Advice on a hit and run accident.

[RichP]

Hello. Looking for a bit of advice if possible.
I got knocked off my bike by a hit and run back in march, got the whole thing on my helmet camera plus a winess who kindly stopped to help. Took it all to the police (same day) and they've done basically nothing - they sent out a letter in april, and ignored all subsequent emails until last week when they said they'd been unable to id the driver so were dropping the whole thing...
Anyone been in a similar position? Know any decent lawyers in the field?
Any words of wisdom gratefully recieved. I'm based in bristol by the way.
Cheers.

[Ivor Tingting]

I was hit and run by a driver in 2014. You have my sympathies. You don't mention whether you were injured or the extent of any injuries or damage to your bike? The police in my case ceased their investigations pretty sharpish. NFA - car or driver cannot be identified despite me giving a full reg. 4 weeks if I recall it took them.

Anyway in terms of compensation for any injuries you might have or repairing/replacing your bike you will have to apply to the Motor Insurance Bureau (MIB). It's quite straight forward but there is or there was a threshold of £300 on claims. The repairs to my bike came to just under £400 and my injuries would only have been classed a superficial so I didn't claim. The £300 thresh hold is really unfair if you are cyclist but that's how it is or was. Don't know if it is still the same. If you are a member of British Cycling or CyclingUK you can see if their solicitors will help you in a civil claim against the MIB, but I don't know if they will because they will want to recover all their costs and don't know if they can do so with an application to the MIB. They probably can.

If you can give more information of the circumstances of your hit and run that would be very helpful. I hope you weren't injured too badly and have now made a full recovery.

[fastpedaller]

Hello. Looking for a bit of advice if possible.
I got knocked off my bike by a hit and run back in march, got the whole thing on my helmet camera plus a winess who kindly stopped to help. Took it all to the police (same day) and they've done basically nothing - they sent out a letter in april, and ignored all subsequent emails until last week when they said they'd been unable to id the driver so were dropping the whole thing...
Anyone been in a similar position? Know any decent lawyers in the field?
Any words of wisdom gratefully recieved. I'm based in bristol by the way.
Cheers.

I'd be inclined to write to the Police asking why they haven't been able to identify the driver (if you have a number plate of the vehicle), as it's a requirement of the registered keeper to identify the driver.

[Postboxer]

The MIB should also be able to identify the insurer of the vehicle if there was one, I think here is where you need to go

https://www.mib.org.uk/check-insurance- ... -accident/

It costs £4.50 though, but if you have all the proof you need on video the insurer could only really argue about when the incident took place and whether or not they were the insurer at the time. Although hopefully the police would be able to confirm when it was reported, the witness too. If you get a solicitor involved they may well already have access to the database and they can take it from there.

[TrevA]

My son made a successful claim through the MIB a few years ago. He was knocked off from behind by a driver who stopped to see if he was OK (he wasn’t) but then drove off without giving any details. There were several witnesses who took down the reg no of the cedar, but the car or the driver couldn’t be traced. We claimed through the MIB and he was successful in getting £1500 compensation. He had a deep cut to his arm and sustained damage to his bike. Most of the payout was to cover his injury, only about £200 to cover repairs to his bike.

[mjr]

After this time, I think the police won't be able to proceed even if they did identify the driver, so that leaves making a formal complaint and giving the police commissoner an informal roasting.

Good luck claiming for damage.

[RichP]

Thanks all.
I just got a few cuts and bruises in the incident, and the bike's not worth anything anyway. Obviously a bit of compensation would be nice but primarily I'm keen to get the police to actually do their jobs and take a nutter off the road.
They have an online complaints form but I assume they'd just ignore that as well...

[atlas_shrugged]

Very sorry to hear of this hit and run. The answer is default liability for vulnerable road users as they already have on the continent.

It is time to demand that the insurer of the motor-vehicle can be identified. We can already find out the status of vehicle excise, and MOT using the number plate. So adding who is the current insurer and an ID code should be quite straight forward.

Then with this information and evidence of any witnesses together with CCTV evidence it should be possible to progress a civil claim using default liability.

[kwackers]

Does the car show up as insured? If so can't you approach their insurance directly?
(Does your house insurance have any legal cover? You may be able to use this).

You could in theory use the small claims court - the driver might suddenly become keen to hand it over to their insurers.

[slowster]

As mjr suggests you could complain to the PCC. Another option might be to go to the local media, especially since you have video evidence. I think the online versions of most local newspapers would be keen to have such a ready made newsworthy story ('man is knocked off bike, despite having this video evidence police do nothing'). Regrettably I suspect that the potential bad publicity from such coverage in the local media will have more impact than a complaint to the PCC. It might not make any difference in your particular case, but if the PCC and senior officers are on the receiving of bad publicity, it may make them give more priority and resources in future to similar cases.

[mjr]

They have an online complaints form but I assume they'd just ignore that as well...

Why assume that? It almost certainly goes to different officers so I think it is worth the time filling it out.

As other suggest, bad publicity can scare the Commissioner who is elected, so maybe write and say you're offering him opportunity to respond before the media publish the story.

[RichP]

Thanks all for the advice; really appreciated.
I'm still waiting for the police to do something constructive about this, but thanks to the above link I've since been able to make an insurance claim through the MIB website.
Cheers.