Hit by car whilst cycling

billy2shots

parking_question_chap wrote: »

OP sorry to her this happened to you, but im not sure if your post is just a statement or if you are asking for any advice.

You can take it how you like and join in with the conversation or not. It's up to you buddy.

Manxman_in_exile

billy2shots wrote: »

Police were called. 1 witness saw everything 1 saw me flying through the air after the loud noise.

Policeman spoke to me in the ambulance and the driver and witness at the roadside.
The PC has since contacted me for injuriy info and to complete a document outlining my version of what happened. I can only presume the same document was sent to witness and driver. PC told me he will reinterview the driver next week.

The driver blamed sun in his eyes at the roadside but did not deny fault. Who knows now. Fairly clear cut imo, crossed the centre line to turn right causing a collision. The what's, why's and wherefore's are secondary.

The PC was heard to say 'that's different to what the driver said' when talking to the witness. I put that down to speed as the witness told everyone huddled around me that they guy was going a bit quick whilst we were waiting for the emergency services. I honestly couldn't comment on speed as we were traveling toward each other so it's hard to judge.

OK. That is perhaps promising. Have you got details of the driver's insurers? He should have told you at the scene. I think I'd be making a third party claim against them. You might get useful advice from posters on the Insurance board on how to go about it.


If he didn't tell you, make sure the investigating PC knows this.


I think you still need legal advice even if it's just a free 30 minutes to ascertain where you stand, and proceed from there.


As a cyclist and driver myself, I'm always very cautious around cyclists when I'm driving. I only overtake when absolutely safe to do so and always give them a wide berth when overtaking (not like some muppets I see driving). I certainly wouldn't cut across in front of them.


(Strangely enough, as a pedestrian I find a lot of cyclists to be a real PITA! :rotfl:)

billy2shots

Manxman_in_exile wrote: »

OK. That is perhaps promising. Have you got details of the driver's insurers? He should have told you at the scene. I think I'd be making a third party claim against them. You might get useful advice from posters on the Insurance board on how to go about it.


If he didn't tell you, make sure the investigating PC knows this.


I think you still need legal advice even if it's just a free 30 minutes to ascertain where you stand, and proceed from there.


As a cyclist and driver myself, I'm always very cautious around cyclists when I'm driving. I only overtake when absolutely safe to do so and always give them a wide berth when overtaking (not like some muppets I see driving). I certainly wouldn't cut across in front of them.


(Strangely enough, as a pedestrian I find a lot of cyclists to be a real PITA! :rotfl:)

Policemen emailed me his name, address, reg number and insurance details.
I didn't hear anything so contacted his insurers who knew of the incident but 'weren't aware of police or ambulance involvement ':rotfl:
The driver appears to have played things down somewhat.
They don't seem bothered and are obviously holding off accepting any responsibility until the police finish their job.

[Deleted User]

Yes, a solicitor is the way to go. If you get a fixed fee/time or even a free appt (Citizens Advice can usually refer to a solicitor for a free 30mins appt), hand the solicitor your written account to read which will maximise your use of the "off the clock" time you have to get advice and plan next steps - do ensure you confirm the terms of engagement with the solicitor, and if you're not happy, get a different one. I assumed that I would be engaging my solicitor on a no win/no fee basis, so was delighted when he told me his costs would be paid by the other side's insurers and I would receive my entire claim.

Your original post is 90% there as the basis of your written account, but you should include date/time, location, car details, names of other parties involved, if you have them (driver, witnesses, police). You may also want to remove the detail about A&E's performance as it isn't strictly relevant to your claim against the driver - but your actually injuries which were eventually identified are, of course.

Don't be put off by the driver's insurer's lack of interest - this is their default stance and my solicitor was astonished that the insurers in my case didn't deny liability and made an offer so quickly. Best of luck and hope you heal well and quickly.

cubegame

billy2shots wrote: »

Policemen emailed me his name, address, reg number and insurance details.
I didn't hear anything so contacted his insurers who knew of the incident but 'weren't aware of police or ambulance involvement ':rotfl:
The driver appears to have played things down somewhat.
They don't seem bothered and are obviously holding off accepting any responsibility until the police finish their job.

