Hit by a car, injured and bike is a wreck - what next?

CRAIGO5000

In brief, I was commuting home on my usual route of 5 years. It was 6.30pm, wet with a quiet amount of traffic due to the kids being off on Summer holiday.

I was turning right at a very large roundabout (3 lanes) and half way though my turn a car entered the roundabout from another entrance to the roundabout to my left and obviously not giving way to his right hitting me squarely on the side throwing me from the bike and over the bonnet across into the outer lane of the roundabout. He stopped and really was a decent chap. He rang an ambulance as I couldn't move right away - I think I was stunned for a few minutes until my brain worked out what had just happened. Another lady stopped on the roundabout and wrote down her details mentioning she saw everything and that the chap who hit me clearly wasn't paying attention. She stuffed her details in my bag and went on her way. A huge lorry had also helped block the 3 lanes from traffic while he checked me over and gave me his spare coat until the ambulance could come.

I managed to get to the centre of the roundabout to await the ambulance but after confirming my name to the operator - it never arrived after a 30 minute wait. Luckily a nurse pulled over on the way to her shift and dropped me off at her A&E. The chap who hit me kindly bundled my wrecked bike into his car and took it home for me.

While being X-rayed and seen by the doctor, the police rang and wanted to speak to me as they'd had a report of the accident come through which I can only asume was made by the chap who hit me? The doctor wouldn't put the call through to me because of patient confidentiality and for the fact he wanted to do his job I guess. I was discharged with no serious injuries - just cuts, bruises and road rash to my hands, arms, elbow, both knees, both arse cheeks, left and right hip and ankle - no broken bones!

I've since tried to call the police back via several number including their dedicated RTA department and it's nigh on impossible to speak to an officer who can take my statement - the 101 operators can't take statements. They promise to call back and don't. I have independent witness details and my statement to give and I also need to know how to start a claim process in order to get a replacement bike in place.

My BC membership has lapsed so I can't approach them. I have no specifc cycling insurance either, just home insurance for a bike value at £1500 which is an lagacy policy I still pay for but the bike and carbon wheels, clothing, carbon shoes, Garmin and power meter easily tops £3000.

What's going to be my best course of action to resolve this? I've not spoken to the guy who knocked me off yet as I'm not sure I should before I've made my police report - I'm a little lost in all of this tbh?

I'd appriciate any advise on the proper procedure I should follow.

Thanks

cooldad

Get his insurance details, claim number etc and assuming he's already reported it, a case number. Then contact his insurers with a quote for repairs, or new bike, and take it from there.

If the insurers don't cooperate quickly, mention that you are still feeling some pain and may need to be checked out for soft tissue damage/whiplash. That often speeds things up if you make it clear you'll walk away with just the bike sorted. But don't make it sound like blackmail.

Or call a no win no fee ambulance chasing bastard lawyer. They'll want to make loads of money, so it will go all medical and take much longer.

slowbike

It might be prudent to contact the solicitors used by BC or Cycling UK members in case of an accident. They'll have experience in doing this sort of work and should advise you what you can expect out of it.

If you're confident then you could deal with it yourself directly with the drivers insurers.

The police incident is separate to the insurance process, is it easy enough to visit your local police station and report the incident and leave it at that for now. They'll contact you if they want to get clarification or take further action.

Oh - and next time - commute on the Allez - it's a bit cheaper

fenix

Take photos of everything. YOur injuries. Your clothes. Your bike.

And do as above or call https://www.bikeline.co.uk/

They've done some good work for pals of mine who have been knocked off.

Look after yourself and heal well.

wolfsbane2k

Blimey dude.
Glad you are ok, sounds like you, personally, got off lightly.

2 separate strands here
1) Prosecution of driver for driving without due care and attention- needs police, as a crime. You've got a witness, and there may be CCTV to back that up.
2) Claiming back costs of bike, accessories (& injuries) from drivers insurer.

As the incident has been reported to the police, they should provide you with the insurance details of the driver. It might have been the driver, or the lady that stopped to give you details, or anyone else. What police force is it?

Taking each thread separately:
1)Driving without due care. You need to hassle the police to prosecute, and also scout the area for cameras - most large roundabouts have traffic cameras at least on them, it might be available on that, but it's likely the police will chase it up unless you explicitly get details. If the force has an email address, try pinging that, rather than 101, as it can give you a direct link into the RPU, which means they can respond to you while working a night shift etc.

2) Claims - Do you have the drivers insurance details, or a phone #, or at least the reg #?
Get the insurers details off the driver, with the ref #, or if you don't have that, but have the reg #, pay www.askmid.org £4 for the details, and contact them directly, with details of the incident, and as per above, consider going direct, or using a no-win no-fee solicitor.
(Check if you have legal protection included in your house insurance, which might include supporting PI claims).

Then follow the advice given above.

Good luck with it.

squired

I think you need to consider how much of a battle you are willing to have. If you don't mind potentially spending a lot of time with this, go direct. As you had no serious injuries, that might be a better route to take anyway.

The alternative is to involve a legal expert. In my brother's case, we have used Osbornes. I think they are the solicitors members of the London Cycling Campaign go through, so I took that as a decent recommendation. The way they apparently work is that the fee they take is on a scale. The lowest fee is when the driver has admitted liability, increasing if they haven't unsurprisingly.

In my brother's case he suffered a displaced vertebral fracture and is in a back brace for a couple more months. The solicitors contacted the insurers, who apparently are required to respond within three weeks - they haven't. The police have also not sent their report yet, which is apparently fairly standard. So, no matter how efficient you are, you might find that the process is painful whether you go the direct route or involve solicitors.

To add to the comments about photos, I would make sure that you have photos of the location where the accident happened, even if just from google streetview. I learned a lesson on that front a few years ago following an accident that ended up in small claims court. I was naive and trusted the process (as well as the honesty of the driver). The simple fact is that people will change their stories and make up all sorts of things.

cougie

Any update?

kingrollo

cougie wrote:

Any update?

Well he has started another thread looking for a new bike.