DH in Accident with Cyclist - Any Advice

[LilacPombear]

DH has just given me a quick call to say he was in an accident this morning. He never calls me in the mornings and had to cut the call short as he's at work and no phones allowed. He said he was driving into work (around 7am); the roads are fairly quiet at that time around here and he's done the route for years. He looked before turning left, all clear, but as he turned, a bike hit the car.

He got out and checked the rider, who was unharmed and seemed more concerned about his bike than anything else. The bike was not damaged or un-rideable. DH said the rider had added mods to the bike, which is why it was moving so fast. The rider had no helmet, high-vis, nothing. Initially, the rider was angry and called someone, speaking in another language, and making threats about DH ruining his bike.

DH has no idea how he stayed so calm but said he wanted to deal with this amicably. The first thing he checked was if the rider was unharmed, which he was. But there is damage to the car. They exchanged details, but the rider was not able to speak English very well. He got back on the bike and left. DH then headed into work and gave me a quick call to let me know.

I'm glad the man was okay as is DH, and it could have been so much worse, especially since he had no helmet. DH seemed quite shaken on the phone. What happens now? What do we do? I'm sure DH knows what to do next, but I just feel worried, especially as the rider was making threats. Any advice or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated.

So just to clarify op, are you saying that your DH was signalling left to turn, and the cyclist rode up behind him and then undertook him from left side?

I made the police aware of a very minor bump i had with another car and they just record it, and don’t do anything further if not needed.

Police don't need to be contacted and won't be interested in the slightest

Ignore this. He 100% needs to report it. Something similar happened to my DP whilst I was in the car. Bike rider literally rode right into the back of him whilst creeping out at a junction (about 1 mph) and had no hi vis or helmet on and it was midnight! I think he was trying to go around the back of the car from the pavement but underestimated how slow he was pulling out. Was unhurt but was going on about his bike. Swapped details and reported it to 101 who just gave a crime number and said these things happen. Also logged with insurance.

3 weeks later a section 172 letter came through the door asking for details of what happened and who was driving as he had been accused of driving without due care and attention and failing to stop and failing to report a collision! He wrote back with his version of events and included the log number where he had logged it with the police. A few weeks after that a police officer rang back and said he was satisfied he had reported it correctly and it wasn’t going any further. The bike rider was proper trying it on as he also tried claiming his bike was completely crushed but nothing came further from the insurance either.

He needs to report to cover his own back.

We would need to see the layout of the road and the traffic conditions to know whether the cyclist "undertook" or the OP's DH simply sideswiped a road user.

And I'm waiting patiently to hear what these "mods" were.

Police do not need to be told if it was a damage only collision (non injury) and details were exchanged at scene.

Leaving the scene of an accident is a criminal offence. A friend had a very similar accident and nobody was hurt so he left. He did then report it to the police later that day. So did the cyclist who then claimed he had been injured.

Friend was prosecuted and taken to court. It was very stressful.

Report straight away.

For those saying there aren't "mods" to bikes, yes there are. There are plenty of cyclists round my way (v urban) who are either riding jail-broken electric bikes (which are limited by law to 15mph and yet regularly travel at significant speed - overtaking me when I'm doing 30mph) or who have fitted motors to standard bikes.

They also weave in and out of the traffic at high speed - I'm planning to get dashcams because I've had so many incidents where a bike has appeared suddenly from behind another vehicle because it's been weaving. Yes a driver should check but it's also on the cyclist not to be riding in such a way that a driver has no chance of seeing them.

I would absolutely be contacting the police because of the threats and making clear what happened.

7am is light already in the summer. Cyclist did not need lights/high vis in daylight, and don't have to legally wear a helmet. Don't try to blame the crash on what the cyclist was wearing. Sounds to me, based on your description, that it was likely your DHs fault, but potentially the police might think otherwise if it was caused by an undertake and he wasn't crossing a shared path or cycle lane when he turned left. Consider it a lesson to DH to be more careful and not get complacent on routes he drives regularly. Someone could get badly hurt.

Luckily as the cyclist appeared to not be injured, he wouldn't face any actual consequences, maybe just an insurance payout if the cyclist tries to claim. If their bike did have illegal modifications, they may not want to draw attention to it.

Report to insurance with a full report of what happened and let them get on with it. That's what you pay your premiums for.

We can't say who's to blame here as we weren't there, but your insurers will deal.

You don't need to report to the police if nobody was hurt.

The bit he needs to highlight is that he was turning at a slow speed WITH his indicators on. That is so important.
That the bike was moving at speed and undertook him....

Yes.

