Hit and Run

[gazzaputt]

Suffered my first serious accident in 12 years of commuting yesterday.

peanut hit me from behind as I was doing about 25mph down a short hill in Plumstead High St, London. The car did not stop.

I hit the kerb and this threw me about 20 yards down the pavement. Unfortunatley landed face first. Hands are shredded to bits and left knee has no skin left. Also suffered crush injury to the chest.

Worst part I was laying there for about a minute before anyone came to my aide. Like to say thank you to the 2 ladies who did though. A barbers shop opposite just gawpped out of their doorway.

Another thank is to the ambulance guys. One was a cyclist and was disgusted at what happened.

Police are not intrested at all. Took a short statement in the back of the ambulance and told me to expect a letter. The fact that statement was given with me spitting blood didn't concern them they just wanted it out of the way.

Is a CCTV camera there and also was a bus that would nhave caught the car but Police again not intrested.

Worse part (although the injuries could be!) was it was the first ride of my new Cannondale Capo! Totaled crankset, wheels, bars and saddle.

Any advice to what I should as to the lack of Police intrest please let me know.

 

[HLaB]

Contact the CTC or someone for legal advice I think you can still claim even if the driver was uninsured/ ran off.

 

[the reluctant cyclist]

Oh my god - sorry to hear about your incident. Hope you recover okay.

Poor you and your poor bike!

As for the Police lack of interest - I would wait and see what they write first - if you are then unhappy with the investigation you could then go through thier internal complaints procedure and the IPCC - especially if the incident was on CCTV.

A hit and run is a serious criminal offence isn't it? That car driver didn't know (or care) whether you were dead or alive did he? Tosser!

 

[BentMikey]

Oh crap, my sympathies dude. I hope you can get some action out of the police. I'd go with Bikeline and Alyson France, going by the large number of very positive recommendations I've seen on the 'net.

/Mikey goes to fit his rear mounted camera asap.

 

[BentMikey]

p.s. don't waste time - get onto the lawyer asap, and ask about getting CCTV footage right away. It might not be kept very long.

 

[Jake]

yikes, that sounds bad. hope you mend well and quickly with no lasting damage. are you one of these guys to get straight back on the sadle, or do you think you make take a rest. Hope police get off their arses

 

[tdr1nka]

Awful news M8, get mending and get some good legal advice.

 

[Bollo]

Ess Hach One Tee!

+1 for all the advice on here. Find yourself a specialist lawyer and chase it. I wish lack of plod interest was the exception rather than the rule, but based on the anecdotal evidence from the forum it would seem not. Even if you're not a member, contact the CTC anyway as I think there's an advocacy issue here. You could employ Magnatom as your publicity agent, he's shameless.

Glad to hear that the medics were sympathetic. I little TLC goes a long way when you're in shock. The medic that scraped me up apres accident was an arse and it still leaves a sour taste now.

 

[hackbike 6]

Sorry gazza,found it hard to reply to this thread as it made me feel quite depressed.

Hope you are okay mate.

 

[gazzaputt]

yikes, that sounds bad. hope you mend well and quickly with no lasting damage. are you one of these guys to get straight back on the sadle, or do you think you make take a rest. Hope police get off their arses

Take a rest!! Knee I cannot move. Finger swollen and bad where my wedding ring embedded in my finger.

As soon as I'm fit I'll be back on the bike.

 

[wafflycat]

When MrW was injured in a hit-and-run, the benefit of belonging to a cyclists' organisation came into play - through this he was appointed a solicitor to act on his behalf to claim substantial damages from the Motor Insurers Bureau. It took time to work through, but it was worth it. The MIB is something each of us who drive pay into via our insurance - it pays out damages in the cases of hit-and-run.

 

[swee'pea99]

Horrible! Get well soon. As others have said, get good legal advice, and - if I were you - don't wait for plod's letter, or at least for no more than about 48 hours: take the initiative and demand to know what they plan to do about it, including getting hold of CCTV and taking action to prosecute. Make it clear to them that your next stop will be your MP. If they don't take it seriously, get onto your MP. Getting on to MPs works - as long as yours isn't a waste of space, and most aren't.

 

[dondare]

A friend of mine was victim of a hit and run. The police tracked down the car but the owner claimed that someone had stolen his car - then returned it ! and it must have been the thief who ran the cyclist down. Since the only witness had not clearly seen who had been driving the police let it go at that; my friend was compensated from some "criminal injuries" fund or other.
As I suppose you would be if you were run down by a car thief, even a car thief who returns the car to it's rightful owner the same evening.

 

[PBancroft]

Not quite sure how to reply. Hope you feel better soon, but do follow the very good advice here. Get in contact with the CTC lawyers, and if you're not happy with the letter you get from the Police, say so, and say it loudly.

Did you speak with the shop people? Gawping they may have been, but that also means they may have seen something.

 

[fossyant]

Bloody hell - glad you 'made it' - try and chase it up - I was totalled in a hit an run 12 years ago..... got part reg, but coppers not really interested..... got no-where......

If there is CCTV then chase for them to check it.

Band new bike as well............sheesh