First major accident

vtech1.5

Off work for the last four days because of back injury so no cycling
On my usual route in the Chelmsford area on my prized MTB (with road tyres ) going along on the flat so around 18 mph approaching a junction from the left, some guy arrives to the stop lines I get within 5-10 feet and WHAM ! he didnt stop . I hit his door mirror and fly accross the front of his vehicle landing on my side lying on a wet road at 6.30 in the morning in severe pain,thankfully nothing broken just a few abrasions here and there and the mother of all back pains !
Luckily quite a few very helpfull people stop to see if they can do anything ( always a nice suprise ) shortly followed by the Police and ambulance, Bike seems to be ok apart from a scuff on the saddle and pedals (will have it checked properly by LBS )
The driver was charged with Wreckless driving, I did have two enduro lights on so he should have seen me .
Only thing is everyone seems to think I should be making a claim against him but if this backache sorts itself out in a few days and I can get back to work, and the bike is ok (will know after inspection) I cant see the need.
Thought I'd see what other people thought ?
Thanks

dodgy

Glad you're ok, surprised at the police charging the driver so quickly, it doesn't usually happen so swiftly!
Claim if you have pain or a doctor considers that you will do in future, otherwise it's up to you.

vtech1.5

yeah he done him there and then, its an open bit of road and you can see for 100's of metres in both directions so you would have thought he would have seen me before pulling out,imagine if It had been a motorcycle instead of me ! I wont make a decision yet check the bike first and make sure this backpain has no lasting effects.
I just dont understand this Claim/suing culture we are in these days and some people seem to think I'm odd for it

mattsaw

Glad you're okay and you didn't come off too badly.

Back pain is one of those things that can come and go, it's certainly something I would certainly get it checked out by a doctor.

meanredspider

Being off work for 4 days in pain seems like a good reason to get some compensation. That's what he paid his insurance premium for - other people would claim so I don't think you're helping anybody, except the insurance company's shareholders, by not claiming. Besides that, you don't know yet if there will be any lasting damage - I'd prepare a claim whatever.

V5ade

Glad that it doesn't seem to bad (could have been a lot worse!).

I always used to think that there was no need to claim after accidents. I've had a couple of car accidents when people have run into the back of me, but I didn't suffer whiplash so didn't make a personal injury claim.

However there can be valid reasons for making personal injury claims. What if you are injured more seriously that you realise? It could affect you for a long time, possibly financially as well as physically. I found this out for myself recently.

Last June I was knocked off by a green laning cretin on a motor-x bike, I had a trip to hospital, but as there were no broken bones, just a sore shoulder I thought just 'man up' and get on with it. As It was still, weak and very sore 2 weeks later so I went to the GP, they told me to give it time. In Dec they MRI'd it and refurred me to an authopedic surgoen. Cut a long story short, needed surgery to correct the damage, loads of pain, off work for a month and told that the pain will wake me up during the night for about 6 months. No cycling for 3 months, and physio for 4-6 months.

I've not been able to safely pick up or hold my daughter who was born in August, not had a decent nights sleep since the accident (everytime I roll over when sleeping I wake up), and as I couldn't work in Dec after the opperation I lost £k's in wages.

I'm sure some people will say that I'm just pushing up premiums, but I feel that I do deserve some companstion for this and I won't feel guilty when my claim is paid out!

alfablue

meanredspider wrote:

Being off work for 4 days in pain seems like a good reason to get some compensation. That's what he paid his insurance premium for - other people would claim so I don't think you're helping anybody, except the insurance company's shareholders, by not claiming. Besides that, you don't know yet if there will be any lasting damage - I'd prepare a claim whatever.

Absolutely agree.

15 years ago I was in my car and was hit at speed by a bus ("travellers" bus, not a commercial one). I got a whiplash. The pain subsided and I thought I was okay. My legal insurance claimed on my behalf to the Motor Insurers Bureau and I got £4000, whic I thoght was fantastic. Now, years later, I have repeated bouts of acute neck pain which is at times disabling. That £4k seems paltry compensation now.

Not claiming is not noble, it is misguided (or foolish).

vtech1.5

i've seen the dr and he thinks its lumber muscles thats causing the pain plus bruising around
the pelvic and coccyx bone, hopefully will heal without problem will wait n see though as its painfull !

alfablue

vtech1.5 wrote:

i've seen the dr and he thinks its lumber muscles thats causing the pain plus bruising around
the pelvic and coccyx bone, hopefully will heal without problem will wait n see though as its painfull !

