hey guys, i was wondering if anyone in the know, could tell me where my friend stands in relation to the law, the man he knocked down was ok, just a grazed elbow and a couple of scrapes (i gave him a lift home with his bike in the boot) bike had a tiny bit of damage too.

 

heres what happened.......

 

i pulled out of a junction on the industrial estate in front of a bloke on a pushbike, then my friend followed in the van, but didnt see the bloke on the bike. he didnt quite hit him, more sort of that the bloke saw him pull out, went to swerve round him and went accross his bonnet and landed on the floor. no police or ambulance were called as the fella seemed ok, and had calmed down quite a bit by the time i dropped him off at his house.

 

a couple of things i should add are that my mate was in the work van, how does this affect things? and also that the bike rider had no reflective or protective clothing, does that mean anything??

 

any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks

Depends if the man is taking any further action.

First of all legally, you should have reported the incident to the Police, the mate should report the incident to his work so you have covered yourself in the event of future proceedings, the guy might see a nice little earner in it for himself if he thinks he is suing a company.

Log times, how the incident happened and all the relevant info, so that you are armed.

If no police called are there any cameras that would have seen ? if not its the cyclists word against your mates ...

As far as I'm aware if it was dark and he had no lights or hi-viz clothing on he doesn't have a leg to stand on as he shouldn't of been riding the bike on the road as it's a legal requirement to have lights on your bike at all times. But it is a very tricky one him being in a work van shouldn't be a problem unless he wasn't ment to be in it. But I will give my sister a call in a bit and find out more as she would know being a lawyer

Depends if the man is taking any further action.

First of all legally, you should have reported the incident to the Police, the mate should report the incident to his work so you have covered yourself in the event of future proceedings, the guy might see a nice little earner in it for himself if he thinks he is suing a company.

Log times, how the incident happened and all the relevant info, so that you are armed.

 

we'll tell the boss in the morning, just so as hes in the picture. weve got a fleet of vehicles so hes more than used to bumps etc lol. i was more worried about the bloke seeing $$$ shuold my mate tell the police do you think?

If no police called are there any cameras that would have seen ? if not its the cyclists word against your mates ...

 

no cameras or anything, but a few other cars stopped....

As far as I'm aware if it was dark and he had no lights or hi-viz clothing on he doesn't have a leg to stand on as he shouldn't of been riding the bike on the road as it's a legal requirement to have lights on your bike at all times. But it is a very tricky one him being in a work van shouldn't be a problem unless he wasn't ment to be in it. But I will give my sister a call in a bit and find out more as she would know being a lawyer

 

it wasnt dark, just a bit overcast, it was about 18:45 this evening, and fully allowed to be driving the van (its his allocated work van). but it was bloody hard to see the guy in his dark clothing....... and thanks about calling your sister

we'll tell the boss in the morning, just so as hes in the picture. weve got a fleet of vehicles so hes more than used to bumps etc lol. i was more worried about the bloke seeing $$$ shuold my mate tell the police do you think?

 

I think if the company is aware of the incident, then they can be prepared for it, if they feel the need to contact police then its down to them. After speaking to the guy in your car, do you feel that he may take things further, how was it left?

no cameras or anything, but a few other cars stopped....

 

were any numbers , REg details taken .. anything like that? Im no expert but as far as it sounds if the cyclist was to raise the issue he wouldnt get anywhere with it if your mate denied it all the way... i know its not the best way to deal with it and people will think im out of order saying it, but if the correct procedure wasnt followed then he doesnt have a leg to stand on... glad the cyclist wasnt badly injured tho ( i can be nice sometimes )

he had calmed down a lot, and we were just chatting, he said he was sorry for kicking off, as he did swing for my mate but i got inbetween. but i guess kicking off was understandable lol. he seemed fine really, but did say he was going to go to a&e to get checked out (bit of a poofter if you ask me, but its probly the right thing to do). my mate offered to completely pay for any damage, even buy a new bike if thats what the guy wanted, and hes a good lad like that, so i know he wont see him wrong. although there was very little wrong with the bike other than a scraped brake lever. he did seem like he could have been a bit of a scrounger though :-(

were any numbers , REg details taken .. anything like that? Im no expert but as far as it sounds if the cyclist was to raise the issue he wouldnt get anywhere with it if your mate denied it all the way... i know its not the best way to deal with it and people will think im out of order saying it, but if the correct procedure wasnt followed then he doesnt have a leg to stand on... glad the cyclist wasnt badly injured tho ( i can be nice sometimes )

 

he didnt take any reg etc, but i gave him my card and he said hed give me a shout in the morning. mentioned not wanting to go through insurance etc as he left my car, but you never know with people these days, he may say hes traumatised and try and sue for billions, you know how people are these days

it wasnt dark, just a bit overcast, it was about 18:45 this evening, and fully allowed to be driving the van (its his allocated work van). but it was bloody hard to see the guy in his dark clothing....... and thanks about calling your sister

