I just had a collision with another cyclist - what now?

ductions

I was just on my way to the Tuesday chain gang taking it easy on a bike path (great central way in Leicester) when another cyclist bolted round a corner onto to the path and into me. I took the full force of his head (I think) in my shoulder and I think I went down pretty slowly, although it was quite a collision. I didn't bang my head and landed on the grass/dirt verge.

After getting over my initial shock we both calmly checked each other were all right. Then I checked my bike. The handlebars were misaligned, the left shifter was bent inwards and upon closer inspection there is a small deepish chip in my lovely (new to me) carbon frame along with a few superficial scratches on my shiny brakes, my front wheel is well out of true.

The guy stayed with me and made sure I was ok. I told him I wasn't sure what I'm supposed to do and it looked as though the carbon fibre was damaged. He got a bit heated and said something like "You don't expect me to pay for it do you?" and he continued to tell me he hadn't got a job etc. I asked him for his phone number but he said he didn't have his phone on him and doesn't know the number. He gave me his name and address instead and swore it was genuine.

I was desperately trying to remember advice given on the forums as to what to do in these situations. I decided to call the police and report an incident they told me to get his address which I'd already done and said there was nothing more I could do other than make sure each other were ok. At this point I told the guy he could leave as I'd got all the details from him that I could, he was very patient really. I realised I should've taken photos of the bike at the time, but I forgot. I've taken photos at home though of any damage I can see.

I had arranged insurance when I had my previous bike, but I'm not sure whether it is specific to that bike or not. I suppose I will have to ring them. My shoulder is hurting right now - almost like muscle pain instead of bruise pain (At the moment there are no visible bruises.). It is on the same arm that I have a dodgy wrist from my previous accident. When I tried to cycle to my lift home I put my weight on the handlebars and realised how much my shoulder did hurt, I promptly got off and walked to my lift and again when lifting my bike my shoulder hurt a lot.

This is the second time in 2 weeks I have bothered BR with my essay like questions, but I'd really like some advice as to what I can do. Did I do everything I could? What next?

EDIT: Here is gps data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/117519777
By the looks of it I was travelling at about 14mph, I know I wasn't going fast as I needed to save myself for later on. If you zoom into the map in "Aerial" mode you can see the corner that he came around.

EDIT 2: Heres a photo of the damage to my frame. It's located on the underside of the downtube towards the front forks. It definitely wasn't there before. I've just noticed that the cable guide looks cracked in the photo too.

Cleat Eastwood

It's a good point that? What are the 'rules' governing bike V bike crashes, I guess in the shock of the crash and the fact that its a fellow bikeler you expect the chap to behave honourably, but what's to stop the smegger bogging off leaving you with heap of useless bike.

Get your shoulder checked and hope you have a speedy recovery and get things sorted.

ductions

Cleat Eastwood wrote:

It's a good point that? What are the 'rules' governing bike V bike crashes, I guess in the shock of the crash and the fact that its a fellow bikeler you expect the chap to behave honourably, but what's to stop the smegger bogging off leaving you with heap of useless bike.

Get your shoulder checked and hope you have a speedy recovery and get things sorted.

Yeah I was surprised he stayed to be honest. I'm gonna get to the doctors tomorrow hopefully. I'm just at a loss as to what to do about my bike. I bought it second hand so won't even be able to get a crash replacement frame if it isn't covered on my insurance.

penugent

If the other guys name/address turn out to be genuine it would be worth checking if he, or the head of the family living there, have Home Contents insurance. The personal liability section of such policies will often cover such incidents, provided they don't happen during a race or testing. This is well worth a check as your injuries would also be covered if such a policy cover exists

You would have to prove any injury and/or bike/equipment damage so a visit to your GP and LBS may assist. Contacting the police was good - did they give you an incident number?

A liability claim may take a while, even if a policy does exist, so your own insurance should be checked with regard to your bike in the first instance - your insurer could then reclaim any outlay from the other side and let you know if insurance does exist. Some policies do cover unspecified bikes up to a set limit - which varies widely.

I hope you recover quickly and that you get everything sorted out.

ductions

Thanks for the advice. I will be going to the doctors tomorrow hopefully. The police gave me a 3 digit number and then said "with today's date" but I don't remember it :oops: In my defence my adrenaline was still high - surely this is on record though so I will be able to get it again?