Rule H3, also linked to the hierarchy, includes the following advice for drivers and motorcyclists:
• “You should not cut across cyclists, horse riders or horse drawn vehicles going ahead when you are turning into or out of a junction or changing direction or lane, just as you would not turn across the path of another motor vehicle. This applies whether they are using a cycle lane, a cycle track, or riding ahead on the road and you should give way to them.
• “Do not turn at a junction if to do so would cause the cyclist, horse rider or horse drawn vehicle going straight ahead to stop or swerve.”

^^ from the highway code.
so basically your dh was not paying enough attention. and was lucky that the cyclist didn't receive severe injury or worse.

Is there a cycle lane there? I had a taxi driver nearly take me out doing exactly what your DH did. Using a cycle lane I was not 'undertaking' him, I was using my lane, which he was crossing over, and so needed to wait for me, just as he would have been expected to do with a bus lane or car lane.

I think it's quite worrying that your DH didn't even see the bike. I agree some bikes go very fast and are ridden badly, but he still needs to have better awareness, and hopefully will do going forwards. I know teens ride on the roads all in black at night near me so I drive carefully. Yes, they're cycling dangerously, but I still don't want to kill anyone.

Yes there are - you can modify a pedal bike and make it an electric one which make them go faster. My friend did just that.

OP, as others have said, you need to report this to the police and your insurance company. From what you've described, your DH was indicating to turn left and a cyclist has come up on his inside at speed and your DH has hit him as he turned left. If that's the case, the cyclist is at fault.

it's definitely not against the law to not report. i was hit on my bike by a white van who drove off, I reported it and nothing happened, it's pointless to report.

No, the driver is at fault, he is turning into the path of the cyclist.

Yeah, what were these 'mods'? A retrofitted electric bike might look 'modified' and still be perfectly legal. And cyclists can be quite fast.

What was the road layout? Was the driver turning across a cycle lane or a shared path? Remember new highway code rules give priority to people crossing at a junction, not the driver turning.

My husband has an Ebike and they can go 15mph standard.
I did see online there is a way to make them go faster.
Ebikes are heavy and I wouldn't want ome pranging into my car.
In the village I live a few people have them. One young lad must have had his chipped as it flies along. He wears no helmet.
Not sure of the law on insurance and if you chip your ebike to go faster.

So he’s bent the derailleur? That will make the bike unrideable and whilst is not hugely expensive is not cheap either depending on the spec.

if he’s turning off the main road it’s hard to see how he didn’t know the cyclist was there, he should have passed him or had him in his rear view mirror. If he’s turning out of the road then it’s possible that the cyclist was hidden behind the door pillar of the car. A big reason why you should move your head as you approach a junction.

accidents most often happen when both parties have made poor decisions at the same time and he’s lucky the cyclist is seemingly unharmed

It sounds like the cyclist may have been cycling either on the footpath or the wrong side of the road - if he hit the passenger door - i.e possibly the cyclist at fault…

Had your DH just overtaken the cyclist? Generally cyclists (and I am one) like staying alive and don't generally sidle up the inside of vehicles slowing and indicating to turn left.

I am frequently overtaken by cars who then slow down to make a left turn, oblivious to the fact that a) they have just over taken me and b) should not have overtaken me if they are shortly intending to turn left.

What sort of dope cycles into the nearside of a car that's signalling left!

No, if the accident happened as I described it then the cyclist was undertaking the car.

I think the law is unclear. If the driver was indicating and had checked over his shoulder and didn't see a bike then started to manoeuvre, he cannot then account for a bike that suddenly undertakes at speed.
We would need to see the road layout.

Undertaking on a bike is really only OK in slow/non moving traffic and even then you need to be very careful. Undertaking near a junction shows a lack of road awareness. Priority or not, if you see a car indicating to turn why would you undertake?

Definitely report to the police. A friend of mine had a drunk person fall off the pavement in front of his car. Nothing he could have done about it. Fortunately, many witnesses plus CCTV from the nightclub she had just exited. Police called, wrote report to confirm not the drivers fault as they watched the CCTV.
Six months later he is being taken to civil court by the girl for damages even though it was totally her fault. Without the police report it would be his word against hers as the CCTV could have been erased by now.

Absolutely this.
i cycle to work and car drivers are rude, arrogant and have absolutely no idea what the road rules are in relation to cyclists.
so sick of it
the amount of drivers that speed up to turn left and cut across cyclists paths is infuriating.
slow down and just bloody look properly.
your DH sounds like he was at fault. He should have offered the cyclist a lift to the hospital and should pay to repair the damage to their bike.