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

They've just run someone down. Fuck their mobility.

As I said, if it's an eyesight issue, there needs to be some action about that. Most likely it's a moment of inattention. I don't excuse that, and as you well know, I'm very critical of drivers. But for the time being, unless some reason for disqualification is found, they still have the same legal right to drive as others who might be younger. Sure, a law disqualifying everyone from driving who hits someone could be passed tomorrow, but it doesn't exist.

For many elderly people, there is additionally the problem that such changes can be devastating for them--I mean, there comes a time to stop doing all sorts of things once you get to a certain age, but people can deteriorate rapidly when no longer able to get about. And yes, I'd love it if everybody cycled, but the simple fact is that for some people, that's not an option (any more or they've never done it). That's too bad, but if there is sustainable change that reduces road danger, it will largely come from natural generational change, not from trying to force people who will tend to be very set in their ways to change them.

So, yes--they should definitely have a look at what they're doing, especially possible eyesight issues, but I certainly think it's wrong to rush in and talk about banning them from driving. They were probably mortified and very shocked.

It would be interesting if amac090 could report back on what happens with the insurance claim. Again, hope everything comes off smoothly.

They were probably mortified and very shocked.

As will be the friends and family of the person they kill.

I'm being facetious, but that's because I'm so angry with this fucking country. They've ruined my love of cycling. Now I'm taking my partner out because she's so enthusiastic about it but while trying to protect her I see cunts everywhere. 100k ride today and there are probably 4 reportable incidents on my camera and one that I'm already editing for submission. Fuck this place. I want lockdown to end so I can start looking for places in Spain to live, where drivers seem to actually acknowledge cyclists as road users.

My sympathy for drivers ran the fuck out ages ago.

I'm surprised. Has your perception really changed so much since going to Spain?

I have never let bad driving affect my love of cycling, but I've done nearly 20 years of traffic activism and I understand the reasons. I can totally see how it's frustrating for many people. I haven't cycled in Spain, but I enjoy cycling here far more than in Germany.

The main issues concerning driving in this country are caused by poor legislation governing road traffic (loopholes, difficulty of securing convictions, etc.) and the almost complete lack of enforcement.

Spatial planning is an important factor; the fact that infrastructure (by which I refer to shops, workplaces, etc.) is poorly distributed, almost non-existent in some areas, so that it causes a very high need to travel, largely to subsidise businesses trying to save costs by operating from very few large(r) sites and passing the costs on to people's fuel consumption, itself artificially subsidised by artificially suppressed fuel prices. This is obviously related to poor public transport in many areas, but even better public transport wouldn't address the spatial issues that are the underlying problem.

As for being facetious, well, there's probably a serious core to that. As per the link I posted, older drivers are a lot less likely to be involved in crashes than younger, more impetuous, probably less experienced drivers, so I wouldn't worry about them as much. It's still without question that many people drive who shouldn't, for all sorts of reasons.

Has your perception really changed so much since going to Spain?

I came back here and immediately questioned why I stayed in London. I can work from anywhere so why, when I have the choice, do I live in a place full of pricks (the drivers, not you lot)? Maybe the writing was already on the wall when I'd finally caved and bought cameras for the bike because of all the negative interactions on my commute. Maybe getting sent to hospital with the rear-ender sealed the deal. What I do know is I have more bad (malicious and stupid) driving in a 30-40min than I see in 2 weeks looping Spain. It's also why I started looking at gravel options and why I like riding 200k - because more of the ride is in the countryside where there's fewer impatient knobheads to deal with.

Anyway, I was still in a bad mood our Sat ride after another idiot driver incident so probably a bit more ranty than usual. Maybe I've just got "to old for this shit".

So to summarise: next time I should get the fuck up off the floor, channel my inner peace loving hippy vibes,roundhouse kick that old woman in the face (because I wouldn't want to be ageist as everyone deserves a good kicking every now and then) then demand her insurance details so I can sue her for all her worth?

Fighting words, I like it.

A point to make which may not be relevant or may be too late now but I believe at the scene of the incident, you should collect details from the witnesses, maybe get a verbal confirmation of what they’ve seen, test the phone number they gave etc but don’t have contact with them at a later stage.
My insurers were very glad I’d had no contact with my witness when I was due to go to court as the other side could argue that in us contacting each other, we could have got our story straight etc

Definitely. But don't worry about insurance details unless her purse is empty when you search it while she's unconscious on the ground. #hottip

So almost two years on from being rear-ended (ooh nurse) and now yet another fucking medical company is asking for my details. The woman that hit me has probably run over another dozen people in this ffs and I'm still being fucking interrogated by private medical firms? Get fucked. This system is fucked. Next time I'm just taking their fucking handbag/wallet, stealing their identity and emptying their fucking bank accounts. The system is fucking fucked.

