Yet another statistic - me!

Harveytile
Harveytile Posts: 227
edited March 2010 in Commuting chat
Right so there I was riding happily home last Friday having strongly ridden up College Road and having a breather down Crystal Palace Parade when BAM! A pedestrian steps out from the front of a stopped bus into the live traffic without looking. :shock:

I had slowed down to about 12mph when passing the bus but still could not avoid the daft lady. I ended up doing an "over-the-bars" pirouette finishing with a skillful dismount using my shoulder, hip, right knee, and elbow to break the fall. :oops: The silly ped was about to leave when I mentioned it would be an offense to leave the scene of an accident so she hung around until the Ambo and police arrived and pointed out the traffic light controlled crossing no more than 40m down the road! :evil:

I would like to take this chance to thank the lovely lady who stopped and offered to take me home even though she had no idea we live about 200m apart! Small world eh?

I spent a rather painful time at A&E getting Xray'd (no breaks), prodded and poked by an incredibly young Dr, and got home after 11:00pm. Saturday was uncomfortable to say the least. Sunday a bit better until I started to repair my bike.

Initially I though it was only a broken wheel but no. Wiping the grime from the headtube, i noticed a mark. Further investigation showed a cracked headtube - frame AND wheel fit for the skip. I stripped the bike down and now have a large pile of part-worn bits and the MTB gets some road time...

Every cloud has a silver lining. Mine is the Cycle2Work scheme. Tody I have placed an order for a lovely Pearson Hazo! She should be ready in about a week just in time for the slowly repairing body to be pressed back into service.

A few notes: Yes I was wearing a helmet, no I didn't hit my head too hard (did not lose consciousness). Lights front and back. Hivis vest worn. Light on helmet set to flash. Reflective sticker kit on bike. Bell on bike and used as soon as I could (but too late I guess). :roll:

Comments on a postcard or just another stat? It took me 6 months and about 3000miles before a "proper" incident. Maybe I'm just lucky...
.
Beep Beep Richie.
.

FCN +7 (Hanzo Fixed. Simple - for the commute)
FCN +10 (Loud and proud PA)

Comments

  • cjcp
    cjcp Posts: 13,345
    Excellent dismount. 8)

    Glad it's not as worse as it could have been. Bummer about the road bike, but hurrah about the C2W bike! :D

    Had a similar incident seven years ago on Bishopsgate. While I had the courtesy to avoid the ped, the ped, after being stopped from walking away by a motorcyclist, said "sorry, these things happen."
    FCN 2-4.

    "What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
    "It stays down, Daddy."
    "Exactly."
  • benno68
    benno68 Posts: 1,689
    The moral seems to be, make sure you hit them good so they can't walk away.

    If they have home insurance they may have cover for these sort of liabilities. I'm sure they have a reasonable duty of care just like cyclists and motorists etc.

    Too late for you CJCP but maybe worth making enquiries Harveytile to check if it's worthwhile pursuing a claim.
    _________________________________________________

    Pinarello Dogma 2 (ex Team SKY) 2012
    Cube Agree GTC Ultegra 2012
    Giant Defy 105 2009
  • Ouch! Bad luck Harveytile. I had exactly the same thing happen to me - except I didn't escape uninjured. At least the new bike will mean you are not tempted to stay off the saddle for long :wink:
    Pain is only weakness leaving the body
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 58,167
    Crystal Palace Parade is a bit dicey from the point of view that its quite open and porentially fast with quite a few stopped buses, esp near the junction with Anerley Hill. At least you'd knackered yourself out a bit going up College Road (unsurprisingly, bit of a leg burner) and were going quite slowly...
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 27,487
    Sorry to hear that you and the bike came off quite badly from a relatively low speed incident. The bottom of Putney Hill used to be (and I'm sure still is) a prime location for halfwit peds ambling out from in front of the bus because they were too bone idle to use the crossing 20m further down the road. I remember one lady asking me what I thought I was doing when I swerved around a group who walked out without looking, to which I think I replied, "riding a bike what does it f***ing look like" IIRC.
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

    Part of the anti-growth coalition
  • Where does a cyclist stand to claim from an accident caused by a pedestrian?
    I would like to think it is possible to recover compensation for the bike that was written off or at least a % of costs.

    Pretty sure if one of us hit a pedestrian we would be facing a criminal charge of some variety. I guess civil action is one line but probably quite a hassle as individuals may not be insured?

    Anyone know?

    £1.25 for sign up http://www.quidco.com/user/491172/42301

    Cashback on wiggle,CRC,evans follow the link
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  • Steve_b77
    Steve_b77 Posts: 1,680
    This too happend to me last the Friday before last, wasn't quite so slow at impact though.

    I was riding down past Finsbury park towards Highbury & Islington Station, just gone through the lights almost spinning out on 42:16 as per normal, when a lad stepped out from between 2 buses.

    On 'Ooooh $hit' from me and bang I hit him, thankfully for me he provided a nice comfy impact mat on the road as I landed on him and then my bike followed onto me.

    Had a bit of a sore shoulder, bruised knee, hip and ankle - the bike was fine.

    Some woman on the pavement started giving out in a waving arms around and screeching kinda way about how I should watch where I'm going on the road :shock:

    Just got on a rode off to work, was a bit on the stiff side on Saturday but still raced on Sunday :lol: