In late Sept I was knocked off on a roundabout by a car that failed to give way. I had to have 8 stitches in my head, have no recollection of the actual collision or 30 minutes afterwards, had bad bruising especially to my buttocks, and spent the night in hospital. At the hospital they thought I had fractured my skull at first and I think I was lucky not to fracture my pelvis either.
Now I have just heard the driver has denied liability saying that he was already established on the roundabout and I collided with his vehicle! I ought to audition for the track at London 2012 if I can set off from a standstill on joining a roundabout and collide with a car that has joined two exits later, without him having a chance to stop.
I was quite upset in December when the Police declined to prosecute 'due to insufficient evidence' despite there being three independent witnesses, including the driver of the car following me who has since told me she knew he was going to hit me. Now the driver's denial of liability is just adding insult to injury.
The collision happened on Monday 27th Sept last year just after 7 am. I was cycling on my Brompton to the mainline train station in Lichfield. I was almost at the end of my journey along Trent Valley Road (A5127) when I gave way at the roundabout known locally as Trent Valley Island for two cars then set off. I was half way round when I became aware of a black car approaching from Eastern Avenue (A5192) and remember thinking that he was leaving it a bit late too late to stop and that surely he had seen me. Then (I am not sure if this is a true memory or something I dreamt as I came round in the ambulance) he seemed to be alongside me and I decided not to leave at the next junction in a vain attempt to avoid a collision. I have no recollection after that and only came to about 30 minutes later in the ambulance.
I spent that day and most of the following day in hospital and should have stayed in longer except that it wasn't restful at all. I had 8 stitches in my head and bad bruising to my buttocks. It was the last week of a contract and I had to take myself out of the running for a good job because I wasn't fit to work for the next 5 weeks. It has left me nervous of traffic and my memory still isn't back to normal.
I can pinpoint the location on Google maps but it doesn't seem to translate into a link.
As I am in the CTC I have taken advantage of their 'no cure no pay' legal scheme to sue the driver. However if I had to choose between getting compensation and him being prosecuted I would choose the latter any day.
The decision to prosecute was bad enough and this just adds insult to injury. He drives a company car so it won't even affect his premium.
This is just another victory for the car culture!
Can anyone send any kind wishes my way as I am really really hacked off. It is taking all my strength not to go straight round to his house and ask him to repeat his reason for the collision to my face.
Now I have just heard the driver has denied liability saying that he was already established on the roundabout and I collided with his vehicle! I ought to audition for the track at London 2012 if I can set off from a standstill on joining a roundabout and collide with a car that has joined two exits later, without him having a chance to stop.
I was quite upset in December when the Police declined to prosecute 'due to insufficient evidence' despite there being three independent witnesses, including the driver of the car following me who has since told me she knew he was going to hit me. Now the driver's denial of liability is just adding insult to injury.
The collision happened on Monday 27th Sept last year just after 7 am. I was cycling on my Brompton to the mainline train station in Lichfield. I was almost at the end of my journey along Trent Valley Road (A5127) when I gave way at the roundabout known locally as Trent Valley Island for two cars then set off. I was half way round when I became aware of a black car approaching from Eastern Avenue (A5192) and remember thinking that he was leaving it a bit late too late to stop and that surely he had seen me. Then (I am not sure if this is a true memory or something I dreamt as I came round in the ambulance) he seemed to be alongside me and I decided not to leave at the next junction in a vain attempt to avoid a collision. I have no recollection after that and only came to about 30 minutes later in the ambulance.
I spent that day and most of the following day in hospital and should have stayed in longer except that it wasn't restful at all. I had 8 stitches in my head and bad bruising to my buttocks. It was the last week of a contract and I had to take myself out of the running for a good job because I wasn't fit to work for the next 5 weeks. It has left me nervous of traffic and my memory still isn't back to normal.
I can pinpoint the location on Google maps but it doesn't seem to translate into a link.
As I am in the CTC I have taken advantage of their 'no cure no pay' legal scheme to sue the driver. However if I had to choose between getting compensation and him being prosecuted I would choose the latter any day.
The decision to prosecute was bad enough and this just adds insult to injury. He drives a company car so it won't even affect his premium.
This is just another victory for the car culture!
Can anyone send any kind wishes my way as I am really really hacked off. It is taking all my strength not to go straight round to his house and ask him to repeat his reason for the collision to my face.
