What to do in the case of an accident (discussion)

We need more 'in case of accident' card to be printed out and laminated.

helped massively in remembering course of action, during an incident if you were left dazzled and confused, you will, and I mean will forget about all the helpful tips and advice on this topic.

we need to rename 'accident' to 'collision', accident implied there's no one to blame.

What would happen if you were in a collison with a pedrestrian and got injured? Would that be covered by the MIB?

This is a good question. The only bad accidents/collisions I've had is with peds stepping out on me (fractured hip 3 years ago and bike ended up under a bus just before Xmas. Bus drove over wheel)

Sadly, the MIB only covers accidents caused by motor vehicles. You can pursue the pedestrian for compensation directly, but in practice this is pretty hard to do.

Unfortunately, if you are in a collision with a pedestrian there is not a lot you can do...and it seem that these accidents are happening more and more often.

Thought as much.. Thanks Olly

I agree, very helpful!

baga..

Just thought I will share 2 stories on mine, one happy and one not so happy...

Story one happened in July/Aug 2009, can't remember exactly when but round about that time, I was only my way home, going through Walworth Road in South London. I think I was going maybe 10 mph, triffic was smooth as it was a sunny afternoon so I though I will take my time and enjoy the sun. I was on the left hand hand, as left as I could be really. All of a sudden, I felt a bump from behind and I nearly fell but manged to remain balance, so I got off my bike and found out the drive from behind hit me on a purpose. He stopped and starting saying all the usual nasty words... I thought, instead of shouting back as usual, I took out my phone, took a picture of the car including the reg number, a few pics of the areas etc and headed straight to the police station, which was just 10 meters down the road... did the incident report thing, didn't expect anything to happen but surprise surpise... about 6 months later, I was informed the driver had to go to court and was fined £450 and 6 points of his licence... happy!!! By the way, he was done for failed to provide driver's details as I was not hurt at all, but pretty heavy fine I think...

Story 2 is not so happy, x'mas eve 2010, I got kicked off my bike by a bunch of jaywalkers... I shouted they stopped but obviously the decided to change their minds at the absolutely last second... lef knee got busted... ouch...it's been 6 weeks, still walking on crutches... no cycling for probably many more weeks to come... can't sue, can't do nothing, only I wished I got hit by a car... at least I could do something...

Hi, I was knocked down on saturday- while overtaking another cyclist, I was knocked off by a driver coming from behind and overtaking me as I passed the cyclist and he knocked me off with his wing mirror- the other cyclist was fine as I was beyond him when I was hit. Driver said I drove into him (!) I am about to file a police report but am not sure if this counts as gross negligence and therefore whether to file a criminal or civil report?

file a report as soon as possible.

you got hit from behind, of which the fault lie in the person who hit you from behind rather than you, even if you were overtaking a cyclist, he should've been prepared to slow down/manoverve, especially when you already passed the cyclist who was in front of you, so yes, report the incident to the police as soon as possible.

anyhow, I like to ask you a question, when you overtake the cyclist - did you look behind before doing so?

So I fill out the criminal offence form? Okey doke...

Yes, looked to the side and behind me and saw the car, we'd just set off from being stationery at traffic lights, the cyclist I overtook was travelling very slowly and I kept in close to him, maybe we rubbed shoulders, it was very windy on saturday and I remember being wary of not moving out too wide- to be honest its a real blur!

Very bruised pelvic bone, raw grazed elbow, back& neck ache, 2 smashed lights and torn brand new altura jacket! If he had taken any responsibility for it I would feel better :(

Did you indicate that you overtaking?

No, didn't indicate...

When overtaking a vehicles, it's usually worth looking back, and incidate before making the manoverve.

However, it does sound like the drivers weren't paying attention when overtaking you, does he give you as much space as he would a car when overtaking?;

also highway code 213;

Motorcyclists and cyclists may suddenly need to avoid uneven road surfaces and obstacles such as drain covers or oily, wet or icy patches on the road. Give them plenty of room and pay particular attention to any sudden change of direction they may have to make.
So even if your manoverve might be a poor one, the driver should've gave you enough room to prevent the likelihood of a collision.

Thank you.

I'm not sure how true this is, but I heard that if you're knocked off your bike, if you ask to sit in the drivers (pref. flash) car due to shock, when the ambulance arrives if you say you have serious/back pain, they have to cut the roof off the car in order to not risk your injuries further while ducking you out the car as you would normally get out..

