Broken leg

[eileithyia]

Glad to hear op went ok

Early days for your case but;
Contact CTC solicitor or cycle specific solicitor (plenty in the back of cycle mags)
Keep all receipts inc all your relatives travel costs and hospital car parking tickets ( note all journeys either car/mileage or bus train etc.)
This goes for all appts once you are discharged, ie follow up appts, trips to physio etc.
Include all journeys for which you have been inconvenienced ie any journey you would normally undertake by bike.
Keep a diary of nursing care, even that by your wife. ie help washing and dressing, moving around, chauffering etc
Also inc all pain suffering, progress with physio, mobility or lack of it and return to mobility. Never too soon to start this cos your memory quickly fades. This should be on going possibly even up to 2 years.
Get a couple of quotes for replacement bike, not to mention bags, clothing etc.

Be aware this could go on for a long time do not be too anxious to settle too quickly make sure you are as good as you are going to be before settling, ie this could 2-3 years down the line for something a serious as a thigh injury and may depend on your job (physical or sedentary).

My collar bone injury is still ongoing and seeing barrister and solicitor on Tues 3.5 years on from accident.

[andy63]

Thank you , lots of things I never even thought of .
My job , I'm a builder very physical so would imagin it will take a while to get back .
I was fitting a new kitchen this weekend , it's was delivered Wednesday ,
I think the wife will be waiting awhile .
Andrew

[eileithyia]

Or employ one of your builder mates to do it and add the cost to your claim
You can add in the cost of all jobs you would normally do yourself but have to employ someone to do them for you ie gardening. That's why you can add in nursing care etc., after all if you lived alone you might need a carer to come in daily.

One of my neighbours is a builder/site manager and had a knee op Christmas time, health and safety have been very reluctant to let him back to work too soon even though his job is predominantly pen pushing these days, they were quite concerned about him being back out on site.

I also had a bit of a battle to get back to work on 'lighter duties' after my shoulder was busted, but was able to doso after discussions with occupational health.


You can see i've been there more than once!

[andy63]

Thought I'd just give a quick update
After op on Friday , had to have blood transfusion , lost a lot of blood during op. Surgeon said they had a job getting through my thigh muscles .
I had a dynamic hip repair ( sounds good )
I just got home , so long road to recovery begins .

Wife has rang ctc legal department they took al details and said someone will be in touch Monday/ Tuesday . No calls today
I shall ring tomorrow , just to chase them up .
Not heard from the police , which surprised me . Is this normal ?
Surely they would want to speak me , not that I could tell them much as I was hit from behind .

Once again thank you for all the best wishes
Andrew

[reohn2]

Andrew
Only just seen this thread,sorry to hear about the RTA hope you're back on you feet asap and back on the bike asap too.
Don't worry too much about the cycling at this stage,the most important thing is to get healed up and fit again,you wife's concern for you're safety is natural so better to play things down and try to get her to concentrate on you're healing process.Take things one step at a time after all you'll both be suffering from shock as a result of the last 5days.
Better to concentrate on the now and cross the cycling bridge when you come to it IMO.
Get well soon

[eileithyia]

Am sure they will be in touch, they will do a quick over phone interview to evaluate cost of claim, if it is a small one ie under 10,000 they streamline under a different system is my understanding. It was because there have been so many small claims for things like whiplash that have been bunging up the courts that they have changed the system a little.

Police; well as a Barrister told me today.... useless. It may be that the solcitors will have to request all paperwork etc. But they should be in contact to discuss what happened and to take your statement also to discuss what if anything is happening to the driver. A phone call to them to let them you are now out of hospital might be useful and to get details of the officer in charge.

Good to hear you are back home, that is an important step.

[andy63]

DISGUSTED !!!!!
Following my accident just had a vist from the police .
To be told no action is been taken against the driver of the van that hit me !!
He hit me from behind on a clear dry morning ,
So not even a fine or points on his licence .
So bloody angry !!!
Andrew

[Ellieb]

On the grounds that?...

