2008-05-03 - Rider Down, #746

car drivers are the worst.

get well soon.

that looks painful, hope your healing up well.

p.s. you have purdy eyes

bad luck and heal quickly Sam. Just a thought: many people do the same journey every day. It's possible that you might see this car again if you hang out at the spot around the same time. These hit and run bastards have to understand that their actions have consequences.

Shit, sorry to hear about your accident and hope you recover soon! Just for info, you can still make a claim even if the police can't trace the driver throught an organisation called the M.I.B. Basically they compensate victims of uninsured/untraced drivers. Take care.

Thanks for that, just read through their web site, quite interesting stuff.

http://www.mib.org.uk/MIB/en/Default.htm

Going to speak with the police later today (on a Sunday, they might all be on holiday...) to see if they've managed to trace the vehicle doing a partial search on the reg no.

Fucking hell, Sam, some good luck is well overdue. Hope everything gets resolved satisfactorily, and you've no lasting complications.

I was riding down Farringdon Rd to Herne Hill this morning, and completely got the fear. Some maniac in a large Post Office van came hurtling past, swerving across lane markings, and then I felt a presence behind me. I was in the cycle lane as the road narrows to go under the bridge, and looked round to see a black cab right on my wheel, in the cycle lane, obviously intent on undertaking another cab next to me, presumably to catch up with the PO van and continue the race/argument.

I bailed out at the Smithfield turning, and sort of emergency stopped, and to be honest, I don't know if the cabbie saw me, or gave a fuck.

There are some fucking maniacs out there, irrrespective of mode of transport.

[/stating the obvious]

You did the right thing, BMMF. Fucking nutcase drivers. I hate them. Apart from myself of course. Not the missus though, she's a shit driver.

My face looks worse today by the way, much more bruising around the eye socket.

Heard back from the police, any close variation of the reg number doesn't match a silver Merc. And at present there is no CCTV on that section of the High Road. But he's going to speak to the hairdressers next to the recruitment place that I was taken into while I waited for the ambulance, as apparently sa few came out of the shop. Hopefully someone saw the incident.

Not looking good though!

Sorry to hear that your injuries look worse today, and that the police cannot trace the driver as yet. As you know, you can make a claim through the MIB - start collecting the evidence... Take photo's of your injuries (I know you have already) and make an appointment to see your GP. Did you have property damage (I'm assuming you did)? Send me a message if you'd like any advice, I used to deal with personal injury claims, although it's going back some years now, and I'm happy to help if I can. Get better soon.

Sounds like you've taken lessons in crashing from me - I always come off worse than my bike!

Sam, wishing you a quick recovery.
If you have some time on your hands, you could try your own wild-search for similar number plates which map onto the type of Mercedes your looking for
https://www.mycarcheck.com/
This might help give some pointers to the police.

Wow, wish I knew about that site when I got hit'n'punched'n'ran.. I stupidly don't have the reg. number anymore.
Police were worse than useless about a hit and run + assault, driver should be doing jail time but didn't even get a visit. Hope you get yours Sam. After my experience, I wouldn't necessarily trust the po-lice when they tell you that the number was wrong.

Thanks for all this, useful stuff. Trouble is, I don't even know the reg number! I was too busy picking bits of my face up from the road. I do have the phone number of my one and only witness (only one on a busy main road at rush hour, thanks everybody), I'm going to call him tomorrow.

Sam, it isn't ideal but a claim under the untraced drivers agreement will mean that the MIB will nominate (well, it used to happen this way) an insurer to deal with your claim. As long as the matter has been reported to the police, which it has, then you should be good to make a claim. If I were you, I would contact a solicitor who deals with these types of matters:
www.mass.org.uk/findsolicitor.asp

Fucking hell, Sam, some good luck is well overdue. Hope everything gets resolved satisfactorily, and you've no lasting complications.

I was riding down Farringdon Rd to Herne Hill this morning, and completely got the fear. Some maniac in a large Post Office van came hurtling past, swerving across lane markings, and then I felt a presence behind me. I was in the cycle lane as the road narrows to go under the bridge, and looked round to see a black cab right on my wheel, in the cycle lane, obviously intent on undertaking another cab next to me, presumably to catch up with the PO van and continue the race/argument.

I bailed out at the Smithfield turning, and sort of emergency stopped, and to be honest, I don't know if the cabbie saw me, or gave a fuck.

There are some fucking maniacs out there, irrrespective of mode of transport.

[/stating the obvious]

I remember getting tail-gated (or mud-guarded) all the way through the taxi tunnel at LHR by some c*** of a cabbie, revving his engine Duel-style. When we got out, I went around him, and the bastard just laughed at me. What a total c***.

Hi, Al.

Is it worth chasing a claim for personal injury? I've no brken bones, just a battered face. Even the bike is fine, just a slight tear in the saddle.

One thing's for sure, if the driver is eventually found, I would definitely push for some kind of dangerous driving case.

..and then slice off a vital body part with a blunt hacksaw.

Hi Sam,

Glad to hear that the damage to your bike was minimal, and that your injuries appear to be cosmetic!

Make a claim - I would. Some people might say get over it, but my opinion is that if you suffer a personal injury as a result of someone else's negligence then you have every right to pursue a claim for compensation. This is very different from pouring a cup of coffee down yourself and then trying to sue Nero's because they didn't warn you it was hot! The other thing is that if the police catch up with the driver and he's uninsured, then the MIB will want the money off him - so he'll get a double whammy of being nicked by the police, and having to repay the MIB your compensation.

I would submit a claim now (download the form) and wait to hear from the MIB. In the meantime get yourself down the doctors and get them to make a note of your injuries. Once you've heard from the MIB you can submit your claim for compensation providing you've made a full recovery and have no other expenses (loss of earnings etc). On the basis that your injuries are minor, I'd even point out to them that you don't want to instruct a solicitor who'll claim their costs, but that you want an early and fair resolution. Who knows, If you get a couple of hundred quid you can put it toward a new frame etc... As I say, any help feel free to give us a shout! Alex

get well soon mate