 

In that case he doesn't have a leg to stand on as he has to be able to make himself visible to other road users and if he was wearing dark clothing with no lights than he has put himself at risk and the bike without lights is not classed as road legal even though it is only a push bike hope that helps

In that case he doesn't have a leg to stand on as he has to be able to make himself visible to other road users and if he was wearing dark clothing with no lights than he has put himself at risk and the bike without lights is not classed as road legal even though it is only a push bike hope that helps

 

thats my opinion too, but is it the law? ive ogt issues with pushbikes on the road anyway, i think there deadly, if you come round a corner you can go straight into the back of a slow biker :-( but thats a gripe for another day lol

thats my opinion too, but is it the law? ive ogt issues with pushbikes on the road anyway, i think there deadly, if you come round a corner you can go straight into the back of a slow biker :-( but thats a gripe for another day lol

 

It wasnt reported to the authoritories so u have nothing to worry about.... even if he went to the police afterwatds they would ask him ' why you only coming/calling us now' and if they asked you why you didnt call its because the cyclist didnt want to report it....... it will just be 1 word vs another... :)

thats my opinion too, but is it the law? ive ogt issues with pushbikes on the road anyway, i think there deadly, if you come round a corner you can go straight into the back of a slow biker :-( but thats a gripe for another day lol

 

It is a legal requirement I used to be a bike technician and every bike has to have a pdi test before it is aloud to leave the store and even if we had a bike brought it without lights we were not aloud by law to let it leave again unless it passed this test so if it had no lights or reflectors it wasn't going anywhere unless the owner have them to us

thanks guys! makes me feel a little better :-)

he had calmed down a lot, and we were just chatting, he said he was sorry for kicking off, as he did swing for my mate but i got inbetween. but i guess kicking off was understandable lol. he seemed fine really, but did say he was going to go to a&e to get checked out (bit of a poofter if you ask me, but its probly the right thing to do). my mate offered to completely pay for any damage, even buy a new bike if thats what the guy wanted, and hes a good lad like that, so i know he wont see him wrong. although there was very little wrong with the bike other than a scraped brake lever. he did seem like he could have been a bit of a scrounger though :-(

 

I had a similar accident as a teen, went over the bonnet, it was daylight, the driver just pulled out but didn't see me. Was long before the days of the no win no fee vultures tho. Anyway, I got checked over at A and E and was bruised but ok. Bike looked fine, but my dad insisted on taking it to our bike shop just to be safe. Good job he did as the frame was fractured, I would never have known otherwise. So, your mate might have to be prepared to shell out for a new bike, or claim on insurance for this? I had to wait ages for the driver's insurance to pay out for my new bike :cursing:

I had a similar accident as a teen, went over the bonnet, it was daylight, the driver just pulled out but didn't see me. Was long before the days of the no win no fee vultures tho. Anyway, I got checked over at A and E and was bruised but ok. Bike looked fine, but my dad insisted on taking it to our bike shop just to be safe. Good job he did as the frame was fractured, I would never have known otherwise. So, your mate might have to be prepared to shell out for a new bike, or claim on insurance for this? I had to wait ages for the driver's insurance to pay out for my new bike :cursing:

 

cheers jane! hes more than willing to buy a new bike for him! would probly make him feel better :-)

one thing your missing

 

an accident has occured and it's an offence not to report the accident to the police, i would contact them

 

few years ago a stupid girl jumped over a railing onto the bonnet of my car, she fell to the ground got up and ran away, i went to the police station and told them, they were trying their best to get me to say i knocked her over but i never did, i was thanked for letting them know and nothing ever came from it

Depends if the man is taking any further action.

First of all legally, you should have reported the incident to the Police, the mate should report the incident to his work so you have covered yourself in the event of future proceedings, the guy might see a nice little earner in it for himself if he thinks he is suing a company.

Log times, how the incident happened and all the relevant info, so that you are armed.

 

Exactly what Graham says mate!

 

And a word of warning - if there were no witnesses and the general circumstances imply your mate was at fault (ie he pulled out of a junction) then the insurers will undoubtedly take the cyclist's word of events. Even if there were mitigating circumstances like no hi-viz etc.

 

One of my drivers knocked a cyclist of his bike in London last year. It was on a quiet road; my driver was indicating to turn left as appropriate, but as he turned a cyclist decided to pass him on the inside.

 

There was no cycle or bus lane and the cyclist should have seen my driver slowing to make his turn (and no, my driver hadn't overtaken him previously) but no. Anyway, the insurers ended up taking the cyclist's word of events just to avoid further action.

 

Oh and it did turn out that the cyclist was a lawyer......:cursing:

 

Richard:winkiss: