Hit and Run in Melbourne

good on you for helping out - always great if people have an accident to
have someone there to see them right - till help, whatever arrives.
Car drivers aren't getting it.
Jock
"Gags" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
| This morning at approx 0640h I was riding towards the city on Johnston St
in
| light rain and as I turned left onto Nicholson St (in Abbotsford) I
noticed
| a girl in bike gear on the corner who looked pretty upset. As I pulled up
| to see if she was OK I noticed that her bike was pretty well trashed (see
| pictures via links - poor quality as I used my mobile). The first one
shows
| her bent top tube, the second shows the RH crank arm (Durace) bent across
| the chain stay, and the last one is from front on with the seat tube
upright
| so you can see the angle the front triangle was bent at.
|
| http://img257.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image002em4.jpg
|
| http://img257.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image003qe5.jpg
|
| http://img293.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image004ne6.jpg
|
| She was fairly young (I'd guess early 20s) and she said that she thought
she
| was OK and her hubby was on his way to pick her up. Apparently she was
| heading towards the city on Johnston St and a car going the other way
| decided to turn right into Nicholson just as she was crossing the
| intersection (about 5 min or so before I got there). Although they both
had
| a green light, the driver didn't have a green arrow and he failed to give
| way to her. The car ploughed into the RHS of her bike (hence the bent
| cranks) and she said she ended up half on the bonnet before being thrown
| clear. The car went about 15m or so down the road, stopped for a second
or
| two and then sped off at a great rate of knots down Nicholson St. She was
| understandably pretty shook up and only managed to get a couple of letters
| of the numberplate and she thought it was a maroon commodore or falcon.
She
| said that she was a bit sore but was pretty certain that nothing was
broken
| (from looking at the bike I think she was very lucky to walk away without
| any broken bones).
|
| I stayed with her while she waited for her hubby as I was concerned that
she
| might go into full on shock. I tried to keep her talking to make sure she
| was still holding it together and she managed to right up until her
husband
| arrived and then she pretty well collapsed emotionally and physically into
| his arms. While I was talking to her I noted that she had an LED flasher
on
| the handlebars (it was still turned on) and a bracket for another light
that
| had smashed off (this was sitting next to her helmet). I also found the
| remains of her rear LED flasher on the road. I did what I could to
convince
| her to call the police but I am not sure that she did so. Looking back
now,
| I probably should have called them myself while I was at the accident
site.
| I ended up quickly jotting down a draft email when I got to work and then
I
| called the Collingwood Police Station and reported what I had seen. The
guy
| was actually pretty sympathetic and said he would try to locate the
| investigating officer and then get him/her to call me back (assuming that
| the girl reported it).
|
| I hope that the girl (I really should have asked her what her name was) is
| OK and that she reports the incident to the police and that they catch the
| [censored] who was driving. I guess there are many possibilities as to why the
| guy drove off and my first thought was that maybe he had been drinking and
| didn't want to hang around for the police to arrive with a breathalyser
| (only a theory!!!). I made sure that in my draft email I noted that her
LED
| flasher was still flashing and that a second light had been smashed off
and
| she was also wearing a jacket with reflective panels - just in case they
| catch the guy and he claims that she was riding with no lights!!!!
|
| If you do see a maroon commodore or falcon in Melbourne with scratches on
| the front left corner that look like they might have been made by a bike
| then get the rego and let me know and I will pass it onto the police.
|
| Stay safe out there.
|
| Gags
|
|
|

Gags said:

This morning at approx 0640h I was riding towards the city on Johnston St in
light rain and as I turned left onto Nicholson St (in Abbotsford) I noticed
a girl in bike gear on the corner who looked pretty upset. As I pulled up
to see if she was OK I noticed that her bike was pretty well trashed (see
pictures via links - poor quality as I used my mobile). The first one shows
her bent top tube, the second shows the RH crank arm (Durace) bent across
the chain stay, and the last one is from front on with the seat tube upright
so you can see the angle the front triangle was bent at.

Well done on doing the right thing and foryour constructive post. I
have copied this over to http://bicycles.net.au/ in case someone has
anything on the car.

Take care
Andrew
-----
Churchlands, Western Australia
Giant CRX 1; Giant Boulder SE
http://aushiker.com http://backpackgeartest.org http://geocaching.com.au

Gags said:

This morning at approx 0640h I was riding towards the city on Johnston St in
light rain and as I turned left onto Nicholson St (in Abbotsford) I noticed
a girl in bike gear on the corner who looked pretty upset. As I pulled up
to see if she was OK I noticed that her bike was pretty well trashed (see
pictures via links - poor quality as I used my mobile).

Gags if you would like, it's possible to post something to the YarraBUG website or email group to ask for further witnesses. email: enquiriesATyarrabug.org

Fiona put this together for MASSBUG, it wouldn't be too difficult to carry a few copies with a repair kit or similar.

MASSBUG: Bike Tips: Reporting traffic incidents to police:
http://www.massbug.org.au/twiki/pub/MASSBUG/WebHome/Bike_Tipsreportingtopolice.pdf

Thankyou for helping out. 😉

Gags said:

This morning at approx 0640h I was riding towards the city on Johnston St in
light rain and as I turned left onto Nicholson St (in Abbotsford) I noticed
a girl in bike gear on the corner who looked pretty upset.

