Gonna hurt tomorrow!

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Martyn_n

Active Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2010
Messages
928
Location
Leicester
Car
W124 E320, W163 ML270 & W166 ML350
Had a nasty incident cycling home this evening. I was passing a row of virtually stationary traffic on the offside of the cars but on the nearside of the white line. As I approached a BMW he looked in his mirror and kindly moved a little to the kerb for which I gave him a thumbs up as I passed. The next car, a ford focus, looked in his mirror moved a little over, this time towards the white line, I covered the brakes as it looked a little suspicious and as I passed his drivers door he suddenly lurches the car to the right and launches me onto the road in the opposite carriageway. Battered, bruised, shocked and bleeding (but fortunately not under the wheels of oncoming traffic) I am completely gobsmacked at his actions. He even takes the opportunity to ring his mates up whilst I'm still unravelling myself from my bike. (They later turn up, no doubt as witnesses)

The guy in the BMW agreed that the car clearly veered to the right as I passed but unfortunately left the scene before I could get his details. (I took a mental note of his reg but promply forgot it when the adrenaline wore off and the sickness kicked in!)

Anyway, I called the police as I am convinced it was a deliberate act but in the absence of an independant witness I cannot see it progressing. His argument that I simply rode into his mirror and fell off is apparently as plausible as mine. (I have always managed to miss wing mirrors as they don't usually jump out at you like this).

Of course if he is convinced that it was my fault he will be making a claim against me for a new wing mirror (which I'm sure wasn't at all painful) but I have a suspicion he will want to drop it because he knows exactly what he did to me today!

So here I am aching and leaking vital fluids waiting for the wine to take effect and looking forward to the morning when no doubt I'll be stiff as a board (and not in a good morning way!!)

No doubt some of you will blame the cyclist for daring to overtake cars, and I accept that may be your view, but I was doing nothing illegal and was very visible so don't feel that being faster in traffic deserves being assulted in this way.
 
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Sorry to hear of your misfortune, even worse as it's deliberate aggression.

I suggest you seek advice, e.g. AA or similar.

If you had been in a car, would there be much uncertainty that it was the responsibility of the driver being overtaken? Why should it be any different for a bike?
 
As a cyclist who commutes the odd time I feel for you but sounds like you will be fine. I am surprised he wasnt driving an Insignia they are the usual culprits for being idiots.

Glad you are well

230k
 
I'll be fine in the long run. It will take more than this moron to get me to change my lifestyle. If I thought it was anything other than a deliberate act I would not have called the police, put it down to experience and exchanged insurance details (yes I am insured on the bike) in much the same way as if we'd knocked wing mirrors. But this was so blatently deliberate I wanted him to answer for his actions. I'll be informing my insurance just in case he does have the brass balls to claim for his wing mirror, I'll see what they have to say about the damage to the bike to see if I have any claim from him.
 
Glad you came out OK.

Unfortunately, scrapes will almost always hurt on a bike, regardless of blame.

Whilst you did nothing wrong, like in any form of transport, you will always get nobs like this and it is sometimes easier to assume all car drivers are nobs to avoid this kind of pain!

I've been cycling 'again' for 3 years now after an absence of 20 years and it has re-opened my eyes again to what it was once like as a cyclist, so I am careful but I see plenty of other car drivers without a care.
 
Sorry to hear about your accident, but glad that you've not been seriously injured.

As a fellow cyclist, I sympathise as to how but some car drivers are.

A few years ago I had an accident with a cyclist, where the chap just rode straight off the pavement without looking and into the side of my car. Regardless of the fact that it was his fault, a claim had to lie dormant against my insure in case he decided to claim against me. So hopefully in this case they will also support you the cyclist, as it was not your fault.
 
I've been driving long enough to have a good idea of what drivers are capable of when it comes to carelessness and general inattention so I always ride my bike so that I have an exit strategy should they happen.

This, being a deliberate act, came completely out of the blue (apart from the initial movement towards the right, which with hindsight should have rang the alarm bells a little louder) and I don't think I could have been expected to anticipate it.
 
I just do not understand the mentality of some road users. He sounds like a real moron and I would not be surprised if he acts in a stupid manner towards other road users whatever their mode of transport is. Glad that you're okay.
 
Wonder whether the mirror was broken pre-incident. I guess Mr Focus will be suffering whiplash symptoms by now ...
 
If you were overtaking, it is up to you to ensure it was safe to do so.

If you noticed the driver change his road position and seeing as you were up to the drivers door when he turned, can you be sure he wasnt indicating at the time?
 
If you were overtaking, it is up to you to ensure it was safe to do so.
True, and that is the risk assessment I made before starting to pass. When you commence an overtake do you consider that the person you are overtaking has decided to deliberately hit you? Of course you don't, if you thought that was their intention you would stay behind them surely. Likewise I didn't take the variable that the driver might be a psycho into account in my decision to commence the overtake.

If you noticed the driver change his road position and seeing as you were up to the drivers door when he turned, can you be sure he wasnt indicating at the time?

What happened to mirror signal manouver? As I state I was very visible (it was broad daylight but I still had two very bright flashing led lights illuminated)

He did change his road position as I approached but that manouvre was finished before I began to pass, and at that point there was still room to pass. Focus' do have side repeaters so I would have seen that had he used it. The fact is there was nowhere for him to indicate to and he told the police that he was not attempting a right turn. His argument is that he made no move towards the offside (which the BM driver confirmed did happen) and that I simply rode into the side of his vehicle and fell off. Having overtaken thousands of cars on cycles (we overtake more than most car drivers do, (Audis excepted)) without hitting them and launching myself into the road I don't know why he thinks I was going to start with his car.
 
Have been in touch with my insurance just in case he thinks he has a claim against me and as expected they have appointed a solicitor to see about me claiming for my losses. Despite me explaining that the bruises and cuts and aches all over will soon pass and I can fix my bike easier that taking it to a dealer to get a quote for the repairs they are sending me some forms to fill in. Even though I am probably in more pain than most "whiplash" sufferers it has not crossed my mind to claim, no wonder premiums are so high. Anyway without an independant witness this is just a waste of my time and if the police do bother to trace the BMW driver (which they won't) the guy should be on an assault charge which would be far more satisfying than cash.
 
Oh he saw me alright!!!

As I stated, he has told the police that he did not attempt any manoevre.
 
Hope you're not too sore tomorrow.

Driver sounds like a psycho or feckwit. Bad luck.
 
the guy should be on an assault charge

Could not agree more.
I've said it before; the sooner there is a psychology test as part of gaining a driving licence - the better.

Wondering if you shouldn't be paying A&E a visit?....
Hope it doesn't hurt too much tomorrow. Get an early night!
 
I am surprised he wasnt driving an Insignia they are the usual culprits for being idiots.

Actually, it's definitely Vauxhall Astra's have the most dangerous behind the wheel.
 
find out his home address and go around with a few mates
 
If I was commuting on a bike now I would invest in a cheap 'helmet-cam'. Might be worth thinking about if it hasn't dented your faith in other motorists. Hope no lasting damage
 

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