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forum
Crash
Yesterday evening, I was cycling along, when a woman driving the other way down the road turned right in front of me, me to head into a road on my left. Sadly, she was only a few metres in front of me when she turned and crossed my lane so although I squeezed my brakes as hard as I could, I ploughed straight into the side of her car. It was broad daylight and I was doing c.18-20mph. No idea why she didn't see me, she seemed to pause, look right at me, and then turn anyway, just as I closed in.
After picking myself and my bike up, she came over and apologised (a lot) and I got her name and insurance details, plus a photo of her car (complete with its brand new cyclist shaped dent in the left rear door).
The lady who was driving behind me before the crash also got out and explained to me she had seen everything and would be happy help me if I needed it, giving me her details. I thanked her, and then we all went our separate ways.
Surprisingly to me, the bike seems okay and I have some aches, bumps and bruises but seemingly nothing too bad and to be honest I was just happy it wasn't worse.
So, the question - having mulled it over all day, is there something formal I should do? I've never been in this situation before and I thought given all seemed as okay as it could be, it was best to just leave it be. I just Googled and it seems you're supposed to report to police within 24 hours, which has now passed. So, do I just chalk up as a lucky escape and move on? At the least I'm sure the woman will look where she's going from now on!
If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.
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18 comments
I'd opt for getting the bike checked, if everythings fine and your not seriously injured maybe just take it as it is.
In regards to reporting an incident, if you had reported the accident, if the other party does not also report to the police regarding an incident within 48hrs (it might be less), there is a chance that the driver can receive points and or a fine due to not reporting an accident. Just as a heads up in regards to legality if any of you happen to have an accident whilst driving or the likes. Best to inform the police of an incident and explain, when reporting you do not need to press charges, just saves you problems later (in regards to if you happen to be driving).
A final update on this in case anyone was interested.
Thanks for the advice - I got the LBS to give the bike a once over and as I had thought there was no real damage done, but good to get that piece of mind.
Not long after my last post, I got a call from the driver's insurance company - she had reported this direct to them (maybe to get her own car fixed, but she had pointed out to them that I'd suffered a fairly substantial impact). They asked me about what injuries I had, and after this they have stayed in touch with me over the last few weeks, monitoring my various bumps and bruises as I got better, before offering me a compensation settlement. If I had been worse off and needed medical attention/or physio, they would have helped me through that too. I guess this also means it has been counted from a statistical point of view too.
While I'd still prefer it hadn't happened at all, it was nice that the post-incident experience has been positive. I'm sure them being proactive saves them money on average overall as it avoided me claiming via solicitors, but either way I was impressed. Just wanted to share this as sometimes you only read the bad stuff!
Thats great news, good to know the other side of these sort of things instead of the usual "hit and run" style things that pop up from time to time.
Left hook, what she did, and what you should've given her.
I presume thats a joke as that is not the answer ...
OK so that makes the point even better. Cyclists have to make a stand here as no one else does.
Read another report where a coroner said a road where a pedestrian was killed was needing street lights as the driver did not spot her, not the 4 other cars that ran her over as well.
how often do we read drivers did not see something ?
no blame on the driver from the report
Also go to your doctor and have them officially write down any injuries even if they seem not too bad , this will help with the insurance claim and is better proof of injury than you saying so.
Seems a bit Ghoulish but the police are only interested if there was an injury. Felt I was being chastised one time after a minor knock (Car v Car.) despite my insurance company insisting that it was reported.
According to the Thames Valley police website (first decent looking hit on Google) you only have to report an accident to the police if a driver fails to stop at the scene, or if there are injuries.
But yeah, report it. If she's done this once, she'll do it again.
Thanks for all the responses. I have just given the LBS a call and asked for an inspection then - it sounds like a sensible idea. It does seem visibly fine (I did finish my ride on Weds on it without any obvious issues), but understand the point about less obvious damage. The shop said because the frame is aluminium it is more likely that they can inspect it and give me a response with confidence.
Regarding the police - how would I actually do that? Is it likely to be a simple case of explaining what happened on the phone/online or am I going to need to go in person (not wanting this to take too much of my time but also wanting to do the right thing)? The witness offered to make a statement if I needed.
I think that you are only supposed to report to the police if someone has been injured. Otherwise it is a straight forward insurance job. I would definitely recommend getting your bike checked at LBS and go to your doctor just to be checked out and to record anything that may cause problems medically further down the line. A new bike is nothing to an insurance company.
what kind of rubbish is that ?
If the report is true then this woman was at least driving without due care and attention, at worse careless driving. she should be reported. The writer has a witness and therefore the police should be involved.
If we let off drivers like this then nothing will change.
For me what she did should be a 3 month ban, that would make her think again int he same situation and maybe save another accident ?
I think you are both right. You MUST report it to the police if someone is injured, but (as you say) you SHOULD report _any_ such accident to the police.
...
Driving without due care and attention, and careless driving, are the same thing.
Section 3 of the RTA 1988:
"3. Careless, and inconsiderate, driving.
If a person drives a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road or other public place without due care and attention, or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road or place, he is guilty of an offence."
Get the bike checked over at your LBS to make sure that the frame is not damaged and the wheels are ok. Give the lady a call to explain that you are getting the bike checked out and you will contact her again with the results.
The last thing you want to do is keep riding a damaged bike then one day the front and rear end want to go in different directions!
I'd get the bike properly checked out before riding again. It may have damage that you can't see - take it to a decent LBS and explain what happened. If there is damage then you're better off finding out now so you can go after her insurers to pay.
I'd also encourage you to report it to the police anyway, up to you of course but I feel that the more people report these kinds of incident, the more seriously they will take poor driving.
Glad you're ok!
Are you able to ride. ?