Forum Rider Down and/or notification of minor incidents

I called the police as I agree it's good to ensure they record even minor accidents like this as it may help identify accident blackspots
And have requested the cctv footage. The Information Commissioners website sets out how an individual can ask for the footage
So will hope for the best that the driver will pay for my repairs and replacements. It may "only" add up to a couple of hundred quid - but may help drive home the lesson of look for bikes and other traffic before you change lanes !

Thanks for your kind wishes, Oliver

Endo over the bars in norbury on the way home. Had put in new pads just before leaving work and I guess the adjustment made the brakes a little tighter than normal. Was fine not even any bruises apparently it looked awesome funny.

Glad you survived splat
Good work clockwise

Apologies for the essay, but I witnessed my first 'serious' crash today, and didn't really know where else to post about my shock/subsequent existential cycling crisis.

I was out on a social ride with two other young-uns (twenties) and an older boy (mid-fifties), we'd pulled ahead across a mini-roundabout, so turned to wait for him once on the other side, only to turn around and see him get T-boned by a car at about 30mph. He smashed the windscreen on impact, and flew about 20ft, from primary in his lane almost to the opposite kerb. He wasn't wearing a helmet, and didn't move for a few seconds after he hit the floor, so I think we all thought the worst. Thankfully he was stable in the end (actually less shook up than the 20 yr old driver) even though he lost a lot of bloody from a head injury, and was pretty distraught about his 531c tourer being utterly wrecked. The resulting melee with him, the police, the paramedics, the driver and the driver's friends and family etc left the three of us pretty shook up, and as I say, I'd never experienced anything like that before. I'm now having doubts about my helmet-less (he wasn't wearing one either), safety in traffic, and cycling in general, but am unsure whether any 'preventative' action might make me feel worse about riding than it would if i carried on as 'recklessly' as I was before. I don't mean to flare up yet another helmet debate as that's not really the crux of the issue, I'm just really unsure of how I feel, but I know I don't feel good. Has anybody else witnessed a bad crash and subsequently had their own riding affected psychologically?

tl;dr - Witnessed a bad crash - feel psychologically damaged and generally unsure about riding.

Apologies for the essay, but I witnessed my first 'serious' crash today, and didn't really know where else to post about my shock/subsequent existential cycling crisis.

I was out on a social ride with two other young-uns (twenties) and an older boy (mid-fifties), we'd pulled ahead across a mini-roundabout, so turned to wait for him once on the other side, only to turn around and see him get T-boned by a car at about 30mph. He smashed the windscreen on impact, and flew about 20ft, from primary in his lane almost to the opposite kerb. He wasn't wearing a helmet, and didn't move for a few seconds after he hit the floor, so I think we all thought the worst. Thankfully he was stable in the end (actually less shook up than the 20 yr old driver) even though he lost a lot of bloody from a head injury, and was pretty distraught about his 531c tourer being utterly wrecked. The resulting melee with him, the police, the paramedics, the driver and the driver's friends and family etc left the three of us pretty shook up, and as I say, I'd never experienced anything like that before. I'm now having doubts about my helmet-less (he wasn't wearing one either), safety in traffic, and cycling in general, but am unsure whether any 'preventative' action might make me feel worse about riding than it would if i carried on as 'recklessly' as I was before. I don't mean to flare up yet another helmet debate as that's not really the crux of the issue, I'm just really unsure of how I feel, but I know I don't feel good. Has anybody else witnessed a bad crash and subsequently had their own riding affected psychologically?

tl;dr - Witnessed a bad crash - feel psychologically damaged and generally unsure about riding.

Needs it's own topic, that doesn't sound minor in the slightest. Where was it?

Needs it's own topic, that doesn't sound minor in the slightest. Where was it?

Yeah, I suppose it wasn't exactly minor, I was still reeling last night though, so didn't want to make a thread, I just wanted to get it off my chest. I'm in Norwich, not London's famous London, and it was a few miles outside the city in the middle of a small village called Salhouse.

thross78, you might benefit from counselling in this case. See your GP?

If you think that's overkill, establish clearly what happened in this crash. Every event is fully caused and the best thing is to start with firmly establishing the facts. Why did she hit him, what was he doing, what was she doing? That might go some way towards relieving the feeling of random causation.

Either way, it's clearly been traumatic for you, and as you probably know, you don't have to be the victim to be traumatised--it can be bystanders who suffer worse in that respect, although of course not with the physical injuries. A large part of that is compassion, which is a very good thing. It would be more worrying if you hadn't reacted in this way. Trauma is to be taken seriously, as if it's left untreated it may just fester and become worse with time.

Good luck with the recovery!

Thanks for the kind words Oliver, it's good to hear that I should be feeling like this.

