Newbie advice, knocked off by car

[Webbie34]

Good morning,

Just after a bit of advice I was knocked off my bike by a car doing a u turn right in front of me a couple of weeks ago , the road was a normal 2 lane B road in a built up area the car was sitting in traffic on the other side of said road deciding to do a u turn coming onto my side of the road leaving me no time to react, I ended up making contact with the N/S/F wing and going over the Bonnet. I was riding in the correct position about a foot and a half away from Kerb.

The driver did stop and was very polite ( although they did not get out of their car ) instead I hobbled over and spoke to them via passenger side window. Unfortunately no witnesses stopped in fact people just started to drive around the car and me and my bike while still on the floor, but there is a council CCTV camera covering the area so that should of caught it all.


The driver did call an ambulance on my request, however I foolishly asked them to cancel it ( adrenaline has kicked in making me start to feel better) but after an hour or so the pain really kicked in so ended up on a&e , nothing broken just a badly swollen/ sore knee , bruises and a few scratches causing me to be signed off work as I am on crutches being a car mechanic clearly I can’t do my job atm.

Now , unfortunately the pictures of the car I got are blurry and I could not make out the vrm. I did not clock this until we had made our own way,
we did exchange numbers with the driver texting me first saying sorry and asking if I am ok etc.

The problem started when I asked for their details the next day as I need to make a claim via their insurance for lost wages etc. They refused to give me anything all I got is that their dad is reporting me to their insurance company and solicitor as there is damage to the car. I tried to reason with them explaining that’s fine and they’re right but by law they need to provide details under Sec 170 rta with 24 hours, nothing heard.

I self reported the accident the next day via the police website. Stating what had happened and their refusal to give details.

After a couple of days I decided to put a post up on social media asking if anyone had any pictures or videos of the incident, luckily someone sent me a brilliant picture of the car( VRM clear ) in the road with me and my bike on the floor.
I passed This on the police.
Also I have managed to find out who the car is insured with I have contacted them who are now investigating it. ( there seems to be some discrepancies over the driver as they asked me how sure I was with my description of said driver ) which is worry and that the driver is not admitting liability instead saying it was my fault.
The insurance company stated they will look at the CCTV.

Now my question is ,should I instruct a solicitor on my behalf maybe one of these No win no fee ones ? Or just wait and see what happens with their insurance company investigation ? This is my first time I have been knocked off in 30+ years of riding so unsure what to do.

Sorry about the long post lol.

Many thanks

[Vantage]

Sorry to learn of this.
I've no experience of them myself although I've been hit more times than I care to remember, but, https://www.cyclinguk.org/member-benefi ... ident-line I think is your first port of call.

[roubaixtuesday]

Get a solicitor pronto - I hate to write this, but you've already left it rather late. I used the cycling UK recommendation.

If the person who sent you the pic can act as a witness that may help.

Keep diary of injuries and receipts of any costs.

[rareposter]

Have a read of this:
https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/131099/

It started out as a very long-running thread but got edited down and archived as a guide.

This is also a very useful guide:
https://www.willcycle.com/2021/11/04/crash-card/

The police might be more interested by the refusal to give details (that's an offence in itself) - sadly if you're basically OK, they'll be a lot less interested in the incident, it'll be left to insurance to sort out.

And get the details of the witness who sent you the photo as well. Willing to bet that CCTV will be near useless now, it needs to be picked up very quickly as it tends to be stored in a degrading format (ie it'll be full res for a week, half res for 3 weeks then deleted entirely simply for storage reasons).

[Webbie34]

Thank you for the advice. I have now instructed a solicitor

[JohnW]

Thank you for the advice. I have now instructed a solicitor

Are you not a CUK member Webbie? I've been in CTC/CUK now for 48 years. Motorists have got worse down those years. I don't want to be boring and go into detail, but I recommend being a member if only for the legal company that looks after us. It certainly looked after me.

Having no witnesses is a problem, but taking vehicle reg numbers, reporting to the police, making a statement and getting an incident number is always a good plan.

I wish you all the best with this.

[Dingdong]

Thank you for the advice. I have now instructed a solicitor

There are specialist cyclist claims solicitors. My friend was knocked off 7 years ago, and went with one in Newcastle I think. Got five figures compo and the driver banned for 3 years.