They finally got me

Squashme said:

After all these many years of avoiding it, I was car doored today,
despite a purely instinctive zig (never got a chance to zag). Was I
hurt? Mortified actually. Well also rather bruised and aching on my
left and ground-meeting side. I now a have a Swiss Army knife shaped
bruise on my left thigh. Yes, of course it was folded!

Yes, I was not far enough out and yes, I was paying insufficient
attention, and yes it was her fault, as she admitted before I even
managed to frame a coherent sentence (strange stuff adrenalin).

I know the question that hangs on your lips. Yes my helmet is OK. Not a
scratch on it. I kept it well away from the road (well my head was in
it, and I like my head quite a lot).

Did I mention that I was mortified?

Commiserations - I hope you don't ache too much tomorrow.
Hope the bike's OK too.

Make sure you report her and get a record of your injuries from a doctor.
Why?
Expect a claim for damage to her vehicle - despite what she said.
Her insurance slimeballs will try and claim it was your fault for riding
too close to the car, when the HC advises you to leave plenty of room and
watch out for doors being opened.

Problem is you have admitted you were not paying enough attention. Let's
hope they don't read this group.

John B

in message <[email hidden]>, John B

(') said:

Make sure you report her and get a record of your injuries from a
doctor. Why?
Expect a claim for damage to her vehicle - despite what she said.
Her insurance slimeballs will try and claim it was your fault for
riding too close to the car, when the HC advises you to leave plenty of
room and watch out for doors being opened.

I very much suspect her insurers will do nothing of the sort. It is a
criminal offence to open a car door so as to endanger another road user,
and they know it. Insurers who get their customers criminal records do
not stay in business very long, and if they start playing that one they
are effectively shouting 'she's guilty' from the rooftops.

This isn't a case of arguing where the fault lay: the responsibility is
laid down clearly in the criminal law.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; ... exposing the violence incoherent in the system...

Squashme said:

After all these many years of avoiding it, I was car doored today,
despite a purely instinctive zig (never got a chance to zag). Was I
hurt? Mortified actually.

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Did I mention that I was mortified?

LOL. I like the cut of your jib Sir. Bike and bits all ok?

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, John B

(') said:

Make sure you report her and get a record of your injuries from a
doctor. Why?
Expect a claim for damage to her vehicle - despite what she said.
Her insurance slimeballs will try and claim it was your fault for
riding too close to the car, when the HC advises you to leave plenty of
room and watch out for doors being opened.

I very much suspect her insurers will do nothing of the sort. It is a
criminal offence to open a car door so as to endanger another road user,
and they know it. Insurers who get their customers criminal records do
not stay in business very long, and if they start playing that one they
are effectively shouting 'she's guilty' from the rooftops.

It would be nice to think you are right, but I know a rider who received
exactly such a claim.
Because they had reported it and had evidence that they had been injured
they were able to refute it.

The driver's insurance claimed the door was open and the rider wasn'y
paying attention to where he was going and had pleanty of time to see it.
The independent witness was critical to the case.

Do you work for an insurance company ;-)

tt

triddletree said:

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, John B

(') said:

Make sure you report her and get a record of your injuries from a
doctor. Why?
Expect a claim for damage to her vehicle - despite what she said.
Her insurance slimeballs will try and claim it was your fault for
riding too close to the car, when the HC advises you to leave
plenty of room and watch out for doors being opened.

I very much suspect her insurers will do nothing of the sort. It is a
criminal offence to open a car door so as to endanger another road
user, and they know it. Insurers who get their customers criminal
records do not stay in business very long, and if they start playing
that one they are effectively shouting 'she's guilty' from the
rooftops.

It would be nice to think you are right, but I know a rider who
received exactly such a claim.
Because they had reported it and had evidence that they had been
injured they were able to refute it.

The driver's insurance claimed the door was open and the rider wasn'y
paying attention to where he was going and had pleanty of time to see
it. The independent witness was critical to the case.

The amount of attention the cyclist is paying is irrelevant in this case.

I know a rider who claimed for compensation after being doored. The
insurance company did not suggest the cyclist was at any fault and paid
out, and there was no counter claim for damage to the car.

Of course it is wise to allow room for car doors opening when cycling but
it is not a legal requirement, as far as I know. In any case the driver
has committed an offence and compensation can be claimed. It is the
driver's duty to make sure no-one is coming before opening a door. Any
decent lawyer should be able to educate and persuade a stroppy insurance
company.

~PB

Squashme said:

After all these many years of avoiding it, I was car doored today,
despite a purely instinctive zig (never got a chance to zag). Was I
hurt? Mortified actually.

Owch. If it was my rig, it would've taken her door off. Still, there
we should see plenty more incidents like this, with the HC pushing
cyclists onto cyclepaths that are sandwiched between the road and the
on-street parking.

Simon Brooke said:

I very much suspect her insurers will do nothing of the sort.

IMHO its worth using the system to properly prepare / cover all bases,
because insurance companies are amoral and looking for any reason to not
pay out - being not liable, getting claimants to damage their own cases etc.

A van pulled out in front of my car, I stopped & it hit me anyway as it
tried to turn. I got a letter from their insurers saying "we propose
that you stopped & flashed the driver out, then changed your mind and
tried to squeeze past". They knew my right wing met the van behind the
front wheel, so they suggested I'd chosen to broadside it. Why did they
even bother trying?

Phil

Phil Clarke said:

Simon Brooke said:

I very much suspect her insurers will do nothing of the sort.

