2010-12-07 - Rider Down, Marble Arch Roundabout (London)

Much love to you both James. Glad to hear that Veronika is making progress.

Dan xx

Just read the entire thread... Shaken by it.

All the best from Brussels to both of you Veronika and James for the next steps to achieve.

Greg

I missed Veronika tonight, but I've met Bill for the first time and we had a chat (with Spotter).

What can I say, you're truly an inspiring couple. Nice to hear, that Veronika wants to get back on the bike. Why not ask Pigfarmer about available options?

Perhaps you should get in touch with Wheels For Wellbeing charity - either to get support yourselves or perhaps help others?

Please remember, we're here if you're going through the rough patch and we're here if you simply want to socialise•.

) please see the "beers" *threads.

thanks for posting the updates.

I missed Veronika tonight, but I've met Bill for the first time and we had a chat (with Spotter).

James. Bikeobilly's name's James. Soz, dude.

Hello everybody. Just wanted to post an update. Veronika's criminal trial (vs the lorry driver) concluded this afternoon after several delays. It was supposed to take place in November.

The good news is he was found guilty. The charge was careless driving (driving without due care & attention), which is pretty low down the scale in terms of criminal offences. But what you've got to bear in mind is that the extent of the injuries can't be taken into consideration. Yes, that kind of sucks and I understand the law may be changing in that regard, but it does make sense.

So anyway, he got points and a fine. The important thing was that Veronika was cleared of any fault, which is really all we wanted to hear. Course, he could appeal, but we'll deal with that if and when. I thought the judge (it was a magistrates court) was very fair in his assessment and we're glad that the driver didn't get disqualified. It's his livelihood after all, the first time something like this had happened and I'm pretty sure the weight on his conscience is lesson enough.

Rather touchingly, the judge seemed really affected by the case and during his conclusion said he would get the clerk to compile all of the case reports along with a preface from him and send it to Boris and other relevant parties to help support the campaigns to get something done about that shitty roundabout. Thought that was a nice touch and our civil lawyer is keen to jump on the opportunity to do some campaigning too.

Veronika's doing good. We do keep meaning to come to beers one night, but she's been getting back into working, so we'll keep intending to come out and hopefully make good on it soon :)
Her mobility is coming along - she's down to one stick outdoors and can walk with no sticks round the house. She get's a setback every now and again when her stump changes shape as the leg no longer fits, but that's to be expected. Think we'll try out some cycling with Wheels for Wellbeing this summer and I'm also considering getting a tandem. Could be fun!

cheers all

james x

Good to know there was a fairly positive result from the trial.

Thank you for keeping us updated. Huge respect to the two of you for your continued courage and determination.

Well done, James and Veronika.

James, it's truly great to hear from you.

As I've mentioned in the past Veronika still's crosses my mind from time to time as I navigate through that junction. That you're both getting on with life in a positive way is fantastic and I hope that the end of the trial has brought you some closure.

It's great to hear that Veronika is doing so well. It's a testament to the strength of both your characters.

Thank you.

My best wishes to both of you. x

Veronika, James,
Good to hear the outcome from court. We at London Cycling Campaign and RoadPeace have been pushing the police to monitor how many injury crashes end up in court and what the outcome is. Most injury crashes never result in a prosecution. They did some research and found out that no one really knew the totals so they have agreed to publish annual reports. Towards the end of this year they will put out a summary for 2010. So many cases, like yours, take so long to get through the system it takes time to see what is happening.

It is great that the judge has written up the details. Anyone who rides a bike knows what a total failure that traffic system is. We will ask the Mayor's office to get a copy of the report to the Cycle Safety Working Group.

Hey Charlie. Thanks.
There's a piece in the Times today based on a press release the law firm issued. Fact checking doesn't seem to have taken place as there's a couple of errors, but anyway.

Also the Standard is looking to do an interview with V tomorrow on the same. Worth you guys from the LCC / RoadPeace getting involved too and maybe we can use it as a campaigning platform? I've got a letter from Boris with some quotes I might send their way too. I wrote to him about Marble Arch and Bow after the Bow roundabout deaths last year.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/london/i-lost-a-leg-now-i-want-action-to-keep-other-cyclists-safe-7810938.html

Hmm. Not quite what I expected, given the amount of info we gave them. And shame that after interviewing Charlie from LCC there was nothing from him either. Still, any publicity is good publicity, right?