I think part of the problem is that we didn't see the whole thing - I turned around just as he was hit, and it was completely out of the blue aside from that. The good news, if you can call it that, is that it after looking around the scene is was clearly entirely the drivers fault - he was 80% across the junction, and there weren't even brake marks on the road, she just hadn't looked and ploughed into him - so the cause is clear in my mind. The issue with that is it's obviously exacerbated my trust issues with fellow road users, so I felt very unsure on our ride home last night and my commute this morning.

The compassion factor is bizarre, and is part of why I feel so out of sorts, as I'd only met the chap 30 mile previous. I suppose there's nothing like a freak accident to build bonds between people.

Should probably get back to work now though, might be good to take my mind off things!

The issue with that is it's obviously exacerbated my trust issues with fellow road users, so I felt very unsure on our ride home last night and my commute this morning.

That is a shit way to feel and it is only natural. From my own experience of a ''SMlDSY'', it initially made me a very nervous rider, but over time that's developed into a 'healthy' caution towards other road users. It's sad and unfortunate that you have to almost expect this kind of carelessness on the roads.

Hope your new friend heals up quickly and that you're both out riding again soon.

Thanks BN. As you say, I'm sure it'll eventually turn into a benefit, but feels very unnerving at the moment.

Miraculously, he only came away with a broken collarbone, a very stiff left knee, a cut on his head, and other minor cuts and bruises. Not bad for a guy in his mid fifties who got in a serious fight with a hatchback! He was taken to A&E at 8pm, and was cleared and home by the time I went to bed at 11pm. Absolute warrior.

The compassion factor is bizarre, and is part of why I feel so out of sorts, as I'd only met the chap 30 mile previous. I suppose there's nothing like a freak accident to build bonds between people.

Not bizarre in the slightest. We are social and collaborative creatures, and you would have felt like this with anyone, probably even with someone whom you considered your enemy.

she just hadn't looked and ploughed into him - so the cause is clear in my mind. The issue with that is it's obviously exacerbated my trust issues with fellow road users, so I felt very unsure on our ride home last night and my commute this morning.

The key thing is that she didn't mean to hit him, either. I know what you mean by trust issues, but it's important to stress that you can generally rely on people not to want to harm you, at minimum as they know that for them it's much more trouble than it's worth, and at maximum because they don't actually want to hurt you. Needless to say, the problem is with people in between, people who sometimes want to throw a little scare at a rider, but that's another story.

Side-on crashes at junctions/roundabouts are very easy to avoid and are also quite rare for cyclists, even though it is quite common for drivers to 'fail to give way' at roundabouts. The main risk at junctions is from same-direction turning traffic. One of the aims of cycle training is to develop strong awareness of such possibilities, and some more training (regardless of whether you've already had some) would certainly help you understand traffic better in this respect. Most traffic situations are entirely predictable and easy to negotiate if you've got a decent idea of what's going on.

As I said, if these feelings persist, try talking to people. They can fester and are best dealt with quickly.

Very glad to hear that the victim isn't critically injured. Obviously, that's still quite a lot to make a recovery from.

As I said, if these feelings persist, try talking to people. They can fester and are best dealt with quickly.

Even just talking to you and BN has made me feel significantly better, so I really appreciate the time and effort you've taken with your replies.

Thankfully, for my day to day riding, the majority of Norwich's traffic system/junctions are pretty simple to navigate. Cyclists are often given a lot of room, and it also helps that the inner city wasn't made for the volume of traffic it now experiences, as nobody can get up to a great speed. So in that respect, it should be a fairly smooth ride back to being comfortable within the ring road. I think the issue is gong to be getting back out onto the country lanes a few miles out and being confident again.

But as you said, the key point is that the whole thing was purely an accident. Even if the driver was at fault, she certainly showed no malice or intent, and was incredibly shaken up by the whole thing. God knows how she's feeling now - it must be a terrible thing to have to live with, even though she knew he was 'ok'.

Even just talking to you and BN has made me feel significantly better, so I really appreciate the time and effort you've taken with your replies.

Thankfully, for my day to day riding, the majority of Norwich's traffic system/junctions are pretty simple to navigate. Cyclists are often given a lot of room, and it also helps that the inner city wasn't made for the volume of traffic it now experiences, as nobody can get up to a great speed. So in that respect, it should be a fairly smooth ride back to being comfortable within the ring road. I think the issue is gong to be getting back out onto the country lanes a few miles out and being confident again.

But as you said, the key point is that the whole thing was purely an accident. Even if the driver was at fault, she certainly showed no malice or intent, and was incredibly shaken up by the whole thing. God knows how she's feeling now - it must be a terrible thing to have to live with, even though she knew he was 'ok'.

If you feel uneasy pull up and take 5min to let it pass, nice sunny weather for it too atm.

