Accident with a pedestrian on my ebike

[biker88]

Hi everyone. I had an accident with a pedestrian last week. She ran out infront of me on the approach to a set of lights, which were green. I just managed to get past her and binned the bike and flew over the handlebars and landed in the road in a heap. Smashed my shoulder. Bruised my ribs. Grazed my knee and elbow. The emergency services were on scene relatively quickly. She wasn't hurt. I was shocked at the way she ran into the road. I didn't have my action camera running as the card was full. My bike is ok.

For commuting to work and back I leave my BBS02 in P3 mode. It's just enough assitance for lugging me, laptop, books, etc. up the steep hills. I wondered if anyone has experienced anything like this and what the outcome was.

 

[nemesis]

is the person you hit making a claim,are the police involved?

 

[biker88]

Received a letter from the Police today that they are investigating.

 

[jwm]

I've had numerous incidents where a pedestrian steps into the cycle lane presuming because the cars are queued they dont need to look. Worst I have had are kids jumping off the pavement on their bikes pushing me into the traffic. Best to put it down to experience.

John

 

[nemesis]

the main question is do you have insurance cover?

 

[biker88]

I'm usually good at anticipating other road users' movements. Checking the angle of the front wheels of cars, etc. or the wheel nuts on buses or lorries to see if they've seen me or that shadow of a pedestrian crossing inbetween parked cars. I have a high power LED so others can see me and a high viz.

I've seen really awful accidents on the road. Maybe I could have avoided her if I slowed right down. But I had a green light and there were other cars behind me. There were loads of black cabs parked on the side of the road leading up to the lights. I guess there isn't much that you can do when someone runs out infront of you

 

[biker88]

No insurance cover

 

[soundwave]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/7098383.stm

 

[nemesis]

No insurance cover

maybe there are legal experts on here who could help,there are many e-bikers who could be in this situation.

 

[biker88]

That last link to the BBC page is pretty scary. Yes. If one of the Pedelecs legal experts could jump in with their thoughts please.

 

[Yamdude]

Are you trying to ascertain if you could get nicked for this ?
Dont see how you could be.... it was her fault and she wasn't injured anyway.
That link to the BBC story, isn't relevant, the cyclist was illegally riding on the pavement.

 

[soundwave]

if you kill somebody the max you can get is 2 years prison a 3200 fine or as above community service and a suspended sentence.

i doubt the police will do anything as you never hit her or she saying otherwise?

 

[nemesis]

in the bbc report it says ``wanton or furious cycling`` that sounds like a description of the way most cyclists try to ride these days and i think anyone can be charged with this if it is seen by the police.

 

[biker88]

Whilst giving my statement in the Police car they told me the girl had a scratch on her leg but no sign of ripped tights, etc. They seemed to question how my bike scratched her leg. I have front and rear Hope Mono M4's and really slammed on the brakes and binned it as hard as I could.

But without witnesses it's her word against mine.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Did you ask the police if they were going to prosecute the woman since it was her that caused the accident? Are you going to claim off her for your injuries?

 

[biker88]

I'm not an aggressive cyclist. I'm sure people are building very fast ebikes. Mine is built for range more than outright speed. I often see cyclists screaming & shouting at motorists and pedestrians.

 

[nemesis]

I'm not an aggressive cyclist. I'm sure people are building very fast ebikes. Mine is built for range more than outright speed. I often see cyclists screaming & shouting at motorists and pedestrians.

you sound like a responsible and observant rider,whatever the outcome is keep the forum informed.

 

[biker88]

I did not ask the Police if they were planned to prosecute her for causing the accident. To be honest I was pretty sore after hitting the road. Thinking back I should have asked.

No I am not claiming for my injuries. No broken bones. I just want to get back on my bike and know where I stand with all of this.

Big thank you to all of you on this forum for commenting. It is helping me piece things together from the accident.

 

[biker88]

I know. It's annoying when people start a 'help me, I'm in trouble' thread and fail to post the outcome. To me it's simply common courtesy to give back to the people that took the time to answer your request in the first place.

 

[flecc]

To some extent the distance from the lights is important. If the accident was less than 30 ft/10 metres from the green lights, the woman's action in crossing there was irresponsible and she is to blame for not taking advantage of a lights change to cross the road.

The reason I quote that distance is that it's the margin before the lights within which a driver/rider is not expected to stop for a change of the lights. If within that distance, they can reasonably assume their way is clear to proceed without slowing.
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