2017-07-22 - Rider Down, Kingston (hit and run)

Hi,

I was riding my bike last night in Kingston and out of the blue a Private Hire Vehicle crashed into me from behind. I fall off, hit my back and get a few grazes. The bastard driver comes out saying: I am sorry, I am sorry, then moves me on the side of the road and drives away, leaving me in shock.

I have his reg plate and have reported it to the Police who should hopefully trace him and get his insurance details. I have also reported him through what I think is the company he's associated with(hint Silicon Value hundreds of billions valuation company). They will not confirm at this stage if the driver works through them. Fair enough, I will go through police.

My back hurts like hell, I will go GP Monday/Tuesday.
My bike is damaged as he rode the front of the car over it. Its not a write off though, I don't think so.

Can anyone recommend from their own experience a good solicitor who deals with bike hit and run ?

Thanks.

I went through direct accident management. Sorted me with a free hire bike and arranged absolutely everything for me. Maybe take a look at them

Sorry to hear of your accident and I hope justice prevails.

Why not contact British Cycling? They have a legal team. Also, I think Leigh Day have a good reputation.

https://www.leighday.co.uk/

Thanks everyone. Will start the solicitor side of things once Police track him down and give me insurance details.

Today went to the police and kicked off things.
I believe there is a CCTV covering that intersection.
No witnesses, was in too much shock to stop people and ask them to leave details.
I have some pictures after the event with my broken bike at the side of the road.
I have Strava timings.
Somehow despite the shock, I managed to memorize his license plate which checks out with the make and color.
If he works for whom I think he works, his exact location and time is recorded anyway, so that will be passed over to the Police by the company.

If he didn't ran away and leave my injured without a care(I could have had a broken back), I would have just asked him for a few hundred pounds to fix my rear wheel and what not, but now I will go all the way.
The stupid bastard will lose his job and probably get a criminal record because he was too coward to stay 5 minutes to make sure I was ok.

I would read through this thread: https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/297085/

Even though it's quite long and the circumstances of the hit and run of @Velocio are a bit different from your own, it's a very good first-hand account of dealing with insurance, the police, etc. in the aftermath of such a thing.

More importantly, hope you're okay and can get back on the bike soon

Thanks guys, that threads damps my hopes of seeing this bastard pay.
As I have no witnesses, my only hope is the CCTV coverage.

Read this thread too https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/210670/

You will do better than I as you have the plate number.

Did you call the police at the time? I now know that was my biggest mistake, I failed to (assuming that having called an ambulance and the ambulance notifying the police that they would catch up with me in A&E - they never did, and then the struggle to get their attention started).

Document everything. I mean everything. Every small cost incurred, every injury or report made. Take photos of X-Rays, record in detail any visits to the doctor or a hospital, then when, where, what happened, etc.

If you are a member of British Cycling then you should be insured.
If you house insurance covers it you will be insured.

Speaking to Leigh Day is definitely recommended.

Good luck, and heal up... glad to hear that you are physically sound.

Cheers.

Went to the police straight away and got a form, but was told(rightly so) to come back the next day as I was still under shock and not with a clear head.
Just been around the place again and its covered pretty decent by a street camera. Bingo !
I am lead to believe that the driver has been suspended.
Will take the police investigation take its course and will start solicitor stuff once I have the drivers insurance details.

Good luck with getting it sorted, oli_ro. Hope your back turns out OK.

You could edit the thread title to follow the convention used in the 'Rider Down' forum:

https://www.lfgss.com/microcosms/534/

The thread could also be moved there.

Hope your GP assesses you well, refers you onwards if necessary and that you mend well and fast.
Get you bike assessed by a professional and if it's not a write-off, keep inspecting it for damage that only becomes apparent later.
Likewise with yourself, look out for injuries you didn't notice at first; it's likely your back is so sore you might not notice much else that hurts.
Document EVERYTHING. Nag the police.
Hope you get sorted and compensated well.

Good luck with it all. Lawyer up and they will take care of most things. Just wanted to add 1 point, as well as noting your injuries, take photos of your visible injuries - cuts / bruises etc as they heal. It might be a while yet, if you decide to sue, before you will be assessed by an independent doctor. Your GP note will back up your injuries but I remember when I got hit, my GP note was merely stating a couple of bruises on both legs, but I got pics so it made clearer about where, how many and size etc. It will make all the difference.

Most importantly, heal up fast mate!

PS, does @ojeffcott still deal with relatively smaller cases like this one?

I tend not to but a colleague in my team does. Always happy to give a steer in the right direction if someone sends me a DM.

I'd advise you to request the CCTV footage from all the operators you can identify. You should do this asap, and not wait for the police to do it.

https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/cctv/

then moves me on the side of the road and drives away

How did the driver do this? The way you describe it might make the police more inclined to help you.

I had a good experience with simonaholt.co.uk for bicycle related injury claim, although that was a number of years ago.

Sounds like a horrible experience, glad it sounds like you're not too badly injured.

Would it be worth trying to find out if there were passengers in the taxi at that time? Might be another source of witnesses

The way he moved me on the side of the road bothers me the most. From what I remember:
I am knocked off the bike, he continues to drive towards me until I crawl away and start shouting. He gets off and gets me to stand up(without checking if I have any back or neck injuries), walks me to the side of the road, gets my bike there as well, looks around 1-2 seconds and then he's off.

Obviously, I was under shock so I can't think properly. I am surprised I memorized the reg number.
I hope karma will get him.

Needless to say, I hope it's the police rather than karma that takes action. That's a really shitty way of executing a hit-and-run.

Have you thought of putting up posters around there asking for witnesses? Witnesses can be essential. It may not be too late to get someone to come forward.

So he hit you, or he felt that he'd hit a human sized something (sorry if this sounds wrong), then he didn't think to stop and check until he heard a human (you) shouting at him. Then he picked you up, against your will and completely disregarded if your back might have been broken, head might have been bleeding, arms might have been falling off, none of these matter to him, he just moved you out of his way and drove off?

Dose this still count as hit and run? Or something more serious than this?

By the way, I am glad you are relatively OK...

Exactly this is what happened. I shouted at him not to f*cking leave as he picked up my bike and move it and he told me he won't he's just parking the car, he looks left and right - probably to make sure no police or witnesses, and then he's off.

The company he's associated with have a law enforcement team, who probably matched his location and exact movement around the time anyway, after I provided them with all the details. That will provided to the Police.
I mean how hard can it be: with a GPS tracking you, stop car suddenly in the middle of an intersection, stop for 2 mins and then accelerate.
Will see what happens, once the case ends up with the road traffic police. They told me they will get in touch in 1-2 days.
Meantime, I am having my rear wheel rebuilt after I bought a new rim and will be on the bike commuting. I just need to move on.
I was in a pretty bad bike accident before and broke 3 fingers in multiple places, so I am not affected too bad in terms of being afraid to start riding again.

his car might even be fitted with a camera... have you been to the doc yet? You don't need us to tell you injuries can surface after a period of delay...

Bike after the accident.

1 Attachment

Yes, doctor appointment is Wednesday morning.

Make a note of & photograph any clothing that was scuffed and damaged as well to add it to your claim if you haven't already been advised to do so (& I hope you took some photos of your injuries, worth photographing them over the next days to show in court exactly how long it took to fully recover). I really hope this goes to court. It's pretty fucking cold what he did, moving you like that and for all he knew leaving you for dead. Heal up fast. It's likely to be a long process with ups and downs but if he made contact there's probably still evidence on his car, may well be gps, perhaps he even admitted it but I'd hope that the police would take it seriously enough to follow it through.