So, who's at fault.

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betty swollocks

large member
Ok so you're cycling along a clearly signposted shared cyclepath/footway at about 10 mph, with the traffic on the adjacent road coming towards you. You spot a car coming out of a driveway up ahead and slow down a bit, but just as you go across the driveway bit, the car comes out and pinches your front wheel under its tyre, crushing your rim and buckling your wheel. You're ok because you saved enough off your speed to be able to stop and pull the wheel out from underneath.
So who's at fault?
The lady driver at the time was immensely apologetic and was a very nice person, so we simply exchanged phone numbers and I agreed to get a quote for the wheel repair and she undertook to pay it.
I got the quote - £99 - and now they're disputing it, or rather, I suspect here husband is. The wheel was a Mavic Ksyrium Elite, so the repair quote is a fair one.
The husband texted to say that he's visited the incident scene and that 'he's afraid' that the cyclist is at fault.
Below are two pics, the first taken immediately after the incident and the other a little later, showing the driveway in relation to the surroundings.
Opinions are welcome.
1.JPG
2.JPG
2.JPG
 

theclaud

Openly Marxist
Location
Swansea
Her fault. Stick to your guns.
 
Deffo her fault in my opinion. If she had hit a ped it would have been her fault ....its marked as a cycle path so still her fault. Tell him to pay it or threaten to take to small claims court. Are you a member of B.C, CTC etc who could involve a solicitor or a family friend solicitor who send a letter....

Was she reversing out? as highway code says that you should not reverse on to a main road from a driveway

Edit: I see from photo she was probably driving out makes it worse imo as she clearly was not observing properly
 
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theclaud

Openly Marxist
Location
Swansea
No idea. I've not got into involved negotiations with him yet, but I'd like to know too. I'll apprise on here if I get a reply.
I have the received the legal aid pack from British Cycling now and if I don't get satisfaction, I'll hand it over to them.

Don't dignify his "thought" processes with your curiosity - it lends them unnecessary credibility. It's cut and dried - confidence and polite assertiveness is the way to go.
 
Go for it! give him one more chance to pay up and then inform you will get your solicitors.... expain you have cycle insurance who will pursue the claim.. Some motorists would (only my opinion) try it on... thinking that you wouldn't pay for a solicitors for £99... they dont realise that a lot of cyclists have insurance now
 

theclaud

Openly Marxist
Location
Swansea
[QUOTE 2846380, member: 45"]Oh I don't know. Starting a sentence with "I'm afraid" has led many a man to the gallows. It's that uncounterable weight that the phrase brings to an argument.[/quote]
Careful - there'll be a rash of it on the forum.
 
OP
OP
betty swollocks

betty swollocks

large member
I suspect it is.
I have given them a link to the wheel, so they can look up the cost for themselves and invited them to go and have a look at the actual one, which is currently in a bike shop local to us all.
 

steveindenmark

Legendary Member
The driver was at fault.

First thing is be professional.

The first thing they will do is try and reduce the cost. Don't let them, stick to your guns and they will pay the full amount.

The husband has no say in this matter, I would address any correspondence to the driver not the husband. Make it clear that you will only deal with the driver.

Provide her with a copy of the repair quote from you LBS. Explain that you have taken legal advice and shown your photos to a solicitor ( white lie). Tell her that if they are not willing to settle you will open a case in the small claims court, where you will ask for costs and damages.

It may help reporting this to the police and getting an accident reference number which you can let them have. Once they see the police are involved they will back down.

The husband is trying to bluff you. Bluff him back.

Steve
 

martint235

Dog on a bike
Location
Welling
As people have said, definitely her fault and I'd chase it.

One slightly negative bit worth noting though is that a lot of cycle insurers work from a personal injury point of view. So if you're injured they'll pursue the other party and add on any costs of repairs etc, however if there's no personal injury and only damage to the bike, they tend to swerve it in my experience.
 

ianrauk

Tattooed Beat Messiah
Location
Rides Ti2
As people have said, definitely her fault and I'd chase it.

One slightly negative bit worth noting though is that a lot of cycle insurers work from a personal injury point of view. So if you're injured they'll pursue the other party and add on any costs of repairs etc, however if there's no personal injury and only damage to the bike, they tend to swerve it in my experience.


The CTC supply a small claims pack for bike damage claims.
 
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