Oh man that's rough! Take it easy and thank goodness you survived. Appreciate the share.
"Sorry, he has a problem with his eyes!" says the passenger.
- Thread starter brightonebikes
- Start date
Yes, cheers. I'll be taking a somewhat more protective line next time I take that corner I think, leave myself a bit more of a back door exit and plan for the unexpected to happen!
What a shocker !!!Bloody Hell Darren, you are one lucky sod to come away practically unscathed barring bruises and scratch's. I would have gone a bit more ape and rammed quite a few other expletives at them. Irrefutable cam evidence and bike damage plus lucky you still have a few of your lives left, hope you get a good settlement. The driving was beyond belief and they should never have been allowed behind the wheel. I am also flabbergasted that no one else stopped quite unbelievable.
How did the wife take it when she viewed the footage, I can imagine you had to cover the little ones ears.
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I had a very similar accident in October 2014 where a car turned right into a side road I was cycling towards giving me nowhere to go accept into the side of his nice Audi car. It was a nice day so I was in a T shirt and shorts, ouch.
My language was quite colourful for a while until I calmed down a bit. No camera but in fairness he did stop, admit liability and give me his details. Also a wonderful old couple stopped, said they had seen it all, "he could have killed you", and gave me their details as a witness.
I was quite pleased to see that I had put a large dent in the Audi. Later that day I reported it to the Police who eventually wrote to me to say that they probably weren't going to speak to the driver. I kicked up a fuss and eventually they did speak to the driver and he had to go on some sort of driving course that he had to pay for and also declare to his insurance company.
I also had to brave casualty to have my injuries assessed. Although I am not a great fan of the personal injury culture as I and the bike were damaged I got a couple of the lawyers I found on the internet to send me their forms. In each case the contract meant that they would keep 25% of the damages they secured.
In reading their forms I noticed that they wanted to know if I was a member of a Trade Union. I am and wondered why they wanted to know. I rang my Union and they said that their legal team would pursue the claim on my behalf and I would keep all of the money they secured with no deductions.
It took quite a while, probably the best part of a year, and was quite a palaver with a lot of tooing and frowing, but in the end I got around £5500.
My son got a gaming computer of his dreams, a bit like soundwaves set up, and wondered whether I could get knocked off my bike more often, although he did say that he did not want me to be hurt too badly, bless him, and I bought my Haibike sDuro. The Oxygen Emate City that I was riding at the time came out of the incident in much better shape that it had any right to and I am still riding it.
For my sons sake it is a good job I did not know about Reise and Muller bikes at the time or I might have bought a top of the range Delete model like croxdens with their super expensive 14 speed hub gears that would have left no money for the super gaming computer. And with that the windfall was mostly gone. I am usually quite careful with money but in this case I just mostly spent it.
My language was quite colourful for a while until I calmed down a bit. No camera but in fairness he did stop, admit liability and give me his details. Also a wonderful old couple stopped, said they had seen it all, "he could have killed you", and gave me their details as a witness.
I was quite pleased to see that I had put a large dent in the Audi. Later that day I reported it to the Police who eventually wrote to me to say that they probably weren't going to speak to the driver. I kicked up a fuss and eventually they did speak to the driver and he had to go on some sort of driving course that he had to pay for and also declare to his insurance company.
I also had to brave casualty to have my injuries assessed. Although I am not a great fan of the personal injury culture as I and the bike were damaged I got a couple of the lawyers I found on the internet to send me their forms. In each case the contract meant that they would keep 25% of the damages they secured.
In reading their forms I noticed that they wanted to know if I was a member of a Trade Union. I am and wondered why they wanted to know. I rang my Union and they said that their legal team would pursue the claim on my behalf and I would keep all of the money they secured with no deductions.
It took quite a while, probably the best part of a year, and was quite a palaver with a lot of tooing and frowing, but in the end I got around £5500.
My son got a gaming computer of his dreams, a bit like soundwaves set up, and wondered whether I could get knocked off my bike more often, although he did say that he did not want me to be hurt too badly, bless him, and I bought my Haibike sDuro. The Oxygen Emate City that I was riding at the time came out of the incident in much better shape that it had any right to and I am still riding it.
