Car & bicycle incident - claim question.

whatwasmyname

DB1904 said:

sevenhills said:

whatwasmyname said:

So by the sounds of it then - go to the police (I assume 101 is it these days?) and wait to see how long I end up having off work

You are being too nice, people learn a better lesson if they remember that accident for years to come.

Report it to the police.

No they don't, they get a better lesson once they understand what they did wrong and why the accident happened. 

They have to be wanting to make the change though, that's the key thing.

Maybe the guy who hit me will change what he does in future. Maybe he wont. I'll certainly never know as i'm not going to be with him for the rest of his driving days.

Like people who get done for speeding. Some will stop, I suspect many wont and certainly some will continue to else they wouldn't wind up on multiple speeding courses. 

Change only comes if you want to, regardless of any punishment that may be dished out.

Ditzy_Mitzy

whatwasmyname said:

DB1904 said:

sevenhills said:

whatwasmyname said:

So by the sounds of it then - go to the police (I assume 101 is it these days?) and wait to see how long I end up having off work

You are being too nice, people learn a better lesson if they remember that accident for years to come.

Report it to the police.

No they don't, they get a better lesson once they understand what they did wrong and why the accident happened. 

They have to be wanting to make the change though, that's the key thing.

Maybe the guy who hit me will change what he does in future. Maybe he wont. I'll certainly never know as i'm not going to be with him for the rest of his driving days.

Like people who get done for speeding. Some will stop, I suspect many wont and certainly some will continue to else they wouldn't wind up on multiple speeding courses. 

Change only comes if you want to, regardless of any punishment that may be dished out.

Hopefully you'll learn from the incident too; as you have found out, being in the right is no good if the crash has already happened.  You recognised the hazard, correctly, and realised that it had the potential to develop, also correctly, but took the wrong action by proceeding and attempting to assert yourself without evidence that the driver wasn't going to pull out.  You trusted him not to and the bottom line is that you shouldn't trust anyone to do anything.  

If I'm approaching a ditherer, I'll release the accelerator and prepare to stop or take evasive action, especially in cases where eye contact hasn't been made with the other driver.  Points of principle are, frankly, completely irrelevant; ignore them and look after yourself.  Wish you better and stay safe.  

Norman_Castle

Drivers are obliged to give name and address details, there's no obligation to give insurance details. Contact the police on 101 to report the accident. Find a legal company to represent you, preferably one experienced in cycling accidents. They will be able to advise what can be claimed. He should have told his insurer about this accident.  

whatwasmyname

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

but took the wrong action by proceeding and attempting to assert yourself without evidence that the driver wasn't going to pull out.  

You'll have to explain this one to me i'm afraid. I'm more than happy to hold my hands up if i'm wrong but I still fail to see what I could've done differently.

If by me calling him a ditherer you had the image of him edging forwards, backwards, forwards, backwards then that's my fault for giving you the wrong picture.
He was stationary. 
If I was in his situation I would've gone, way before he did. There was ample time. But fact is he didn't go & then it got to the situation where it wasn't safe to go on both counts - I was now too close & (thinking again if i was the driver in his position) if I scooted out at that point I'd be expecting a beep from the oncoming traffic because I'd (he'd) left it a bit late to go. 
For the sake of waiting (at this point now) a further 3-5 seconds, i'd continue to wait as i'd (he'd) been waiting long enough so another 3-5 secs is nothing.

If i was to ease off or stop in that situation (& please don't take this the wrong way as i don't mean it with attitude) then I would have to stop every single time I was approaching a junction that had a car at it & question if they were going to let me pass or not.

I appreciate it's the internet & you only have my description of the event & I have to hope i've described it in a manner that has you visualising what happened accurately. Unfortunately a camera is one of the things i meant to get round to getting but never got round to getting due to 1) cost and 2) figuring out how/where to mount without it being awkward/in the way.

Anyway, I take on board what you say. It wont put me off going back out on the bike when i'm able to. I've got it booked in to get checked over as I think it's ok. Nothing obvious but it is now making a bit of a grating noise. I just can't see anything rubbing so i'm at a loss.

Norman_Castle said:

Drivers are obliged to give name and address details, there's no obligation to give insurance details. Contact the police on 101 to report the accident. Find a legal company to represent you, preferably one experienced in cycling accidents. They will be able to advise what can be claimed. He should have told his insurer about this accident.  

At risk of sounding a bit stupid, I've never had to deal with solicitors before. How do you go about finding one specialising in cycling accidents?

Norman_Castle

whatwasmyname said:

At risk of sounding a bit stupid, I've never had to deal with solicitors before. How do you go about finding one specialising in cycling accidents?

https://www.google.com/search?q=cycle+accident+solicitor

[Deleted User]

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

whatwasmyname said:

DB1904 said:

sevenhills said:

whatwasmyname said:

So by the sounds of it then - go to the police (I assume 101 is it these days?) and wait to see how long I end up having off work

You are being too nice, people learn a better lesson if they remember that accident for years to come.