My (mother's) contents insurance is with prudential. I rang them and asked for the extra "pedal cycle" cover to be added to the premium. I think they asked for the model of the bike, but I remember pretty much forcing the serial number on them - they didn't seem interested. Makes me wonder though whether the prus bike insurance is specific or just generic bike insurance. I think I covered the bike for £700.

I just don't know what to do now though. Other than go to the doctors about my shoulder. Do I take my planet-x into my lbs? Or should I phone the pru up first?

penugent

Fastest way to deal with your own damaged property is usually through your own insurer. It does seem like you have an 'unspecified' style bike cover. If you have a bike worth more than the limit it would be worth adding it with its own description and valuation.

You can deal with the other guys responsibility in due course.

ductions

penugent wrote:

If you have a bike worth more than the limit it would be worth adding it with its own description and valuation.

I think if anything it will just be the frame that needs replacing which well under the amount I stated to the insurer. I must admit though I haven't ever had to make a claim so I'm unsure whether it works like that!

lucan

You don't mention witnesses. Were there any? If not, any claim you make against him or his insurance is likely to fail if he chooses to contest it.

All he has to say is, "it was his fault", and there is no proof that he isn't right.

His insurance company (or solicitor) would advise him not to accept liability if there is no evidence to support your allegation that it was his fault and therefore any claim would be unlikely to succeed.

I hope you are on the mend and that the damage to your bike isn't too bad when it is properly examined.

mattv

That carbon chip looks pretty terminal, sorry. Your best bet may be to get onto a frame repairer. I am in leicester as well and know of a guy in Moire near ashby who is supposed to be good.

ductions

As far as I can remember there was no one about when it happened. I remember some runners came past about 5 minutes after it happened.

Everything just seems so messed up right now. If I can't get my frame replaced on insurance then I just don't know what to do.

penugent

Lucan wrote:

You don't mention witnesses. Were there any? If not, any claim you make against him or his insurance is likely to fail if he chooses to contest it.

All he has to say is, "it was his fault", and there is no proof that he isn't right.

His insurance company (or solicitor) would advise him not to accept liability if there is no evidence to support your allegation that it was his fault and therefore any claim would be unlikely to succeed.

I hope you are on the mend and that the damage to your bike isn't too bad when it is properly examined.

Your point is very valid - which is why I mentioned Liability had to be proven.

In my part of the world an insurance company would accept their own policyholders admission of guilt, if made to them alone and not the other cyclist. However, I don't live in GB so I can't say what would be done in England.

When all is said and done, it is still worth checking on the insurance position of the other cyclist - he may do the honourable thing.

ductions

mattv wrote:

That carbon chip looks pretty terminal, sorry. Your best bet may be to get onto a frame repairer. I am in leicester as well and know of a guy in Moire near ashby who is supposed to be good.

Ah great I forgot about frame repairs. Thanks for that I may be in touch.

ductions

penugent wrote:

When all is said and done, it is still worth checking on the insurance position of the other cyclist - he may do the honourable thing.

I have a feeling he won't have any sort of insurance. He told me he was skint and that he had no job.

Slimbods

Lesson learned though, if you can't afford to replace, make sure you've got it insured.

ductions

Slimbods wrote:

Lesson learned though, if you can't afford to replace, make sure you've got it insured.

Yeah totally. I can afford to replace it, but I had the money set aside for something else. I put off insuring as I didn't want to pay the full annual premium all in one as was the case with most cycle insurers (ETA etc) and would rather pay monthly.

appletrees

For future reference, M&Sgold home insurance covers bikes up to £4k each, don't even have to be specified on the policy!

ductions

appletrees wrote:

For future reference, M&Sgold home insurance covers bikes up to £4k each, don't even have to be specified on the policy!

I've heard great things about m&s insurance. Not sure if my mother is prepared to switch though.

Squillinossett

AA also do the same, I am with them as when I get a new bike just phone them up.

They even cover it in the Shed, something stand aloe bike insurance does not cover.

Yossie

Even if you do end up claiming on your own insurance, remember that once you have taken the excess and inflated premium (together with all the hassle and time wasting) for next year into account it may as well be worthwhile just getting a new frame from P/X for the £300 or whatever they are knocking them out at for at the moment.

They are also doing loads of random daily deals so if you hang on carbon frames may turn up as one

Pep

Get a fast recovery, that's it.

zanelad

Why was it the other guy's fault? He might well argue that you were to blame.

I doubt very much that you'll get anywhere chasing him. Despite what is said at the scene, when it get "official" he'll just deny any admission of guilt.