For my sons sake it is a good job I did not know about Reise and Muller bikes at the time or I might have bought a top of the range Delete model like croxdens with their super expensive 14 speed hub gears that would have left no money for the super gaming computer. And with that the windfall was mostly gone. I am usually quite careful with money but in this case I just mostly spent it.
Cheers Neal. I'm really wondering whether the old guy was even supposed to be driving. Time will tell on that one, but I'll be amazed if he's deemed fit to drive. The reading number plate test for driving licence is utter outdated rubbish and doesn't consider peripheral vision at all. Doctor or eye specialist advice should be sought and dvla act accordingly on that. That is, if they gave him a licence in the first place?
And as for the folk behind that drove on by, pretty sh*tty of them
Sent from here to there with computer wizardry.
After a young school girl was killed in Colchester, police now have more on the spot power to take away licences.
'Cassie's Law': 609 drivers lose licence after eye test
Might want to mention that to the police esp considering the passenger's inital frank admission, and your observation.
When I worked at hospital rotating through Care of Elderly and ophthalmology* I saw many case of folk with very poor eyesight still driving. If senior doctors had concerns they would tell the patient to speak to their insurance companies about their capability to drive and leave it in their hands - as if they would. As a biker I got a few docs to be a more strenous in strongly recommending to the patients to hang up their car keys but that was the most that they would do.
* Classic case was a patient who drove into hospital to have a cataract day surgery and was seriously visually impaired in both eyes - they apparently tailgated cars in front for over 10 miles to follow the road. Even more scarily they were quite prepared to drive home following the procedure....
'Cassie's Law': 609 drivers lose licence after eye test
Might want to mention that to the police esp considering the passenger's inital frank admission, and your observation.
When I worked at hospital rotating through Care of Elderly and ophthalmology* I saw many case of folk with very poor eyesight still driving. If senior doctors had concerns they would tell the patient to speak to their insurance companies about their capability to drive and leave it in their hands - as if they would. As a biker I got a few docs to be a more strenous in strongly recommending to the patients to hang up their car keys but that was the most that they would do.
* Classic case was a patient who drove into hospital to have a cataract day surgery and was seriously visually impaired in both eyes - they apparently tailgated cars in front for over 10 miles to follow the road. Even more scarily they were quite prepared to drive home following the procedure....
D
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I'm glad you're mainly OK. I'm not surprised you let out a few expletives. We all do after something like that. I hope you get it sorted without too much hassle. I bet that that driver didn't have insurance or a licence. A normal driver would have got out fairly quickly. Have you had it confirmed by the police whether he did or didn't?
To be fair it is an extremely difficult corner. The driver was making a right hand turn up a steep incline from a stationary position. The road ahead of him turns 90 degrees left, uphill, with visibility for about 15 yards.
I always expect someone to cut in front of me when I go down that hill.
He is still a poor driver but you didn't give yourself much of an opportunity to stop.
I always expect someone to cut in front of me when I go down that hill.
He is still a poor driver but you didn't give yourself much of an opportunity to stop.
I agree. He had at least a tenth of a second where he did nothing but somersault over the car bonnet put in front of him and his bike.
You have to assume that your right of way is being given to you. Otherwise we'd all be driving and riding around like nervous wrecks. That guy shouldn't have been on the road in a vehicle, probably doesn't speak English and doesn't know the score regarding driving in this country. Otherwise, he'd have got out of the car, if he could see where he was going, and apologised.
It may well be a slightly blind bend. But the driver was even more blind than it.
"WTF! Are you blind?"
"Yeah actually, I am a bit".
I have just read the link review of the bike you were riding. Damaging that bike has to hurt almost as much as hitting the car.
The admission from the passenger say's it all, however a simple "sorry mate are you all right" also doesn't cut it with me. Even worse the driver gave Darren a nonchalant wave as he was picking himself off the road. The driver wasn't cautious enough and should have at least indicated and given way turning right at a hazardous juncture of the road knowing his vision to be impaired.
