Had an accident today

[Carl-H]

Was on the way home from work today when I got knocked off my bike for the first time. I have been riding since May and I'm only 16 so its only a 50.



I was turning into the side road as the man in the merc was trying to turn out. It is quite a busy road and as I was waiting to turn into the road, he saw a gap and shot out. Straight into my back wheel. The bike tipped over and landed on the left hand side. I think I managed to stay on my feet and the bike just slid down my leg but I cant really remember. I had all my gear on (helmet, gloves, jacket, over trousers and my boots) and I'm fine apart from the bottom of my back where I have tried to pick the bike up. He reversed after I had lost my temper a little bit but it dragged my bike back with it as it was stuck underneath. I had to lift my bike to a 45 degree angle while he reversed off as it was caught on his bumper. I moved my bike to the edge of the road and he tried to calm me down and helped me stop shaking. Luckily there were two people who saw what happened and stopped to help. One person has given me her contact details. I phoned my dad and he came out to help me. The driver has taken full responsibility but I hope his insurance don't try and pass the blame on to me (I was stopped with my feet on the floor!).

The bike needs a new rear indicator, left hand side tail, rear brake light lens, transmission casing, centre stand and bar end. Thats all the damage that's noticeable. My Dad rode the bike back for me as I was a bit shook up and the rear wheel looks as if its out of line. When its rolling the top looks to be to the left and the bottom to the right. I think he hit my tyre and hopefully its to do with the wheel because the swing arm contains all the transmission and would probably mean a write off. I have ridden the bike and it seems to be working OK but its knocked my confidence abit.

Can I take the bike to any dealer to get it checked out or does it have to be a gilera dealer. I would also like them to check that its not bent. The bloke was a nice man and I now feel guilty that I lost my temper with him.

Be careful out there!

[dern]

While it's a good thing that he took responsibility (bit tricky to deny it to be honest but it does help) and also that he stayed to try and help and calm you down I wouldn't feel guilty for losing your rag... it's a perfectly natural thing to do. Sounds like it's pretty cut and dry to me and you'll be sorted out for the damage. Good luck in sorting it all out though. I'd imagine the insurance company will either send an assessor out to see the bike or they'll ask you to take it to a dealer if possible but I think I'd claim that it's unrideable in its current state. My first port of call would be your own insurers with all the details and leave it to them... it's their job to sort it out for you. Don't forget to point out that you need replacement transport if that's the case.

Edited by dern on Wednesday 19th September 21:29

[Carl-H]

Another thing I'm worried about is my insurance premium going up when I get a 125 in May. I know it shouldn't effect it but will it? I hope not as its already too much to cover for theft as it is.

Thanks

Edit: would I be able to claim its unrideable because my Dad rode it home (with my Mom and me following in the car). The right front indicator has stopped working so the rear flashes twice as fast. I could say I pushed it home as its about 1/2 a mile from my home

Edited by Carl-H on Wednesday 19th September 21:40

[Wacky Racer]

Carl-H said:

Another thing I'm worried about is my insurance premium going up when I get a 125 in May. I know it shouldn't effect it but will it? I hope not as its already too much to cover for theft as it is.

Thanks

Almost certainly I am afraid.....

The number one hazard for ANY biker is cars coming out of side streets and the driver then saying..."Sorry mate I didn't see you"

(That's if your still alive)...........

[dern]

Carl-H said:

Another thing I'm worried about is my insurance premium going up when I get a 125 in May. I know it shouldn't effect it but will it? I hope not as its already too much to cover for theft as it is.

I wouldn't worry too much if the claim goes your way. We've had a couple of no fault claims in cars and it's never affected the subsequent premiums.

Carl-H said:

Edit: would I be able to claim its unrideable because my Dad rode it home (with my Mom and me following in the car). The right front indicator has stopped working so the rear flashes twice as fast. I could say I pushed it home as its about 1/2 a mile from my home

I'd be more concerned that you don't think it's straight but the indicator alone would make it fail an mot so on that basis alone it's technically unrideable I guess. However, if a new bulb sorts that then it's not the end of the world. You do need to get it inspected though to find out why it isn't straight.

[John Laverick]

Carl-H said:

Another thing I'm worried about is my insurance premium going up when I get a 125 in May. I know it shouldn't effect it but will it? I hope not as its already too much to cover for theft as it is.

Thanks

Edit: would I be able to claim its unrideable because my Dad rode it home (with my Mom and me following in the car). The right front indicator has stopped working so the rear flashes twice as fast. I could say I pushed it home as its about 1/2 a mile from my home

Edited by Carl-H on Wednesday 19th September 21:40

Yes you can claim its not safe to ride [which by the sound of it, it isn't] mainly due to the back wheel being out of alignment. You should be able to request a hire back whilst yours is out of action [this usually speeds up the claim process also!]

[hiccy]

Nasty big scrape it put on the RHS fairing too mate.

[Just Trouble]

Wacky Racer said:

Carl-H said:

Another thing I'm worried about is my insurance premium going up when I get a 125 in May. I know it shouldn't effect it but will it? I hope not as its already too much to cover for theft as it is.

Thanks

Almost certainly I am afraid.....

The number one hazard for ANY biker is cars coming out of side streets and the driver then saying..."Sorry mate I didn't see you"

(That's if your still alive)...........

Had an altercation with a coach this afternoon. Coach tuning left from a side street on to a busy road but had to cross on to my side of the road to complete the manoeuvre. Saw me travelling towards him but decided that as he was much bigger than me, knew I would have to stop quickly or end up in A&E. To top it off he sneered as he drove past in the opposite direction. I decided to turn around and “discuss” his poor standard of driving. As he waited at traffic lights I pulled up to his window and vented my displeasure at his utter contempt for my life. He said if I had a problem that I should following him around the corner to the hotel where he was going to drop his passengers off and he would have it out with me. An invitation to good to decline. He parked his coach, got out and started shouting how dare I turn around in the middle of the road and have the nerve to speak to him in such a manner in front of his passengers. I calmly reminding him that he should take more care with motor cyclists. Coach driver spouts that he has a large vehicle and did not see me in his mirrors and got really angry when I pointed out that I was travelling towards him and not from behind! A crowd of passengers has gathered along with Joe public to watch red faced coach driver rant. I stand there smiling watching the fat slob bring on a self induced heart attack. I had enough by now and got back on my bike. Some drivers say they don’t see you when they pull out in front of bikers which is awful but even worse are the one’s that see you coming and don’t give a s**t and pull out anyway. Rant over.
JT

[makatya]

JT! Why is it that other road users don't even consider that we should even be allowed on the road!?!
Beggers belief.
So sorry to here about that Carl but glad that you are okay and a lesson learned.
I could put myself is so many positions when I know I am in the right but i would be kissing gravel but you just accept it as a biker and get the hell out of there. Lifes a bitch at times being a biker.

Edited by makatya on Wednesday 19th September 22:58

[Dibble]

[work head on]As you've been injured, make sure you report it to your local BiB as an injury RTA ASAP, and in any case within 24 hours.[/qork head on]

You might not class it as an injury accident, but are you sure you weren't injured? Adrenalin can cover a lot up in the first little time, and you're sure to be stiff and sore tomorrow.

Nice diagram by the way - it makes things nice and clear. As well as the diagram, and your post here, wrte down EVERYTHING about it now. As well as the obvious stuff, put down what you were wearing, what lights were on your bike, the amount of other traffic (including parked/stationary vehicles), the weather, street lighting, visibility, what you tried to do when you saw the car coming towards you (horn, move, etc). What was the junction like - were the paint markings on the road faded? Was the junction (for both of ypu) correctly signed/lit/marked? Don't leave anything out, what may seem irrelevant now may not be six months down the line.

It's probably worth taking phots tomorrow at the same time (from every direction), just be careful when you're doing it.

[A1ec]

Carl-H said:

Another thing I'm worried about is my insurance premium going up when I get a 125 in May. I know it shouldn't effect it but will it? I hope not as its already too much to cover for theft as it is.

Thanks

Edit: would I be able to claim its unrideable because my Dad rode it home (with my Mom and me following in the car). The right front indicator has stopped working so the rear flashes twice as fast. I could say I pushed it home as its about 1/2 a mile from my home

Edited by Carl-H on Wednesday 19th September 21:40

You can always say that your dad, a more experienced rider, noticed it wasn't handling properly on the way home so after further inspection you realised that it was not really safe to ride any distance.