IMHO its worth using the system to properly prepare / cover all bases,
because insurance companies are amoral and looking for any reason to not
pay out - being not liable, getting claimants to damage their own cases
etc.

A van pulled out in front of my car, I stopped & it hit me anyway as it
tried to turn. I got a letter from their insurers saying "we propose
that you stopped & flashed the driver out, then changed your mind and
tried to squeeze past". They knew my right wing met the van behind the
front wheel, so they suggested I'd chosen to broadside it. Why did they
even bother trying?

When I was knocked off they claimed I had run into the car and then
threw myself off my bike. I reported the accident to the police as a
precaution, they interviewed the driver and a witness. I was able to
get the witness's statement from the police which demolished the
insurance company's case. They refused to accept liability. On the day
after all the Court papers had to be filed by both sides I found they
had not filed and then offered to settle in full. The only possible
reason for the timing was to cause me maximum work before they conceded.
Don't trust them an inch.

--
Tony

"The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the
right."
- Lord Hailsham

John B said:

Problem is you have admitted you were not paying enough attention. Let's
hope they don't read this group.

What will they do? Write to him claiming "You are squashme and we claim
our £5"?

--
Dave...

Tony Raven said:

Phil Clarke said:

Simon Brooke said:

I very much suspect her insurers will do nothing of the sort.

IMHO its worth using the system to properly prepare / cover all bases,

Don't trust them an inch.

Exactly. Slimeballs the lot.

John B

dkahn400 said:

John B said:

Problem is you have admitted you were not paying enough attention. Let's
hope they don't read this group.

What will they do? Write to him claiming "You are squashme and we claim
our £5"?

:-)

Would you trust an insurance company not to?

John B

Tosspot said:

Squashme said:

After all these many years of avoiding it, I was car doored today,
despite a purely instinctive zig (never got a chance to zag). Was I
hurt? Mortified actually.

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Did I mention that I was mortified?

LOL. I like the cut of your jib Sir. Bike and bits all ok?

Never better, thank you for asking. Recommend elbow surfing to anybody
who's feeling a bit jaded. Well, it is good to know why I've got
various aches, instead of wondering why and feeling vague fears of
undiagnosed impending horrors. God, I'm immortal! Hmmm, what was in
that Arnica?
As for the bike, it just plods along as usual, but I sense a mild
feeling of resentment. Still, the bike will be pleased that you asked
first about it, and only second about my bits. Actually, that's
probably my order of priorities these days too.

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

Quoted message said:

After all these many years of avoiding it, I was car doored today,
despite a purely instinctive zig (never got a chance to zag). Was I
hurt? Mortified actually. Well also rather bruised and aching on my
left and ground-meeting side. I now a have a Swiss Army knife shaped
bruise on my left thigh. Yes, of course it was folded!

SNAP

I was car-doored on 01/04/2006.

Very severe bruise to left leg, fractured right tow, bruised right elbow,
severally bruised rib cage, buckled wheels front and aft, etc.

A&E'ed, X-rayed, Policed, Prosecution-statement made, Solicitored-up etc,
still can't walk yet. Doc says 4 to 6 weeks.

Assuming I win my no-win-no-fee litigation, it will be costing my
assailant's insurer at least a £1000.

Heracles Pollux said:

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

Quoted message said:

After all these many years of avoiding it, I was car doored today,
despite a purely instinctive zig (never got a chance to zag). Was I
hurt? Mortified actually. Well also rather bruised and aching on my
left and ground-meeting side. I now a have a Swiss Army knife shaped
bruise on my left thigh. Yes, of course it was folded!

SNAP

I was car-doored on 01/04/2006.

Very severe bruise to left leg, fractured right tow, bruised right elbow,
severally bruised rib cage, buckled wheels front and aft, etc.

A&E'ed, X-rayed, Policed, Prosecution-statement made, Solicitored-up etc,
still can't walk yet. Doc says 4 to 6 weeks.

Assuming I win my no-win-no-fee litigation, it will be costing my
assailant's insurer at least a £1000.

only 1000 ukp? You probably did more damage to the car!
--
---
Marten Gerritsen

INFOapestaartjeM-GINEERINGpuntNL
www.m-gineering.nl

John B said:

Make sure you report her and get a record of your injuries from a doctor.
Why?
Expect a claim for damage to her vehicle - despite what she said.
Her insurance slimeballs will try and claim it was your fault for ...

I can't second this enough, get the car/driver details and report the
incident as soon as you can.

I was driven into and knocked off my bike about a fortnight ago, on a
roundabout, by a foreign driver driving a foreign-registered car, whose
windows were steaming up. All the adrenaline made me convinced I was just
fine at the time; the bruises and muscle strains came up about six hours
later. I didn't report the accident to the police, partly because whenever
I got to the local police station it was shut, and after about 10 days there
didn't seem much point considering I only knew one letter of the car
registration, and I didn't have the driver's details either (because in the
adrenaline-fuelled haze, I didn't remember to get them).

Becky

Arellcat said:

John B said:

Make sure you report her and get a record of your injuries from a doctor.
Why?
Expect a claim for damage to her vehicle - despite what she said.
Her insurance slimeballs will try and claim it was your fault for ...

I can't second this enough, get the car/driver details and report the
incident as soon as you can.

I was driven into and knocked off my bike about a fortnight ago, on a
roundabout, by a foreign driver driving a foreign-registered car, whose
windows were steaming up.

Commiserations.
Was this on a 'bent?

John B