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've never been doing 60 and been passed by a cyclist who made me feel like I was at a standstill.

Well maybe one day you will, if these stories of souped-up pushbikes are anything to go by!

He needs to thank his lucky stars that he didn’t injure the cyclist and be more careful in future. A cyclist doesn’t have to wear a helmet so I’m not sure what relevance that has. I can also tell you that whatever mods the cyclist made, he was capable of travelling an awful lot slower than a car. If I was the cyclist I’d probably report your husband for dangerous driving so he should notify his insurer.

He needs to thank his lucky stars that he didn’t injure the cyclist and be more careful in future. A cyclist doesn’t have to wear a helmet so I’m not sure what relevance that has. I can also tell you that whatever mods the cyclist made, he was capable of travelling an awful lot slower than a car. If I was the cyclist I’d probably report your husband for dangerous driving so he should notify his insurer.

He literally needs to report it now! Like when its happened, not ring you and then not be able to use his phone for the rest of the day! And ring them when he fancies

Report accident to Police .Will not look good if other party does so first.

The OP's husband has already reported it to the police.
The cyclist has since messaged and asked him not to so it's unlikely he will be reporting it himself anyway.

If only people read the whole thread…

This

I had a cyclist hit my parked car. He was blinded by the low sun one early morning. Left his teeth on roof of my car! I took him home made sure he was ok and went to work. He reported me to the police! Said I had swerved in front of him!. Insurance excess £450 so had to get bodywork sorted myself. Told the police what really happened for the record. Your man may make spurious claim so make sure you make a statement asap.

Cyclists should also take care that they aren't in the path of a motorist about to turn. The motorist may not see a cyclist in their blind spot, and it's irresponsible of the cyclist in this case to overtake on the inside, as a motorist wouldn't be anticipating that.
Fortunately in this instance, the cyclist wasn't injured or killed, but he could have been. Lesson learned I hope.

They will be interested if the cyclist reports the accident. Allow the police to decide if they are interested or not.

Cyclist trying to undertake on the inside as the car turned left, almost entirely the cyclists fault you are not looking for things up the inside at that point (ask a lorry driver!). Inform the police to prevent the cyclist coming forward later with a totally different version of events. Lucky the cyclist didn't kill himself and no helmet, scary for the car driver though.

I had an accident with a cyclist. I had to wait though as we called an ambulance as he was an older gentleman and made a huge fuss from where he felled. The police also came and took statements, breathalised me etc. I was then left another hour on my own waiting for recovery as the bike had punctured my tyre. Anyway, when I eventually got to work I called the hospital to check on him and he had discharged himself. I called my insurance to report the accident and they had a police reference as well and police had given the cyclists details. I then had an insurance person come to my house to go through what happened. Basically it was dark, well Dawn so getting lighter, he had no lights and was wearing dark colours. He crossed a junction I was turning into and I didn’t see him. Insurance man asked ‘do you usually knock over people you can’t see?’ What a loaded question. Anyway it went as my fault - mostly does when it’s car Vs cycle. My BF at the time worked for the insurance company I was insured with and when the claim was closed he looked on file and the cyclist had claimed a rather large sum for personal injury from my insurance. My insurance went up and I had to report it on renewal for so many years.

I can't tell you as a cyclist how often drivers overtook then braked hard and turned immediately across my path leaving me desperately trying to avoid slamming into them. I'm now savvy to this risk but really have to watch out for it, drivers who assume all cyclists are "slow" (and I AM slow, but now as slow as they think I am).

No other vehicle that cars overtake do (some) car drivers think it's fine to immediately turn across their path.

I haven't read anything in OP that doesn't indicate her DH wasn't like those types of oblivious drivers. Who can't figure out what speed other vehicles are actually travelling as opposed to what speed they just "expect"

<shudder>

With the best “mods” in the world the cyclist would not not have been going quick enough to appear out of nowhere unless it was on a blind bend. Your husband pulled out on a cyclist and doesn’t want to take the blame. Classic anti cyclist behaviour.

Cyclist and driver here.

How fast was he driving before turning? If in traffic or the roads were busy enough to be travelling under 20mph he should have looked thoroughly because below that speed bikes might be coming past on the inside.

What mods exactly is he referring to? I am assuming Ebike mods. If he managed to knock a non electric bike over when turning then he deserves to have his license revoked.

If your husband was signalling left in good time and the cyclist wasn’t paying attention/was riding furiously, it’s not your DH’s fault. This is why everyone needs cameras on their cars.

The cyclist could make a claim against your husband at any time in the next 3 years if you don’t notify the insurance immediately they won’t pay out

Let's say you're driving your car on the inside of a road with two lines of moving traffic. Somebody on the outside cuts directly across you and you collide.

If the turning car indicated clearly it's your fault?

Because that's what you're saying.

Cyclists are frequently instructed to stay on the left side, so you should anticipate finding them there. If traffic is slow or at a standstill, they might filter through or overtake.

This isn’t the same to be fair, the car is asked to pretend that there is another lane on your left so as not to cut across cyclists, but a cyclist also has a rule NOT to proceed forward if a car is slowing and indicating left at a junction.

if a bike is doing a fast speed and you haven’t previously overtake them then a quick glance over your shoulder and a check in your mirror you could easily miss them, that is why the responsibility is also put on the cyclist in the Highway Code.

same as car drivers and pedestrians, car drivers have to give way to pedestrians waiting to cross, but not many pedestrians walk straight out.. both have to take some responsibility to avoid a collision.

legally, the car driver would most likely be found at fault though, as they ultimately have to give way to more vulnerable road users.

if it was two lanes of traffic as in your example the left hand car has no such rule to not proceed forward if the car on the right is indicating, as the car on the right has no right of way and the car on the left is not a more vulnerable road user that has to be given way to.

Always call the police after an accident, your insurance might need the crime number. My dad had someone reverse into him at some lights once, it was one man in the car but they said there were 4 other people in the car with them and they all tried to claim from his insurance. My dad stupidly didn't call the police so it was his word against 5 other people. Luckily his insurance tracked down some CCTV of the crash.

No, that’s not what I’m saying at all which, if you reread my comment (and PP’s following comments), you will see.