if a motorist knocks you off can you claim?

Big_G_RC

So if a motorist knocks me off my bike and writes my bike off can I claim against their insurance for the cost of my bike (£2000)?

WiggyDiggyPoo

Yes, but you need to have reported to police etc for that to happen.

thenudeone

Yes you can claim.

There is no need for any physical contact to have occurred, as long as they are to blame. But unless you were very observant when you were knocked off, you won't have any way of tracing them.

Marco_Panettone

Yes you can. It's why more people are riding with helmet cams to collect any necessary evidence.

You can also report near-miss and other dangerous occurrences. In London this is easily done via Roadsafe.

VictorCharlie

Yes of course you can. Where there's blame there's a claim(is what they say).

I was knocked off my bike by a motorist in 2011 and I successfully claimed against him(well the MIB because I didn't get his details).

smashingyour...

WiggyDiggyPoo wrote: »

Yes, but you need to have reported to police etc for that to happen.

No you don't.;)

HappyMJ

As above...it's a civil claim nothing to do with the police at all.

yangptangkipperbang

Why is the motorist always considered to be the one in the wrong ???

Marco_Panettone

yangptangkipperbang wrote: »

Why is the motorist always considered to be the one in the wrong ???

They aren't.

Hopefully the larger vehicle in any collision will be soon though. The introduction of Presumed Liability would bring us into line with the rest of Europe, and allow the most vulnerable party in the collision (and therefore the most likely party to be injured) the ability to claim damages faster. It may also have the knock-on effect of making the operators of larger vehicles more careful. This would also apply to cyclist vs pedestrians, where the cyclist would be presumed to be at fault unless proved otherwise.

System

Presumed liability will frighten the cr*p out of cyclists who ride on the pavement!

Marco_Panettone

!!!!!! wrote: »

Presumed liability will frighten the cr*p out of cyclists who ride on the pavement!

Only if they ride dangerously. There's nothing inherently 'dangerous' about cycling on the pavement as long as you use it as a 'shared space' and understand that pedestrians have priority. Riding slowly and carefully will cause no danger. Why is a narrow pavement with a small blue sign designating it as Shared Space thought to be safer than a wider pavement without the sign?

Basically - respect others and give the more vulnerable the time and space they feel they need.