When I had my accident (above) I was referred to a consultant orthopeadic surgeon for a report. Fine as your GP may be, you are taking a very amatuer approach to your own long term wellbeing. You will reap what you sow.

vtech1.5

Yes that makes me think twice about dismissing it, sorry if I came accross Self-righteous
just not sure about what to do for the best. who do you use to carry out the claim as its not like a motor claim on your car insurance ?

dodgy

If you decide to claim - http://www.bikeline.co.uk/

VERY competent.

meanredspider

vtech1.5 wrote:

Yes that makes me think twice about dismissing it, sorry if I came accross Self-righteous
just not sure about what to do for the best. who do you use to carry out the claim as its not like a motor claim on your car insurance ?

Just contact a/your lawyer or local law firm. They'll claim their fee back from the insurance Co. If it's as you describe it, you have a very clear-cut case.

vtech1.5

thanks for replies, yes clear cut and a Police Motorcyclist to back me up, food for thought !
i will look onto it

jonny_trousers

Go check my post in commuting chat called 'is getting knocked off inevitable' (or something similar); it will be on page 2 or 3 - loads of useful info there and you will see how my attitude changed. 3 months on I still suffer pain and stiffness and these injuries have a nasty habit of never fully healing. Just don't be too quick to say you'll be fine.

dilemna

Ouch! Good to see you are manning up but ..........all this anti claim righteousness is balls. You don't know if the people spreading it found out that their own claim was not going to suceed as they were in some way at fault or they were the ones who caused the collision in the first place so were held liable for any injuries to another party and also damage to property.

C L A I M against the other party! As has already been stated you may have loss of earnings, damage to your bike to repair and injuries for which you can receive compensation, not a lot but at least something. You may also need onging medical treatment which you may have to pay for if you have to wait for ages on the NHS or it is not available.

I think BikeLine is Alyson France solicitors who are good. There are also other solicitors who advertise in the cycling mags and those that have a tie up with BC, LCC or CTC. All willl take your case on a conditional fee agreement basis which means you don't pay anything if your case is lost up to the point the case actually goes to court. If once it has got to court and you lose then you can be ordered to pay the other sides costs as well as anything they might be counter claiming for. But the solicitor you choose will advise you accordingly. It is typical to take out an insurance policy to cover this eventuality. If you win all your costs are met by the other side's insurer or the MIB if the driver is uninsured. You receive 100% of your damages as your solicitors legal costs are paid for separately by the other side.

But do document everything - your injuries and take pics. See your GP as often as you need to. The solicitor you choose will arrange for you to see a consultant for the purposes of making a report to put a value of compensation on your injuries and any residual symptoms which will be disclosed to the other side.

In the mean time GWS and don't do anything energetic too soon. Your body needs to heal properly. If you don't then years down the line you will wish you did if you still experience residual symptoms. You have 3 years to bring a claim then you are time barred ie time out.


Take it easy and don't push yourself. Recover first. Keep ALL receipts for costs you wouldn't otherwise have had if the moton hadn't knocked you off.

Tusher

Odd thing is, immediately after an accident, you're on a sort of high. I think it runs like this-
"I'm going to die"
"thankyou God, I'm still alive. I can't believe it"
"you'll never guess what happened to me" as you relate your tale to dozens of people and wallow in all the sympathy
"I'm a real man/woman. I can hack it"
"of course I'll be in work tomorrow. I'm hard, I am"


3 weeks later- "Wish this odd tweak/pain/nightmare would go away"

3 years later- "Buggrit, wish I'd claimed. Still hurts sometimes"

30 years later- "I'd love to join you in the Saga Tour of Somewhere, but I have this chronic arthritis in my back. Came from an accident I had years ago......(no-one is remotely interested in listening to you now)"



Please do claim. And get yourself completely checked out by a medic.

Tusher

.....and don't underestimate the psychological damage, because that can take a while to show.
25 years ago, I was once hit on a roundabout by a driver who looked right through me. I flew into the air, over his car and skidded on my back down a busy urban road before careering into a bus queue. Their screaming woke me up, I think, that and the shouts that no-one should touch me as I was clearly dead. Thank goodness I was wearing an early style helmet and thick clothing which protected me.

Leapt up, most indignant about being carted off to A&E in an ambulance, and (honestly) told the medics I was absolutely fine.

