I managed to clatter the side of his car with my bike in frustration).

The rear end of the bike, incidentally, was trashed by the initial impact. The rear mech was torn completely off the dropout and wrapped into the spokes. The hanger fractured and bent and I know not what else yet. Haven't had the heart to start dissecting the mechanicals yet. Had to carry the bike the couple of miles home. Went to the police station and told'em my tale. Got the registration number of the car wrong "..er, ...no record of a car with that reg". Still, they filed an accident report.

There's more to tell but, to cut the amount of my gassing here, I eventually tracked down the errant driver and car. He, like me, was an old geezer ( with a beard to boot!) and I felt sure he'd live nearby so after a bit of a drive around I found him out. Knocked on his door and discovered him to be still brazenly declaring me to be at fault etc. I despaired of reasoning with the fellow and left after clocking the proper reg' of his car and address.

Am now about to step out to the police station to see what further steps, if anything, may be taken. And obviously, with half of my bike mulched, am wondering how one goes about claiming restitution. Will report back here if frustrations continue to multiply.

teagar

If you can be bothered, go to the police.

It's real ballache though.


I'm sure most people here will demand you go see the police, for their and other cyclist's sake - with good reason.

At least your bike took the brunt and not you!

pneumatic

From experience, I'd say he is due at least a formal charge of failing to report a road accident within 24 hours. His only excuse for not stopping and reporting on the spot would be that it was impractical do do so, which doesn't sound like the case from your account of what happened.

A lot depends on your local Police. My lot have proved pretty good at following up this kind of incident.

keef66

It doesn't matter if you were indicating or not, he was pulling out onto a minor road and failed to give way. He then also left the scene of an accident without leaving his details. Surely the old bill will now take an interest?

You should be able to claim against his insurers (assuming he is insured) but it will be quicker if you involve a solicitor.

Bikerbaboon

yep talk to the police and kick up a bit of a fuss.
contact a good solicitor... if you are a member of ctc talk to them.

get saveing to repair the bike as claiming from insurance can take a long time. I have had a case for a SMDSY take over a year, and my wife who got rear ended is still waiting payment and it was 2 years.
Get checked over by a GP if anything starts to hurt over then next few days.

DaSy

I was in an RTA a year or so ago, when a car pulled out of a side road across my path when I was travelling along the main road at around 20mph. I locked up and skidded sideways into the side of his car, but he did stop and give me his phone number etc, plus I took his reg number.

I buckled my wheels and knocked my shoulder a fair bit, but rode home, another 15 miles, so not too bad.

I contacted CTC (who use Russell Jones and Walker) and got their solicitor onto the case. They told me to report it to the Police straight away, just to get it on record, they organised an independent doctors report on my injuries, which were minimal, and I did make that clear to him.
As it was a carbon frame, the LBS recommended it be replaced unless the insurers wanted to pay to send it to Look to be x-rayed, so in the end I got £1500 for my injuries and £1700 to replace the frame and wheels.

The service by Russell Jones and Walker was excellent, and I had my cash with in 2 months! Definitely engage a solicitor like them on your behalf, they exert a force on insurers that the like of you and I as lay-people just can't.

Pross

I would suppose this is a common enough cautionary tale here in Cake-Stop, but I haven't been paying attention to the travails of others here for awhile (.. usually go to the Pro-Race forum to see if they've turned up any more incriminatory stuff on Lance ! ).

I reckon it was Lance driving the car and he was having a rush to the head from additional red blood cells at the time

Ands

Sorry to hear about your accident.
How much of the reg do you think you remember? If you go to webuyanycar.com you can key in a reg and it will tell you the make/model/colour - perhaps you can try different variations of the reg you think it was. Then if you get the right make,model and colour, plus a reg, you could re-report it to police (We tried this after OH got punched in the face by a motorist - spent ages trying various combinations of the last 2 letters.)

EDit: Ok, so I re-read your post and realised you DID manage to track him down. Serves me right for skim-reading :oops: :oops:

Headhuunter

I had an accident on the 26th Nov, wrote about it here on "commuting". Car turned right across my path and I slammed into the front wing and went over the bonnet, smashing the windscreen on the way through. Police were called by someone else, ambulance whisked me to hospital. Bike was a write off and I'm still recovering from a nasty hip injury.