Good on you.... the way you described it, it sounded exactly like what happened to me. And she may not have said anything, but if she was anything like me, I was so glad when someone ran over to me and kept me talking and made me relax after the incident. When I look back on it sometimes that person made a huge difference, you feel kind of happy people do care enough to come over and make sure you are alright, unlike that [censored] that hit her and then gutlessly drove off. scumbag.

Gags said:

http://img257.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image002em4.jpg

http://img257.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image003qe5.jpg

http://img293.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image004ne6.jpg

She walked away from that without serious physical injury? Faark,
that's lucky!

Well done for helping out, too. I should have remembered that I had a
camera in my phone at that accident that I attended a couple of months
ago. :-/

BTH

"Gags" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

This morning at approx 0640h I was riding towards the city on Johnston St
in light rain and as I turned left onto Nicholson St (in Abbotsford) I
noticed a girl in bike gear on the corner who looked pretty upset. As I
pulled up to see if she was OK I noticed that her bike was pretty well
trashed (see pictures via links - poor quality as I used my mobile).

It would be a real pity if she gave up commuting by bike because of the
accident. On a more positive note, my wife got knocked off her bike in
Heidelberg Rd Fairfield one night a few months ago by a woman driver who
just "didn't see the bike". No serious damage done but this woman was
extremely apologetic and stayed with my wife for 20 mins or so in the rain
until I arrived. She subsequently forked out $130 to replace some of my
wife's clothing damaged in the accident. The woman was feeling so guilty
that I think my wife would have preferred she went after 5 minutes!

Hello, Claude!
You wrote on Mon, 13 Aug 2007 23:42:23 GMT:

C> "Gags" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
C> news:[email hidden]...
??>> This morning at approx 0640h I was riding towards the city on Johnston
??>> St in light rain and as I turned left onto Nicholson St (in
??>> Abbotsford) I noticed a girl in bike gear on the corner who looked
??>> pretty upset. As I pulled up to see if she was OK I noticed that her
??>> bike was pretty well trashed (see pictures via links - poor quality as
??>> I used my mobile).

C> It would be a real pity if she gave up commuting by bike because of the
C> accident. On a more positive note, my wife got knocked off her bike in
C> Heidelberg Rd Fairfield one night a few months ago by a woman driver who
C> just "didn't see the bike". No serious damage done but this woman was
C> extremely apologetic and stayed with my wife for 20 mins or so in the
C> rain until I arrived. She subsequently forked out $130 to replace some
C> of my wife's clothing damaged in the accident. The woman was feeling so
C> guilty that I think my wife would have preferred she went after 5
C> minutes!

She did the right thing by staying and assisting.

Shame no one had the rego this shoudl not go unpunished

hope she is ok

ChrisRiley said:

Hello, Claude!
You wrote on Mon, 13 Aug 2007 23:42:23 GMT:

C> "Gags" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
C>news:[email hidden]...
??>> This morning at approx 0640h I was riding towards the city on Johnston
??>> St in light rain and as I turned left onto Nicholson St (in
??>> Abbotsford) I noticed a girl in bike gear on the corner who looked
??>> pretty upset. As I pulled up to see if she was OK I noticed that her

Quoted message said:

??>> bike was pretty well trashed (see pictures via links - poor quality as
??>> I used my mobile).

C> It would be a real pity if she gave up commuting by bike because of the
C> accident. On a more positive note, my wife got knocked off her bike in
C> Heidelberg Rd Fairfield one night a few months ago by a woman driver who
C> just "didn't see the bike". No serious damage done but this woman was
C> extremely apologetic and stayed with my wife for 20 mins or so in the
C> rain until I arrived. She subsequently forked out $130 to replace some
C> of my wife's clothing damaged in the accident. The woman was feeling so
C> guilty that I think my wife would have preferred she went after 5
C> minutes!

She did the right thing by staying and assisting.

This was a girl from work, I'll let you know how she is, or get her to post something 🙂

She was obviously away today, as you could understand. From what I know her ankle was swollen, and might be a bit of ligament damage.

essendon93 said:

This was a girl from work, I'll let you know how she is, or get her to post something 🙂

She was obviously away today, as you could understand. From what I know her ankle was swollen, and might be a bit of ligament damage.

Most importantly, get her to report this to the police if she hasn't already. From the description, only luck prevented this from being a fatal hit and run - the police would be all over that!

roshea said:

Most importantly, get her to report this to the police if she hasn't already. From the description, only luck prevented this from being a fatal hit and run - the police would be all over that!

These accidents seem to be becoming more frequent. Is it just me or are motorists giving way less often this year? Almost every day I'll have someone turning across in front of me or pulling out of an intersection. I'm using the same flashing LEDs (with batteries that are fresh enough), I'm wearing the same bright colours.

They just don't get it...

Ritch

Just got to add my pat on the back to Gags--I hope there's someone like you around next time I need a hand.