[irc]

DISGUSTED !!!!!
Following my accident just had a vist from the police .
To be told no action is been taken against the driver of the van that hit me !!
He hit me from behind on a clear dry morning ,
So not even a fine or points on his licence .
So bloody angry !!!
Andrew

What reasons did they give? A broken leg is a serious injury. If there is enough evidence to prove careless or reckless driving the driver should be charged. If it was me I'd try speaking to the investigating officers supervisor. If no joy then try a formal complaint.

It's up to a driver to overtake safely I can't see any defence assuming there are witnesses. But has it been alleged you swerved in front of the van etc. Your word against his?

[andy63]

The officer who came to see , was not the one first on the scene , he turned up an hour later , .
The driver is saying the sun was in his eyes .
Which at 7.05 in June I think is hard to believe .
I asked about witness , he did not know if there where any .
The road is very wide , it's a hill with a crawler lane of sorts speed limit 30
I asked about , was driver on phone . He said unless I was killed they would not even look in to it .
Since he was on duty , last week some has reviewed paperwork and decide no further action .
Get the feeling I'm being fobbed off , I said about going to scene at 7am just to see where the sun is . Not bothered .

We are a worthless .
Andy

[snibgo]

I feel angry in your behalf, Andy. If I were you I'd take this further -- keep complaining, including to the Chief Constable. The police are capable of reversing their "no further action" decisions, when pressed.

Since when has "the sun was in my eyes" been an excuse for injuring people? The police (and all of us) should expect that if a driver can't see where he is going, he should stop. He shouldn't assume nobody is in front of him.

[Ellieb]

You've got to take this further. For a start: at 7 am the sun will have been up for over 3 hours. This is just nonsense. Perhaps thirdcrank will be along shortly with suggestions as to what course of action you should take. No wonder you are angry.

[reohn2]

.................. I'm being fobbed off ....................... Not bothered .................We are a worthless .
Andy

Yep,that is my experience too.
The police are the police in name only.I wish I could advise you but I can't,I think TC will have some words of wisdom on your situation though.
BTW FWIW I'm bl@ddy livid for you

[andy63]

Thank guys
Yes the sun in my eyes is a lame excuse this time of year
I have got to take it further , for all our sakes .
This has had a big impact on my life , I live for cycling , I enjoy my commute .
We have been trying to sort are finaces out this afternoon , things will be tight .
Ctc solicitors have been in touch .
Wish I could kick the cat lol
Andy

[thirdcrank]

... Perhaps thirdcrank will be along shortly with suggestions as to what course of action you should take. ...

irc has already posted and there's not much else that can be done.

From the compo standpoint, the matter is apparently in the hands of solicitors. It's my own feeling that too much emphasis is placed on the importance of a criminal prosecution as a step towards a successful civil action. Not everybody agrees. Ivor TT points out that since the standard of proof in a criminal trial is so much higher than in a civil case, a conviction makes the civil case a walkover. Possibly so - I just don't know - but in the same vein I could see that an acquittal might be just as strong in the other direction. I suspect that a decent police investigation which discovers all the evidence is likely to be the most value to a lawyer conducting a civil claim.

I'd suggest that anybody in this position should think of what they want to achieve. If it's compo - and that would be my own priority -then I'd be guided by my lawyer - no point in keeping a dog then barking yourself, as I often say. I'm not sure how easy it would be to have a criminal investigation reopened after it had been closed, unless there was compelling new evidence. I've had no personal experience of this since the early 1990's and even then, the emphasis was on taking early decisions to pull the plug on "accident" cases where there was no real prospect of a prosecution. As irc says, a complaint is one option. In E & W you can go direct to the IPCC. I see from their website they have even started wearing hi-viz togs.
http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/en/Pages/default.aspx
Be aware that AFAIK they investigate alleged misconduct, ie not properly taken decisions people don't like. Another point is that they only investigate the big stuff. In many cases, they supervise a police investigation. I think it's not widely appreciated that one of the biggest obstacles to setting up an organisation like the IPCC was the sheer volume of relatively small stuff which used to be investigated by police superintendents. (I mean small on the national scale, not necessarily small to those involved.) I retired some time before the IPCC was launched, but even in those days the pressure from govt., was to make the maximum use of informal resolution in public complaints.