NickNick
Well-Known Member
Still can't quite believe it happened as the level of driver incompetence involved managed to surprise even the cynic in me!
I was on a mid sized roundabout turning right (on the wife's mountain bike, due to my road bike being at station), I had priority and was indicating with my arm, I made eye contact with the driver that was waiting to feed on the roundabout, then within a second of taking my eye off the driver in order to check the road I was exiting onto was clear, I spotted movement in my peripheral and before I knew it I was on the bonnet!
She must have not looked in front of her when pulling off, and had assumed I'd have cleared the front of the car at the same rate as a driver would have, but I was on a slow mountain bike.
Luckily I managed to hang on to the bonnet as she froze with her foot on the pedal instead of stopping when she hit me! I was driven on the car bonnet from one side of the roundabout to the other and it wasn't until the third lot of stamping my fist on the bonnet shouting "stop the f#####g car" that she finally snapped out of it and stopped.
If I hadn't hung on I would have slid off the bonnet (as I did when she finally stopped) and she'd have driven right over me, so it could have been a much more serious accident, as it is most of the damage is to the bike, my back flared up quite badly once the adrenaline dissipated but a couple of days rest and it seems almost back to normal.
It turns out the driver is related to the guys that run the corner shop next to the roundabout, who we have known for years and are good terms with. They've accepted it was her fault but are keen to settle privately rather than go through the insurance. I've said as long as I don't have to take any extended amount of time off work (self employed in physically taxing job) then I'm probably going to be happy to go down that route, as I could really do with getting the wife's bike back up and running asap, can't afford to front the repairs and really don't have the time to deal with paperwork and insurance companies.
Are there any pitfalls in me going down this route? Assuming by the end of the weekend everything is back to normal physically, I was planning on charging them for the 2 days off work + materials&labour for repairs to the bike.
I was on a mid sized roundabout turning right (on the wife's mountain bike, due to my road bike being at station), I had priority and was indicating with my arm, I made eye contact with the driver that was waiting to feed on the roundabout, then within a second of taking my eye off the driver in order to check the road I was exiting onto was clear, I spotted movement in my peripheral and before I knew it I was on the bonnet!
She must have not looked in front of her when pulling off, and had assumed I'd have cleared the front of the car at the same rate as a driver would have, but I was on a slow mountain bike.
Luckily I managed to hang on to the bonnet as she froze with her foot on the pedal instead of stopping when she hit me! I was driven on the car bonnet from one side of the roundabout to the other and it wasn't until the third lot of stamping my fist on the bonnet shouting "stop the f#####g car" that she finally snapped out of it and stopped.
If I hadn't hung on I would have slid off the bonnet (as I did when she finally stopped) and she'd have driven right over me, so it could have been a much more serious accident, as it is most of the damage is to the bike, my back flared up quite badly once the adrenaline dissipated but a couple of days rest and it seems almost back to normal.
It turns out the driver is related to the guys that run the corner shop next to the roundabout, who we have known for years and are good terms with. They've accepted it was her fault but are keen to settle privately rather than go through the insurance. I've said as long as I don't have to take any extended amount of time off work (self employed in physically taxing job) then I'm probably going to be happy to go down that route, as I could really do with getting the wife's bike back up and running asap, can't afford to front the repairs and really don't have the time to deal with paperwork and insurance companies.
Are there any pitfalls in me going down this route? Assuming by the end of the weekend everything is back to normal physically, I was planning on charging them for the 2 days off work + materials&labour for repairs to the bike.