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Original poster

SURELY DH didn't "run over" this cyclist??

364 replies

justanotherburd · 09/02/2017 21:02

I've namechanged

DH got into an accident with a cyclist this evening.

We live in a house with a cycle path going along in front of it- it goes driveway, path, pavement, road but the drive is at a sort of angle not directly in front of the house and we live next to a corner so the visibility is poor.

DH was going down the drive and road was clear. Looked right- clear, looked left, moved off of drive and then a cyclist smacked into the right of his car! He fell off his bike and DH jumped out to see if he was OK. Cyclist started yelling at him but DH thought he'd just got a shock, tried to calm him down and pick up the guy's bike. He then offered to drive the man to the hospital, cyclist refused, and the front of his bike was bent so he just walked away dragging the bike along.

DH then realised that the side panel of the car is quite scratched, but it's an old car and obviously that wasn't the first concern. Wrote it off to "life" and went off to work (he works evenings)

I had a phone call from police on the land line asking for DH though they wouldn't say why, gave them his mobile and he's just rung me saying they want to speak to him about leaving the scene of an accident after injuring this man!!! SURELY this isn't DH's fault?? He did everything he could and the man refused his help!!

I'm now angry as actually I think it WAS this cyclist's fault- and surely it was HIM that left the scene of him damaging our property! I saw what happened after the initial "bang" and then looking out upstairs window but was feeding DC and by the time I'd got downstairs the man had gone.

OP posts:
Laiste · 10/02/2017 10:36

As a runner I wouldn't be aware a car was blocking the pavement.

So ... you'd run or cycle smack into the side of a stationary car around a corner olympia? That's very odd.

Olympiathequeen · 10/02/2017 10:40

The DH is in the wrong. No amount of nonsense is going to get round that fact, and he will have to pay to have the bike repairs. I only cycle slowly, but slamming on my brakes would no doubt send me wobbling under a car, so no it's impossible to stop on a sixpence on any normal speed. Runners round d here always have iPods in so wouldn't hear anything.

The onus is on the driver in this case.

Olympiathequeen · 10/02/2017 10:42

No one would run or cycle into the side of a stationary car. The whole point of the post is the blind bend. Clue's in the name!

The car was blocking the cycle path. Irrelevant whether it was stationery and the hand brake was on

JanuaryMoods · 10/02/2017 10:45

The DH is in the wrong. No amount of nonsense is going to get round that fact, and he will have to pay to have the bike repairs.

No. The bike hit the stationarycar. The cyclist should pay for repairs to the car for being so stupid as to cycle at speed around a blind bend.

Olympiathequeen · 10/02/2017 10:48

January. If the cyclist was on the road or on a designated cycle path he can't possibly be in the wrong. Stop rewriting the Highway Code!

isupposeitsverynice · 10/02/2017 10:48

I have read the entire thread. The cyclist cycled round a blind bend into the side of the stationary car - how is this anyone's fault but his own? If he'd hit someone's granny crossing the road would it have been her fault? Load of cobblers. I expect nothing will come of it except the cyclist getting a bollocking about speed and proper equipment. I hope so anyway.

Olympiathequeen · 10/02/2017 10:49

He would have had to drive up OPs private driveway and hit the stationery car to have been in the wrong.

isupposeitsverynice · 10/02/2017 10:50

So if he'd flown round the blind bend and hit a granny wandering along that would be her fault too? Bollocks would it, and this isn't OP's husbands fault either.

YetAnotherSpartacus · 10/02/2017 10:51

I once got run over by a cyclist going too fast round a corner (as a pedestrian). I had to have stitches in my hand. I was just a kid and the cyclist didn't stop (said he had to get to work), at the time I didn't think about reporting it! If I was a car coming out of a driveway I would have stood a chance either with the speed he was riding. There are irresponsible cyclists just like there are irresponsible motorists and motorcyclists

Yeah look ... that is what worries me too. As a pedestrian, I have been in many near misses with cyclists, as well as having had one ride full tilt into the back of me when I was on the pavement (it was a child). Walking in some cases and places has become a fraught obstacle course with having to dodge cyclists and having them ring their bells behind me (and if I walk with another 'us', which seems to be an offence to cyclists unless we walk in single file). Above a river last year there was a small track that I assume could be used by mountain bikers. It was a single file track. A cyclist came towards us and barely slowed (the should have dismounted). We had to throw ourselves into the bank to let them past. As it turns out, the person I was with had big feet and steel-capped boots (wears them for work) and I'm honestly not sure what hapened, but I think the cyclist clipped his foot and was pushed sideways. My next memory is of a small section of the bank collapsing and them sliiiding towards the river ...

But in the case of the OP the other issue is that the cyclist seemed to be riding without due caution. What is the car was an old person, child, dog, unwary walker, highland cow, etc?

JanuaryMoods · 10/02/2017 10:51

Cycle paths don't have walls around them. Cars, people, wheelchairs, pushchairs and other bikes are allowed to cross over them and should be able to do so without getting clobbered by an idiot cycling too fast.

Olympiathequeen · 10/02/2017 10:51

Isuppose...... using your logic, a stationery car stopped in the middle of the road and being hit by another road user in the right lane would be in the right? So being stationery is a get out of jail excuse?

This thread it so amusing and clearly answered by non drivers!