The passenger was also at fault, he allowed the other person to drive and also put himself at jeopardy with the knowledge that the driver had poor vision. I guess this had been going on for a long time and they thought thye could get away with it.
Strangely it looks like the front passenger seat was vacant so the pax was either sitting in the rear for his own safety or the vehicle was being used as an illegal taxi and the guy in the back was his fare !!!
In this case Darren was very lucky and survived to ride another day, the car driver can count his lucky stars that no serious injury was suffered but their conscious probably isn't bothered about that, otherwise they wouldn't have been on the road in the first place. My view is take them to the cleaners and lets hope off the road for good.
The passenger was also at fault, he allowed the other person to drive and also put himself at jeopardy with the knowledge that the driver had poor vision. I guess this had been going on for a long time and they thought thye could get away with it.
Strangely it looks like the front passenger seat was vacant so the pax was either sitting in the rear for his own safety or the vehicle was being used as an illegal taxi and the guy in the back was his fare !!!
In this case Darren was very lucky and survived to ride another day, the car driver can count his lucky stars that no serious injury was suffered but their conscious probably isn't bothered about that, otherwise they wouldn't have been on the road in the first place. My view is take them to the cleaners and lets hope off the road for good.
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Wow.
That was some scary moment.
I dont know what was worse, the fact that it happened or the response about having a problem with his eyes!
Think Ill be sticking to the cycle paths and tracks a lot more rather than saving a mile by going on the main roads.
Glad to hear you are okay.
Thanks Wicky. In my experience it's the family and/or friends who intervene with an elderly person who's failing eyes and reactions convince them to stop driving. I got the impression it was quite the opposite here!
Once piece of advice I received regarding the passenger's involvement is below:
"There are also some potential criminal liability issues regarding the passenger - who knows the driver can't see properly. If this is a case where the passenger is using someone to drive for him (perhaps because he's lost his licence etc), the car belongs to the passenger etc, we are approaching the territory of him aiding and abetting the commission of an offence. I am not sure that is a route the police would want to go down, but they should at least be asking the question "what role did you play in encouraging or facilitating this man driving this car, when you knew he had problems with his eyes?"
There was also a small child in the rear seats. Would they really put that child at such risk? Plus the child seemed to have free run of the back seats as they were climbing around the back of the car rather than being restrained by child seat. It's just not clever stuff!
The cam is a GoPro session 4 (the little cube one) in a chest mount. I wonder whether it's more or less likely to get damaged on a helmet? Or more likely to cause an injury if crushed into your chest? Neither probably!
Nothing like a bit of local knowledge, eh! Cheers rolando177.
Try watching the video again. He's not stationary before he turns, he keeps moving and turns straight across the oncoming lane. I've driven that road a lot and it's more than possible to see what's coming down the hill, providing you take sufficient time, care and attention to check.
The 90 degree turn left uphill that you refer to is a one way street, it's just a right turn he's making, and from the position to turn into that side road, the view is very clear for seeing up the road to your left to check if anything's coming. Although it wouldn't surprise me if he was heading up the one way street backwards, having missed the no entry sign right in front of his face!
"I'm really sorry, he have a problem with his eyes."
In a criminal context, it's pretty meaningless. An unqualified opinion, from a back seat pax. In reality, it's worthwhile knowing about. Although, I doubt if they'll even pursue this information. Because the video evidence is sufficient for your claim, 100%.
In a criminal context, it's pretty meaningless. An unqualified opinion, from a back seat pax. In reality, it's worthwhile knowing about. Although, I doubt if they'll even pursue this information. Because the video evidence is sufficient for your claim, 100%.
I'm sure the solicitors will do their job well. My main concern at the moment is that the guy is checked out. My son's school is not far from there, in fact there are several schools nearby. If that had been my wife with my son on the back seat of her bike, I dread to think how they may have ended up!
Hey, I am on your side!
When you turn right in to Robertson Road it is difficult to see up Millers Road - the direction you were coming from. That is the 90 degree bend with poor visibility.
I make that turn every day.
I bet you will ride down that road more slowly next time. I will certainly turn right even more carefully - wouldn't want to end up on Pedelecs.
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