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Been hit and injured by a mountain bike in France on a pedestrian only path - is it worth reporting to police?

8 replies

Bluemazarine · 29/07/2018 13:52

Just that really- hit by an English mountain biker ( some sort of seasonal worker as the lift staff said he was a familiar face) on a clearly pedestrian no bikes allowed path in the Alps - was bleeding and in shock but he refused to apologise and said he basically used it as short cut all the time and good luck with me suing him! Got taken off the mountain by lovely first aiders and am badly bruised and cut but luckily no major fractures but some large haemotomas- but a reasonably large bill for x-rays and medical attention plus can't do any of the things we had planned for remaining holiday. As he was paying more attention to his mangled bike than me I managed to photograph him and his bloody bike plus the location! My question is, would reporting it to local police achieve anything? I've resigned myself to making a travel insurance claim for the medical costs but I'll still be 000s of euros out of pocket re excess. Has anyone had a similar experience? Apologies if in wrong topic area...

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Labradoodliedoodoo · 29/07/2018 13:56

Yes go to the police. Here it would be a hit and run because he failed to exchange details. Not sure about France but best to cover all bases just in case

LadyMonicaBaddingham · 29/07/2018 14:00

The gendarmerie might well be able to get him under the 'good samaritan' law... It's a legal requirement to stop and offer assistance if you are witness to a road accident, iirc. See what they advise, especially if you are able to identify this fucker miscreant.

Bluemazarine · 29/07/2018 14:23

Thanks for the quick replies! I'm so angry that my kids saw me knocked over and crying, grr. But weighing up whether it wd waste another day of hols for them. He Def didn't stop even to see if I was ok, in fact he was screaming at me that I should have jumped out of his way , some lovely other bikers saw me crying and basically took me to first aid with my son. All the lift staff have his photo and actually stopped him later the same day on the same run - he was very surprised they could ID him (so glad I had the foresight to photo him ) but they only know first name. They actually gave him my phone no so he could check on me at the hospital but of course he hasnt contacted me the cheeky bastard! honestly think he could have killed a child /old person as he must have been doing around 30mph..

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GertrudeCB · 29/07/2018 14:48

Please report him. Glad your not too badly hurt but the next person he rides into could be .

sleep5 · 29/07/2018 15:02

Post his photo on Facebook, Twitter and so on and see if someone can identify him - that may have more of an impact on him than complaining locally.

Labradoodliedoodoo · 29/07/2018 15:07

A French police station could be quite interesting for the kids to a certain degree. Also seeing you take a stand and potentially seeing justice done is worth the time. Agree to a special meal or event after the station visit.

Bluemazarine · 30/07/2018 12:14

Just an update- went to the police station and apparently they don't deal with those sorts of complaints; I'd need to go to the next town to file with the national police. As I'm flying out in a few hours -and have no car - it looks as if i won't be able to lodge a complaint. I suppose I tried! So irritating but I get the impression that the police won't be interested unless I have a name to give them ...thanks all for all your useful advice though...

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LighthouseSouth · 30/07/2018 13:11

If you have the energy, I'd follow it up when you get home and send the images in.

really sorry this happened to you. hope you are nice and rested at home soon Flowers

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