RJ&W are looking into it but they are very slow. Nothing has happened yet and it will've been 8 weeks tomorrow since the crash. I emailed the sol yesterday and she said there is a "backlog in her dictation". She said that I would hear "shortly" from a medical professional for a mediolegal exam, that was on the 4th Jan and still nothing.

She said the whole process would probably take a year though, but as yet, nothing has even started moving...

skyd0g

Take photos of any damage to yourself and your bike. Bruises, road-rash, damage to clothing etc. and damage to your bike. Also photos of the location of the incident. These could be useful at a later date.

mercsport

Thanks all for the suggestions. All sound stuff.

I did trot along to the police again this morning, but other than acknowledging my revisionist's accounting of the accident, nothing more than that really.

My CTC sub's lapsed several ages ago, so no recourse there. I'll go up the road this afternoon and see if the ambulance chasing solicitor that I'm aware of around here is about. See what she suggests.

'Ands', I skim read the number plate yesterday but it had blown away out of my head by the time I arrived at the cop shop. I did get the reg' right in the end though, but only by actually finding the actual car in his drive.
But, now you've mentioned it, was there a happy outcome to your skirmish with thuggery ?

Having just nipped back for an edit, I realize my mishap is but small beer to to the others that have posted here. Grief ! :shock:

But, once again, thanks all. 8)

Pross wrote:

I reckon it was Lance driving the car and he was having a rush to the head from additional red blood cells at the time

No, I wasn't fated to be knocked over by a nefarious celebrity. But, yes, he can certainly pack'em in alright. :roll:

alfablue

I think the CTC's lawyers will probably take you on anyway, I have heard they have done so for others.

592

I hope you have returned to the police and updated them that you have found the vehicle involved and spoken with the owner who has admitted his involvement. A statement from you would be sufficent for police to questiion the driver you have identified. Police are able to identify vehicles from partial registration numbers and along with your evidence and any evidence of his vehicle being damaged should be enough for CPS to prosecute. The question of who was in the right or wrong is irrelevant. The driver has an obligation to stop and exchange details with you. Get yourself back to the police station and make a nuisance of yourself if they are reluctant to pursue the matter. I am speaking from a lot of experience and I am afraid to say a lot depends on what type of police officer you have dealing with your case. By the sound of it this man needs to go before a court.

Anonymous

Lob a 5 litre can of red gloss through his lounge window.

Totally wrong, but oh, so right. 8)

( I am kidding BTW)

Anonymous

keef66 wrote:

It doesn't matter if you were indicating or not, he was pulling out onto a minor road and failed to give way. He then also left the scene of an accident without leaving his details. Surely the old bill will now take an interest?

You should be able to claim against his insurers (assuming he is insured) but it will be quicker if you involve a solicitor.

+1 on that advice.

mercsport

592 wrote:

I hope you have returned to the police and updated them that you have found the vehicle involved and spoken with the owner who has admitted his involvement. A statement from you would be sufficent for police to questiion the driver you have identified. Police are able to identify vehicles from partial registration numbers and along with your evidence and any evidence of his vehicle being damaged should be enough for CPS to prosecute. The question of who was in the right or wrong is irrelevant. The driver has an obligation to stop and exchange details with you. Get yourself back to the police station and make a nuisance of yourself if they are reluctant to pursue the matter. I am speaking from a lot of experience and I am afraid to say a lot depends on what type of police officer you have dealing with your case. By the sound of it this man needs to go before a court.

Well, I hope it doesn't get to that stage of affairs. It was an accident, pure and simple, no malicious intent evident. I was irked though at his scarpering and my having to carry home, two miles, the remnants of my bike.

But, although not a naturally gifted avenging type, I have done pretty much what all on here have suggested. The coppers are aware, and I have filled in the the 'Accident/Collision' forms and there appears to be a 'case officer' on the job. Furthermore, one of the local solicitors here has consented to pursue a claim for restitution on my behalf.

