Hi folks, busy weekend so reporting in now!
My LBS is very thorough in their inspections so i trust their judgement. I am not one for aesthetics so when they said the pedals were scuffed and potentially knacked they were erring on the side of caution; transpires the bearings are sound but there are scrapes. Are they functional but not pretty? Yes. So i'm fine with that. Clothing is dinged but not destroyed, i'm bruised and scraped. I'll live.
I am simply looking to get back on the road to get some miles in before the Etape Caledonia this Sunday. Oh, and climb some silly hills as well, hence why i took this route that morning.
To answer the calls of 50:50 on this accident and, furthermore, the accusation that i was doing a 'fair lick': Strava has me at 16mph on this section. Regardless of speed this chap did not indicate and pulled across my bow as I was riding past him. Not before i got there (i.e. i was travelling too fast to stop) not after (i.e. he mistimed the turn and caught me) but drove directly through me as I was alongside him.
By his own admission he was not switched on and was already looking to the right for a parking space. I didn't even register in his field of view.
We agreed a bank transfer which was processed and received yesterday afternoon. To that end i call the case closed.
As a postmortem, it is worth noting the following:
- You can choose to pursue these things in a variety of ways, be it down a legal route or an offline discussion.
- My choice here reflects my understanding of the situation, my confidence in the evidence present and my own judgement of the parties involved.
- These choices may not reflect best practice but embraced a less solicitor-heavy approach, one which I am happy with.
- If anything the takeaway should be "You do you".
- All drivers are human (currently) and to that end they will react accordingly. Demonising them is a surefire way to get their hackles up and cause delay to the preferred outcome.
Finally, this could have ended in a legal sparring match. I was more than happy to deploy my solicitor and pursue damages ad infinitum if we could not reach an agreement or payment for repairs was not satisfactory - however, as stated above, we reached an agreement and I will be back on the road this evening.