Knocked off by an Ocado truck

2

Comments

  • diamonddog
    diamonddog Posts: 3,426
    The thread title stating that the rider was 'knocked off' indicates that the HGV made contact with the rider, the bike or both, ergo damage to one or both and IMO quite severe. It does need a bit of clarification by the OP or his mate.
  • redvee
    redvee Posts: 11,922
    Put the video on Youtube but make it private so it's easy to share for interested parties like solicitors and company of the HGV, a text link in an email is easier to send than a large video file. Once the legal bit has been done then make it public for all the world to see.
    I've added a signature to prove it is still possible.
  • Harvey2805
    Harvey2805 Posts: 5
    Hi All

    I'm OP's mate.

    Details: I was cycling home Wednesday when an Ocado HGV clipped me on the right arm, luckilly I had already started to brake so avoided any serious damage. As you can imagine, being clipped by a HGV could go the other way very quickly so feel very lucky to have gotten off so lightly.

    I had a small bruise to my elbow (and a funny bone for about 10 minutes) however because of my reactions, do serious damage to me and none to the bike. My camera is rear facing so I only have footage of the HGV behind me and the not the actual impact (you can see the shake as he hits me though).

    The police have registered the event but have said due to no damage being done to the bike and no serious harm to me that they would be resolving the case as closed and for me to pursue my complaint directly with Ocado.

    Ocado initially claimed the vehicle wasn't theirs however that was my mistake as I had misread the licence plate from the video however the police were able to confirm the correct plate which then Ocado confirmed was theirs.

    Ocado have been somewhat nonchalant about the event, they claim to have identified the driver and "spoken to the warehouse manager" however that is all.

    I'm not a member of British Cycling, when I called for advice and to see whether a claim could still be made if I joined after the fact, the lady on the phone said that due to me having sustained no serious injury and the bike having no damage that a claim would be unlikely. She did go on to say that I could join and try to pursue a claim though if I wanted to.

    Currently, I don't know what my options are. Ocado seemed to have dismissed it completely now and the police seem to have better things to do with their time. I'm not expecting millions in compensation or someone to come give me a cuddle but I think Ocado and perhaps the police could have done more to ensure the driver doesn't kill the next person they hit as had I not done something sooner it could have been a hell of a lot worse.

    I have yet to upload the video as I didn't want to ruin my chance or any sort of legal proceedings and wanted to give Ocado chance to do something first.

    Anyways, thanks for all the advice above, sorry for not posting sooner and stay safe everyone!
  • dinyull
    dinyull Posts: 2,979
    Without wanting to be rude, what are you after - a claim for a bruise?

    Only thing I'd expect you to achieve is a dangerous driving charge, so perhaps try and speak with a police chief/crime commissioner in your area. If that doesn't work then release the video to Road.cc, cycling weekly etc and try to get it going on twitter.
  • rpherts
    rpherts Posts: 207
    Its absurd that you have to be killed or seriously injured for the police to take it seriously. Given that a couple of inches nearer to you would very likely have led to serious injury or worse, the fact that you were very lucky this time isn't a reason (excuse?) for the police to drop it.

    Say something nasty about the driver on Twitter - Plod will be around your house by the end of the day.
  • darkhairedlord
    darkhairedlord Posts: 7,180
    video or it never happened
  • fat daddy
    fat daddy Posts: 2,605
    rpherts wrote:
    Its absurd that you have to be killed or seriously injured for the police to take it seriously.


    What do expect them to be able to do though, for the police to achieve anything they need substantial proof ..... in this case what they have is video footage of a lorry coming up behind a cyclist, the lorry then goes past and the camera footage momentarity shakes

    now from this you expect the police to be able to achieve anything

    The footage sounds nigh on useless, unless its posted we cant judge on it, but from the description it sounds like its going to be of no use.

    so it comes down to one mans word against another "he hit me, it made by elbow go tingly" .... "no I didn't"

    the best the police could do is send a letter to the driver or send a special around to say "a cyclist complained about your driving, we have no proof that you did anything wrong, but take care of others out there"
  • Harvey2805
    Harvey2805 Posts: 5
    Dinyull wrote:
    Without wanting to be rude, what are you after - a claim for a bruise?