It's gonna take me ages to go back and SAR/remove my info from all these fucking companies. Fucking bullshit. Fucking fucked up fucking fucks.

My partner was involved in a minor collision today where a car stopped in front of her and she went in to the back of it and broke the rear light.

She doesn't have 3rd party insurance and I don't think our contents insurance covers this. She has the drivers number and is happy to cover reasonable costs. What's the process for this kind of incident? The driver stopped and they exchanged numbers but she didn't take any photos of the damage herself.

Does anyone have advice on next steps? Do the police need to be notified? She's happy to not be a dick about it and pay costs but equally is concerned about being exposed to extra liability if the driver takes the piss.

got rear ended by a van, wrote off the rear rim, driver was kind enough to give me a lift to the park though. apologised and said he couldn't slow down in time, could have sought recompense, but the hub and spokes were sound and i got to practice building a wheel again though the bike looks a little mismatched now; black and silver semi aero on the front and silver box section on the back, been wanting to swap out the black components for silver anyway :)

Almost made it to the 3 year mark...

The rear-ender in late 2018 insurance has now paid out in full. Zipity fucking doodah

Glad to hear it! Insane amount of time this all takes. Ridiculous.

The worst part is the driver does a driver awareness course and they're basically oblivious after a weekend or whatever. I've then got to get over the physical shit and mental shit and then deal with all the bullshit, all the while these cunts are immediately on the roads again. Distracted drivers should be banned and then have to fucking retest for their license or something. ie. an actual punishment for putting their Facebook status over someone's life.

I think a retest, like you say, would be an actual punishment.
It will cost them time and money and depending on how bad they are at driving or how much of an arrogant cutn they are will depend the outcome of those costs. And it will be an actual inconvenience on their life, hopefully, making most think twice in future.

Exactly. I spent 8 months going to physio and then another 2 years pissing about with insurance companies, doctors, etc. and what happens to the driver? Fuck all. A weekend being told not to look at your phone while driving. I'm out of pocket income for almost 3 years and that prick doesn't have to pay a dime to me. If you hit someone with your car, your car should be immediately sold and your insurance should put £50k immediately into escrow to be paid out to your victim(s) and then it should be up to the driver to chase funds.

I like your thinking.
Victim gets immediate payout and then can focus on physical recovery.
Perpetrator has to go through the lengthy legal procedure to claw back, if any, money.
Does seem a lot fairer.

Apologies- if it's not an accident but assault, is this still the right thread?

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/333786/#comment16074350

There is this one Oliver set up ages ago?

Cool, ta

Help wanted/advice:

Tuesday evening my gf got hit by a car whilst coming home from work, as it was raining there was a massive puddle in the left hand side of the street and she decided to stay clear of it.

A car thought it was a good opportunity to overtake in a 20mph zone and misjudge and clipped my gf and she came off the bike (on the drive side)

She is fine, definitely shaken up and cut, bruised and muscle stiffness due to this. She still find it hard to move about in the flat but I hope in a week this will get better.

We have got a police and ambulance report.

It’s been a while since I was knocked off my bike, can someone remind me the process and potentially recommend a decent lawyer to proceed this civic case to claim off this person insurance to claim off damaged and person injuries for my better half?

You read this yet? https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/131099/

I'm not sure who the go to guys are now in terms of solicitors.

If it's cuts and bruises I doubt you will be able to claim anything for injuries unfortunately.
Worth speaking to a no win no fee place though in case.
You may also be opening yourselves up to having to go to court and the insurance arguing that it was your gf fault for swerving into the road suddenly (I'm not saying that actually happened)
It doesn't sound like a cut and shut case so proceed carefully and manage expectations

I used CAMS who used Armstrong solicitors for my case. It took 3 years to settle.

Cheers all.

If it's cuts and bruises I doubt you will be able to claim anything for injuries unfortunately.

Nope, I had very minor cuts and a bit of whiplash before covid after being hit lightly by a car- £1200 iirc.

Photograph any cuts and bruises however small. Make notes of how long muscle pain lasts and number of pain killers taken.

Sorry to hear this @HoKe if you or your gf have insured your bikes with one of the cycling insurance companies, you should have legal cover in there, usually third party, and they should be able to take the case forward.
You may know this already but if not, you'll need to take photo's of damage to bike, get a quote from LBS as to how much it would cost to repair/replace. Take photo's of any damage to clothing, bags etc, and work out the cost to replace, also photo's of any injuries. Make a note of how long there is pain for, and any expenses incurred by being off the bike, transport etc. Lawyer may ask you to go to a doctor's of their choice to be examined.
If there were any witnesses get their details from the police report, and pass them on to lawyer ASAP, you'll need them to give a statement as to what happened, and the fresher it is in their mind, the better.
Most of the payout's from these accidents are from personal injury, rather than for repair/replacement for the bike.
Be prepared for a long wait, it took me over 18mths before my claim was settled.