^ Looks like it's been updated to match the print article. Better. But why did she give them a picture where I have clearly had a couple of sherberts.

And if anyone's interested, I thought I'd leave this here. It's for all you forumungers anyway. Originally for the LFGSS book, but seeing as that seems to have a gestation period similar to Duke Nukem Forever it may never see the light of day. The article was about the power of internet community spirit in hard times. The reason I focused on people I didn’t know and not the great friends and family that rallied round, is just because of that: I didn’t know them. So thanks again, not just the LFGSS guys, but everybody else who supported us then and now. I was a bit emotional at the time...

Everybody goes through life thinking “it’ll never happen to me,” and then one day, it does.

“Someone was holding my hand and comforting me the moment the truck had stopped rolling,” my girlfriend tells me. “At the time I could see my leg was lost and I just wanted to die, but the girl holding my hand was comforting me and helping me to stay calm.” The way she says it fills me with awe and incomprehension. Being trapped beneath the rear wheels of an 18 tonne truck is something I find impossible to imagine.But hearing her talk about it months later, in almost matter of fact tones, when day-to-day routine has made her situation ‘normal’, is a blessing. And since that Monday in early December 2010, I’ve counted many more blessings besides.There’s a thread on the LFGSS forum called Rider Down and I think this chronicle in particular demonstrates the community spirit of this two-wheeled culture more than any other. The support network had made contact the moment that hand had been extended to my girlfriend, Veronika. It happened before the paramedics had arrived on the scene, it happened even before the truck’s ignition had been switched off.

Situations like these – accidents, incidents, call them what you will – don’t just happen to the person directly involved. They may start on the tarmac but they don’t end there. If you read through the posts on the rider down thread you can see the effect as it ripples out beyond friends and family and hits the whole community.

A good number of people reading that thread knew about the situation before I did. Veronika was getting well wishes from concerned strangers about the same time as I got a call from the human resources department at work to tell me the police were on their way.

It sounds like a cliche, but the moment I stepped out of the office and into the police car, it felt like a veil had been lifted from my eyes and I was suddenly aware of a whole other world that existed in parallel with the one I knew. I wasn’t just given an insight into the emergency services, it was an insight into human nature.

Veronika was asleep for the best part of three weeks, blissfully oblivious to the chaos going on around her. While she benefited from top notch medical care, I benefited from a great support network of family, friends and co-workers who all banded together to help me get through this. I’m eternally grateful to them, but I’m also deeply touched by the great comfort I got from people I didn’t know, people who I might never have known had this not happened. The fantastic doctors, surgeons and nursing staff; the first policeman on the scene who stopped by the hospital several times when he was off duty; the fireman who jacked the truck up at the scene and cooked me and my dad dinner on Christmas day; and the LFGSS forum members with their support and understanding.

I remember one morning during those first few days, a policeman from the Road Death Investigation unit coming in to see me. It’s a morbid name for the division, but it probably most accurately reflects the gravity of the incidents they deal with. Quite early on in the conversation he said something like: “Some cycling group has been in touch as well, to offer their support. London single something…”

“London Fixed Gear Single Speed?”

I think my face lit up for the first time in days at that point. I’m not a regular user of the forum but I visited on occasion. I’d posted a couple of mechanical queries in the past and got the impression that no one wanted to speak to me. I suppose like most forums, there’s a level of insularity, in-jokes and banter that exists among the hard core of users who spend the most time on there. It’s probably a difficult environment for a newbie to break into and made the responses to my updates about Veronika even more touching. Now she jokes about the fact that no one replied to my posts about the workings of coaster brakes, but floods of responses came in after I posted updates about her recovery.

While I’d guessed there would be something about the incident on the Rider Down thread, I hadn’t expected so much genuine concern and it seemed like the only thing to do was release whatever information I could – a difficult exercise as things were touch and go for a while there.

It was a very cathartic experience. During those early days, lots of conversations I had with people revolved around the dangers of cycling in London and assumed that I would become some sort of campaigner against cycling. Indeed, for a few weeks I was pretty shaken up about the whole idea of ever getting back on a bike again. You may remember a young policeman who got stabbed in London around this time. Well, he was in the bed opposite Veronika for a while and Boris Johnson came in to see him. My mum was sitting with Veronika that day and I left her with instructions to lobby Johnson about better cycling infrastructure for London if she saw him. I had to laugh when the nurses told me his handlers snuck him in and out the back door, avoiding the public eye. How many people on an intensive care ward are going to be in any state to harass the mayor? But maybe he’s met my mum before.

