Cycling UK Forum

Well I've just been the victim of a hit and run accident tonight whilst on my way to the Royal Mail collection depot. http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=letchwo ... 5,,0,13.65

Turning right at roundabout from Letchworth Gate and see an Audi slowing down at the 2nd exit so I slow to make sure he has seen me and to give myself a chance should he not, I'm pretty much past the exit and he just carries on into me (albeit at low speed) despite the fact I was less than 2 feet from his face as we were almost alongside, I try to swerve to the right but get hit on the left of the back wheel throwing me to the ground to my right.

All said and done I've a minor grazed elbow, bruised buttock and a little twinge in the lower back which will be around for a day or so but nothing serious(Ambulance did attend)

He stands over me and says he's not going anywhere, just stay there, and the classic SMIDSY statement. Some other people come over telling me not to move and despite what he said he gets in his car, swerves around myself and the bike & bombs off at high speed with witnesses standing all around.

Not one person who'd stopped managed to get his registration plate and I was lying flat on my back which was hurting at the time. Plod turn up a few minutes later but despite them doing a quick sweep he's long gone.
My open pro ceramic is now a crisp (Worse when I let the tyre down..doh) and to add insult to injury he ran over my night glasses when he sped off My jacket however is unmarked so a little positive.
Big raps to one lady who was very concerned and helped enormously, so thank you whoever you are.

HOWEVER FOR THE PONDLIFE THAT DID THE DEED, I'LL BE WATCHING OUT FOR YOU, YOU SCUMBAG (Is that better!), SO YOU BEST BE LOOKING OVER YOUR SHOULDER FOR THE NEXT MONTH OR SO!

I am sorry to hear that.

Ever since the first time a car downed me on my motorbike and drove off, I have got into the habit of immediately reading and repeating their number plates.

I was once the witness to a crash where the guy stopped and then later we realised he had gone, so a warning to all to get that number plate even if they appear to be staying.

I remember once lying on a roundabout under my motorcycle, chanting a number until somebody stopped and pulled it off me.

yeah, I think it was the combination of my back hurting and the fact he was standing over me just took me away from asking someone to get his plate. I couldn't see the vehicle from where I lay otherwise I would have...still aside from the wheel I'm in one piece.
I'm guessing that the ctc insurance is just for claims made against you, there's no victim fund for non insured/non identified driver cases? it's always the bloody bike that gets it.grrrr

It is possibly better for us that motorists dont know that nothing will happen to them in cases like this, it would be dangerous for us if they knew.
However it does mean that you didnt get the chance to get your wheel repairs paid for.

Another possibility is that he had had a few too many executive drinks before getting into his executive car and that is just about the only thing that will get him into trouble.

Sorry to hear about yout situation Tony,I hope the "pondlife" surfaces at some point to be "netted"

My sympathies.

You might get this in the local paper, preferably with a photo of yourself looking suitable hurt (though perhaps not the bruised buttock). This might prompt a guilty twinge in the driver, or anyone who notices his scratched car.

I dunno what the legal implication of this might be, but locals need warning about this hit-and-run driver.

It was a youngish guy and he was pretty close to me as he bent over and didn't have even the slightest whiff of booze on him.
I'm going to contact the local paper though not sure a mug shot (never mind my cheek ) would help as it might scare off small children etc...lol

Thanks for that TC, it looks like personal injuries only but in the intro it mentions property damage, how much do I get for a graze and sore back & buttock, enough to cover a wheel

Tonyf33 wrote: ... it looks like personal injuries only but in the intro it mentions property damage, how much do I get for a graze and sore back & buttock, enough to cover a wheel

I always thought the MIB scheme only covered personal injuries and I said that in a post some time ago. One of the zillions of people with better knowledge than mine, correctly pointed out that it also covers damage. It may be that this has been extended over the years - it's the sort of thing I would have learned about decades ago without receiving any of the updates by ESP.

One thing's for sure, if you don't give a go, you'll get zilch.

meic wrote: I have got into the habit of immediately reading and repeating their number plates.

I have become a bit obsessive about this when I see a car. What I have noticed is that a number plate is sufficiently small that it can be taken in in an instant, without the need to scan the eye. However, if I start saying it to myself (even silently), it will take several seconds to read it (and by then the car can have gone from view). Rather than retaining the information in my brain's short-term auditory store, I can look at the picture I've retained. I look away from number plates immediately, so that I won't get sloppy. What I can't tell you yet is whether I would still be able to retain the picture after a bang on the head or when in pain....exactly when the information would become useful.

Each to their own memory trick.

I catch the number as a whole in a glance. It is after that that I chant it, otherwise I would soon forget it.

With number plates it's easy to get a number or letter out of place. If this happens, I check possibilities online using a car insurance website - it will tell you the car type, which should match what you remember, if it doesn't you've probably got the plate wrong. Better to do that than give the wrong plate to the police or whatever.

thelawnet wrote:With number plates it's easy to get a number or letter out of place. If this happens, I check possibilities online using a car insurance website - it will tell you the car type, which should match what you remember, if it doesn't you've probably got the plate wrong. Better to do that than give the wrong plate to the police or whatever.

Or the car is on a false plate...

In my parents' village they are part of a scheme with the Police where locals have use of a speed camera from time to time (shared between a number of villages). Two of them operate, one to check speed and one to note number plates. The police have found that roughly 30% of the vehicles reported for speeding do not have valid number plates. Initially they thought it was the users not noting the numbers correctly, so they joined them for a couple of weeks only to find exactly the same results.

thelawnet wrote:With number plates it's easy to get a number or letter out of place. If this happens, I check possibilities online using a car insurance website - it will tell you the car type, which should match what you remember, if it doesn't you've probably got the plate wrong. Better to do that than give the wrong plate to the police or whatever.

From an evidential POV, there's a world of difference between being able to say in a CJA statement, "I saw that the reg was AB55XYZ; I memorised this and made a note on the back of a receipt (or whatever) within a few minutes and then handed it to PC49 Dixon; I have signed a label identifying this exhibit," and "I tried to remember the reg but when I checked I realised I had got it wrong so I played about on the internet till I found something that fitted the make, model and colour." This is where the well known phrase or saying "beyond reasonable doubt" comes into prominence.

Of course, in the desire to see some form of justice, some might be tempted to make the first statement, when the second would have been nearer the truth. That's up to them, I suppose, but a few months later, the witness box might be a very lonely place. On oath and after a I couple of I put it to you's, isn't the time to be having a crisis of conscience.

Deckie wrote:

thelawnet wrote:With number plates it's easy to get a number or letter out of place. If this happens, I check possibilities online using a car insurance website - it will tell you the car type, which should match what you remember, if it doesn't you've probably got the plate wrong. Better to do that than give the wrong plate to the police or whatever.

Or the car is on a false plate...

In my parents' village they are part of a scheme with the Police where locals have use of a speed camera from time to time (shared between a number of villages). Two of them operate, one to check speed and one to note number plates. The police have found that roughly 30% of the vehicles reported for speeding do not have valid number plates. Initially they thought it was the users not noting the numbers correctly, so they joined them for a couple of weeks only to find exactly the same results.

Now that is scary.