I pulled out on a cyclist
Discussion
Could have been worse !!
Just had my mate pop round after being hit BY a cyclist...
3 witnesses and police all state that it was the cyclist at fault.... We hope that he recovers soon ( seems he may have a broken rib....lucky )
Unfortunately, the insurance company are now thinking of writing off a 3k bmw 540 because the windscreen needs replacing, offside wing replacing, wing mirror and paint to door !!
Looks like a trip to citizens advice and possibly small claims as cyclists are't ensured !!
Any advice ??...please feel free to pm me so that I don't hijack the thread...
Just had my mate pop round after being hit BY a cyclist...
3 witnesses and police all state that it was the cyclist at fault.... We hope that he recovers soon ( seems he may have a broken rib....lucky )
Unfortunately, the insurance company are now thinking of writing off a 3k bmw 540 because the windscreen needs replacing, offside wing replacing, wing mirror and paint to door !!
Looks like a trip to citizens advice and possibly small claims as cyclists are't ensured !!
Any advice ??...please feel free to pm me so that I don't hijack the thread...
Mikeyplum said:
Pulled out and a cyclist appeared from nowhere. He wasn't particularly riding fast, I just did not see him. Scary.
A bus driver pulled out when I was alongside him once. He claimed I'd "suddenly appeared". "like magic?" I asked.Didn't make him consider stopping though to allow me to continue past though.
I'm not sure there's anything you can reasonably do with any realistic chance of financial reparation though, is there? Even assuming you know exactly who it was and have a mountain of evidence "against" them.
He may not be insured but sadly, one of the reasons cars are insured is so as to provide some cover if things are done against us. If claiming on his (your friend's) own insurance is a no go either then he might just have to chalk it up against experience. $hit happens, or whatever hip young things say these days. Doesn't make anything "right", I appreciate but that's how it is sometimes.
He may not be insured but sadly, one of the reasons cars are insured is so as to provide some cover if things are done against us. If claiming on his (your friend's) own insurance is a no go either then he might just have to chalk it up against experience. $hit happens, or whatever hip young things say these days. Doesn't make anything "right", I appreciate but that's how it is sometimes.
digger the goat said:
Could have been worse !!
Just had my mate pop round after being hit BY a cyclist...
3 witnesses and police all state that it was the cyclist at fault.... We hope that he recovers soon ( seems he may have a broken rib....lucky )
Unfortunately, the insurance company are now thinking of writing off a 3k bmw 540 because the windscreen needs replacing, offside wing replacing, wing mirror and paint to door !!
Looks like a trip to citizens advice and possibly small claims as cyclists are't ensured !!
Any advice ??...please feel free to pm me so that I don't hijack the thread...
My driving instructor had a cyclist go through his back window and he claimed on his house insurance. Just had my mate pop round after being hit BY a cyclist...
3 witnesses and police all state that it was the cyclist at fault.... We hope that he recovers soon ( seems he may have a broken rib....lucky )
Unfortunately, the insurance company are now thinking of writing off a 3k bmw 540 because the windscreen needs replacing, offside wing replacing, wing mirror and paint to door !!
Looks like a trip to citizens advice and possibly small claims as cyclists are't ensured !!
Any advice ??...please feel free to pm me so that I don't hijack the thread...
Heading into a petrol station this morning somebody pulled straight across my path on a mini-roundabout. Rather than get angry I just smiled and carried on, no harm done. After filling up with fuel I returned to the same mini-roundabout... and managed to pull out in front of somebody 
He also smiled, it must have been a good day for everybody
He also smiled, it must have been a good day for everybody
digger the goat said:
Yes.
This seems to be the general consensus !!
As a builder, I have public liability insurance.
It's only a matter of time until it is compulsary for all adults. Isn't it ??
Quite likely that his house insurance covers him for damage to people or property when not using a motorised vehicle - mine does.This seems to be the general consensus !!
As a builder, I have public liability insurance.
It's only a matter of time until it is compulsary for all adults. Isn't it ??
real4star said:
OP it happens... your far superior than the average driver (you looked for start)
Cyclists don't stand a chance...