I was riding (another) bike the next day, just a little stiff I thought. The fracture to my wrist took a week to diagnose.

But a few months later, I went horse riding with a friend. I was absolutely petrified the moment the (over-weight placid school pony) began a gentle trot- in a flash I recalled every forgotten detail of the accident.

And I still can't gallop on a horse, because I just freeze up with thoughts of this accident. Which isn't a great problem to me, I confess. But it would have been if I'd been a jockey.


I only claimed for my damaged bike, but at the driver's trial, I discovered that one of the people in the bus queue had sued the driver for smashed groceries, and (honestly) torn nylons.

Regieuk

I was taken out last May by a driver who failed to give way on a roundabout, luckily all my extra padding meant no broken bones! Her insurance company rang me within a few hours offering to settle but I held off and said I wanted to take some advice.
I was pretty banged up with 'soft tissue' injuries which took a few weeks to subside, except my back. I cannot think of one week where I have not suffered back ache since.
I went through CTC's solicitors and things are progressing slowly, I recently had a medical report and the doc reckoned 9 months for me to recover!
Don't rush any decisions, injuries you think are minor and you can 'man up' through may be a lot more serious and long lasting.

vtech1.5

Thanks again for the responses very helpfull ! I have decided to take the advice and claim just in case this causes me any problems down the line and to pay me back for physio which i will probably have . I'm still in pain (hopefully this will go eventually ) but back at work ,just deciding who to use to make the claim.

fossyant

V5ade wrote:

Last June I was knocked off by a green laning cretin on a motor-x bike, I had a trip to hospital, but as there were no broken bones, just a sore shoulder I thought just 'man up' and get on with it. As It was still, weak and very sore 2 weeks later so I went to the GP, they told me to give it time. In Dec they MRI'd it and refurred me to an authopedic surgoen. Cut a long story short, needed surgery to correct the damage, loads of pain, off work for a month and told that the pain will wake me up during the night for about 6 months. No cycling for 3 months, and physio for 4-6 months.

+1

I was knocked of December 2008. Battered and bruised, nothing broken, but after a couple of weeks when taking kids swimming, my shoulder was crunching. Bang, on came the pain, off to docs...... X ray nothing, £2k on physio spent by me just to keep me on the bike. MRI and nerve tests 6 months later nothing. Still can't sleep. MRI Sprig 2010 - not conclusive other than obvious tendonosis. Back to consultant again, more tests...ah........ you need a subacromial decompression. Finally get this in two weeks, over two years after getting knocked off. May also need my a/c joint operating on too.

Add to that, back pain for a good year, eventually cleared up in Spring 2010 !

Like above I've had two years of poor sleep, on loads of pain killers. I too didn't want to claim as my bike just suffered a few scratches, but it's buggered my shoulder. Lets say the calim is going to run into a good 3 years at current rate. Op's gonna see me off the bike for a good few weeks, but there is a good chance I won't get full movement back, although I should have no pain.

So don't be too hasty - see how you feel in a couple of weeks !

ojeffcott

I've written a 'what to do in case of an accident' guide for this sort of thing:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12722930

feel free to pm me if you want any specific advice.

Matt the Tester

Tusher wrote:

.....and don't underestimate the psychological damage, because that can take a while to show.25 years ago, I was once hit on a roundabout by a driver who looked right through me. I flew into the air, over his car and skidded on my back down a busy urban road before careering into a bus queue. Their screaming woke me up, I think, that and the shouts that no-one should touch me as I was clearly dead. Thank goodness I was wearing an early style helmet and thick clothing which protected me.

Leapt up, most indignant about being carted off to A&E in an ambulance, and (honestly) told the medics I was absolutely fine.

I was riding (another) bike the next day, just a little stiff I thought. The fracture to my wrist took a week to diagnose.

But a few months later, I went horse riding with a friend. I was absolutely petrified the moment the (over-weight placid school pony) began a gentle trot- in a flash I recalled every forgotten detail of the accident.

And I still can't gallop on a horse, because I just freeze up with thoughts of this accident. Which isn't a great problem to me, I confess. But it would have been if I'd been a jockey.


I only claimed for my damaged bike, but at the driver's trial, I discovered that one of the people in the bus queue had sued the driver for smashed groceries, and (honestly) torn nylons.

yes i had a crash a while ago and it's only down the road from my house but now i hate going a certain way because its where the crash occured!