And I'll also add a Fark! about those photos too. It was clearly just luck that the cyclist wasn't more seriously harmed.

"essendon93" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

This was a girl from work, I'll let you know how she is, or get her to
post something 🙂

She was obviously away today, as you could understand. From what I
know her ankle was swollen, and might be a bit of ligament damage.

--
essendon93

Hey Ess - if you get a chance could you ask her if she ended up reporting
the incident to the police. I ended up ringing the police (Collingwood
Station ) and they took my details and said that they would get the case
manager to ring me if the incident got reported but I still haven't heard
anything from them.

I really hope that she is OK - let us know when you get an update on how she
pulled up. Could you also pass on my best wishes for a fast recovery and
let her know that I hope to see her back in the saddle soon. It would be a
shame if this put her off of riding on the road although at the same time it
would be understandable - I was pretty impressed that she managed to hold it
all together emotionally until her husband got there!!!

I have been riding around for the last couple of days on the lookout for a
maroon car with scratches on the front......still can't believe that someone
would do that and then drive off without checking to see if the cyclist was
OK - unbelievable!!!

Gags

In article <[email hidden]>,

Gags said:

I have been riding around for the last couple of days on the lookout for a
maroon car with scratches on the front

Well I found a maroon one with a nasty mess on the back yesterday. Going
south along Beach Road just past Sandringham Football Ground and a guy
in said car tried to turn right while the white van behind him kept
going. I was a couple of car-lengths behind and in the next lane, so I
stopped to help. The guy's car seat had broken -- he was a big fella --
and he wasn't moving much, although it was mainly shock. I rang an
ambulance and the police arrived soon after.

Oh, the cycling content: I went to get back on my bike, which someone
had moved so the other car could be moved off the road on to the
footpath. In doing so they'd managed to put several (admittedly small)
scratches in my one-week-old frame. Sigh.

--
Shane Stanley

From the lady of the moment, I'll post some pics later this evening.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and input on this forum. I’m that unlucky one who was hit on Johnson St monday morning. As you could imagine it has been a pretty rough week. Firstly I’d like to thanks Gags for his help on Monday and for posting this forum. I am incredibly lucky to have walked away from the accident with minor injuries. My bike as you have seen, seemed to take most of the impact which has spared me my life. As Gags mentioned it was a hit and run. A late model maroon/burgundy station wagon with blue Victorian number plates (partial reading RM or RH) was the culprit. It will have damage to the front of the car for sure. Unfortunately my bike was uninsured, and it will be costly to replace. But a bike can be replaced, a life cannot. Many have wondered if I reported it, the Police have a full statement, but assured me that there is not enough to go on and catching the person is very unlikely. So please keep your eyes peeled. I have attached some pics of my bike in full light. Let them be a reminder of what can happen on the roads. I will be getting back on the bike as soon as I have a new one. This has rocked me, but has not deterred me from riding or racing. Thanks again to everyone for your support. Stay Safe

essendon93 <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

From the lady of the moment, I'll post some pics later this evening.

[snip]
....
....
[snip]

Quoted message said:

my life. As Gags mentioned it was a hit and run. A late model
maroon/burgundy station wagon with blue Victorian number plates
(partial reading RM or RH) was the culprit. It will have damage to the
front of the car for sure. Unfortunately my bike was uninsured, and it
will be costly to replace. But a bike can be replaced, a life cannot.
Many have wondered if I reported it, the Police have a full statement,
but assured me that there is not enough to go on and catching the
person is very unlikely.

[snip]

This makes me %^^%*%$%^#%$&$^&%*$$%%& mad. I was involved in a hit
and run about 2 years ago, a cop turned up and according to another
cyclist who was there, I was dazed and confused at the time, he basically
said, "Oh it's only a cyclist" and wandered off. It took me ages to track
him down for the TAC report as he hadn't left his name, id, anything with
anyone.

The cops have plenty there to track this person dowm. They have age
of car, in the last 5 years, they have shape of car, station wagon, they
have colour, maroon/burgundy and they have part in the rego. They can
even narrow it down to cars rego'd in the northern suburbs, a car that
time of the morning is most likely doing the home->work run.

A quick database search at Vicroads should provide a suitably short
list of possibles that can be checked by the local cops in each area
where a car's rego'd. It's basically the cops are too %$^&%^*%*$% lazy to
do it as it's a cyclist. Ring your local MP and raise a stink. Write a
letter to the editor, are you a member of Bicycle Victoria - ge tthem to
earn their subscription etc. Don't let the [censored] who hit you off and
most importantly don't let the cops just sweep it under the carpet. As a
group, the cycling fraternity, we need to stand up for ourselves when
this sort of stuff happens and don't let the cops just brush us off.

Now that I've got that off my hest, I'm off for a few beers 🙂

Bluey

T
"Bluey The Dog" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The cops have plenty there to track this person dowm. They have age
of car, in the last 5 years, they have shape of car, station wagon, they
have colour, maroon/burgundy and they have part in the rego. They can
even narrow it down to cars rego'd in the northern suburbs, a car that
time of the morning is most likely doing the home->work run.

The cops need to read Bonfire of the Vanities for some tips