My 1st Commute Incident

[Sysagent]

Only had the Ribble road bike no more than 3 weeks...

Coming down a cycle lane that crosses the exit junction of a garage, car pulls towards exit she is looking continously right and never left once, I am crossing infront of the vehicle she starts to pull out and clips my back wheel.

Back wheel is buckled, seat clamp is spinning around in seat post and the rear mech looks to have had a bit of damage, I am ok, she was a bit shaken, give me her phone number and address and offered to pay for any of the repairs etc by giving the LBS her card details when the repairs are done.

More fed up at having to miss the commute now whilst things get sorted, hope she does pay like she said she would.

 

[simon_brooke]

Only had the Ribble road bike no more than 3 weeks...

Coming down a cycle lane that crosses the exit junction of a garage, car pulls towards exit she is looking continously right and never left once, I am crossing infront of the vehicle she starts to pull out and clips my back wheel.

Back wheel is buckled, seat clamp is spinning around in seat post and the rear mech looks to have had a bit of damage, I am ok, she was a bit shaken, give me her phone number and address and offered to pay for any of the repairs etc by giving the LBS her card details when the repairs are done.

More fed up at having to miss the commute now whilst things get sorted, hope she does pay like she said she would.

Best of luck.

Always assume drivers are going to do something stupid. 99% of the time you'll be wrong, but the last 1% could well save your life.

 

[fossyant]

Oh dear, wait till they see the 'damage cost'...... what..... bikes cost .... what ?

 

[Tynan]

garages are always dangerous

that sounds alright but it wants reporting just in case they welch, things looks difeerent to people a few days later

 

[2Loose]

Sorry to hear that Sysagent, I used to cross two garage entranceexits on my last commute and they can be dangerous with drivers not checking both ways.

If you don't get eye contact with the emerging driver, wait or try and go round the back of the car instead. Too late I know...

I agree with Tynan, report it now, just to cover your a*se.
Years ago, I had someone willingly agree to pay for repairs when I got hit side on, but when they had a quote for new Ultegra pedals and a hand built rear wheel they weren't so happy about paying after all. The police report was definitely worth it in that case.

 

[the reluctant cyclist]

I have had the same - an offer to pay at the side of the road but then reluctance when the bill came - in my case the bill I presented him with was only £30 too! All of a sudden he said he hadn't hit me "that hard"!!!!

Worth reporting it to give it a crime number and all that and also to be honest it's a really stupid thing that she did - if you had been a car and she just pulled out wouldn't she have got t-boned and all that - I have always heard that side impacts are the worst and she needs telling to be honest - even a letter from the Police setting out the deails and quoting the crime number would be enough to make her be really really careful next time.

Having said all that I know where you are coming from though because it seems a bit mean when they are all apologetic and then saying they will pay and all that - I think maybe you should phone her and give her a rough guesstimate as to how much it will cost - say to her that she might want to claim it on her insurance if it is too much? That way you can suss out whether or not she is willing to pay a bill that, I presume, could run into hundreds?

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

Definitely report it - you'll then need to contact her (or the Police will if she starts being arsey) for insurance details... no doubt she'll change her mind when the bill arrives.

Bad luck!

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

As a slight aside... how did she hit you - I don't really understand how you were coming from the left right in front of her.

I can understand her looking right to assess moving traffic that she will be joining, but if you're on a cycle lane (aren't these part of the road?) how could you be coming from the left?

 

[Bristol Dave]

Definitely report it. I could bore you for hours with tales of reneged promises following RTAs. Then keep her in the loop as the reluctant cyclist wrote.

Glad you are okay though Sysagent.

BD

 

[Sysagent]

The cycle lane is on a path in Preston just after the A583 / A584 junction it serves cyclists both ways as it is a busy dual carriageway in that area, so motorists are typically looking to the right to join the dual carriageway (turning left as it is one way).

The cycle path crosses both the entrance and exit of the garage, bad / dangerous design but better than having to deal with the roads of death in that area.

Just got a log number from the Police, also been to the LBS this morning for the repair bill which is going to be around £120 which is the wheel trueing, new seatpost as the clamp had gone from the shock and a new rear 105 mech, also asked to check frame alignment, if that's gone then its a whole lot more.

Rung the lass with the assessment this morning at the LBS she said no problem (atm) and she would pay over the phone with her card when the repairs have been carried out.

Many thanks for the kind words and advise :-)

Sys

 

[2Loose]

Sounds like a relatively painless result Sysagent, glad it sounds positive for you.