Speaking of which: upon the advice of the solicitor I took my bike into the LBS for an assesssment of the damage and estimate of the costs of replacing 'like-with-like'. The upshot was, a week later, .. £975 !! Rear Gear-wrecked; Rear Wheel-beyond repair; Frame-rear triangle askew and dropout pointing skywards; Saddle-rails twisted; Forks-write off(apparently , anything CF involved in a collision is writ-off). Whew ! :shock:

Off Topic: These accidents, I've started to realise, they're beginning to mount up now. :?
After a loose pannier engaged with my spokes I cracked my head in a fall in France in September and was stretchered off and hopspitalised for a couple of days. Furthermore, a couple of years ago or so, I was side-swiped in similar circumstance to this last occasion, but in contrast, the driver was super apologetic and there was a happy outcome to that (..a set of forks,only). Another engagement of my head and tarmac about four years ago locally(another facial scar). A year before that I rear ended a car (Ti frame writ-off and forks). Ten years ago a similar head-butt of the road on an 'N' road in France (a bloody head and lucky not to be steamrollered by an artic' then!) There's more I'm sure, but, although not in the same league as a pro-cyclist, the fact remains that my history of near misses in this last decade or so seems to point to the fact that I've become 'accident-prone'. And, aside from the two side-swipes, all my fault, in one way or another.

cougie

His fault - so he should pay entirely.

I see you have a solicitor onboard already, but I can vouch for Alyson France at BikeLine - she's done great work and been successful for 3 people I know.

ohlala!

Just contact me if you need someone to give him some good thrashing. I haven't used my chain whip for a while now. As with claiming restitution, I think you're on your own on that one. Police is a bit slow in doing anything if they aren't the witness of a crime - too much paperwork and red tape.

Let us know how you got on with this though

mercsport

Sorry for dredging this one up again and back to the top of the heap again, but I got a letter from the GM police the other day telling me that they're not going to do anything re. a prosecution. On the face of it, because the other fella denies any wrong on his part.

Get this : "I have traced the driver of the vehicle. He has stated that he was driving the vehicle at the time of the collision but was unaware at the time that a collision had occurred. He says he was made aware when you attended at his home address later that day. He then reported the matter to the police."

Further: "I have considered the circumstances of your collision and I have concluded that no further police involvement is required, as both parties version of events conflict."

There's more, but you get the drift. Have been somewhat melancholic since.

My solicitor had also had a word with the bobby who took down the other geezer's statement, and apparently he -the bobby- was seriously sceptical of the driver's veracity. Still, the solicitor remains upbeat about gaining me some funds for restoring my hardware from off his insurer. Seemingly, he is obliged by law to cough up details of his insurer. He hasn't, as yet, answered any of her letters yet though.

Headhuunter

mercsport wrote:

Sorry for dredging this one up again and back to the top of the heap again, but I got a letter from the GM police the other day telling me that they're not going to do anything re. a prosecution. On the face of it, because the other fella denies any wrong on his part.

Get this : "I have traced the driver of the vehicle. He has stated that he was driving the vehicle at the time of the collision but was unaware at the time that a collision had occurred. He says he was made aware when you attended at his home address later that day. He then reported the matter to the police."

Further: "I have considered the circumstances of your collision and I have concluded that no further police involvement is required, as both parties version of events conflict."

There's more, but you get the drift. Have been somewhat melancholic since.

My solicitor had also had a word with the bobby who took down the other geezer's statement, and apparently he -the bobby- was seriously sceptical of the driver's veracity. Still, the solicitor remains upbeat about gaining me some funds for restoring my hardware from off his insurer. Seemingly, he is obliged by law to cough up details of his insurer. He hasn't, as yet, answered any of her letters yet though.

What a b@stard. D lock him. Chuck a couple of bricks through his house windows, send the boys round. I had an accident on my commute last Nov. Still getting physio and have not completely recovered from nmy physical injuries but at least the driver has admitted full responsibility

mercsport

Headhuunter wrote:

What a b@stard. D lock him. Chuck a couple of bricks through his house windows, send the boys round. I had an accident on my commute last Nov. Still getting physio and have not completely recovered from nmy physical injuries but at least the driver has admitted full responsibility

"What a b@stard"

"D lock him" ! ! !

"send the boys round" 8)

"Chuck a couple of bricks through his house windows" :?

I'd love to, but, have you ever tried to put through a modern double glazed unit ? The brick would more likely bounce off it. And, in a mocking-ironic sort of way, back onto my head.

"Still getting physio and have not completely recovered from nmy physical injuries but at least the driver has admitted full responsibility"

I feel for you. My tale is weak beer indeed, just injured pride and a trashed bicycle. Mercifully, no physical damage. Hope you get mended as soon as poss'.