[Carl-H]

I've just been on the phone to the insurance and they need to arrange a solicitor for me who will contact me within 48 hours. After that they will send a engineer to inspect the bike at my home and he will pass my number onto a hire company who will be ringing me soon and then the cost added to the claim. Means I've got at least 2 (probably 3) days without my bike. My back feels OK now as it did have a small pain from when I picked the bike up. I don't want to go through a claims procedure for injury's as I'm currently applying for a job and I don't want to mess that up because it doesn't even hurt now.

[Chilli]

Carl,
Sorry to hear about the accident mate, but glad you're ok. Accidents happen. Yeah the bloke was a bit of a div, but at least he accepted that he'd just made a mistake.
Still an opportunity to get the bike into a dealer and get them to bring it back to showroom condition!

Take it easy.

[Carl-H]

Thanks for all your help lads. I have just been on the phone to carol nash again and they are going to deliver a bike to my work on Wednesday as its fully booked up until then. This means I will be on the bus for work and college. He said its best not to claim for public transport costs as the other company could argue that I don't need a hire bike if I can use public transport. Will the cost of the hire bike (£35 a day) add to the cost which can make them write my bike off if you know what I mean?

Thanks

[Steve_T]

I had a woman punt her car in the back of my bike, while I was stopped at a red light a while back. What seemed nothing major actually knocked the swing arm out of alignment and later cost her insurers £1k. When it happened I got off my bike, a little shakily as the adrenalin hit and took a picture of her car (including number plate) and its position relative to my bike on my mobile phone. She was furious I'd done this said it wasn't allowed and so on, how she was now going to take pictures of my bike, her insurers would sort me out the next day blah blah blah. I just kept asking for her name address and insurer, when I got them I told her to pay more attention in future and walked back to my bike - cue more ranting my her. As she left I noticed she had two brake lights out. Some people eh?

Anyway, the next day her insurers called and said, "hello sir, how can we help?" Stick your guns Carl, it's not your fault and don't worry about your insurance. As JT says, if you can keep your cool in these situations it goes a lot better and I'd say if you can, try to take some pictures of the scene before anything is moved.

Steve.

Edited by Steve_T on Thursday 20th September 11:02

[John Laverick]

Carl-H said:

Thanks for all your help lads. I have just been on the phone to carol nash again and they are going to deliver a bike to my work on Wednesday as its fully booked up until then. This means I will be on the bus for work and college. He said its best not to claim for public transport costs as the other company could argue that I don't need a hire bike if I can use public transport. Will the cost of the hire bike (£35 a day) add to the cost which can make them write my bike off if you know what I mean?

Thanks

Get a taxi then

The cost of the hire bike will not be taken into account when determining whether your bike is repairable or not.

[Carl-H]

Does that mean that say, the bike costs £300 to repair (would not be wrote off) but there is a £600 hire fee. The bike would not be wrote off (although it would if the damages added up to £900). The driver of the car has phoned me up today and offered to pay the money to fix the damage as long as its not really expensive. I have already informed my insurance of the incident though. Can I just say to them that I have sorted it all out now if he decides to pay for the damage. Also, am I allowed to ride my bike to get a quote for it to be fixed or is my insurance not valid? I have booked a repair centre to pick the bike up tomorrow but I would rather ride it there today. Am I allowed? I would get someone to follow me because of my indicators etc. I think I can ride the bike there with no problems but will my insurance be void if I get caught?

Thanks

[ff.browning]

just my thoughts...

i wouldn't be comfortable doing it privatly, you pay your insurance for a reason so make the most of it. he only wants to pay you directly to avoid a higher premium, he deserves a higher premium as he has shown a lack of safe driving.

i would also not ride the bike, but that's just me i like everything to be working correctly as it's my body and licence on the line everytime.

good luck bro

[Carl-H]

I agree with what your saying but the bloke is loaded anyway. He will give me the money, I will ask the bike shop to fix it with the money I give them. I have already ridden it round the block and it seems fine. It was an accident. It doesn't make him a bad driver and hopefully he will look next time. It will also mean my insurance will not go up when I'm 17. Thanks for all the advice.

[Steve_T]

You're being far too generous Carl. He is a poor driver because he wasn't paying attention. You're just lucky he hasn't done you any major harm - what would have happened if his aim was worse and he didn't just clip your back wheel? As far as payment goes, let him talk to your insurer. Job done.