Chalk it up to experience.

ductions

Zanelad wrote:

Why was it the other guy's fault? He might well argue that you were to blame.

I doubt very much that you'll get anywhere chasing him. Despite what is said at the scene, when it get "official" he'll just deny any admission of guilt.

Chalk it up to experience.

I'm not chasing him. I know it was his fault. But yes it would be very difficult to prove.

ductions

Yossie wrote:

Even if you do end up claiming on your own insurance, remember that once you have taken the excess and inflated premium (together with all the hassle and time wasting) for next year into account it may as well be worthwhile just getting a new frame from P/X for the £300 or whatever they are knocking them out at for at the moment.

They are also doing loads of random daily deals so if you hang on carbon frames may turn up as one

Yeah I always keep on eye on planet x deals! The excess for bicycle claims with the pru is £15, and yes the insurance premium will be increased but I don't think enough for it to be not worth going through with it. I'm currently waiting a call back from them.

Nuggs

mattv wrote:

That carbon chip looks pretty terminal.

I'm amazed you can tell from that photo. OP take it to a decent LBS and ask them to have a look for you.

ductions

Nuggs wrote:

mattv wrote:

That carbon chip looks pretty terminal.

I'm amazed you can tell from that photo. OP take it to a decent LBS and ask them to have a look for you.

It's quite difficult to take a photo of shiny carbon with a mobile phone camera. I will be taken the bike in I'm sure once I've spoken to the insurance people.

LeicesterLad

Ductions - Just to say sorry to hear about your unlucky event, I ride great central ever single day commuting to and from work, i know a lot of the fellow cyclists who use the path, i have never had a problem with other cyclists, but the amount of dog walkers and ignorant people who think its ok to sprawl out and take up the whole path on foot on a CYCLE PATH irritates the sh*t out of me. I have had several near misses with dogs, children and walkers!

ductions

amount of dog walkers and ignorant people who think its ok to sprawl out and take up the whole path on foot on a CYCLE PATH irritates the sh*t out of me. I have had several near misses with dogs, children and walkers!

Its actually a shared path so all users of it should be looking out for one another. But I do agree with you about dog walkers. They should really be leashed (the dogs), the amount of times they have popped out of a bush or dashed around their owner.

Its actually the second time I've had an accident on the path in the past 2 weeks. The first time was an accident out of the blue when my chain got caught up and threw me off my bike.

mattv

I work in a "decent bike shop" and have had to make this call a few times before. The way it appears to have a deeper gouge at one end, with a ridge which will cause a stress rider very near the head tube. Bring it down sometime, I can have a look to confirm!

Nuggs

mattv wrote:

I work in a "decent bike shop" and have had to make this call a few times before. The way it appears to have a deeper gouge at one end, with a ridge which will cause a stress rider very near the head tube. Bring it down sometime, I can have a look to confirm!

:oops:

El Gordo

mattv wrote:

I work in a "decent bike shop" and have had to make this call a few times before. The way it appears to have a deeper gouge at one end, with a ridge which will cause a stress rider very near the head tube. Bring it down sometime, I can have a look to confirm!

That's it - I can't imagine many bike shops are going to say it's OK because it's all a bit of an unknown. It's a high stress area and having a sharp gouge is never going to be good.

I have more near misses on bike paths than I ever do on roads. Most people seem to behave themselves and ride on the left and give way at side turnings but because of the absence of white lines and defined rules you get some pretty unpredictable behaviour. I wouldn't like to say where liability falls in this sort of crash.

ductions

El Gordo wrote:

I have more near misses on bike paths than I ever do on roads. Most people seem to behave themselves and ride on the left and give way at side turnings but because of the absence of white lines and defined rules you get some pretty unpredictable behaviour. I wouldn't like to say where liability falls in this sort of crash.

Yeah I know what you mean about placing liability here. But I look at it as though the other rider was joining a main road from a side road - he should've taken the corner slowly after checking it was clear. It is especially important as its a blind corner because of the trees/foliage. He could've just as easily hit a pedestrian instead of me.

I went to hospital today because I've been in increased agony with my shoulder. The doctor was very thorough and told me I have damaged muscles in my rotator cuff. He has given me some strong pain killers and some exercises to do. What do people think of chasing for personal injury? I don't feel right about it as the guy told me he has no job and is skint - so I won't be doing it, but I wondered what others would do/ think about it?

Now I just have to wait on the insurers - I can imagine this process is going to be very long and drawn out.