So we got dozens of messages of support, not just for Veronika’s general well-being and recovery, but also encouraging notes on the future potential of an amputee cyclist. Even as I write this, another message has just landed in my inbox, gently reminding me that an update on Veronika’s recovery is long overdue. Never mind what shenanigans go on in the rest of the forum, LFGSS is populated by upstanding gents and ladies who are very caring and supportive. I even managed to track down the lady cyclist who first held Veronika’s hand through the pages of the forum. How’s that for providence – Veronika will now be able to shake that lady’s hand once again, but under very different circumstances.

I was also encouraged to get back on the bike and back onto the streets of London myself. It’s reassuring to know that there are people out there who go through similar cycling experiences on a daily basis and it feels good to be part of something that can reach out to people in a similar situation to Veronika’s, as well as those that are involved in better and unfortunately, worse, incidents. There’s no sense giving up something you’re passionate about because of fear. If that happens, everybody loses.

I’m sure everybody goes through life thinking “it’ll never happen to me,” whatever it is, and then one day it does. In these situations we all rely on the kindness of strangers for support. I found a comment on LFGSS from forum founder Velocio, which sums the community up nicely: “This place is about the people. First and foremost it’s about the people.” The rest just really isn’t that important. It’s like the man sang – when the milkman of human kindness stopped by, he left an extra pint.

A wonderful piece, thank you.

There's a big lump in my throat right now. Thanks and best wishes to you both!

Thanks Bikeobilly for posting that touching piece.
So good to hear such positive thoughts from you and Veronika

what a moving piece, and best wishes to Veronika!

Dunno if anyone's still interested, but we've got another update. I'd not really been able to comment as it's an ongoing civil case, but we put out a press release last night so now we can talk.

The driver of the truck was found criminally guilty last summer, so then we got to focus on the civil case, which is for damages. RSA, the insurance company acting on behalf of the vehicle owners (Brinks) had filed a counter suit claiming that Veronika should accept 20% of the liabilty and damages should be reduced as such. They were due to take her to court this month but just a week or so before, backed down and admitted 100% liability.

This is awesome news, as it means V will get 100% of damages. The next part of the fight is actually working out the amount.

Thought you might find it of interest if you know anyone in a similar situation. Despite evidence to the contrary, the insurers still tried to push some liability onto the victim, and then add the stress of another court appearance. So you just have to grind it out and not back down. The role of the defence's lawyers is to minimise damages and the role of ours is to maximise them. We'll meet somewhere in between.

I was thinking about putting some thoughts together on how this process works as there's a lot of stuff you just don't think about. Cases in point being that we've met people in similar situations who refused all help and became determined just to 'do it on their own', but it's very difficult to then go back and ask for help in housing, or prosthetics, or transport, or general care, because the defence will argue that you've 'proved' you don't need the help.

They'll try and prove plenty of stuff on their own accord as well though, because they'll hire a private detective to shoot video of the victim leaving the house or walking down the street. I guess they won't use the footage of said victim going sprawling on the pavement when they do try and walk down the street however.

Consider that a general purpose 'everyday' prosthetic leg with knee costs in the region of £50k. To get it working requires weeks of customisation which requires you to travel to the prosthetist. Then of course you put on weight, or lose weight, and it doesn't fit anymore. Process starts again. Course you can't get the leg wet and you can't run in it. You'll need another one for those tasks. Oh, and that £50k leg will probably need replacing in five years.

That's a lot of time, money and travel, and that's just one (very big) part of your life in rehabilitation. So if anyone thinks it might be useful I'll put together some info about what to expect when filing a claim for damages and just stuff to think about throughout the process.

Cheers all, and there's an article just gone up on the Standard site with a grainy CCTV shot of impending truck/cyclist collision here.

That is an awful story, seems as though the battle V has had to fight is totally unjust. Thanks for sharing.

I wish repping you would make any of this better. Thanks for sharing though, and all the best, to both of you.

I read an online newspaper article about this today, pointing out how the insurance companies routinely try blame-shifting to reduce their liability. I'll search for it and post the URL.
I wish you and Veronika well and am really grateful there's been the strength and tenacity to fight this through.
THANKS!

Here it is, from the Evening Standard:http://http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/cyclist-who-lost-her-leg-in-crash-with-lorry-scores-legal-win-against-insurer-8616903.html