Regardless of any medical situation you should have already instigated a claim for the actual material losses you suffered; such as your bike, helmet and clothes.

Manxman_in_exile

AngelicKaty wrote: »

Yes, a solicitor is the way to go. If you get a fixed fee/time or even a free appt (Citizens Advice can usually refer to a solicitor for a free 30mins appt), hand the solicitor your written account to read which will maximise your use of the "off the clock" time you have to get advice and plan next steps - do ensure you confirm the terms of engagement with the solicitor, and if you're not happy, get a different one. I assumed that I would be engaging my solicitor on a no win/no fee basis, so was delighted when he told me his costs would be paid by the other side's insurers and I would receive my entire claim.

Your original post is 90% there as the basis of your written account, but you should include date/time, location, car details, names of other parties involved, if you have them (driver, witnesses, police). You may also want to remove the detail about A&E's performance as it isn't strictly relevant to your claim against the driver - but your actually injuries which were eventually identified are, of course.

Don't be put off by the driver's insurer's lack of interest - this is their default stance and my solicitor was astonished that the insurers in my case didn't deny liability and made an offer so quickly. Best of luck and hope you heal well and quickly.

Sounds like good advice to me. The only thing I would add is that you are probably best advised to find a solicitor who specialises in personal injury claims. So you aren't looking for a criminal lawyer (always makes me laugh that phrase!) or a family lawyer. Yes, CAB might be able to point you in the right direction.

Nebulous2

I had a similar accident, but wasn't as badly hurt as you. Police were hopeless, a witness was very good and British Cycling appointed a no-fee solicitor on my behalf. They have a solicitor they use in England, but had to make alternative arrangements as I am in Scotland. My solicitor was exceptionally good, but it still took 18 months to resolve.

Try to get a solicitor that specialises in or at least has experience of cycling claims. It's fairly easy to find out who BC use, which could be a starting point.

missile

billy2shots wrote: »

They don't seem bothered and are obviously holding off accepting any responsibility until the police finish their job.

Some insurance companies might make you an offer, most will deny liability for as long as they possibly can.

In my case the driver claimed she could not recall what happened. Her insurer denied liability, 3 years later when we raised court proceedings they made a derisory offer. Only after I gave evidence, did they cave and made a reasonable settlement offer.

It was very stressful. I was unable to work, legal bills and medical consultant fees were pilling up. Had I lost this case, I would have been several thousand pounds out of pocket :eek:

Good luck :beer:

hugheskevi

I had a similar but much less serious accident 7 years ago which may be helpful to read about. In my case, a car failed to stop at a give way sign, entering a major road from a minor road resulting in a collision as the driver came into contact with my rear wheel. Neither police nor ambulance were called (a mistake in hindsight, but adrenaline after an accident is a powerful pain-killer), and I cycled home after exchanging details with the driver.

There were witnesses to the accident and I had their details. As pain increased later, I went to the hospital and found I suffered a broken bone in my arm and there was some minor damage to my bicycle.

The injury was quite straightforward, a clean break and of a type which was treated simply with a sling rather than plaster. In a sling for 2 weeks, 2 weeks of no sling but limited movement and a further 2 weeks of stiffness before complete recovery with no further complications. I did some swimming for rehabilitation after about 4 weeks. I took 1 day off work, which was at no cost to me due to sick leave, and only had 1 follow-up visit at the hospital after 2 weeks at which point they said there was no need to return again.

The damage to my bicycle totaled about £150. There were also additional transportation costs due to not being able to cycle for about 4-6 weeks but these were quite limited (about £25 per week train fares).

I carefully documented every additional cost arising from the accident, injury and damage and kept all receipts - I'd suggest doing this if you are not already. I'd suggest also regularly documenting your physical condition, with pictures if relevant - the more evidence to support your case and document your losses, the better.

As my injury was not complicated, liability was not disputed and damage was minor I decided not to seek legal representation and dealt with the driver's insurance company directly. The insurance company were very keen to deal with me, presumably to avoid a third party legal company becoming involved, and I simply sent them a comprehensive, factual description of the accident, injuries, damage, and consequential additional expenses.

