Cyclist son hit by a car . . . advice please

[FlappysMammyAndPopeInExile]

My son was cycling to work yesterday - lots of lights, visible jacket - he's 33 and a defensive cyclist.

A car pulled out without indicating and swung round directly in front of him - he couldn't brake in time and went over the bonnet. He smashed his front tooth, helmet is cracked, bike is pretty much totalled.

At the time the driver was very sympathetic - he stayed with DS (who rang or his dad to come for him. He claimed that he wasn't doing a U-turn (as DS thinks) but was just pulling out into traffic - however when DH arrived he took full responsibility. He was pulling out, and it was peeing down with rain and he hadn't seen son. Stayed with DS until DH arrived. Someone from the newsagents where he had been for a paper (driver - not DS) brought a chair. A few other people WHO HAD NOT WITNESSED THE ACCIDENT asked if DS was OK. Son rang police - was told that if he was okay to talk there was no need for an officer to come out. He made a quick sketch of scenario on his phone. Driver gave son name and contact phone number and told him to get in touch when he had a price for repairing his bike etc.

Son spent morning in emergency dentist. Is very shaken up - can't get warm (shock, I think). DH took him and bike to "bike place" for estimate - £400+ and £150 for helmet (thank God he was wearing it!) + £39 (so far at dentist - could be a LOT more).

Rang driver today - now claims he was stationary with wheel sticking out slightly and that son hit him Says he has a witness and that son can ring insurance or police or whoever the hell he likes because HE HAS A WITNESS!!! and nothing will be done.

I am so bloody MAD! He could have killed my son - and he doesn't give a fuck! There were no witnesses (that stopped - other drivers only - none bothered to stop) except that when my DH collected DS, the driver did say that he was pulling out and hadn't seen him.

I am so fecking angry at this man! What do we do? Son has rung police (presumably previous call will have been logged) - they have apologised and said that someone should have attended the scene. They are coming out to take a statement. A bit bloody late!

What is likely to happen now? - what can we do? He isn't on a high wage (not much more than minimum) and can't even afford the bus to work (is an hour and a half walk) so it will be a very early start for him on a morning (doesn't want to get the bike sorted because he can't afford it - we would lend him the money, but he wants it left until things can be sorted properly - thinks is may be necessary if it comes to court).

And advice would be very gracefully received. I suspect that we will have to get a solicitor - what sort of charges are likely? Are there people who specialise in this sort of claim? How can we find them?

Sorry if this is disjointed - my son could have been KILLED and this wanker can only think about getting off cheap, and this is all I can think of. The bastard!

What do you mean by charges? As infuriating as it is, unless there is an independent witness nothing is likely to happen as it's your sons word vs the mans. I would hope the so called 'witness' (if they even exist) wouldn't be given any weight when they didn't present themselves at the scene.

The most straight forward and least stressful thing to do would be to claim off your home insurance for the bike.

Hope your son feels better soon.

Did your son damage the drivers car by going on the bonnet? Did he get photos of the damage? That goes some way towards evidence.

Just contact a solicitor who specialises in bicycle accidents. They might have no compensation/ no fee arrangements.

If there is a newsagent (or any other shops) get in touch with them ASAP and ask for any CCTV footage that faces the road so they can give you a copy - they can replace the footage though so do it quick.

I was hit by a car on my bike - no witnesses, my word vs hers and still won my claim due to injury and bike damage.

You need to go and get the details of the newsagent person who was present and have your son give a full and detailed statement. Get him to show the officer the bike and the damage done to it, the way it looks can show who was moving and at what speed, if there is paint markings from the car on the bike or vice versa this is good as it shows he didn't just hit the wheel but also the side of the car.
Show the police officer the damage to the helmet too and exactly what he was wearing.
Look at the road on google maps, including road signs to see if there are any 'no turn' signs etc that would show the driver is in the wrong.

Keep all receipts. Document all his injuries with GP and photographs.

www.eta.co.uk/cycling-and-the-law/#faq-question-28763

For a accident with injury incurred police MUST attend its protocol. I don't get why they didn't turn up unless they were informed there was t any injury. CCTV enquiries are essential to try and back up or undermine the drivers story. Did u or anyone get the reg of the car? Insist on a cctv trawl.

Hopefully the police will help. Push for driving without due care.....though ime police couldn't give a shit when a cyclist has been hit.

Employ a personal injury solicitor and attempt to sue the arse off the bloke. They will go after him like a rat up a drainpipe and to court if necessary. You may find they bottle out of standing up and lying in court. The bloke who hit my car and denied it was him caved a week before the court case.

You shouldn't have to go to court - get a no compensation / no fee solicitor who has experience in bicycle claims and 7Sunshine has given great advice.

The drivers insurance should cover all compensation for your son.

Oh and ask on local fb groups if anyone witnessed it?

I agree with possum I'd sue the arse off the bloke.

