Crashed!

[Tel]

The last night of the first week riding my fixie to work I crashed into a car for the first time in my life.

Firstly I must say that it was not due to me riding fixed, this would have happened no matter what bike I was on.

What happened was a guy turning right cut straight across my path. I was traveling reasonably quick probably about 17mph (no computer at the mo) anyway I hit his wing and landed shoulder first onto his windscreen then flopped to the ground.

Amazingly I walked away unscathed just a couple of grazes and an aching shoulder, with an indentation of his windscreen wiper on it My bike also faired up rather well with just a slight buckle to the front wheel. I straightened the bars back up released the quick release on the brakes and I was good to go.

However the Focus wing was in quite a state, plus his front valance was hanging off and no doubt his windscreen wiper was in a bit of a mess too. He was more shaken up than I was, he said that he just didn't see me (it was night I have a bicygnals LED light plus bright yellow jacket), but hey ho no one was hurt and we all have lapses of concentration so no point in being argumentative about it eh.

Anyway I pointed out the damage to his wing and he said that its not his car, it's his girlfriends mums he just borrowed it to go to work, I kinda felt sorry for him...

Anyway my incident raised some issues:

1. When you have a serious'ish accident like mine above what should you do after the event i.e exchange numbers, etc?

2. I really should look into getting a crash hat. Worst case scenerio is that I would not have come home to my wife and kids at all this morning. I was very lucky.

3. I'm glad of my old hack bike, had it been a quality bike no doubt I would've been much more irate.

 

[dudi]

Tel, Glad you're OK... sounds like a nasty crash!

I would treat a collision like that exactly the same as you would if you were both driving cars at the time. i.e. get insurance details - contact details etc... take photos if you can. If there is any damage at all, the cost of repair should come out of his pocket/insurance. Also you need to keep an eye on the shoulder - when I damaged my shoulder it took a few days to realise just how badly injured it was.

Hope there's no long lasting impact (no pun inteded) of the collission.

 

[mr Mag00]

glad you seem ok.
never happened to me *touch wood*
see the doc. that cames up here all the time those injuries may not show full problems until later. tell the doc straight away.

 

[Jake]

sounds like it could have been a bit worse, must have shakend you up a bit.

 

[eldudino]

Glad that you're ok and there were no arguments about where fault lies. As the others have said, treat it as a crash between two vehicles. If anything on the bike has been bent it means there's now a weak spot so it should ideally be replaced, same with your body; get down the quacks!

 

[magnatom]

Glad your ok! In answer to question 1, definitely. He made a mistake and any fall out from that is his fault. Have you been checked over by a doc, sometimes injuries can take a few days to show.

Also the fact that he was driving his girlfriends mums car makes me a little suspicious. Can you be sure he was correctly insured?

 

[the reluctant cyclist]

Definately swap details at the scene. Take photos if you can and ALWAYS take the registration of the car. People will lie about names and addresses and if you haven't got the car reg then you can't really do anything about it.

I definately agree with the point of taking photos. In my accident we are now arguing about how far into the kerb his car was and if I had just taken a picture at the time there would have been now rowing because the camera never lies and all that.

I would second the getting yourself checked out too (and the bike).

I walked home from mine thinking I and the bike were okay, made dinner for four, had a bath etc and eventually realised that there was something wrong with my hand that wasn't going to go away (broken finger!).

Also, my bike had a fatal chip in the carbon fibre front forks that I hadn't noticed!

Hope you are okay though - that would have scared me sh*tless going over the bonnet like that!

 

[the reluctant cyclist]

Glad that you're ok and there were no arguments about where fault lies. As the others have said, treat it as a crash between two vehicles. If anything on the bike has been bent it means there's now a weak spot so it should ideally be replaced, same with your body; get down the quacks!

There never are at the side of the road - just afterwards when you make a claim for a new bike or lost wages etc! Then all of a sudden you were cycling like a maniac etc etc!

 

[beanzontoast]

Bad luck, Tel. It really is sensible to exchange details. Speaking from experience, do keep an eye on that shoulder. Mine is still recovering over a year since my accident.

I applaud your comment that there's no need to be argumentative about it. I bet the guy was gutted enough without a yelling on top.

 

[Tharg2007]

if im not mistaken when there are injuries the police have to attend. There are several reasons this will work to your advantage.

1. Police will see drivers face and will question him/her (they can usually tell when someone isnt on the level)
2. There is a police record of the accident and who is at fault. When at the scene drivers will admit to being in the wrong as the facts are there but when its not face to face people start to lie about who is at fault.
3. The police will usually follow up on the driver if he was to blame due to carelessness as they did in my case where the driver was made to go on a course at their expense. It may stop this happening to anyone else who may not be as fortunate as yourself.

Always take pictures. Always get all the details numberplate, car make model colour, name, address, any witnesses names and addresses.

If you had lights and yellow top and the road was lit with streetlights then saying he didnt see you doesnt make sense, he didnt look more like - thats dangerous and next time he might kill someone. Waving them on with a cheeri'o isnt much of a wakeup call.

 

[fossyant]

Report it, get checked up, if injured take it further. Watch that shoulder..... I was knocked off over 4 months ago and still have pain - off for MRI and Nerve damage tests in the next few weeks....all going through my solicitor.

 

[Tel]

Blimey I got that all wrong then! Feel a bit stupid now for not taking any follow up action. Thanks for the advice though guys.

 

[thomas]

Blimey I got that all wrong then! Feel a bit stupid now for not taking any follow up action. Thanks for the advice though guys.

Do you have any details for the driver? You still could follow it up, file a police report just explaining everything and why you didn't at the time.

 

[downfader]

Blimey I got that all wrong then! Feel a bit stupid now for not taking any follow up action. Thanks for the advice though guys.

So you didnt get any contact details and the plates?

Sorry to hear about your accident. I was off'd in september - still get grief in my knees from time to time so I highly recommend seeing a doctor

Legally the driver was obliged to report the accident within 24 hours or else he's commited an offence if injury is sustained iirc. And it was in your case. (I'm sure Vike or Cubist will correct me if I'm wrong)

 

[buggi]

Shaun/Admin... given the fact that a lot of inexperienced cyclists have crashes with cars, walk away seamingly unscathed only to realise the full extent of their injuries/damage to bike the next day, would it not be worth a "sticky" from you on "what to do if you have a crash", i.e advice on getting insurance details etc? not something to have a debate/discussion on, just one post saying what to do, with the emphasis on "even if you seem ok", and if anyone wants to add anything sensible they have to pm you?

Seems to me that if you don't break a bone you think yourself lucky.. until you get up the next day and you can hardly move for all the soft tissue damage.