Report it to the police.

No they don't, they get a better lesson once they understand what they did wrong and why the accident happened. 

They have to be wanting to make the change though, that's the key thing.

Maybe the guy who hit me will change what he does in future. Maybe he wont. I'll certainly never know as i'm not going to be with him for the rest of his driving days.

Like people who get done for speeding. Some will stop, I suspect many wont and certainly some will continue to else they wouldn't wind up on multiple speeding courses. 

Change only comes if you want to, regardless of any punishment that may be dished out.

Hopefully you'll learn from the incident too; as you have found out, being in the right is no good if the crash has already happened.  You recognised the hazard, correctly, and realised that it had the potential to develop, also correctly, but took the wrong action by proceeding and attempting to assert yourself without evidence that the driver wasn't going to pull out.  You trusted him not to and the bottom line is that you shouldn't trust anyone to do anything.  

If I'm approaching a ditherer, I'll release the accelerator and prepare to stop or take evasive action, especially in cases where eye contact hasn't been made with the other driver.  Points of principle are, frankly, completely irrelevant; ignore them and look after yourself.  Wish you better and stay safe.  

Enough with victim blaming, riders are far more vulnerable, we can have 10 lights, neon yellow gear and still people will say "sorry didn't see you". Riders can only do so much - you can't work on the basis that someone will not wait behind a give way or you'd never get anywhere

whatwasmyname

Deleted_User said:

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

whatwasmyname said:

DB1904 said:

sevenhills said:

whatwasmyname said:

So by the sounds of it then - go to the police (I assume 101 is it these days?) and wait to see how long I end up having off work

You are being too nice, people learn a better lesson if they remember that accident for years to come.

Report it to the police.

No they don't, they get a better lesson once they understand what they did wrong and why the accident happened. 

They have to be wanting to make the change though, that's the key thing.

Maybe the guy who hit me will change what he does in future. Maybe he wont. I'll certainly never know as i'm not going to be with him for the rest of his driving days.

Like people who get done for speeding. Some will stop, I suspect many wont and certainly some will continue to else they wouldn't wind up on multiple speeding courses. 

Change only comes if you want to, regardless of any punishment that may be dished out.

Hopefully you'll learn from the incident too; as you have found out, being in the right is no good if the crash has already happened.  You recognised the hazard, correctly, and realised that it had the potential to develop, also correctly, but took the wrong action by proceeding and attempting to assert yourself without evidence that the driver wasn't going to pull out.  You trusted him not to and the bottom line is that you shouldn't trust anyone to do anything.  

If I'm approaching a ditherer, I'll release the accelerator and prepare to stop or take evasive action, especially in cases where eye contact hasn't been made with the other driver.  Points of principle are, frankly, completely irrelevant; ignore them and look after yourself.  Wish you better and stay safe.  

Enough with victim blaming, riders are far more vulnerable, we can have 10 lights, neon yellow gear and still people will say "sorry didn't see you". Riders can only do so much - you can't work on the basis that someone will not wait behind a give way or you'd never get anywhere

Thanks, though when I read Ditzy's post I just thought I clearly haven't explained it well enough for them to visualise accurately what happened. I must've put it in a way so that in their mind I must've had the chance to realistically avoid it, when in actual fact there was zero chance of avoidance (other than say not going that route - but like I said, realistically). 

When I say ditherer, I appreciate some will think rocking backwards and forwards which would obviously highlight it as a risk & in that event I would've eased off completely.
What I actually meant by ditherer was that he had ample chance to go, but chose not to until it was just too late. 


Anyway for clarity:


This was my approach. He was coming out from the right & I was perhaps somewhere near that red X when he went for it.
I'd done a fair bit of climbing prior to this so my legs were done for so I wasn't going the quickest. Looking back on Strava I was travelling at 12mph at point of impact.

This is what he would've seen if he'd have looked left in my direction - a long straight. 

I was wearing a bright yellow top, not that it mattered because he simply didn't look. I could've been lit up in disco lights & it wouldn't have made a difference. 
Funnily I'd actually gone out wearing the wrong gear for the morning. I thought it would've been cooler than it was so I wore a merino wool long sleeve t-shirt and my bright yellow long sleeve on top.
I'd been sweating buckets with the climbs so considered taking the yellow top off and tying around my waist but instantly decided that was a bad idea as much better to sweat it out and be bright yellow than be cool and wear a darker colour.



This is all he actually did look at though - right. Focusing on the 2 approaching cars (& the non existent car straight ahead he claimed to be following).

olgadapolga

whatwasmyname said:

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

but took the wrong action by proceeding and attempting to assert yourself without evidence that the driver wasn't going to pull out.  

You'll have to explain this one to me i'm afraid. I'm more than happy to hold my hands up if i'm wrong but I still fail to see what I could've done differently.

