You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Morning all,
I was on my way back home two weeks ago from a lovely ride when on exiting a roundabout a car decided to drive into the back of me,still clipped in i was smashed onto the ground arse taking the brunt of the force.
After a few choice words to the driver and quiet a while rolling around on the road in agony feeling like my anus had been ripped open i managed to get myself and my bike off the road and onto the pavement.Several witnesses had stopped and called an ambulance,the witnesses were told to immobilise me so I could not get any details of witnesses and driver(the driver stayed at the scene).
The police arrived(and more immobilisation).Then the paramedics.
Luckily the driver who had hit me had a dash cam and the police had watched it in his car while taking his details.
Now here is where i'm stuck...I have managed to get the drivers name and reg number from the police collision unit but they seem like because i wasn't in a car and only on a bike that it doesn't really matter.
My bike and some of my belongings are trashed,I'm in constant pain from this incident(including whiplash the docs said)and to my coccyx.
Has anybody been in this position before as I would really be grateful of any advice.
Thank you all
Paul
If you have the reg and name you can ask the DVLA to provide address details. Costs £2.50.
The driver has an legal obligation to provide you with insurance details.
Start making a comprehensive list of your losses, photographic evidence of injuries may well be useful down the track. LBS may well be able to give you a written quote for repairs/replacement of the bike.
You may need to get lawyered up at some point. I think there are normally specialist legal firms advertised in the back of one of the cycling mags.
Hope you feel better soon.
Have you contacted BC or the CTC? Their legal cover is really just a no win no fee lawyer specialising in bikes so you can access it even without being a member. Sounds like it should be a fairly straight forward claim if the police were there.
I suspect the police are just applying the same level of effort they would if they had driven into the back of a car, so whilst the outcome is worse for you, so unless they can prove he was doing something unreasonable (on mobile, speeding) then there's probably not much hope of any sort of conviction.
I'd also get a full medical assessment of your injuries.
Perhaps look at your home insurance, you may have legal cover which is applicable to the incident.
why I'm in CTC for the insurance
Write a letter delivered recorded delivery to the Chief Constable. That helped me.
Isn't driving straight into someone prima facie evidence that they were driving without due care and attention? But regardless of that, sue till the pips squeak.
Isn't driving straight into someone prima facie evidence that they were driving without due care and attention?
Probably, but then you' have to prosecute absolutely every time that happened. The test is does the standard fall below what's reasonably expected, and most probably use the roads expecting that there will be accidents at some point, that's why insurance is mandatory. So just having an accident isn't evidence that you've committed a crime, statistically most people will have one at some point.
Thanks for your input guys..
Apparently Captain,the driver said to the police that he didn't see me because I wasn't wearing Hi-Vis gear!!..It was 4.20 on a summer afternoon!.
I wouldn't mind a copy of his dash cam footage as well 😉
Thisisnotaspoon: the test has nothing to do with reasonableness. The test is falling below the standard of a careful and competent driver. Obviously it will be for the court to decide based on the evidence, but there is no assumption that "accidents will happen" in law, and no need for an accident to happen to prosecute. Injuries, and involvement of vulnerable Road users (cyclists) are agrivating factors in the English sentencing guidelines.
Beware however, that any criminal proceeding risks delaying payment of your civil claim, if the driver denies the criminal case. The police should have his insurance details. Don't bother contacting the driver directly, people assume bikes cost £200 and so any claim is less than excess and best sorted privately. If you are claiming for injury rather than just property I'd use a lawyer as there will be rules of thumb and processes for showing the injury.
So the driver has admitted to police not seeing you in good light conditions ie admitted not paying sufficient attention to other road users. Pretty clear cut Careless Driving.
Oh, be aware if he's using Hi vis line, don't be surprised if at court he highlights the absence of peddle reflectors (you were clipped in) and anything else you are missing. You would be well advised to brush up on the hway code rules as he may try to use them to limit his fault. Bright coloured clothes (dangle/Hi vis) is recommended for daytime use - reflective for dark.
Thisisnotaspoon: the test has nothing to do with reasonableness.
If it ends up in court then the definition always has to be "beyond reasonable doubt".
I can't find a stat for how many accidents there are apart from this one* which says 82,000 insurance claims in July 2015 (so not winter, clocks changing or anything else). So roughly 1 million, plus all the ones not reported. There's 35million cars in the UK.
So if someone rives from the age of 20 to 80 that's 60 years, an statistically** they will crash twice.
Does everyone get two counts of riving without due care and attention / careless driving? Not saying the drivers wasn't at fault, but what use is a £50 fine and some court time?
* http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/baab1212-47ec-11e5-af2f-4d6e0e5eda22.html#axzz4G4XF1R1I
** butchery of statistics
Similar happened to me in Feb:
http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/knocked-off-bike-what-next-1
In a nutshell - hit by car, she admitted liability and let useless police know, got checked out at hospital - documented injuries over course of week or so with images. Got new bike, helmet and damaged clothing through her insurer, plus compo for injuries - dealt with them direct rather than 3rd party solicitor. Didn't want prolonged and messy affair - was sorted out in weeks.
HTH - if any questions email me - good luck.
Tinas, there are various factors that determine whether a case is prosecuted or not such as: evidence of the offence, gravity of the offence, probability of a conviction and it being in the public interest...
There will only be any possibility of being reported if the police are involved, for most insurance claims that is not the case. All the knock for knock stuff is generally going to be harder to get a conviction for too. It might not be in the public interest to pursue every car park bump either.
The police can issue fixed penalty notices for careless driving (but I believe their normal policy is not to do so where injury has occurred). The fine is £200 not 50. At court it is likely to be 1+ weeks wages plus costs.
Cases like this do get fairly routinely prosecuted, to understand why some do and some don't you may need to delve into the minds of CPS.
Oh, I don't think it should be absolutely essential to prosecute everyone in similar circumstances. Depending on level of contrition and other details I'd say that an official police caution might be ok.
A caution seems appropriate to me. On the one hand, you don't gain anything from throwing the book at someone who had a momentary lapse of concentration, people are human and make mistakes; on the other, having an official caution might encourage them to be more attentive and you've got a record if they do it again six months later.
Doing nothing reinforces the idea that the driver did nothing wrong, that it's ok to mow down cyclists with the excuse that they weren't wearing hi-vis.
The police are unlikely to prosecute in this scenario .the test of due care is falling below the standard of a careful and competent driver in all the circumstances, this has to be proved so the court (lay bench or district judge)b "is sure" beyond reasonable doubt is an anachronism.
what you can and should do is a claim against his insurance , best to see if any local high street firm offers no win no fee or go through ctc , bear in mind no win no fee will probably take a success fee of 20% from your damages . i did my first dealing direct with the insurers they paid for my medical expert , and was very pleased with the settlement but fed up dealing with them particularly as they had no idea how to properly value personal injury and tried to renege on agreed points. The second i did through a no win no fee i found it a lot easier and less stressful i still took the lead re valuation but i felt stung by the success fee.
Sue, and push the police HARD to prosecute. Try to get in contact with your local traffic police team as they're the only ones IME who actually care about road safety. The normal police will take the attitude that you were on a bike so were asking for it.
They'll probably end up with the option of a driving awareness course, which is needed from the sound of it.
And read this: https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/131099/
A caution seems appropriate to me. On the one hand, you don't gain anything from throwing the book at someone who had a momentary lapse of concentration, people are human and make mistakes; on the other, having an official caution might encourage them to be more attentive and you've got a record if they do it again six months later.
I'd have said a caution too, had the driver not said they'd hit the person because of their lack of high viz. But because of that, I'd throw the book at them for being a complete dick.