Dad used to drive buses in Northfleet for what was then Kentish Bus, when they had Bright yellow and lurid green snot 'n' custard paint jobs.
Twice he was t-boned at junctions whilst driving double deckers painted like this
Both claimed they didn't see it... if the average idiot driver can't see a bus what chance do the squishy road users have.
I had two cars (one a gorgeous little TVR) hit like buses painted like this when parked up- made it very easy to spot the culprit. Bus company paid out in full both times and did not try to deny it so cannot complain. maybe thats why they changed to whiteCyclists don't stand a chance...
Dad used to drive buses in Northfleet for what was then Kentish Bus, when they had Bright yellow and lurid green snot 'n' custard paint jobs.
Twice he was t-boned at junctions whilst driving double deckers painted like this
Both claimed they didn't see it... if the average idiot driver can't see a bus what chance do the squishy road users have.
Edited by real4star on Wednesday 19th June 16:34
Sometimes things can combine to cause a problem which might not be immediately apparent. Some years ago at night, I was at the junction of a road (a variation on a T junction) where the road I was coming out of joined what would be the main road of the two, right on a bend in the `main' road.
Checked left, nothing coming, checked right and there was a single vehicle (a van) approaching from my right, so I held my position. The van started indicating left to come into the road I was coming
out of, and as there was nothing behind it, I started to pull out.
Imagine my horror when I saw the offside headlight of the van separate from the van, and carry on around the bend of the road I was in the process of pulling out onto.
It was the headlamp of a motorbike which had been travelling just in front of the van in a position which exactly matched the position of the vans offside headlight, until that is the van went one way, and the motorbike the other! ( similar to the scene in one of the Disney films where an imminent road crash with an oncoming vehicle seems to be coming, only it turns out to be a pait of motorbikes which then pass on either side) Fortunately we bothe managed to stop without any contact, and I apologised profusely to the bike rider, but I did wonder if he ever realised what had actually happened to `almost' cause an accident at that spot at that time.
Checked left, nothing coming, checked right and there was a single vehicle (a van) approaching from my right, so I held my position. The van started indicating left to come into the road I was coming
out of, and as there was nothing behind it, I started to pull out.
Imagine my horror when I saw the offside headlight of the van separate from the van, and carry on around the bend of the road I was in the process of pulling out onto.
It was the headlamp of a motorbike which had been travelling just in front of the van in a position which exactly matched the position of the vans offside headlight, until that is the van went one way, and the motorbike the other! ( similar to the scene in one of the Disney films where an imminent road crash with an oncoming vehicle seems to be coming, only it turns out to be a pait of motorbikes which then pass on either side) Fortunately we bothe managed to stop without any contact, and I apologised profusely to the bike rider, but I did wonder if he ever realised what had actually happened to `almost' cause an accident at that spot at that time.
it can happen the other way too. a few years ago a car full of 19ish year olds came through a stop sign at the end of a side road, and ploughed straight through me on my bike. the passenger got out and started ranting at me as if i was in some way to blame.
to be fair, the driver realised the situation was bad for him straight away, and once i'd gathered my senses and popped my finger back in its socket, he agreed to pay for the damage to my bike. he abandoned his passengers and gave me a lift home as the front wheel was mangled.
to be fair, the driver realised the situation was bad for him straight away, and once i'd gathered my senses and popped my finger back in its socket, he agreed to pay for the damage to my bike. he abandoned his passengers and gave me a lift home as the front wheel was mangled.
Edited by tamore on Thursday 20th June 08:32
scenario8 said:
With luck we all learn a little from our near misses. With a little more luck maybe others reading this thread will avoid their own.
With even more luck this thread won't deteriorate overnight into some moronic anti-cyclist thread like so many others.
Oooh, I'm trying... But... But... Nah I can't be assed.With even more luck this thread won't deteriorate overnight into some moronic anti-cyclist thread like so many others.
Like goat said I wouldn't worry I nearly killed 4 in 5 minutes this last night. Going through tight lanes 15-20 mph had 3 lads coming bombing down the hill round blind bend luckily managed to pulled left and stop so they could squeeze past.
