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Haha, oh mate, yeah nice shiny iPhone... thanks very much though, I was oddly calm at the time, maybe because the driver was an older fella and was clearly really shaken up, he could barely write down his details. Plus my old steel beater had made quite a large gash in his shiny motor! Definitely counting my blessings....
So after 13 years of commuting in London I had my first accident today... I was on my beater merrily plodding along in a bus / cycle lane when all of a sudden the Merc in front decided to turn into me. He hadn't indicated and although I slammed on the brakes and took evasive action I smacked into his left front wing, went over the handlebars, did an aerial 180 and went flying / sliding across his bonnet Dukes of Hazard style. Somehow I landed on my feet and apart from some minor grazes on my legs from my pedals emerged unscathed. Likewise my steel beater (steel is real) also survived undamaged apart from a slight kink in my front wheel.
The driver immediately stopped and got out to help, he was very apologetic and admitted he hadn't checked his mirrors and took responsibility, plus coincidentally a police car had been right behind us and seen the whole incident. The officers checked I was fine and asked if the bike was ok. Seeing nothing more than the slightly wobbly wheel I said yes, spoke to the driver, exchanged details and parted company.
So all in all a lucky escape, the only annoying thing is I've now had a chance to get home and dust myself off. Physically just the bumps and grazes I mentioned before but I discovered the screen of my phone which was in my pocket has cracked.... obviously this is minor in the scheme of things, but presumably I should tell the driver this and get him to cough up for the repair? He repeatedly offered to pay for any damage to the bike so I don't think he'd mind. As I say he was very good about it and threw his hands up for causing the accident.... so thoughts please?