Knocked off by a car. Long read...

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Doug87

Regular
Location
Isle of wight
Hi all. As the title suggests, Thursday evening about 8.15pm I was riding down a straight road approaching a junction on my left. A car was coming toward me and wanted to take the turn (his right) into the road mentioned. He took the turn and into his car I went. In my opinion along with the ambulance crew and police officer on scene its 100% the drivers fault. The officer said 1 thing that will go in his favour is that I was wearing dark coloured clothing. It wasn't dark and my bike is bright yellow/green almost hi vis colour. Anyway I've been checked over and I've broken my collarbone along with some aches and pains down my right side. The on scene police officer asked me if I want to prosecute the driver which to be honest I dont understand what this will achieve? He said if I dont prosecute him the police might do it anyway and I can still claim on his insurance for my bike, loss of earnings, pretty much any cost I incur from the incident. The police called me today to give me the incident number etc, I asked some questions and I got the impression they didnt want me to prosecute him. She said it can be a long process and cant guarantee the outcome. The police lady did tell me they have found some CCTV of the accident from a take away on the corner. Which surely proves the driver is in the wrong. I dont want to make more trouble for the driver but a couple people have told me if I dont prosecute him I'm accepting some blame and wont get as much compensation. The other thing is obviously he has insurance presumably with legal cover, I'm a floor layer with no knowledge of law. Should I get a solicitor involved? Hopefully some of you guys can help with this situation. Sorry for the essay.
 

classic33

Leg End Member
Accident Advice, for somewhere to start.

And wearing black, whilst cycling, shouldn't count against you. How many black cars are out there?
 

I like Skol

A Minging Manc...
Absolutely this is only the drivers fault, they turned across and collided with oncoming traffic (you). I would push the police to prosecute. Incidents like this will continue to happen and be treated as minor by motorists unless they start to suffer some consequences (and I don't just mean a small loss of insurance NCD).

Get yourself a cycle specialist solicitor. They know the ins & outs of claims like this and will cut straight through any 'you were wearing dark clothes' Bullshoot! British Cycling have a dedicated solicitor they use and they will take your case on a no win no fee basis even if you are not a BC member.
 

Sharky

Guru
Location
Kent
Are you self employed and can you carry on working? Whatever advice and route you follow, keep records of the real financial cost.

I suffered a similar accident and went through the Cycling Uk legal people.
 

alicat

Legendary Member
Location
Staffs
If the driver is prosecuted they may be offered a re-education course instead. I so wish that Staffs police had prosecuted the driver who hit me so that he could benefit from that training and reflection and lessen the chance of it happening to another cyclist.
 

berty bassett

Legendary Member
Location
I'boro
very similar thing happened to me - definitely get some sort of solicitor involved - maybe one better than the firm that british cycling get you in touch with , in my case they were bordering on useless
and keep records of absolutely everything that may have a cost to it , you will have to proof any days lost at work and how much you would earn
( hard being self employed but not impossible )
 

DRM

Guru
Location
West Yorks
If you are not sure you should take this idiot to the cleaners, ask yourself this, would they have pulled the same trick on an articulated lorry? No they wouldn’t, I reckon the majority of the time they see you but think it’s only a slow bike & set off with no concept of how fast a bike can go, I had this today, bloke pulled out of a car boot sale, doing about 15 mph, I was doing about 25 mph,the stupid old b*gger woke up when I went full RSM on him, luckily I spotted him & knew what would happen before it did.
 

tom73

Guru
Location
Yorkshire
Get everything written down before you forget who said what, when and what happened inc the moments before and after. Write down any costs to date and what will need replacing/repairing. Get some legal advice BC Cycling Uk your best options , check your home insurance you may have legal cover already. CAB maybe a help too they often have a local solicitor who gives up a bit of time offering legal advice.

Above all he has injured you because he acted stupidly and drove like a plank. What ever clothing you wear has nothing to do with anything it was his choice to turn into your path , his choice not to wait and for what a few more seconds. He need's to learn get them to prosecute his actions now mean you've got a busted collarbone along and in pain. You don't know how things will turn out with your collarbone in the future either. So why should he get away with it ? None of it was your fault he has to learn actions have conciquencers you're still here to tell a tale some don't get that chance. in the end ask yourself this are you only worth a few extra seconds of his time?
 

Smokin Joe

Legendary Member
It's a no brainer.

Prosecute.
 

Bazzer

Setting the controls for the heart of the sun.
Yes you do want to make trouble for the driver. There are a number of us on here who have been hit by cars and some have suffered life changing injuries as a result. Yet the police seems to rarely prosecute, even where there have been life changing injuries.
The police's default questions seem to be were you wearing a helmet and hi viz, which have nothing to do with you being hit, whether in daylight or the dark. As said up thread, a decent solicitor should cut through that nonsense.
Get a small notebook and keep records of dates and receipts if possible, of everything; phone calls, travel to the chemist for prescriptions or over the counter drugs etc. Even a month or so after incurring costs it is easy to forget what was spent when and where, let alone several months later
 

SkipdiverJohn

Deplorable Brexiteer
Location
London
This was a simple failure to give way, nothing to do with the colour of the clothing worn or prominence of the paintwork on the bike. The cyclist had right of way, the turning vehicle should have waited. If it had been dark and the cyclist wasn't well lit up, then the driver would have a valid point to argue that they can't give way to someone they can't see - but this was a daylight incident and looks pretty clear-cut to me. Either they weren't paying attention, or they just took a chance, believing they could clear the junction in time before the cyclist arrived there. Driver error, irrespective of the type of vehicle they collided with.
 

I like Skol

A Minging Manc...
you're still here to tell a tale some don't get that chance.
I nearly didn't. Very similar incident to the OP and I came around in the ambulance with a fractured skull and broken neck! The police would not prosecute in my case, in fact I didn't even get to make an official statement, unless they count my incoherent rambling before they got me into the ambulance as a statement? Always made me wonder if the driver that hit me was one of them?
EDITED for silly typo.
 
Last edited:

Venod

Eh up
Location
Yorkshire
After I was knocked off, completely the drivers fault, I wasn't asked if I wanted to prosecute him and never thought about doing so, the police did prosecute him for driving without due care and attention, I never did find out the outcome. Cycling UK sorted my claim using Slater & Gordon, all to my satisfaction.

I don't think you have to be a member of Cycling UK to use them, they may do no win no fee, I was very satisfied with them, some people have not been so happy with their service.

Not wearing high visibility clothing is not an excuse for not seeing on coming traffic.

The policeman was perhaps drawing on his own or popular opinion about high vis,

As I was laying on the pavement with a broken shoulder and damaged leg, a WPC asked me why I wasn't wearing a helmet, she must have sensed what my reaction was going to be as she quickly said, "but you have no head injuries so it wouldn't have made a difference".
 
Last edited:
I am in the prosecute camp. Unfortunately when I got knocked off Cheshire Police, even with a weight of evidence against the car driver, appeared to give the impression that it was too much mither and wouldn't prosecute.

I am going through a no win no fee private claim as four months later my knee still hurts like a bast--d and who knows if it will ever get better. I just did not want to see another motorist with no regard for a cyclists safety get off Scot free.

I fully realise that once the solicitor has took his cut I will get two balloons and a goldfish but that is not the point, if the driver at least has to pay higher premiums for a few years at least it is some sort of punishment.
 
Top Bottom