Was this my own fault?

[the reluctant cyclist]

Riding to work this morning. Light traffic, bright morning, no rain or fog or anything. I was wearing a hi viz vest and carrying a hi viz backpack in my wire basket in front.

I was cying straight over on the junctioni by lee longlands on broad street in birmingham (if anybody knows it) and as I went through the lights (on green) a silver ford focus turned right in front of me.

He turned really quick and I honestly throught he was going to drive straight into me.

I slammed on the brakes but came off. I sort of somersaulted over the handlbars and landed on my wrist.

He did stop (sharpish) at this point and opened the car door and said he was "really sorry"

I'm a big girl's blouse and I really hurt myself so through my tears I asked him to help me pick up my bike and all the stuff that had spilt into the road.

I'm not sure if he did or not because two lovely cyclists came over and helped pick the bike up and all my stuff and took me to the traffic island.

The driver then came over and said he was really sorry again and that he hadn't seen me as I was behind a bus, but then made a big massive point of saying he "hadn't actually hit me"!

Seriously - when he pulled out and I broke and then came off the next thing I expected was that he was going to drive over me!

He said he gave me enough room to carry on but myself (and the other cyclists) said that I had no choice but to stop.

Can you imagine if I hadn't have tried to stop and he had carried on - I would have had a head on.

I got his details (although he gave me the wrong reg at the side of the road) but he was adamant that he hadn't actually hit me.

Is he right? Is it my own fault for my rubbish braking? If I had just carried on and relied on him stopping he may not have hit me but I'm not sure - it was bloody close and I don't mind saying I was terried.

I didn't make it into work as I had to go to A&E to get my wrist checked out which thankfully isn't broken - but my bike has suffered. My basket is absolutely knackered and it's not cheap for one of those.

I've got a really badly bruised wrist and a MASSIVE bruise on my knee and am pretty shaken up.

Not sure what I want really - a bit of reassurance?

... and thanks so much to the two lovely cyclists who helped me out!

 

[Arjimlad]

His fault. Not yours. You had priority, and he should have checked more carefully before pulling across your path rather than just assuming there was nothing following the bus. His logic would have wiped out a motorbike just as much as it did you. I would report it as you have been injured. Especially what with him trying to get away with giving you the wrong registration.

 

[glenn forger]

There does not have to be a collision, he's talking rubbish:

Where injury is caused to another person, then in addition to the above you must:

• Produce your certificate of insurance, if anyone at the scene has reasonable grounds to see it. If you do not, you must report the accident at a police station or to a constable as soon as you can and in any case within 24 hours. You'll need to produce your certificate of insurance. If you don't have your certificate of insurance when reporting the accident to the police, you may take it to the police station you nominate when you report the incident. You must do this within seven days of the accident.

Note: Reporting the accident to the police by telephone is not sufficient and you cannot ask someone else to report for you.

You're obliged to do these things not only when you are directly involved in an accident, but also if your vehicle's 'presence' was a factor.

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/legal-advice/at-the-accident.html

 

[glenn forger]

(From that, you could leave it 24 hours and if he hasn't reported it he's guilty of Failing To Report)

 

[BSRU]

The vehicle turning across traffic has responsibility to ensure it is safe to do so, so his fault.
You wisely decided not to risk serious injury by carrying on in the hope he would not drive right into you.

 

[Spinney]

Not your fault.

Have you got contact details for the two cyclists? They should be useful as witnesses. Worth reporting - although he did have the decency to stop, the lying toe-rag is trying to wriggle out of it being his fault when it clearly is.

 

[MontyVeda]

Agreed, not your fault, but.... in the situation you describe, and if possible, I'd try to put myself in a very strong primary when following something as big as a bus through a junction... not only does this give one a better view of oncoming traffic that would be obscured by the bus if you were in secondary, but also gives oncoming traffic a better chance of seeing you following the bus. But i appreciate this isn't always possible.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Not your fault.
Practice an emergency stop in a park for the future (hope never happens again, but ...) back brakes should hit the rims couple of seconds earlier than the front brakes, throw your body backwards in the saddle at the same time.
GWS

 

[hillrep]

Not your fault.
Practice an emergency stop in a park for the future (hope never happens again, but ...) back brakes should hit the rims couple of seconds earlier than the front brakes, throw your body backwards in the saddle at the same time.
GWS

No, not your fault.