I think that may be an urban myth, but I don't know whether that's true or not.

At least you could listen to the radio...

Just to recap on the importance of getting your witnesses, I was involed in a hit and run last July on Shelton street, near Endell street.

The incident to sum it up involved a very aggressive driver getting impatient with me and sounding his horn, when I stopped to question what he was doing he slowly drove into the back of me.
The impact wasn't enough to knock me over but forceful enough to shock people into come running over and start having ago at the driver. Not that I can't fight me own battles but I think people genuinely felt he was a complete twat.

When I asked him myself what he was playing at his response was pretty much as follows :
"fuck you!, if you wanna report me, my car will be in the NCP car park, you can look at it there you fucking prick of a cyclist", after seeing how charming this BMW driver was, I jotted down his number plate as did a couple of Pedestrians (who were kind enough to instantly give me their business cards) and reported the incident to Charing cross police station.

The extent of damage to the bike was minimal just a split rear tyre but shocking nevertheless. You just don't expect cars to deliberately drive into you!

6 months later, the police sent me a satisfactory letter stating that they had decided to prosecute the driver for two offences 1) Driving without due care and attention and 2) Failing to stop at the scene of an accident. He was fined £800 and disqualified from driving for 6 months.

Hopefully next time he will think twice about running cyclists off the road.
As I didn't have any injuries and the tyres were quite inexpensive there was no gain in it for me but more a matter of principle and I'm quite pleased with the result.

I just hope that this isn't an all to common incident!

Here's a photo of the offenders car! (stay clear of him, he'll be coming back to the roads in July)

What a nob! Great outcome

BMW hatchbacks - worst of all the BMWs for driver nobbishness?

that is awesome win

The extent of damage to the bike was minimal just a split rear tyre but shocking nevertheless. You just don't expect cars to deliberately drive into you!

6 months later, the police sent me a satisfactory letter stating that they had decided to prosecute the driver for two offences 1) Driving without due care and attention and 2) Failing to stop at the scene of an accident. He was fined £800 and disqualified from driving for 6 months.

What incredibly sad about this, is that it's the heaviest sentenced I've seen for something that someone drove slowly into the rear of a bicycle.

Lager09 that was pretty unpleasant experience for you but an excellent result, I can only assume you had some pretty good witnesses and he probably got the heavier end of the stick because this wasn't a misjudgement his was a calculated act of aggression.

This time last year i was knocked off my bike as a car overtook and then turned left on me, i almost avoided the back of the car but not quite! So ended up on the floor - mostly cosmetic damage to bike and myself! He didn't stop thu - silly boy! Fortunately for me a witness stopped who also got the reg and I called the cops, who I thought were pretty good. They arrived quickly, concerned for me and the bike and took a statement there n then. I had to give another statement via the post months later and I suggested not to go to court but to re-educate the driver on some driving learning experience, however, that was over-ruled and we all had to go to court. (I was more keen on the driving experience because i believed the driver showed incredibly poor judgent and/or arrogance in assuming that i would give way to them as they just barge pass me - I wasn't in the primary position but was certainly going fast enough that any experienced road user would realise that I couldn't just stop dead - I felt punitive punishment would fail to avoid the driver doing it again. Having seen him now in court I am sure he is just more pissed off with cyclists.

Anyhoo this driver was also charged with due care n attention and failing to stop; found guilty of due care n attention but not guilty of failing to stop. I think that is a reasonable outcome, he got three points and a 150 fine plus charges of 250 and 15 quid to me!

My main points are 1) I was completely unprepared to give evidence and my statement was brief/lame with some obvious inconsistencies - for which I was shredded by the defense lawyer, who had only just read it!

2) When writing your statement show it to someone else and ask them what they think are the major holes in it- identifying the driver was a big one for me, I couldn't and therefore should not have tried but i felt compelled to try and was shown in court to be unreliable but hey i was the one seeing blue then black then blue then black and again...

3) for those that dont realise mag courts are surprisingly fluid, defense and prosecutor swopping courts and cases at the last minute - cn all feel a bit fast n loose.

4) Do not under-estimate how nervous you will feel when you are in the box but once there after a few minutes you settle in quick and get the gist of the mood...

So just don't be as laid back as me but trust the court they often come down lightly but on the right side...!

Good result Mickey, and useful info too. Well done!

Hey Jeff! Yep all over now, like I said right result but in hindsight I was way too laidback about it and consequently took a bit of a comical shredding in the box... Preperation!