Girlfriends accident

Hey there

Need some advice abut a couple of things.

First up. My girlfriend was involved in a prang just over a week ago. It was witnessed by a cyclist and a motorcyclist.

She was waiting at some lights, ahead of a bloke in a car who was behind her to her right. The lights changed and she sets off but he accelerates hard ahead, turning left in front of her. She hits the car and bounces off the bonnet.

The impact damages both brake hoods & gear selectors. It also damages the forks according to the repair shop - Two Wheels Good in Stokey. She's not too banged up but has bruises on both legs, hurt her jaw, chin and one of her hands.

Driver initially claimed to be indicating but both the motorcyclist and cyclist have a go at him for indicating in the turn. Driver then becomes apologetic. She told him he'd have to pay for the repair of her bike etc and all seems well and he drives her home.

Come forward to now and she had a quote and the work is being done. However she's just spoken to the driver who now says he's not paying for anything as he maintains she said her bike had not suffered any damage.

Because she thought everything was going to be ok she hasn't yet been to the Cops. She's left a message for the cyclist but just spoken to motorcyclist who has agreed to help.

Any advice apart from the obvious?

Second question: I'm posting as a new user but actually have a profile I can't access because of the new system. Any advice?

Sorry for the very long post.

@Velocio can sort out your profile/email associated with it.

Go see a lawyer, if the driver isn't playing ball and you have favourable witnesses it's time to leave it to the professionals. Might take 6 months or so until you get any money back...

Paging @NurseHolliday for the LFGSS approved lawyer deets

Any advice apart from the obvious?

Not sure if it's too obvious but you are required by law to report the collision to the police.

If you are a member of BC or CTC you will have special agreements with companies like Slater Gordon who will handle the legal stuff for you.

Be prepared for a headache though - sorting this crap out is bothersome.

Glad Le girlfriend wasn't seriously hurt but she must attend a GP or minor injuries unit. Sort it now.

Take photos of injury and damage and record any difficulty this has caused as well as keep receipts for public transport that you've had to take because the bike is broken.

Well done for getting the motor cyclist on side. Personally I'd try to get the goon stitched up for driving without due care, and that's a real possibility with a good witness. Depends how much you enjoy dealing with police.

I assume you have all of the driver's details?

Hope she is ok it sounds like stuff that will heal up fast but still get it checked just incase.

Also, don't talk to the witnesses too much- should this come to court, she and the other two will all be asked if they know each other/ have spoken to each other since the incident, and it could damage the case to say 'yes'.
Your girlfriend should report it to the police, she'll have to make a statement and give the other witnesses' contact details to the police- they will contact them, not you.
Should the police decide a prosectution is feasible, they will arrest the driver and charge him with a variety of things probably, and if he says 'not guilty guv' then you'll all be off to the magistrates court in 9 months' time. It will be the CPS' case, not yours, and your girlfriends will be able to apply for compensation from the driver for the damage.

O Jeffcott at Bolt Burdon Kemp is a very nice guy and very good at what he does. Send him an email and he should get back to you very quickly.

Won't work unless there's serious injury and property damage at play tho.

user52812 Your poor GF. Glad it wasn't worse.

Some drivers really are such knob-heads. :(

Thanks all.

GF's seen the police. I'll forward solicitors details though I'm not confident anyone will take it. Damage to bike circa £300. It's the principal of it that stinks. This arsehole thinks he can get away with it.

Honestly I've seen way too much of this shit in London, inc. my own experiences of it. Why can't cycling in this country be more like Holland, Sweden, Germany or Denmark? I don't expect an answer. Just venting.

Ok onwards and upwards.

Thanks again.

Get her to get checked out by a doctor, you never know how serious 'small' things might be - my hand still hurts months after I fell off (my own fault).

It sounds to me like you've got a strong case (witnesses, driver details, plus he already said he was in the wrong)
He thinks he can get away with it because so far he has. let the police decide if he's committed a crime or not, and the driver might well start thinking differently

If you can't get a lawyer involved because of the claim value, you could do this yourself through the small claims procedure. The key is to get one of the independent witnesses to give evidence for you. good luck

let the police decide if he's committed a crime or not, and the driver might well start thinking differently

The police will decide if there is little enough evidence for them to drop it given half a chance.

Assert yourself and tell the police you want to pursue this / alegge a crime, if that's what you want to do.

Hi there again.

This thread was posted by me before I was graciously reunited (Thanks Velocio) with my username.

So a bit of an update about the GF's prang, sadly more confirmation of the arsey predisposition of your average London motorist, in particular, Turkish dry-cleaners.

Despite video evidence provided by a passing motorcyclist, which shows the dickhead - sorry - other party attempting to drive away. And the statement of another passing cyclist, the dickhead - sorry - other party, strongly denies responsibility. Either his lawyers don't know about the video or don't think it's relevant. The video evidence is pretty compelling, and the GF was driven home by this prick aftwerwards as her bike was un-rideable.

GF's lawyer who's acting on no-win, no fee, has told her that if he keeps on denying, it's off to the small claim's tribunal. There, she's informed, they'll be unable to enforce anything as she wasn't injured.

I appreciate it's very small beer compared to the numerous, much more serious complaints seen here, but anyone been through anything similar?

I feel like chasing this fucker down and taking a dump through his sunroof.

What do the police think about all this?

Hey Howard. The GF is going to speak to them again off the back of this development.

So... A happy ending.

GF's lawyer emailed the other day. Turns out the Police ignored GF's evidence, and went straight to their own CCTV which showed the driver clearly turning left across my GF and wiping her out.

Cue two weeks of silence, then an email yesterday from GF's lawyer.

The other party are offering £395 for the repairs to her bike - what it cost. Plus £1000 pain and suffering. The Police have cautioned him and he is now obliged to do some further driver training which he has to pay for... which I believe will set him back about £300. If he doesn't complete the training successfully, he has to resit the test for his licence.

Then there are his lawyers fees - take a guess but £400- £500 feels like the zone. And finally the cost of his insurance which is certain to rise.

When this fool graciously agreed to drive her home after the accident, my GF said she expected him to pay for some new forks and he said he would.

The new forks cost her £130.

What an idiot.

quality.

Awesome!

3 months ahead of schedule ;-)

Kudos to the police for actually doing some policework. Enjoy the holiday money!

Lovely stuff!

Lovely, lovely stuff.