Pedestrian Vs Motorbike...

NinjaSavingKat

Greetings ...

Any advice on this would be terrific....

In March this year I had a pedestrian run out in front of my bike. She was waved across by a bus driver who had blocked the pedestrian crossing... as she was out jogging and clearly didn't want to interrupt her progress she sprinted ( and I mean sprinted hard ) to get passed the bus driver before he started to move off....problem was the bus driver didn't see me, nor did she..( I had right to continue as this was two roads heading the same way )..

I cleared the crossing down the side of the bus, I was on green lights and she ran straight into the front of my bike, as she was sprinting the went over the bike and hit the deck.. I was travelling slowly due to other cars in the area anyway so thankfully didn't come off..

I called police and ambulance for her. She admitted to all concerned that she didn't look. She was released after a 10 minute check up from the hospital ( I called the police officer concerned to check ) ... and due to no witnesses, and her confession so to speak, the police took no further action..

Now I was left with a smashed headlight - on my brand of bike this cannot be fixed and the whole unit has to be replaced along with a wing mirror that she snapped off - totalling a delightful £420.

Now - I am very grateful she was uninjured. That was my main concern!!

However why should I be out of pocket because of her stupidity??

The insurance man was an ex-copper and assured me I should be claiming somehow..as it was my right to continue moving over the part of the crossing that was not covered by the bus as I had a green light. Since the pedestrian crossing was COMPLETELY covered, Mr Guilty Bus Driver thought it his right to wave pedestrians across..

No bus number or registration plate gained...

However two letters have been sent by my insurance company although they generally don't do that since there is no other party to claim from ..? Which have gone unanswered..

She was running in a JP Morgan t-shirt...mightn't mean much but I have to be careful how I approach this..

I am just loathed to pay this amount and not challenge it at least...

Thoughts on a post card please...:(:(:(:(

I guess my first stop would be the CAB office for an officially legal letter to be drafted yes..? Even if she pays half I'd be grateful...

forgotmyname

Personally i would think damn unlucky and glad you didnt injure her.

Thing happen, Either claim or fix it myself and move on.

How much time and money do you want to put into it? Maybe its because im not sitting here asking the question or im just lazy.

Sort it yourself and move on? Not sure you can claim from the bus driver.
He may say he gestured to say he wasnt moving off. Not his fault she failed to
look down the other lane.

wildbri

wait till two years down the line when you suddenly get a letter from a solicitor with a claim for her injury, saying you were speeding, didnt sound your horn, were driving without due care and attention, and a lot of other lies that these ' had an accident make a claim' parasite lawyers send you.

regards bri

londonTiger

you're probably not going to able to get much out from her money wise, she's unlikely to have personal insurance for yuor insurance to claim off.

If she doesn't have insurance (most likely) and you put a claim through. The insurance is going to pass this onto a claims company who will ring up the fees big time. They will then contact the pedestrian and try to sue. the pedestrian may not have any money to pay, the claims company will make a judgement as to whether to take her to civil court or drop it defer back to your insurance and you will be "at fault". Fault doesn't mean the accident was your responsibility, fault means you are financially reposible, so your insurance had to pad for the damages.


It will make your look bad in the eyes of your insurer if you claim for hitting a pedestrian, regardless of fault driving into a pedestrian on a crossing looks bad, and in a civil court the odds are against you, and the burden of proof lies with you to prove the pedestrian was negligent.

if you can get written statement from her saying that she did not have any lasting injuries from the collision in exchange for agreeing not to put a claim for damaging yuor bike against her. That would be the best outcome. But if she doesn't want to cooperatr you need to put a claim through against her so that you cover your back against any future lawsuits.

if she springs up 2 years later with a no win no fee accident claim. I'd hate to think what the insurers are going to do. They may even kick you off for not informing them of a very costly payout then you'll have to tell future insurers that an insurance policy was cancelled on you...

rxbren

is this linked to the other thread

londonTiger

rxbren wrote: »

is this linked to the other thread

no this one jogger, the other one is pregnant lady. would be hilarious if they were both related.

londonTiger

is there an issue with pedestrians not seeing bikes due to bikes being narrow and getting blocked by lamp posts or something? is this common or just coincidence that two popped up at similar times?

i know that when im driving sometimes the windscreen pillar can cause a blind spot so i have to go very slowly round poor vis areas

NinjaSavingKat

Good Morning and thank you for all the posts and helpful information..

Lets put a few things down though.. she was NOT on the pedestrian crossing when hit. She was sprinting through stationary traffic as the crossing was covered / this was ample room though for me to keep moving and other cyclists though..Police said she should have waited.

This is NOT related to any other blogger - I read about the pregnant woman hence thought I might get some advice of the same nature..

In relation to not being seen by pedestrians we are literally NOT seen. People look passed me, even sometimes like they are looking through me but just don't SEE me while standing on pavements reading to run ( not at crossings ) and look directly at cars. They get a beep from me to let them know I am there and genuinely looked shocked that I suddenly appeared in a puff of smoke or something..

I am on a 650cc / high viz'd to the hilt. How can I not be seen?

Bikes cannot hide behind posts / poles etc..:rotfl: we move, like cars...LondonTiger for cars its different.. but even I have a blind spot I am aware of..... My bike weighs 200kg... I think people assume they mightn't hurt as bad as a car or lorry. Its insane what I see on some roads...

However my insurance company is fully aware and prepared if this woman comes back to me.. they were very helpful although I must admit I am getting differing advise wherever I go so whats on here is helpful so far...

LondonTiger you gave some good advise there - there were no witnesses.. I am going to try and get hold of her statement which says she didn't look and see what else is on there...

Will keep you posted...:(:(:(:(

forgotmyname

Yeah you were travelling too fast for the road conditions, Undertook/Overtook a bus and failed to spot the woman crossing the road. She was there before you etc etc etc...

So may different options they could choose to say it was your fault. I guess in this day and age you have to expect the worst.

NinjaSavingKat

You're right there however two roads on one direction apparently not classed as undertaking..( am checking this !!) Second she sprinted from in front of a stationary bus.. But I hear what you're saying! Gonna be my word against hers.. Emails sent to my insurers and road traffic collision unit for possible copy of her statement which will be her noose..:A

Lum

londonTiger wrote: »

When im driving sometimes the windscreen pillar can cause a blind spot so i have to go very slowly round poor vis areas

A-pillar tracking issues. This is a really big killer of bikers as it's surprisingly common to approach a T junction from the minor road with a bike behind the A piller and match speeds such that the bike remains behind the pillar the entire time.

It's getting worse with modern cars. It seems like you can hide a short wheelbase Transit behind the A pillar on my Mondeo, so a biker has no hope. Always duck your head to check around that pillar before you pull out people!

I guess the modern A pillars are so thick because they're stuffed with padding and airbags, so at least the driver will be ok when their massive A pillar contributes to the inevitable crash. Sucks to be the biker though.

NinjaSavingKat wrote: »

I am on a 650cc / high viz'd to the hilt. How can I not be seen?

High Viz - aka urban camouflage. Perhaps that's part of your problem? Maybe a solid, but bright colour would be more helpful?

I think I already mentioned this in the other thread, but some designs of high viz and motorbike leathers have a disturbing resemblance to dazzle camouflage, which was explicitly designed to make it difficult to judge the speed, position and distance of the wearer.