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.

I assume he means a motor

Cyclist and driver here. Plenty of scammer cyclists around and plenty of careless drivers. He should report it within 24 hours. Stick to facts and accept no liability.

No, not if it’s single lane traffic. The cyclist is a vehicle and if they choose to undertake when a vehicle in front is indicating, the cyclist is at fault. If there are cycle lanes then it is different.

Electric bikes are capped at 15.5mph.

OP has not clarified the junction. If the driver was crossing over a cycle lane or a shared path, then rider has priority. You can't assume they were undertaking dangerously.

If your dh has photographs of the bike, then he will have evidence of any modifications made to the bike.

it maybe appropriate to send that to the police, if then the modifications are not legal, which is possible - then the police can see and if the man reports the crash then the police can take any suitable action if required.

glad there wasn’t any broken people.

riding on a pedal bike it’s not obligatory wear a helmet, even if the bike is electric.

it’s easy usually to tell modifications that aren’t legal as the person on the push bike doesn’t pedal for considerable time

there are - my bike has an electric battery mod which makes it go much faster than without it.

Sounds like a scammer

There's a phenomenon in many transport accidents called 'looked but failed to see'.

Usually the case in left hooks.

I rode a bike in Central London from 1999 to 2013. If filtering nearside I would proceed with extreme caution. Not just drivers turning left but pedestrians bailing out without looking - as Chris Grayling MP did a few years ago.

On the whole if 'making progress' you're better of on th offside.

@Bikesandbees

Electric bikes are capped at 15.5mph.

Not if they've been illegally modified, as lots have been, especially by JustEat and Deliveroo riders.

I agree! Far too many idiots on bikes out now. Complete lack of awareness of those around them.
Bare minimum should be a license plate, hi vis, lights and insurance.

Seen 3 cycle vs pedestrian accidents in the last 2 weeks!

Yeah of course. But then they are not electric bikes. They are legally electric mopeds. We don't know that this rider had an illegal modification or even if his bike was electric. OP just said 'mods' and that could be legal mods.

Far too many idiots in cars killing 5 people a week on UK roads and pavements. Lights and license plates haven't stopped them.

“A shame all round.”

Not sure those are the words for a motorist causing a collision involving a cyclist.

@Misthios yeah I was over in Edinburgh at the weekend and that's where I saw all the electric motorbikes. Where I live in a small town, there's a few about, but nothing like the volume I saw in the city! Drivers have to take even more care, as the riders are very vulnerable and these are heavy bikes and will crump in your metalwork and cause 100s or 1000s of damage to your car

UK Legal E bikes are capped at 15.5mph, but there are others on the market, and modifications, anything over that should be registered and insured and treated as a moped as far as road rules go, so if he has a faster one and is rightly without being registered and insured and with a helmet then he is breaking the law.

Either way it is dangerous to go at speed with junctions ahead, and the onus is on the cyclist if a car is slowing down and indicating to not try and undertake.. bit of an obvious rule really. Yes the drivers should see you and give way, but if you are going faster to be out of their eyeline, and they haven't previously overtaken you then chances are they may not see you.

Technically he wouldn't need a dedicated cycle lane, as you have to give way to bicycles going ahead if you are turning left anyway as part of the highway code rules for normal roads, but cyclists are also supposed to not try and undertake when they see you slowing and indicating.

Well the good news for OP is there are seemingly dozens of witnesses on this thread.

It’s because most cyclists also drive. The idiot cyclists are probably also shit drivers.

Because they are idiots, not because they ride a bike.

@Bikesandbees lights and license plates on cars will have saved thousands of lives over the years!
Your comment is ridiculous

Statistically drivers who ride bikes are better drivers.

Your edit clarified your point, and I agree. Idiots are idiots whatever mode of transport they use. And an idiot on a bike is less dangerous than an idiot in a car.

Cyclists Are Better Drivers Than Motorists, Finds Study (forbes.com)

It was an electric bike that undertook him, there was no cycle lane. Dh was indicating the entire time.

He has also since text DH that his bike is working fine and to please not report to the police and apologised for being angry.

DH reported it all right away anyway.

to please not report to the police That'll be because he's well aware he's riding an illegal motorbike.

Highly unlikely the cyclist appeared out of nowhere. Your DH needs to be more careful. As a cyclist having a car turning left straight through me was a terrible experience. I was unharmed physically but that was my good luck. Drivers can be appallingly unobservant.

yep, it all fits the Illegal Electric Motorbike hypothesis.

Nobody was hurt and the cyclist got lucky.

Yes, there will be a reason he doesn’t want it reported. Police can’t do anything anyway, there’s little/no way of tracing these idiots on two wheels.

I've heard the most accidents that happen are the ones on a route you take loads. Especially close to home. You don't look as you should as it's so familiar. You need to have an extra special look for bikes. I've been guilty of it myself and saw them just in time. Some of them don't help themselves to be seen so it's all the more reason to be more alert on familiar routes.