Some advice needed, crash and police

There are a lot of useful comments there so I'll just add a few pointers rather than go over old ground. Bear in mind that the car driver has lied. Now that he has done so, he will continue in a bid to cover his tracks. Make sure your legal representative gets a copy of his statement to the cops. Ask your legal representative to check any subsequent statement following subsequent interviews with the cops. As the driver has lied already, he will have to keep on doing so and it is highly likely that discrepancies will appear in his account. Your legal person should focus on these as they will inevitably blow his fabricated account to bits. Note too that the cops may be unwilling to admit they blundered/over-reacted in their initial treatment of you (perhaps they are secret Jeremy Clarkson fans and dislike all cyclists as a result) and in slavishly accepting the driver's account without bothering to check its credibility. Above all, keep your cool, despite the lying by the moron behind the wheel and the blatant incompetence of the Keystone cops.

unfortunately i fear you are the victim of the way the police are targetted and our system is set-up (innocent until proven otherwise) so the police are only interested in pursuing this guys claim:

you probably need to:

a) find out if he has insurance / the details are correct, my gut feel is that he may not be insured and this is why he has done this???

b) if he does not have insurance I assume you will have to file a criminal damage claim as well??? (counter claim in the same police station).

c) file a complaint or at least ask how you can file a complaint regarding these two officers in the police station in question ideally, as that will hopefully prompt them to act differently without you actually having to lodge a complaint. make sure you are informed before you do this of how the proceedure works, i assume there is a number you can call/online process??? if theer is an online process you may well do it after going to the police station anyway, see point e)

d) get your insurance company / bike shop and even the police, anyone you can to register the damage to your bike, as well as a) how it seems to have happened, b) how it could not be from a criminal damage situation where possible; upload fotos to facebook / flikr to get them time stamped

e) ask the council etc for cctv footage? ask the shops opposite if they saw the accident and takee the names of people who support you (you may want to record these conversations???). post on the commuting blogs (think on bikeradar there is the one where everybody has a FCN number or whatever) you may find another cyclist who saw what happened??? as many references you can have with various bodies countering his argument the better, even if you do not get cctv footage, a witness, etc: the fact that you were willing to get this, keep a detailed log of all what you did, it all discredits his argument if nothing else.

I would say that here the internet is your friend as long as you know how to sift through all the erroneos crap and fud that people write, make sure you are not derrogatory about the driver at any point in any conversations, nor encourage others to be so- solicitors are useless for the early advice in my experience. the civil advice guys would be better TBH...

whatever you do be active and do not sit around!

Make a very clear counter allegation. At the very least this should mean the worst you end up with is a bust bike. Don't just rely on the fact the police are involved because of him, make sure they understand you want to make a complaint about him driving without due care and attention rather than just provide a statement for his complaint.

On the other hand, he's lied to the police so he's raised the stakes for himself a little.

Firstly, if you haven't already - write down exactly what happened whilst it's still fresh. As much detail as possible - you want to be able to contradict this douchebag.

Second point is photos of injuries which you have done.

Thirdly get photos of the bikes damage - every piece of it.

Fourthly get legal advice asap who will advise the rest of the steps you need to take - but the first 3 are key in my opinion from working in the legal profession.

It sounds like you need to make sure his car is examined properly for damage, etc. because, like the bike having a specific type of damage depending on what's happened, so will the car.

The police, in order to listen to the suggestion that someone's thrown a bike at a car, would really need to see some evidence, so you might also ask to see that. After all, you can hardly throw a bike, from a standing position, under a vehicle, can you?

Unbelievable. The guy should be done for attempting to pervert the course of justice. Which police force is it?

get in touch with a solicitor. They can send you for a medical which will tend to show that your injuries (even shock) are due to a collision not of your making. When legal letters get thrown about the A-hole normlly backs off.

What an a hole this guys is!

Dont worry. Your problem of no witnesses is a bigger problem for the driver than it is for you. I'm no legal expert but have had a fair few shunts over the years to draw on.

Generally speaking if one vehicle goes into the back of another vehicle (be it a car, bus, bicycle etc), insurance companies will always view it as the fault of the vehicle that crashed into the back. The only exception would be if there were some special cirmcumstances perhaps the vehicle in front not having working brake lights. In which case there must be supporting evidence or witnesses. It is the repsonsibilty of the following vehicle to maintain a safe distance. The driver has obviously realised that got worried about loosing his no claims or this leading to higher premiums. What ever he has panicked and has decided to make up the story.

On the the criminal damage charge...

Again dont worry - this wont go anywhere. Unless the driver is willing to produce some fake witnesses. Depends how stupid / desperate he is! In any case he's already dug a hole for himself as as he's now open to charge of wasting police time

Sounds like the police are simply being a bit over zealous. Surprised they charged you given its a case his word against yours. Anyhow - this sort of charge will normally go to magistrate court first. A work colleague is a magistrate. Given there is no evidence I would be surpised the case will even be heard.

I'd also take the numbers of the police concerened & lodge a formal complaint against them citing that you feel they are not fully investigating the alleged crime. Having given them your side of the story if they are doing their job properly they would go back to driver to re-interview. By complaining the whole process the police went through when speaking to the driver will come under greater scrutiny

I suspect this will eventually end up with the charges fizzling out and you having to get your repairs claimed againt his insurance. Take photos, plus get a decent bike shop to give a quote & if they are willing report that the damage is consistent with being hit then fantastic!

Good Luck

As above. Don't get the bike fixed yet, although a letter from your local bike shop detailing the damage would be useful. I'd be making as much noise as possible about going to court - it's amazing how quickly the story changes when court action is imminent.

I would make sure the police had a report of your side of the incident, make sure your bike is not repaired in any way, (a run over bike will have different damage to a thrown one). And get some form of legal council to help you (either paid for or from the citizens advice bureau). These points would be my first point of call in this situation, but it's not from any experience, so might not be of any use. I hope it might help you a little bit.