Taken out by another cyclist.

[Paul J]

Expect the unexpected is what I was told by a Police Officer when I hit a dog that came out of no where. It was my fault and that I was lucky not to be prosecuted for undue care and attention.

Womans attitude sucks but we can all be a bit defensive of our little ones. You expected her to offer paying to repair your bike (if damaged). But I didn't hear you mention to repair the childs that clearly had damage.

What would you have done if you had hit him and killed him? Would you be blaming the child?

 

[CopperCyclist]

In some ways it's almost a shame that you won't be claiming against her, as she could quite do with the demonstration that if there was damage you your bike then she WOULD have to pay. As you say in the video, small claims courts is where it would go, where the burden of proof is markedly less than the criminal court. You would only need to demonstrate the child was at fault 'on the balance of probabilities' which the video clearly does.

In regards to the above poster, without knowing the case I think the advice may have been a bit OTT. 'Expect the unexpected' is all very well, but threading to prosecute a driver for hitting a dog that came out of nowhere is a bit excessive!

Glad you're ok Panther - as Mikey said, you can probably thank being on a recumbent for that - a crash at that speed on an upright might not have been so agreeable.

 

[jonny jeez]

BP, glad you were okay and the bike is not damaged.

Videos are a wonderful thing arent they, they allow us to examine the minutia of every element and make comment without the advantage of either being present nor having any of the "feelings" and emotions that you must have had at the time.

That said...here I go...(ducks)

A few things struck me by the vid.

The first was (and i'm sorry if this offends you...please take into account all of the above!) but there was a small child who, regardless of fault was crying and apologising off camera. Yet you seemed more concerned about your bike and lights than ensuring that he was ok. That seemed counter-intuitive to me. I would hope, in that situation that my first reaction would be to ensure he was ok...but then who knows.

My second was that you were very kind to walk the child and his bike home, as a parent I would have been truly grateful for this. I was shocked that very little gratitude was not expressed by the mother (I think there was a reason for this).

My third was regards her attitude. She seemed concerned, articulate and calm, wasn't an idiot nor an offensive person (from what I could see) infact she seemed considerate and understanding on every element except the issue of fault and responsibility.

Perhaps Stowie is right, perhaps she felt pressured and responded inappropriately.

But ask yourself, could you expect anything else. How does she know you are telling the truth, how does she know you aren't some red light jumping manic who swiped her son off of a crossing..she doesn't so she leapt to the defensive. She also felt threatened and showed this to you by asking the kids to go inside and shutting them in. In response, your manner was at odds, you spoke faster and were becoming more and more frustrated ( thus more and more of a threat to her) and so the conversation was doomed.

I agree with others that, perhaps just returning her kid with a gentle "glad we were all ok, can I perhaps send you a copy of the vid to help your son learn"" would have resulted in a better conclusion.

In reality, I would have most likely done exactly the same as you (even down to the collection of my lights and speed of my voice!) but as you posted here you clearly wish for some opinion...that was mine.

 

[Leodis]

Not sure what is more funny, the womens attitude or a Doncaster accent in Lycra!!

 

[addictfreak]

I agree with all the comments made. The young chap was indeed lucky it was another cyclist and not a car.

The one point I noticed from the video, was that not one car driver got out out of their vehicle to offer assistance.

 

[Hip Priest]

If that were one of my kids I'd be very grateful that you'd brought him home, and I'd have offered you a lift home and told you to ring me if you find anything wrong with the bike. Above all I'd be grateful that my child were still alive.

 

[Hip Priest]

The one point I noticed from the video, was that not one car driver got out out of their vehicle to offer assistance.

My other half arrived at the scene of a big accident at the weekend. Young lad had written his car off. She said everyone else was just picking their way throught the wreckage and driving off, so she got out and rang an ambulance for him, checked he was ok...etc

It sometimes feels like we live in a hostile, every-man-for-himself world.

 

[BlackPanther]

I am sure you are a reasonable person, who wouldn't try to use the incident to gain extra money, but there are people that would.

This is my point though, I'm NOT like that. I WASN'T after any recompense. I'd told her that I thought there was no damage (as she didn't have the decency to ask about my injuries/damage) but when I asked her for contact details her attitude was just abysmal.

I once had a lad scratch MY car with his bike. The parent apologised, and asked me to get it fixed and send him the bill, which he would then take out of his kids pocket money. THAT'S good parenting. I pointed out that the scratch, although it looked quite bad didn't seem to go down to the base coat, and that I'd try an polish it out. 10 mins with some Auto Glymn resin polish, no more scratch. THAT'S being a decent human being.

I almost wish that the bike had been totalled, just so I could send her a £1800 bill........I don't really of course, but she just wound me up so much! Anyway, I'm fine, the bike's fine, the kid (hopefully) learned a valuable lesson, and the Mum, well she's a bitch.

 

[BlackPanther]

Glad you're both okay.

I've watched the impact a few times, amazing how quickly it goes from bike on the path to bike in your path. Also amazing that he didnt look, with car noise right behind you and oncoming too.

