2011-12-15 - Rider Down (me) - Figges Marsh

Yer honour, I was progessing northwards along London Road at around 08:40 this morning, enjoying the fine winter morning, and the delightful views of Figges Marsh.

I was riding at the edge of the secondary position, about 1m from the kerb, along a section of the road that has double white lines in the centre.

I checked behind me to ensure that I wasn't holding the traffic flow up too much, and that noone was getting too close to my rear wheel.

I spotted the white van, and checked my speed on my bike computer, it was reading 22.7mph, and my speed was increasing (my top speed was 25.7, and would have been just prior to me being overtaken/hit). Checking behind me again, I noticed that the van was moving to overtake. I signaled to the drive that I did not believe that it was safe for him to do so, by putting my arm out and waving him back.

I believe that at this point he dropped back slighty, before moving to overtake me, crossing the double white line. Before he had completed the overtake, he cut back in on my, pushing me towards the kerb. At this point I banged on the side of the van to let him know that I was running out of road.

The driver then braked, and moved slightly out, allowing me to move back alongside the cab of the van, where he proceded to shout at me. I am unsure of what was said.

He then cut back in towards me whilst I was level with the cab, at which point I hit his mirror, he pulled out towards the middle of the road, accelerated, and once again cut back in towards me, hitting my handlebars with the side of his van, causing me to lose control of my bike.

I then came off of my bike behind the van.

This all took less than a minute.

He had stopped, as two female joggers crossed the road and signaled to him to do so.

I moved my bike from the carridgeway, and went to speack to the driver, I belive that I opened his passenger door as he was looking like he would just drive off
the joggers made it clear to him that they expected him to pull over, and shut his door. He then pulled in.

I made it clear that I was planning on phoning the police to report the incident
he shouted at me asking what I thought that I was doing riding there, and that the accident was all my fault.

I couldn't find my phone in my bag.

I asked a couple of passerbys if they had one.

A gentleman who had also seen the incident lent me his.

As I put in the call to the police, the driver got back in his van, and drove off
the two joggers waited until the police arrived.

Thats about it, bar giving the police a statement, and a ride in the ambulance to get cleaned up at St George's.

The incident was here: http://g.co/maps/ncb2c (streetview)

Jesus sounds fucking scary. Hope that the police are taking this seriously and that you and your bike are OK

Wow, glad you're ok. That's a very calm and collected report. I would have been effin' and jeffin'|

Did anyone get the guy's number plate?

Did you get the driver's registration plate? If not then you need to get the police to obtain nearby CCTV footage if they have not done so already. This needs to be done today as the footage often gets more compressed as each day goes on, so the quality may not be sufficient to get the registration if they leave it for a few days.

From the looks of the road, there is no CCTV showing the collision itself, but you could get footage of further up or down the road to get his registration details.

glad that you are ok.

The police have the registration details, as the joggers had remebered it for me, they seem to think that it was a hire van, so we'll see where that leads

I'm fine, grazing to my knee and elbow, but my shoulder is starting to feel sore, I'll see what the morning brings with regards that.

The bike is also mostly fine, the right pedal is scuffed, the right hand side of the pannier rack is too, and the handle bar stem is no longer straight with the front wheel, but nothing I can't fix if I hadn't left my multitool at home having used it for DIY last night.

With regards to the above being calm and collected, it was written a couple of hours later, and is as much for me later as for you guys. :)

Glad you're not too badly injured - I hope the police take action against the driver...

Hope that the police prosecute, sounds like things could have been much worse. Glad there were useful witnesses.

glad you're ok. These metal box gladiators need justice brought upon them.

Go to the doctor, doesn't matter if it a tiny bit sore or not, you need written statement from the doctor about your injuries that was cause by the driver.

get your bicycle checked out by a reputable bicycle shop, and get them to write down the damage and cost needed to be repaired.

Hope you make a full recovery.

Sorry to hear that. The road past Figges Marsh isn't a good one, and is the location of much fuckwittery. Being a hire van figures, as most people driving them haven't got an idea of how long they are, and will often pull in when a car's length is past.

My experience with the Met Traffic 'Justice' Unit is that they CBA to check for CCTV coverage, so go back down there, and have a good look around for what cameras there are, so you can dispute it when they first write back to say there's no coverage of the area.

Hope you heal soon.

Thanks for all the messages, there's no CCTV along that bit that I'm aware of, but the Traffic Police (and I) do have details of 3 witnesses.

Having had a peek at Google Images, I'm certain it was a Luton style box van

I'm recovering well, mostly having to resist the urge to pick at my scabs, althoug my shoulder has started to play up more, and I've got a phone appointment with the Doctor for that today. The hospital are sending a letter about the injurys that they treated to the doctors, so that bits covered.

Thanks for all your good wishes!

I need to get in touch with the police, to get the registeration number of the van, and then in touch with some solicitors, to find out what other details I need to start making a claim.

Are you a member of British Cycling or the LCC(?), you might have access to some very good solicitors who have experience in this type of case.

Sadly not yet.

I looked into it a little while ago, and meant to join, but didn't have the cash. Its once again high on my priorities, and will be done once I've got my hands on some spare money again. :(

In the meantime I'm planning on contacting Cycle Aid (from the What to do in case of an accident thread)

----EDIT----

Right,

Police contacted, I've got the registration number off of them, and a bit of digging confirms that its a Luton style van.

Solicitor contacted, forms being sent out to me for a no-win-no-fee claim

Bike shop contacted, bike booked in tomorrow to be checked over, and any repairs needed to be done.

Just waiting for the Doctor to call again, and I think that I'm up to date on this for the moment.

Right, bike is back from the shop, and I've got the quote.

Ouch.

£325.

Damage it listed as:
Front Wheel (bent)
Chain set (Bent)
BBC to match chain set.
Bargrips
Rear gear mech
Rear gear hanger
Pedals
Pannier Rack

Labour is included in that.