Public Information post

shipley

Now I have always been of the "I'll make my own decisions thank you" mindset and do not want to start a helmet debate here as I always thought that most injuries are to limbs and collar bones, but......

Sunday morning I was returning from a 50km ride, nearly within sight of my house when despite having a row of parked cars in his lane, a nice man in a BMW X5 decided he couldn't wait 20 seconds for me to go past. Visibility was good and I had a strong flashing light but he drove straight at me nonetheless.

I had no option but to jump the bike onto the kerb at 20mph (I was travelling downhill) but then hit a hole in the pavement which immediately stopped the bike. Of course I didn't stop and woke up in an ambulance 20 minutes later. I have today returned home from hospital, the bleeding on my brain has stopped, the whiplash is unbelievably sore and the 3 broken fingers are an inconvenience. I have a face like a Pizza too.

I'm posting this as I was ambling down a hill, virtually post ride.... and the severity of this 'off' has surprised me to say the least. Like I said I don't want to start a helmet debate but because my bike stopped dead, I 'face planted' and had I not been wearing a helmet and glasses (see scratched lenses below) I doubt I'd be typing this yet, if at all.

Be careful out there - they can get you any time. (oh...nearly forgot....the bike is fine )

diamonddog

Ouch, hope you recover soon, some people/drivers are morons.

benjamess

ouch sounds like it could have been worse.....hope you heal up soon!

I hope the driver stopped?!

slowbike

how's the bike?

fat daddy

on the upside, your face kina matches the helmet .. and I assume your helpet colours match your bike .... so it all goes together

I am currently riding a green and black bike .... looks rubbish with blood

daniel_b

Ouch, here's to a fast recovery.

X5 drivers seem to be of a similar mindset wherever they are sadly.

shipley

Ha ha, thanks chaps. The bike is a white red and black Lapierre Cross which is my winter bike. Front wheel is true (albeit punctured) and the Garmin stayed on so it's cost me a pair of Oakleys, my good looks and I suppose I'd better throw the helmet.

The driver didn't stop.

Glad you got the tyres John, good job I posted them on Friday !!

fat daddy

Shipley wrote:

Glad you got the tyres John, good job I posted them on Friday !!

me too .... nothing would have annoyed me more than tyres tyrning up late AND with blood on them ... again especially seing that it wouldnt match the bike.

glad your ok though ... well still in one piece if not a bit beaten up ...... just goes to show you how in the blink of an eye your day is somewhat ruined !

keef66

You said "his lane". Does that mean he was leaving his house?
In which case track him down and get his details so you can claim something for the inconvenience / damage / injuries?
Heal quickly, but take plenty of photos.

And if he caused an accident and drove away the police might want to know. Any witnesses? Who called the ambulance?

keef66

Scratch that, I just reread the OP and you meant his side of the road. I pictured it all wrong. What a tw@t. The BMW driver, not me.

Any CCTV anywhere near? The police might be interested...

shipley

keef66 wrote:

You said "his lane". Does that mean he was leaving his house?
In which case track him down and get his details so you can claim something for the inconvenience / damage / injuries?
Heal quickly, but take plenty of photos.

And if he caused an accident and drove away the police might want to know. Any witnesses? Who called the ambulance?

He was driving towards me up the hill but was impeded by the parked cars. I was coming down the hill. Apparently 2 female cyclists were on the road behind me and saw me go down but he had passed them before they realised the severity. They were great, found my details in my jacket, called the ambulance and my wife and put my bike in the back of her car for her.

That, coupled with the care I received from the NHS staff, shows that most people are great...the rest drive X5s

graeme_s-2

Depending on whether you consider it worthwhile you could make a claim for personal injury compensation (but not for damage to your bike or other possessions) against an uninsured or unidentified driver via the Motor Insurers Bureau.

bianchimoon

Glad you're ok Shipley, considerate post re helmet debate, agree with what you're saying

vinnymarsden

I think the helmet "naysayers" need to read this and take a large dose of STFU!!
Glad you are okay, I bet he was being "jockeyed" from behind by an Audi driver too!! Joking aside, what happened to the OP is for most cyclists an almost every ride occurrence, unluckily for the OP he suffered very badly. Suffice to say, once better my actions would be to "patrol" that section of road for a while in an effort to find said driver. Even if he doesn't know what he did, he should be made aware, w ill have saved mere seconds, yet he has caused the OP some no doubt lengthy painful recovery time, and incurred costs too. Cyclists & other road users CAN coexist, it's education that is required!

StillGoing

Contact the police reporting the fail to stop by the BMW driver. They can do various trawls, provided you have a conscientious copper dealing with it, such as an ANPR trawl on nearby cameras for BMW X5s, DVLA checks for ones registered near the scene, buses that may have been on the route at the time as they often have forward facing cameras and even local cctv in shops near the scene.

franber

Umm, is it on Strava?
That grey stuff in your helmet pic? Will you need that put back in?
Nothing else I can say other than it is good to see you remain alive and reasonably positive post horrific accident, best of luck in your recovery!