If you feel uneasy pull up and take 5min to let it pass, nice sunny weather for it too atm.

Yeah I'm planning on heading out on Friday with one of the guys from the incident - there's a nice tow path heading out of Norwich, so we're going to head down there as a bit of a traffic-free cleanser.

Be careful on canals

Workmate just got in and said a cyclist just hit a ped outside our office on Wigmore Street. Look out the window and sure enough a guy is laying in the road. Took him a while to get up and he's limping. Workmate said he didn't stand a chance as the ped just walked out which doesn't surprise me due to the lack of crossings around here. None of the traffic lights have a ped phase so they tend to run out.

Bit late but I had an off on the cs7 at 8 am on 11th June.

Clipped a pothole near oval and headed over the bars and off to A and E with a fractured shoulder. 3 months off and possible surgery ahead.

Good news is said pothole has been reported and repaired.

Constantly fleeting back and forth between " I want to get out on the bike" and " I'm never going to go out on the bike again"

Thanks for the kind words Oliver, it's good to hear that I should be feeling like this.

I think part of the problem is that we didn't see the whole thing - I turned around just as he was hit, and it was completely out of the blue aside from that. The good news, if you can call it that, is that it after looking around the scene is was clearly entirely the drivers fault - he was 80% across the junction, and there weren't even brake marks on the road, she just hadn't looked and ploughed into him - so the cause is clear in my mind. The issue with that is it's obviously exacerbated my trust issues with fellow road users, so I felt very unsure on our ride home last night and my commute this morning.

The compassion factor is bizarre, and is part of why I feel so out of sorts, as I'd only met the chap 30 mile previous. I suppose there's nothing like a freak accident to build bonds between people.

Should probably get back to work now though, might be good to take my mind off things!
Sorry I'm late to this but seconding Oliver, there's nothing weird or unreasonable about your reaction. You also suffered a terrible shock. In some ways it's worse to witness a trauma than to go through it oneself.

My advice on the helmet debate has always been, if you think it will make you feel safer out there, wear a helmet. The person you should consider most when you decide whether or not to, is yourself - not your mates, the media or even your parents. You will find as many arguments for as against them.

Secondly, the heightened sense of fear will pass, and the memories of the event will fade (you may already find this happening), but getting back on the bike will help this happen more quickly. Going out with friends may be good initially. That's my experience anyway.

Glad to hear your companion was OK.

Thanks for the comment Miss M, and everyone in fact, luckily I think I'm feeling pretty much back to my normal self.

Jack (one of the other witnesses) and I took a long route down a towpath on Friday - we got lost, took wrong turns, ended up riding through a field, bombing down singletrack fixed, possibly the most fun I've had on a bike since I was mtb'ing at 15 - and generally cleared our heads. I've got a fortnight's holiday in the Scillies starting next week, so will be off the bike until August essentially, but hope that shouldn't make too much difference.

I also waded in to the helmet debate, and have decided that any time I'm in lycra I'll wear a helmet over my now lucky cap, but if I'm commuting/pootling into town (which are one and the same) I won't bother. It's convoluted, and not very sensible, but it works for me, and the distinction between 'more dangerous' road cycling and casual cycling helps get things straight in my mind. As you say Miss M, it's down to me, not anybody else, and this set up seems to work.

Thursday (10th) morning, heading into work, within a fifth of a mile mile of home, I had just got into the bus lane around the Mitcham one way system, running round it in primary position, when the lights at them end obviously changed, and the lorry that I was on the inside of decided that he would suddenly pull into the bus lane in front of me, slammed on my brakes, pulled to the left to try and stop from going into the side of him, and ended up going under the front instead.

Most. Terrifying. Experience of my life.

Fortunately, since he was only maneuvering to make his reverse turn easier, it was at low speed, and he stopped before getting too far over me, but the buckles on my right shoe show how close he got...

I'm not going to say much more here, this one is heading to the insurance companies. I do have a question regarding that though. It's been a while since I last had to go no-win-no fee, and this time it's my fault for letting my BC membership drop. Could someone let me know if it's now standard for there to be a charge of 15-25% of damages if you win? I thought that if you won, your legal costs were covered by the other side, or is this the 2013 change that the 'things to know' thread was talking about?

Cheers!

Can't answer your question but bloody hell, that sounds frightening. Glad you survived!

Presumably you've recorded all his details?

Also can't answer but fuck, that could have been a lot worse

Yes, that seems to be how it works now.

Sounds terrifying. Glad it wasn't worse.

No win no fee doesn't really exist any more, since the legal aid reforms last year. Hence why that MP, that had lobbied for the changes, got so upset when he proved his innocence but ended up a hundred grand out of pocket.

Best to get legal advice asap.