What would you do if your daughter got right hooked?

bompington
bompington Posts: 7,674
edited December 2017 in Commuting general
So Bompette has gone to uni in Glasgow.

Riding home one night on her townie bike, she gets right hooked by a woman in "quite flash" car at traffic lights. Fork bent, Bompette down, no serious injuries thankfully - just a bit of bruising.

Driver and male passenger are apologetic and helpful, even give her a lift home, and promise to pay for damage to bike. They give the contact details - phone and email - of the (male) passenger.

All well until she presents them with the estimate (£180) for replacement fork and front wheel. At this point said male passenger takes over the communication. He starts saying that it's to much - he knows that because he has mates who are "cycling pros", apparently. Bompette gets the shop to phone him and verify the quote, he claims not to have been called - an outright lie. Hints that they're not going to pay anything follow.

So, what to do?
Well, not the legal route I guess. Bompette, shocked and unsure after the incident, didn't think to get the reg, insurance details or any witnesses. She thinks the driver may have been drinking (driver: "we're on our way out for drinks with friends", passenger (later): "we're on our way back from friends", time was lateish evening) but didn't think to call the police.

So has anyone got any ideas of how to apply any kind of pressure here?

Suggestions like "join BC 6 months ago" or what she should have done will of course be deeply unappreciated.

Comments

  • lettingthedaysgoby
    lettingthedaysgoby Posts: 1,732
    With a phone number, description of the car and email address I’m fairly sure they could be tracked down.
  • fenix
    fenix Posts: 5,437
    What communications does she have ? Texts ? Phone Calls ? They're not to know any calls haven't been recorded.
    Where was the crash ? Any CCTV that she could get ?

    £180 isn't much in the scheme of things. She could go the insurance route and get more theoretically. No claims for injuries or damaged clothes ? Heck if one of us was knocked off £180 wouldn't pay for new lycra.
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    2 options ..

    1 - Police - report it and be totally honest with what happened and why. I wouldn't bother with the "may have been drinking" - there's no way to prove anything. They may be sympathetic and have a word.
    2 - University Rugby Club - It'll get resolved ...

    Joking aside - go and see the Uni Students Union - they probably see Bompette as a "silly little girl" who is "trying it on" ... communication from a larger body may persuade the driver/passenger to do the right thing.
  • veronese68
    veronese68 Posts: 27,318
    I think I'd try to get the police to do something. As SB says explain the circumstances honestly and they may be sympathetic, say how they appeared reasonable at first so she didn't think there was any need to get more information at the time. I wouldn't talk to the bloke myself as the chances of losing my rag would be far too high.
    Glad she's not too badly hurt at least.
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  • drhaggis
    drhaggis Posts: 1,150
    First, I'm very glad to hear your daughter's OK. That's by far the most important thing. Second, your daughter will learn an invaluable lesson: don't trust people's word. If this happens again, now she knows the course of action: police, registration, driver's details, witnesses & their details.And third, even in the worst case, your losses wouldn't be too severe.

    Having said the unhelpful bit, like SB and Veronese68 I'd go the police route. If the incident took place anywhere near Glasgow's city centre, there's bound to be CCTV somewhere. I am unsure how fast you need to get a police report in order to claim anything but, regardless, those people deserve a visit by Police Scotland.
  • seajays
    seajays Posts: 331
    You can also try finding them on social media - if you have a name and email address, there's a good chance you'll be able to search and find them on Facebook etc. Depending on how secure their profile is, there may be a good bit about them public - including their employer!
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  • wolfsbane2k
    wolfsbane2k Posts: 3,056
    Glad she's ok - No "Serious" injuries means some - which means it's police reportable.
    1) So start there, give Police the details of the passenger & ask them to follow up, as an unreported hit and run - it's the driver of a motorised vehicle's responsibility to report an incident within 24 hours.
    Ask them to contact the passenger and apply a little bit of pressure for "obstruction of justice"...

    Do nothing else until you get something from the police saying they've done something, or not doing anything.
    Intent on Cycling Commuting on a budget, but keep on breaking/crashing/finding nice stuff to buy.
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  • mpatts
    mpatts Posts: 1,010
    I'd pay the bill, and get a years BC subscription for the legal cover.
    Insert bike here:

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