Kr1stina · 10/02/2017 10:52

As no one was injured your husband has 24 hours to report this to the police . You posted last night at Nine saying it happened this evening . So he still has plenty time.

He also needs to inform his insurers and explain that the other party left the scene and refused to give their details.

isupposeitsverynice · 10/02/2017 10:55

mate you're a loon. So if someone stops somewhere blocking the road it's alright to just drive into them? I hope you don't live near me. Of course the driver of the moving car would be at fault for not looking where they're driving!

YetAnotherSpartacus · 10/02/2017 10:56

This thread it so amusing and clearly answered by non drivers!

There seem to be a few posts by the cycling fraternity / sorority too. ...

alreadytaken · 10/02/2017 10:59

surely the only sensible concluion is that they are both at fault. If you go around a blind bend you slow down and proceed with caution. Had the cyclist hit a child playing on the path would people still be saying they didnt have to be able to stop? And cycling without lights in the dark means they werent able to see properly.

However the driver admits they didnt look right again so they didnt take proper care.

As for suggestions that there might be a massive insurance claim for personal injury - only if there is loss of earnings, otherwise the claim will be minimal and not being prepared to be medically exained quite posibly means no award at all.

Shuld be 50/50 liability for the toal cost of repairs, including those to the car, that may mean each pays for their own repair.

FooFighter99 · 10/02/2017 11:01

Hahaha @ Highland Cow!

Fed up of Sanctimonious Cyclists thinking they rule the road. EVERYONE has a responsibility to ensure their own safety, as much as possible. If the cyclist had been paying attention, he would have noticed/heard the OP's DH's car and slowed down accordingly (yes he was stationery, but the engine was still running, and it's an old car, so not electric and silent....)

Honestly, the lack of common sense is frightening.

Olympiathequeen · 10/02/2017 11:03

Isuppose....... you miss the point....this was a blind bend. So if the moving car hit the stationery car around this blind bend, it's the fault of the moving car?

Fwiw... I mostly drive a car.

It's not clear from the OP but it sounds like the cyclist was on a cycle path. Therefore he is not in any way to blame. If he was on a pavement then that's a different matter.

NightWanderer · 10/02/2017 11:03

Actually I was worried about that tonight. I pulled round a very tight corner only for the car 2 in front to decide to park on the road there. The car in front and I couldnt get around as there was traffic coming the other way, so I was stuck stopped right on a blind bend. Luckily the next car to come behind me was going slowly so there was no accident, but a lot of cars here really do fly around these blind bends with no idea whats ahead.

BreakfastAtSquiffanys · 10/02/2017 11:07

The OP said the accident happened 'this evening'
Was it dark? If her DH had his headlights on,, the cyclists should have had warning that there was a car round the blind corner.
This depends on degree of darkness, amount of street light, and angle of road

Carollocking · 10/02/2017 11:20

Cyclist can't have many brains if rode striaght into side of a car that was stationary.
Should have to have a license to ride bicycle plus a road fund license and insurance.

NerrSnerr · 10/02/2017 11:21

And don't call me Shirley!

Hopefully I haven't missed someone else doing that already- I couldn't resist.

Mol1628 · 10/02/2017 11:25

I don't understand. If I am pulling out of my driveway, I often have to pull out onto the dropped kerb, so over the path a bit, then I wait with handbrake on till there's a break in the traffic for me to come out onto the road. If whilst I was still waiting to go onto the road a cyclist on the pavement rode into my car, it would be my fault for being stationary on the path whilst waiting to go onto the road?

Obviously if I hit the cyclist as I was manoeuvring then it would be my fault. But if I've stopped to wait then a cyclist running into me as I'm stationary is their fault.

Carollocking · 10/02/2017 11:28

Exactly it's there fault

Original poster
justanotherburd · 10/02/2017 11:33

Phew.
So police came, looked at car and drive and said they don't believe DH can have been at fault.
Because of where the scratches are (around the door handle) and the quite distinctive paint off the cycle it's clear where it happened and after looking at the road they said that ironically because DH was stopped to be safe that's why it prob happened- if he'd zoomed straight onto the road the cyclist would have missed the car. They think he might have actually come at speed over the road from a little path by the development which would explain why he wasn't coming slowly round corner. (Feel like need diagram!)
They got a statement from me and I asked about the risk of personal injury claim. They said that due to the condition of the bike this is unlikely and they gave the cyclist a warning about cycling with no lights which will be on record so a claim would be unlikely to go anywhere. Apparently he was abusive to the police and also refused to be breathalysed as they thought he might be drunk when he first showed up. That makes me a bit worried re a head injury but they said they can't do anything if someone consistently refuses help and appear to have capacity to decide. Apparently police shred records like these for non-crimes after not v long so they are going to give us copies in case a claim appears in 5yr or something. Phoned the insurance company who said we shouldn't have bothered given police resolution. Said they would class it under "vandalism" if we want the scratches repaired which seems very odd and we don't.

Police did also say this isn't the only accident that's happened on this corner and they are going to speak to the land and environment people at the council about mirrors or perhaps traffic lights and advised me to write to them and get neighbours to do so too.

OP posts:
FooFighter99 · 10/02/2017 11:37

Excellent outcome Just! You must be so relieved. Hopefully the cyclist will pay more attention in future Smile

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