    Only thing I'd expect you to achieve is a dangerous driving charge, so perhaps try and speak with a police chief/crime commissioner in your area. If that doesn't work then release the video to Road.cc, cycling weekly etc and try to get it going on twitter.

    I want the driver to understand that had I not reacted when I did my wife and son could likely be attending a funeral. I'm a big boy, I cycle a busy road most days and have come across my fair share of idiot drivers / boy racers people cutting me up. When a large HGV nearly ends you I didn't think it was too much to ask that maybe the driver go on a cyclists awareness course, maybe a reprimand from their company. As many have said, does someone need to die before they get a slap on the wrist? As another cyclist I had thought the well-being of cyclists, however severe, would be on the top of your priority list.

    I had expected as much from the police, they have bigger fish to fry so to speak and admittedly a bruise sin't going to get me Chief Inspector Plod at my door dusting for fingerprints. However I had expected to get past the Customer Service team at Ocado, maybe onto a manger who would at least offer some sort of remorse at the situation.

    Meh
  • veronese68
    veronese68 Posts: 27,825
    Harvey2805 wrote:
    Dinyull wrote:
    Without wanting to be rude, what are you after - a claim for a bruise?

    Only thing I'd expect you to achieve is a dangerous driving charge, so perhaps try and speak with a police chief/crime commissioner in your area. If that doesn't work then release the video to Road.cc, cycling weekly etc and try to get it going on twitter.

    I want the driver to understand that had I not reacted when I did my wife and son could likely be attending a funeral. I'm a big boy, I cycle a busy road most days and have come across my fair share of idiot drivers / boy racers people cutting me up. When a large HGV nearly ends you I didn't think it was too much to ask that maybe the driver go on a cyclists awareness course, maybe a reprimand from their company. As many have said, does someone need to die before they get a slap on the wrist? As another cyclist I had thought the well-being of cyclists, however severe, would be on the top of your priority list.

    I had expected as much from the police, they have bigger fish to fry so to speak and admittedly a bruise sin't going to get me Chief Inspector Plod at my door dusting for fingerprints. However I had expected to get past the Customer Service team at Ocado, maybe onto a manger who would at least offer some sort of remorse at the situation.

    Meh
    Not unreasonable to expect that.
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  • dinyull
    dinyull Posts: 2,979
    Harvey2805 wrote:
    Dinyull wrote:
    Without wanting to be rude, what are you after - a claim for a bruise?

    Only thing I'd expect you to achieve is a dangerous driving charge, so perhaps try and speak with a police chief/crime commissioner in your area. If that doesn't work then release the video to Road.cc, cycling weekly etc and try to get it going on twitter.

    I want the driver to understand that had I not reacted when I did my wife and son could likely be attending a funeral. I'm a big boy, I cycle a busy road most days and have come across my fair share of idiot drivers / boy racers people cutting me up. When a large HGV nearly ends you I didn't think it was too much to ask that maybe the driver go on a cyclists awareness course, maybe a reprimand from their company. As many have said, does someone need to die before they get a slap on the wrist? As another cyclist I had thought the well-being of cyclists, however severe, would be on the top of your priority list.

    I had expected as much from the police, they have bigger fish to fry so to speak and admittedly a bruise sin't going to get me Chief Inspector Plod at my door dusting for fingerprints. However I had expected to get past the Customer Service team at Ocado, maybe onto a manger who would at least offer some sort of remorse at the situation.

    Meh

    I think you've taken my post the wrong way. It seemed you were intent on making a claim in your previous post - I don't think you have a leg to stand on there.