If by me calling him a ditherer you had the image of him edging forwards, backwards, forwards, backwards then that's my fault for giving you the wrong picture.
He was stationary. 
If I was in his situation I would've gone, way before he did. There was ample time. But fact is he didn't go & then it got to the situation where it wasn't safe to go on both counts - I was now too close & (thinking again if i was the driver in his position) if I scooted out at that point I'd be expecting a beep from the oncoming traffic because I'd (he'd) left it a bit late to go. 
For the sake of waiting (at this point now) a further 3-5 seconds, i'd continue to wait as i'd (he'd) been waiting long enough so another 3-5 secs is nothing.

If i was to ease off or stop in that situation (& please don't take this the wrong way as i don't mean it with attitude) then I would have to stop every single time I was approaching a junction that had a car at it & question if they were going to let me pass or not.

I appreciate it's the internet & you only have my description of the event & I have to hope i've described it in a manner that has you visualising what happened accurately. Unfortunately a camera is one of the things i meant to get round to getting but never got round to getting due to 1) cost and 2) figuring out how/where to mount without it being awkward/in the way.

Anyway, I take on board what you say. It wont put me off going back out on the bike when i'm able to. I've got it booked in to get checked over as I think it's ok. Nothing obvious but it is now making a bit of a grating noise. I just can't see anything rubbing so i'm at a loss.

Norman_Castle said:

Drivers are obliged to give name and address details, there's no obligation to give insurance details. Contact the police on 101 to report the accident. Find a legal company to represent you, preferably one experienced in cycling accidents. They will be able to advise what can be claimed. He should have told his insurer about this accident.  

At risk of sounding a bit stupid, I've never had to deal with solicitors before. How do you go about finding one specialising in cycling accidents?

Do you have legal cover with your house insurance as that might be s good place to start? 

I would recommend Leigh Day but I only used them because they are the firm used by British Cycling (I'm a BC member). They know their stuff and are very good. No idea what it cost as that was covered by the claim I made when hit by an intoxicated driver. 

whatwasmyname

olgadapolga said:

whatwasmyname said:

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

but took the wrong action by proceeding and attempting to assert yourself without evidence that the driver wasn't going to pull out.  

You'll have to explain this one to me i'm afraid. I'm more than happy to hold my hands up if i'm wrong but I still fail to see what I could've done differently.

If by me calling him a ditherer you had the image of him edging forwards, backwards, forwards, backwards then that's my fault for giving you the wrong picture.
He was stationary. 
If I was in his situation I would've gone, way before he did. There was ample time. But fact is he didn't go & then it got to the situation where it wasn't safe to go on both counts - I was now too close & (thinking again if i was the driver in his position) if I scooted out at that point I'd be expecting a beep from the oncoming traffic because I'd (he'd) left it a bit late to go. 
For the sake of waiting (at this point now) a further 3-5 seconds, i'd continue to wait as i'd (he'd) been waiting long enough so another 3-5 secs is nothing.

If i was to ease off or stop in that situation (& please don't take this the wrong way as i don't mean it with attitude) then I would have to stop every single time I was approaching a junction that had a car at it & question if they were going to let me pass or not.

I appreciate it's the internet & you only have my description of the event & I have to hope i've described it in a manner that has you visualising what happened accurately. Unfortunately a camera is one of the things i meant to get round to getting but never got round to getting due to 1) cost and 2) figuring out how/where to mount without it being awkward/in the way.

Anyway, I take on board what you say. It wont put me off going back out on the bike when i'm able to. I've got it booked in to get checked over as I think it's ok. Nothing obvious but it is now making a bit of a grating noise. I just can't see anything rubbing so i'm at a loss.

Norman_Castle said:

Drivers are obliged to give name and address details, there's no obligation to give insurance details. Contact the police on 101 to report the accident. Find a legal company to represent you, preferably one experienced in cycling accidents. They will be able to advise what can be claimed. He should have told his insurer about this accident.  

At risk of sounding a bit stupid, I've never had to deal with solicitors before. How do you go about finding one specialising in cycling accidents?

Do you have legal cover with your house insurance as that might be s good place to start? 

I would recommend Leigh Day but I only used them because they are the firm used by British Cycling (I'm a BC member). They know their stuff and are very good. No idea what it cost as that was covered by the claim I made when hit by an intoxicated driver. 

I've a lot to sort out but it's something I need to look at that's for sure.

I'm just cautious about triggering my premiums going up just from a simply enquiry. I made that mistake with car insurance once. 


I've now got an appointment to go see the police. She said something about the surgery team. Hope they don't meet me with scalpels!! 

Grey_Critic

whatwasmyname said:

You'll have to explain this one to me i'm afraid. I'm more than happy to hold my hands up if i'm wrong but I still fail to see what I could've done differently.

At risk of sounding a bit stupid, I've never had to deal with solicitors before. How do you go about finding one specialising in cycling accidents?

Go to the British Cycling website (https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/membership) and pay the £40 membership fee. Look at the insurance which comes with the membership and ring them up and ask for advice.

No it will not cover you for this accident but they will tell you how to go about it.

Remember the £40 covers you if somebody claims against you as well.