Knocked off cyclist - advice please?

Astaroth

magyar wrote:

Witnesses' statements are often somewhat biased! If s/he's a car driver, she may have been wrongly sympathetic to the view that "it's a cyclist's job to look out for cars".

Sadly, this is in practice often true; as exemplified by this case...

With many years of multi-track claims experience before I joined the enemy I am aware of the uselessness of a witnesses view on liability. A witness however can see events which one party may not have (eg because of a parked vehicle obscuring their view) hence why it would be interesting to see what their version of events are and if there is any weight to the comment on liability or if, as you say, it was just a car drivers general dislike of cyclists.

achtunglady

magyar wrote:

I got a CD for pulling out to turn right from a side junction in front of a woman who was indicating that she was about to turn INTO that junction.... arguably she was also partly to blame, but it's always your responsibilty to check that the road is clear... in my case the woman still had her indicator on from a roundabout near the junction)

I was taught by my driving instructor in these situations when turning right out of a side junction and a car is indicating to turn into the junction you are coming out of, to wait until they start to turn the wheels into the junction, then proceed, thats what GIVE WAY markings mean. Ok, some people indicate and change their minds, but again its about observation, if that driver went past the point of turning into the junction, i wouldnt have gone forward.

I think alot of the drivers should take a hazard awareness course, as the new drivers are being taught one way and the older drivers who passed their test before theory tests and hazard awareness tests are driving to different standards.

lisyloo

and the older drivers who passed their test before theory tests and hazard awareness tests are driving to different standards

Don't tar us all with the same brush please :-)

I am an "older" driver but keep myself current with books and training courses run by the police and bodies like IAM (Institute of advanced motorists).

I don't think we should be ageist (or anything else "ist").

magyar

lisyloo wrote:

Don't tar us all with the same brush please :-)

I am an "older" driver but keep myself current with books and training courses run by the police and bodies like IAM (Institute of advanced motorists).

I don't think we should be ageist (or anything else "ist").

Well it's Friday so perhaps you could be p-ist....

Scarlett

I've spoken to the expert and...

for the reasons I stated before, and going from what you've said, you would almost certainly be found guilty of driving without due care and attention. In situations like these there is an extra onus upon the driver of the vehicle.

Everyone my partner has dealt with in a similar situation, who wanted to proceed to a court hearing so that they could put their side of the story forth in the hopes that the other party shared blame, was inevitably found guilty, got points on their licence and a fine... and subsequently wishes that they had taken the course whilst it was an available option.

debtworrier

achtunglady wrote:

I was taught by my driving instructor in these situations when turning right out of a side junction and a car is indicating to turn into the junction you are coming out of, to wait until they start to turn the wheels into the junction, then proceed, thats what GIVE WAY markings mean. Ok, some people indicate and change their minds, but again its about observation, if that driver went past the point of turning into the junction, i wouldnt have gone forward.

I think alot of the drivers should take a hazard awareness course, as the new drivers are being taught one way and the older drivers who passed their test before theory tests and hazard awareness tests are driving to different standards.

Question from my motorcycle instructor: "If you see a car coming towards you with their right indicator blinking, what does that mean?"

After much hemming and hawing from me, he answered:

"It means it's working."

Thoughtful pause in class at that point.

debtworrier

Astaroth wrote:

With many years of multi-track claims experience before I joined the enemy I am aware of the uselessness of a witnesses view on liability. A witness however can see events which one party may not have (eg because of a parked vehicle obscuring their view) hence why it would be interesting to see what their version of events are and if there is any weight to the comment on liability or if, as you say, it was just a car drivers general dislike of cyclists.

To be fair to the witness, s/he may simply have said whatever the OP wanted to hear, unwilling to get involved in a public row!

ariba10

debtworrier wrote:

Question from my motorcycle instructor: "If you see a car coming towards you with their right indicator blinking, what does that mean?"

After much hemming and hawing from me, he answered:

"It means it's working."

Thoughtful pause in class at that point.

It was said with hand signals when they were the norm.

'The only thing you can assume is that the window is open.'