    I'm with you, the driver needs a bollocking/police caution. That's why I suggested kicking up a fuss with police higher up in the chain. But with no clear video or eye witnesses, sadly it's your word v his.
  • g00se
    g00se Posts: 2,221
    With the police's attitude and how you describe the video - it sounds like there's little chance of a 'legal' recourse to get any reprimand for Ocado. Personally, I would publish the video, as a little bit of bad publicity may garner some kind of reaction from them other than 'meh'.
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    With the police's attitude and Ocado not giving you much hope that they'll really do anything I think your options are becoming more limited.
    you could try higher up in the police chain - try the Police & Crime commissioner - an elected post - so you should be able to find contact details - I assume the video shows an HGV passing a bit closer than 1.5m that WM police are currently bollocking drivers for ?
    If that fails then you've really only got Social media to go to - and that's going to depend very much on the subjectiveness of your video - unless it clearly shows a close pass you're not going to get anywhere ... I suppose that goes for the police option too ...
  • Harvey2805
    Harvey2805 Posts: 5
    Until I get home to upload the video, I have taken some screenshots of the video.

    This is the vehicle starting to overtake, this is when my ears pricked up as I thought it was a stupid place to overtake as its a blind right hand bend coming up.

    http://imgur.com/1XKTgOB

    This shows when the vehicle started to cut me off and I started to apply the brakes, at this point I couldn't see the oncoming vehicle he was avoiding.

    http://imgur.com/TH8Q3eZ

    Bearing in mind this is a huge HGV this is me starting to poop at how little space I had left.

    http://imgur.com/D4W1Zla

    And finally, the oncoming vehicle he had cut in to miss.

    http://imgur.com/bvLYCb7

    Prior to all this, he had kept a safe distance from the traffic lights to the bridge (150 - 200m) but seemed to have some sort of brain fart to overtake on the blind bend.

    (I did try to embed the images but it didn't work, sorry)
  • bendertherobot
    bendertherobot Posts: 11,684
    Shame them on twitter and see if you can get Martin Porter to retweet. I'll look out for it as well.
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  • dinyull
    dinyull Posts: 2,979
    Do you have the jags (white car behind) number plate?

    Could be he's willing to backup your case.

    The first pic looks horrific.
  • gozzy
    gozzy Posts: 640
    Straight to Twitter and facebook with it, companies hate negative things popping up on social media.
  • gozzy
    gozzy Posts: 640
    If Ocado's trucks are the same as their vans, then they'll have a forward facing camera which records continuously and saves 30 seconds either side of any motion that triggers it - swerving etc. In which case there's a slim chance the driver set it off, ask to see if there's any footage available from the truck.
  • redvee
    redvee Posts: 11,922
    Gozzy wrote:
    Straight to Twitter and facebook with it, companies hate negative things popping up on social media.

    +1 for Twitter, make sure you get the right handle when you tweet it, a quick Google can help.
    I've added a signature to prove it is still possible.
  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    Since there was no actual damage to yourself or the bike and the police aren't interested the only course now is to go down the name and shame route as in post the video on youtube, get it noticed on twitter and the likes, and that's the end of that.
  • wolfsbane2k
    wolfsbane2k Posts: 3,056
    Twitter with the tag #nameandshame, #bloodycyclists #closepass #space4cycling should do it - and don't forget the . before the @ocado. Then retweet and tag martin porter qc. Consider tagging your local police force as well.

    Still, doesn't always work. Friend of mine got clipped by an asda delivery van ( described as a minor shoulder barge from the wing mirror), police did nothing as no damage, asda service team just said "thanks, passed on to management dealt with" - no apologises, no details on result/process. Could have just been binned as far my friend was concerned: they wanted to go and support an education event but that wasn't taken up.
    Intent on Cycling Commuting on a budget, but keep on breaking/crashing/finding nice stuff to buy.
    Bike 1 (Broken) - Bike 2(Borked) - Bike 3(broken spokes) - Bike 4( Needs Work) - Bike 5 (in bits) - Bike 6* ...
  • vinnymarsden
    vinnymarsden Posts: 560
    Forgive me if I am misreading the pics....the rider states his camera was backward facing...how has he got footage of the alleged vehicle being avoided/whatever driving towards him? And the wagon also appears to be coming the same direction, so as I see it (I accept I may be wrong) both the wagon/"vehicle wagon was avoiding" are going the same way??
    And the distance from wagon to kerb doesn't look in all honesty like he was really cutting the rider off..as stated many times the only way to clarify it, is to post the video, the rider has clearly been "rodded off" by all potential interested parties, so what harm can posting do ??
    I am not in any way decrying the rider... the video must make what happened far easier to understand thats all.
  • fenix
    fenix Posts: 5,437
    As I understand it - the vehicle the lorry was avoiding was going the opposite way and would be recorded on the camera after it has passed both the bike and the lorry - going away from them in the opposite direction.
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    if you look at the stills (assuming they're stll up) it shows the time stamp - and iirc there's a couple of seconds between the last one with the truck in and the next one with a car going the other way - on an overtake that's most likely way too close (time).
  • diamonddog
    diamonddog Posts: 3,426
    TBH I cannot see anything in the stills that doesn't happen on a regular basis on my daily rides be it lorries or cars but if you did get hit then you need to post the video.
  • Guanajuato
    Guanajuato Posts: 399
    The lorry has definitely moved closer between the 2nd & 3rd still, so clearly starting to squeeze the cyclist. Basically, teh lorry driver started his overtake before he could see far enough ahead, and decided to continue with the overtake anyway once he realised it wasn't safe. :x
    diamonddog wrote:
    TBH I cannot see anything in the stills that doesn't happen on a regular basis on my daily rides be it lorries or cars but if you did get hit then you need to post the video.
    Doesn't make it acceptable though. If more people reported dodgy thhings that happen every day, then maybe there might be more action.

    Ocado need to take their Duty of Care more seriously though. http://www.highwaycode.info/rule/163
  • diamonddog
    diamonddog Posts: 3,426
    Guanajuato wrote:
    The lorry has definitely moved closer between the 2nd & 3rd still, so clearly starting to squeeze the cyclist. Basically, teh lorry driver started his overtake before he could see far enough ahead, and decided to continue with the overtake anyway once he realised it wasn't safe. :x
    diamonddog wrote:
    TBH I cannot see anything in the stills that doesn't happen on a regular basis on my daily rides be it lorries or cars but if you did get hit then you need to post the video.
    Doesn't make it acceptable though. If more people reported dodgy thhings that happen every day, then maybe there might be more action.

    Ocado need to take their Duty of Care more seriously though. http://www.highwaycode.info/rule/163
    I didn't say it was acceptable and if you believe more people reporting close passes etc will change things then I hope you are right, in my view it wouldn't change a thing.
  • fenix
    fenix Posts: 5,437
    diamonddog wrote:
    TBH I cannot see anything in the stills that doesn't happen on a regular basis on my daily rides be it lorries or cars but if you did get hit then you need to post the video.

    Close passes aren't uncommon - but actually getting HIT by a passing vehicle is a lot rarer.

    Put the video up,

    Kick up a fuss. Tell road,cc. Tell the cycling QC - tell twitter.

    We are just wasting time here I think.
  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    Fenix wrote:
    Kick up a fuss. Tell road,cc. Tell the cycling QC - tell twitter.

    We are just wasting time here I think.

    Yup, unless OP is prepared to post the video it's a waste of everyone's time.
  • Guanajuato
    Guanajuato Posts: 399
    Harvey2805 wrote:
    Until I get home to upload the video, I have taken some screenshots of the video.
    My fingers slipped and I 'accidentally' tweeted a link to this forum to Ocada. :wink:
    They seem rather more interested now its in the public domain...
    https://twitter.com/Guanajuatouk/status ... 4245574656
  • vinnymarsden
    vinnymarsden Posts: 560
    It seems that people are willing to assist the rider..he needs to contact Ocado, regardless of any claims/compo...if a large company can be made aware of their drivers shortcomings...then it may just go right/up down the tree.
    I'm sure the wagon driver didn't give one thought to the cyclist, he probably never even saw him as he passed him, but if he were to get some sound, sensible advice, without hitting him with a penalty charge ( thats always viewed as a "lesson learner" by the police, give em a ticket...that will totally alter their driving habits...NOT) he might just come away with a modicum of understanding about cyclists needs etc. The thing is cyclists are NOT going to go away, there is room for everyone if everyone will try. COMPROMISE is not a dirty word!!

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