The insurance company's first offer was a full and final settlement of £4,000 after about 3 months. The time taken was determined by how long the hospital took to send reports of the injury to the insurance company, as soon as they were received the insurance company made the offer. I may have been able to negotiate for more, but £4,000 was more than adequate compensation given my actual costs arising from the accident were only a few hundred pounds and my online research had suggested this was a very reasonable offer so I immediately accepted and that was the end of the matter, with the funds being paid within days.

In researching whether I should seek legal representation or not, a key issue was about quantifying the financial value of injuries, particularly where it is unclear whether there will be complete recovery or not and/or how long recovery will take. This is where individuals have little expertise and research is very difficult even in straightforward cases. Given the seriousness of your accident, I would think legal representation would be sensible.

The police were keen to pursue the driver for careless driving. I didn't want to pursue that though, as the driver was a reasonable guy, apologetic, and the driver would only have been doing about 5mph at the point of collision and it was unfortunate what happened (the broken arm was caused by my own momentum when hitting the road at about 20mph following the collision). Whilst he was clearly at fault, these things happen and that is what insurance is for, many drivers make far more serious mistakes which go unpunished and I didn't think that having a driving penalty against him for this incident was necessary.

billy2shots

hugheskevi wrote: »

I had a similar but much less serious accident 7 years ago which may be helpful to read about. In my case, a car failed to stop at a give way sign, entering a major road from a minor road resulting in a collision as the driver came into contact with my rear wheel. Neither police nor ambulance were called (a mistake in hindsight, but adrenaline after an accident is a powerful pain-killer), and I cycled home after exchanging details with the driver.

There were witnesses to the accident and I had their details. As pain increased later, I went to the hospital and found I suffered a broken bone in my arm and there was some minor damage to my bicycle.

The injury was quite straightforward, a clean break and of a type which was treated simply with a sling rather than plaster. In a sling for 2 weeks, 2 weeks of no sling but limited movement and a further 2 weeks of stiffness before complete recovery with no further complications. I did some swimming for rehabilitation after about 4 weeks. I took 1 day off work, which was at no cost to me due to sick leave, and only had 1 follow-up visit at the hospital after 2 weeks at which point they said there was no need to return again.

The damage to my bicycle totaled about £150. There were also additional transportation costs due to not being able to cycle for about 4-6 weeks but these were quite limited (about £25 per week train fares).

I carefully documented every additional cost arising from the accident, injury and damage and kept all receipts - I'd suggest doing this if you are not already. I'd suggest also regularly documenting your physical condition, with pictures if relevant - the more evidence to support your case and document your losses, the better.

As my injury was not complicated, liability was not disputed and damage was minor I decided not to seek legal representation and dealt with the driver's insurance company directly. The insurance company were very keen to deal with me, presumably to avoid a third party legal company becoming involved, and I simply sent them a comprehensive, factual description of the accident, injuries, damage, and consequential additional expenses.

The insurance company's first offer was a full and final settlement of £4,000 after about 3 months. The time taken was determined by how long the hospital took to send reports of the injury to the insurance company, as soon as they were received the insurance company made the offer. I may have been able to negotiate for more, but £4,000 was more than adequate compensation given my actual costs arising from the accident were only a few hundred pounds and my online research had suggested this was a very reasonable offer so I immediately accepted and that was the end of the matter, with the funds being paid within days.

In researching whether I should seek legal representation or not, a key issue was about quantifying the financial value of injuries, particularly where it is unclear whether there will be complete recovery or not and/or how long recovery will take. This is where individuals have little expertise and research is very difficult even in straightforward cases. Given the seriousness of your accident, I would think legal representation would be sensible.

The police were keen to pursue the driver for careless driving. I didn't want to pursue that though, as the driver was a reasonable guy, apologetic, and the driver would only have been doing about 5mph at the point of collision and it was unfortunate what happened (the broken arm was caused by my own momentum when hitting the road at about 20mph following the collision). Whilst he was clearly at fault, these things happen and that is what insurance is for, many drivers make far more serious mistakes which go unpunished and I didn't think that having a driving penalty against him for this incident was necessary.

Thanks for the great info.

Thanks everyone for all your input, experiences and advice. I have decided to make the use of a free initial meet with a solicitor. I will have it all written prior to going to save time and to get the facts across clearly.