I figure the mum was just caught off-guard with the situation and took a defensive stance to the compensation discussion. Presumably there was some conversation had before the video arrives at her house talking about moneys.

As I carried the kids bike home, he was very upset that his Mum would see the it. Apparently, he's already damaged one bike by ridding into a car, and another by riding into a wall! Yet his Mum allows him to ride on/across busy roads, helmetless. The reason that some video is missing is that initially, I'd left my helmet camera on the bike, so I didn't think the audio would be audible, so I went to get the helmet camera, and held it to film her because I just wanted proof of her attitude.

 

[BlackPanther]

What's with that carlitox idiot? Can't believe he wants to blame panther for the crash. I suppose he's like Lee - has perfect hindsight thanks to the camera. I don't think that one was avoidable, myself. The child was just too quick and too committed with his swerve to cross the road.

Must admit it's a good example of why crashing on recumbents is much better than doing same on an upright.

Yes indeed. If I'd been on the road bike....well imagine running at Hussain Bolts top speed, leaping 3 feet in the air, and bouncing down the road. As it is, I have slight cut on knee, and my right arm aches, but I'm pretty sure that's from carrying the bike home for the kid!

RECUMBENTS RULE, there's no safer way to be knocked off your bike!

 

[Mr Celine]

Why did you need contact details? You know where they live (that number 20 behind her head is a bit of a giveaway) and you could have asked the lad his name while walking home.

 

[BentMikey]

The first was (and i'm sorry if this offends you...please take into account all of the above!) but there was a small child who, regardless of fault was crying and apologising off camera. Yet you seemed more concerned about your bike and lights than ensuring that he was ok. That seemed counter-intuitive to me. I would hope, in that situation that my first reaction would be to ensure he was ok...but then who knows.

It's the quiet ones you have to worry most about. Noisy hopping ones are not likely to be in any immediate danger.

 

[BlackPanther]

Why did you need contact details? You know where they live (that number 20 behind her head is a bit of a giveaway) and you could have asked the lad his name while walking home.

I did ask the kid his name. I assume that the Mums surname is the same, I also made an audio note of the address on the video, but tbh, I know Rossington pretty well as I work a mile away. So yes I do have full details.

I initially asked for a contact number really just so I could give her a ring to confirm that there was no serious damage (I had given the bike as serious a check as I could at the roadside, and aside from a couple of scratches----no damage.) I would have called her to confirm that no further action would be taken by myself, and to alleviate any worries she' may have had.

This was, of course before she turned out to be such a senseless, evil witch.

I will be sending her a link to the youtube video. Apparently she's not much liked judging by most comments, either by her attitude to me, or her parenting 'skills'. Hopefully, for the kids sake, she'll see the (potentially lethal) seriousness, and educate her Son to prevent future 'accidents'. Maybe she'll also adjust her attitude in future, but I seriously doubt it!

 

[gambatte]

Rozzo! Kept watching the vid thinking "I know that road?.."

 

[stowie]

This is my point though, I'm NOT like that. I WASN'T after any recompense. I'd told her that I thought there was no damage (as she didn't have the decency to ask about my injuries/damage) but when I asked her for contact details her attitude was just abysmal.

I once had a lad scratch MY car with his bike. The parent apologised, and asked me to get it fixed and send him the bill, which he would then take out of his kids pocket money. THAT'S good parenting. I pointed out that the scratch, although it looked quite bad didn't seem to go down to the base coat, and that I'd try an polish it out. 10 mins with some Auto Glymn resin polish, no more scratch. THAT'S being a decent human being.

I almost wish that the bike had been totalled, just so I could send her a £1800 bill........I don't really of course, but she just wound me up so much! Anyway, I'm fine, the bike's fine, the kid (hopefully) learned a valuable lesson, and the Mum, well she's a bitch.

I understand this, it is just hard to gauge whether someone is going to try something on or whether they are genuine. The mother appears not to have the social skills to provide the information (which you already know since you know where they live) without opening herself up to committing to paying a hefty bill that isn't related to the actual damage.

For example, I once had a woman run into the back of me (in my car) whilst I was stationary waiting for a lollipop lady to let children cross. I had been stationary a while and could see she wasn't looking but fiddling around with something - I had enough time to pull up on my handbrake hard to make sure the shunt didn't knock me into crossing children. Sure enough she bumped into the back of me at low speed. She was hysterical, crying and saying sorry. I calmed her down by saying that it was OK and the car looked OK. We ended up swapping insurance details and I said I was taking it to a garage check out the car. When the garage looked they found damage to the bumper struts which had been badly knocked out of shape. I rang and sent her the cost of repair and said I was amenable to going through insurance or settling outside. She went mad saying that I had said there was no damage and that I had stopped too quickly. She accused me of trying to rip her off. Needless to say I went through the insurers and got the lollipop lady as a witness. I hope it cost her in no claims way above what the actual cost was (which wasn't much).

This rambling story is an illustration of the fact that some people are gits and you cannot really tell who is a git until the chips are down. Hence many people are wary.

I think you acted perfectly reasonably, but the reaction wouldn't have surprised me unfortunately.