Practising emergency braking is a good idea, but do not follow the braking advice above.
For emergency braking almost the entire work is done by the front brake
Good advice here
http://sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html
and here (although they do manage to make a simple task sound remarkably complicated)
http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/community/how-to/braking

 

[downfader]

The driver is transferring his blame onto you. He is in the wrong and to all logic you were the one that stopped the collision from happening.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

No, not your fault.

Practising emergency braking is a good idea, but do not follow the braking advice above.
For emergency braking almost the entire work is done by the front brake
Good advice here
http://sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html
and here (although they do manage to make a simple task sound remarkably complicated)
http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/community/how-to/braking

Cyclecraft (page 47, paragraph 4) says you should apply the back brake a fraction of a second before the front brake
(sorry, I misquoted when I wrote "a few seconds")

 

[CopperCyclist]

Legally, a reportable accident has occurred as it was due to his presence on the road that you lost control and injured yourself. It doesn't matter that he didn't actually hit you.

 

[buggi]

Listen to that one above ... he's a copper!

 

[Herbie]

Riding to work this morning. Light traffic, bright morning, no rain or fog or anything. I was wearing a hi viz vest and carrying a hi viz backpack in my wire basket in front.

I was cying straight over on the junctioni by lee longlands on broad street in birmingham (if anybody knows it) and as I went through the lights (on green) a silver ford focus turned right in front of me.

He turned really quick and I honestly throught he was going to drive straight into me.

I slammed on the brakes but came off. I sort of somersaulted over the handlbars and landed on my wrist.

He did stop (sharpish) at this point and opened the car door and said he was "really sorry"

I'm a big girl's blouse and I really hurt myself so through my tears I asked him to help me pick up my bike and all the stuff that had spilt into the road.

I'm not sure if he did or not because two lovely cyclists came over and helped pick the bike up and all my stuff and took me to the traffic island.

The driver then came over and said he was really sorry again and that he hadn't seen me as I was behind a bus, but then made a big massive point of saying he "hadn't actually hit me"!

Seriously - when he pulled out and I broke and then came off the next thing I expected was that he was going to drive over me!

He said he gave me enough room to carry on but myself (and the other cyclists) said that I had no choice but to stop.

Can you imagine if I hadn't have tried to stop and he had carried on - I would have had a head on.

I got his details (although he gave me the wrong reg at the side of the road) but he was adamant that he hadn't actually hit me.

Is he right? Is it my own fault for my rubbish braking? If I had just carried on and relied on him stopping he may not have hit me but I'm not sure - it was bloody close and I don't mind saying I was terried.

I didn't make it into work as I had to go to A&E to get my wrist checked out which thankfully isn't broken - but my bike has suffered. My basket is absolutely knackered and it's not cheap for one of those.

I've got a really badly bruised wrist and a MASSIVE bruise on my knee and am pretty shaken up.

Not sure what I want really - a bit of reassurance?

... and thanks so much to the two lovely cyclists who helped me out!

Totally his fault IMHO sorry you got hurt and your bikes damaged...hope you recover soon

 

[buggi]

totally his fault, but when we do our hazard perception training at work we teach them how to possibly avoid this kind of thing.
I’m not sure how I can explain this without diagrams but imagine being the driver coming the other way. He’s waiting to turn right and sees the bus (which is blocking his view of anything behind it) and as the bus drives past he is looking for cars behind the bus. He sees no cars (or maybe sees one some way behind) so presumes the road is clear and he has a chance to go (it doesn’t cross his mind there may be a cyclist right behind the bus as you are out of view). He decides the way is clear and then flicks his line of sight to where he is going (the road he is turning into).
The human eye when scanning (unless following a moving object) does not move smoothly, it flicks as it scans and the brain fills in the gaps with what it expects (this is fact not fiction).
He expected a clear road, and as his eyes flicked from looking beyond you, to his exit, his brain may have interpreted the inbetween bit as clear. So by now his focus is where he is going, not on the road you are on, but on his exit so now he won’t see you anyway, and he turns… into you.
This does not make you responsible in anyway, it is totally his responsibility to fully check the way is clear, but now you can see it from a different perspective, try to remember than when large vehicles are in front of you, and you can’t see beyond them, anyone beyond that vehicle coming the other way can’t see you.
Two things, with hindsight, you could do that may help.
1. If you weren’t in primary, take a more assertive position as you go through junctions, so that you come into view quicker.
2. Slow down as you go across the junction , back off from the bus so you can clearly see what’s beyond and then hopefully, the driver beyond will see you sooner and, if not, you are ready for such an idiot.
Like I said, this doesn’t make you responsible, it is his fault, but having this knowledge going forward may help you avoid something similar.