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@jaygee
On Wednesday afternoon I was cycling up the inside (left) of a line of stationary traffic on Balham High Road, when I "t-boned" a car that was allowed (flashed) through a gap, and drove out in front of me with less than a car lenght's warning. I wasn't going very fast, but still managed to do a nice somersault over the front of the car. I landed very heavily on my shoulder, banged my head and then slid along for a bit.
The police were called, took my statement and the drivers' and took me to A&E. Nothing is broken, but I have muscular damage to my right shoulder. The prognosis is that I will need 2-6 weeks to heal fully. After 3 days, my shoulder is getting much more mobile, but I still get some twinges and am on Ibuprofen/Codeine.
I have read Roxy's excellent post http://www.londonfgss.com/showthread.php?t=4213&highlight=accident and have most of the information. Unfortunately, I did not get the driver's insurance details, and the police didn't seem to take them either.
I am drafting a letter to the driver, asking for further info, and to outline how I would like to proceed. Can I ask for some advice/personal experience please.
I called a solicitor who was recommended by the LCC. The first question was if I had been injured and if I was going to make a personal injury claim. This seems to be everybody's first question.
As far as I can tell, my injury is pretty minor. The pain is not constant, and I think I should be on my bike by the end of next week. This said, it is early days, and it may prove to be a little more long-term and I may need physio. I am employed full-time, so won't lose income for the 2 days I took off last week. My thoughts are to see how things go, and only get serious if things go bad. Any opinions?
I have a 3 week old Surly Steamroller, which stood up very well. The forks show no sign of damage, and the wheel (DT Swiss 1.2 32 hole laced to Phil Hub) is undamaged. The only signs of damage are paint compression on the top tube where the handlebar clipped it and on the down tube where the front brake made an impression. My lovely Brooks Swift has a minor battle scar. The worst of are my Ergon grips which took the brunt and are trashed. Otherwise, my helmet is scratched up and I have a rip in the knee of my thermal tights.
My initial thoughts are to to claim for the stuff I will need to replace i.e. helmet, grips and tights. I will take my bike to Brixton Cycles for a checkup, and claim if anything needs to be sorted. On further refection, should I claim for a respray, and replacement of the saddle. The bike would still be pristine if I hadn't gone flying. Again thoughts?
I'm not an angry litigious type of guy, and would like to get this little incident behind me with as little fuss as possible. I would however like to get myself and my bike back to the state we were in before Wednesday evening's fun and games.