Surely you wouldn't end up going over the bonnet if a wheel was sticking out.

Well the thing about car wheels is that they're normally a few feet behind the front of the bonnet. So it's physically impossible to just have a wheel poking out, nearly a third of the car must have been over the line.

And you shouldn't go poking over the line unless there's nothing coming.

Thank you for all of your help - by "charges" I mean how much would a solicitor charge?

CCTV is a good idea - I'll let DS know and see if he can get in quick.

There is a police officer coming put this evening so perhaps he could mention it to them.

He said that everyone who spoke to them seems to know the driver, so I think he has asked a mate to "witness" the accident.

I am so angry with the police, too, - I knew they should have come out - but I don't know what can be done about that. Apparently the officer who took his call today was really "oh shit!" apologetic.

I'm going to suggest a no-win-no-fee solicitor and the CCTV footage. There are quite a few shops there, including a pharmacist - I would think they have cameras. Hopefullythe incident was caught on film.

And I hope that the police prosecute the bastard for careless driving as well.

Thank you again.

myyoyo - Surely you wouldn't end up going over the bonnet if a wheel was sticking out.

That's what I think - he would have deflected off into the road..

Unfortunately there was only a very small amount of damage to the car - DH reckons it would polish out, so driver may well have got rid of any evidence of contact.

I don't think a no win, no fee personal injury outfit would charge

Possum - I suspect that you re right. His mate may be prepared to lie to the police in a statement, but lying to a court is a lot more serious - unless he's a career criminal, he's unlikely to try it.

We have all the driver's details - he wouldn't give them at first, apparently, but hen he realised that DS had written down his reistration he told him phone and address details. DS's phone also has a record of his call to the police, including the time he made it.

I think no-win-no-fee solicitors are the norm. Slater Gordon is the firm linked to the Cycling UK organisation. There are other specialist cycling lawyers as well (will see if I can find them for you).

(googles) Leigh Day does any claims for British Cycling members but if your son is not a member he may have to pay the fees. www.leighday.co.uk/Illness-and-injury/Road-and-travel-collisions/Cycling-and-sports-injury-claims/The-stages-of-a-cycle-claim

These people appear to specialise www.cycleinjury.co.uk/

I've heard good things about Sorry Mate who specialise in biker and cyclist claims

Thanks All.

Have spoken to DS - he is still waiting for police to arrive, but had already rung a no-win-no-fee firm who said they would be happy to take it on. They reckon it would be a straightforward case (this reassures me, as I know they wouldn't bother if they thought the situation was dodgy).He is going to see what the police say when he speaks to them, and also what they come back with when they have spoken to driver.

As I say - it is the fact that he could have killed or very serious injured my son, and it's only by the grace of God that he didn't - this is what has really upset me.

We have had an absolutely awful year with one thing and another - this has been the icing on the cake! The dentist has rung him at home, too - he has been conferring with a colleague and they think my son should come in much sooner than the original follow-up appointment - I don't know if X-rays or something have shown up more than was immediately apparent. We'll find out on Friday.

If you find out the name of the witness have a look to see if you can see his fb page just in case he's done something stupid like post photos that he's in a different town when he supposedly saw the accident.

Make sure you tell the police you suspect he's lying as there was no witness.

This happened to Dh. He didn't ring the police but emailed driver the cost of his damaged kit. When he squawked Dh said fine if he didn't pay Dh would go through official channels of police and insurance. Money in his account by end of day. I thought more than fair as Dh didn't claim for his physical injuries.

I would put a complaint in to the police for not attending. Police would have breathalysed the driver as matter of cause and the whole situation would have been recorded in a incident book including position of the car/bike etc. Without all this evidence it's going to be harder to progress and investigate.

I wish your DS luck. DD was hit by a car in a cycle lane, the driver didn't stop and the police weren't interested. DD needed new glasses, a new cycle helmet and her bike was mangled - she was lucky to only have cuts and bruises.

I'm so sorry to hear about your DD Wind - I can't understand anyone who leaves a person injured and vulnerable on a road - nor the police not being interested. (They told DS that they didn't need to come out, too, though they ought to have.)

One of the problems is that the person who has been hit may not realise that they are hurt - shock and adrenaline mask pain. DS has been shivering one minute, and falling asleep, and then the next is red hot and restless. He's going to go to his GP tomorrow.

Police have been round and are going to get in touch with the driver, but it could be one person's word against another. He really thought the driver was an OK bloke because he stayed with him until DH arrived., and told him"just get an estimate etc" and now is blaming DS and saying he was parked up.

Obviously I hope we get the money for the repairs to the bike, but he will need a lot of dental work, too, and will lose money by being off work (he has a basic wage, but about 25% of his income is other).

My one consolation is that he isn't dead - but this guy obviously couldn't care less - any more than the tosser who knocked your daughter off her bike did. And that makes me as mad as hell!