The second one, bloke came round the corner with good lean me saw me tootling down the road panicked bringing bike upright bringing him further on to my side of the road generally thought he was coming through the windscreen, I shot left and disappeared up what bank there was giving him a couple of extra inches he still had to do the hip wobble past my wing mirror.
On both occasions they were cycling much faster than any off the cars travel down. (didn't have a speed gun can't give exact speeds but it seemed a lot faster)
Incident 1
Incident 2
The second one, bloke came round the corner with good lean me saw me tootling down the road panicked bringing bike upright bringing him further on to my side of the road generally thought he was coming through the windscreen, I shot left and disappeared up what bank there was giving him a couple of extra inches he still had to do the hip wobble past my wing mirror.
On both occasions they were cycling much faster than any off the cars travel down. (didn't have a speed gun can't give exact speeds but it seemed a lot faster)
Incident 1
Incident 2
The road I live on is like that lane, and every dip has a corner in the bottom so, while the temptation is to try to keep momentum going, the wind noise means you have no idea how clear the road is. In the two years I've lived here I've seen three cyclists come off 
Since we're confessing, my* smidsy moment was about twenty years ago when I completely failed to see a learner bike coming while turning right. The first I knew of it was hearing his rear tyre lock up and seeing him travelling sideways towards the driver's door. Thankfully I booted it out of his way and no harm was done, but I learned a valuable lesson.
*The only one I'm aware off....
Since we're confessing, my* smidsy moment was about twenty years ago when I completely failed to see a learner bike coming while turning right. The first I knew of it was hearing his rear tyre lock up and seeing him travelling sideways towards the driver's door. Thankfully I booted it out of his way and no harm was done, but I learned a valuable lesson.
*The only one I'm aware off....
paranoid airbag said:
I've posted this before and I'll post it again, because it's bloody useful:
http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/raf-pilot-teach-cyc...
Unfortunately there's only so much you can do. You're a human being and therefore fundamentally imperfect at spotting stuff.
Another problem with humans is we tend to get aggressive in a shock-inducing situation - even more so if a) we've just been made aware of our own mortality (which the cyclist just has been), b)someone else is shouting at us*, even if they feel justified at doing so due to a). You can see how that degenerates.
Trying to remain calm and break that cycle,even if you weren't at fault, is the best you can do really. Just try and remember that a scared person will do stupid things (like fly off the handle at you), and getting angry at them for doing so is the worst thing you can do. Argue about who was in the wrong once everybody's had a nice cup of tea.
*I believe that 'mirror circuits' is the thing you should be googling here - something to do with us instinctively copying the emotional state of people near us. Anyone willing to add stuff on this?
Do you want to rephrase that? http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/raf-pilot-teach-cyc...
Unfortunately there's only so much you can do. You're a human being and therefore fundamentally imperfect at spotting stuff.
Another problem with humans is we tend to get aggressive in a shock-inducing situation - even more so if a) we've just been made aware of our own mortality (which the cyclist just has been), b)someone else is shouting at us*, even if they feel justified at doing so due to a). You can see how that degenerates.
Trying to remain calm and break that cycle,even if you weren't at fault, is the best you can do really. Just try and remember that a scared person will do stupid things (like fly off the handle at you), and getting angry at them for doing so is the worst thing you can do. Argue about who was in the wrong once everybody's had a nice cup of tea.
*I believe that 'mirror circuits' is the thing you should be googling here - something to do with us instinctively copying the emotional state of people near us. Anyone willing to add stuff on this?
Edited by paranoid airbag on Wednesday 19th June 16:27
The fact is had you not been lucky with the miss, the odds are the cyclist would have taken serious injuries. It's just how it is with car v bike.
The best you can hope for in these situations is to put your hand up & exhibit a little humility & renewed vigilance and you did that, so good for you.
Written as a a driver, cyclist & someone who has certainly had their share of inattentive moments over the years on two & four wheels.
The best you can hope for in these situations is to put your hand up & exhibit a little humility & renewed vigilance and you did that, so good for you.
Written as a a driver, cyclist & someone who has certainly had their share of inattentive moments over the years on two & four wheels.
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