http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: Cars really hurt en Wed, 13 May 2026 02:28:47 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910&page=2#post-208362 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 18:19:32 +0000 Edinburgh Cycle Training 208362@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>No other vehicles were involved in my off (so I'm told,) so thankfully none of these potential hassles.</p> <p>Not knowing what happened, got the bike checked out anyway. The Cycle Service stripped it, unbent bent bits, replaced the bar tape and put it back together for £40+ Very reasonable I thought. I'd recommend. </p> <p>Was very grateful to the Park Rangers for looking after my bike for a couple of days for me. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910&page=2#post-208359 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 17:34:56 +0000 wee folding bike 208359@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>In December I folded the bike up and put it on the driver's back seat while he drove me to school. I asked him if he wanted some tea but he was OK. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910&page=2#post-208353 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 16:18:10 +0000 gdm 208353@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@crowriver yeah - I've got the incident number from the police and have got in touch with my insurers so hopefully they'll take it all from there.</p> <p>Fingers crossed that all that needs to come out is the repairs to the bike but it's a relief to know that things are in motion in case I need something in addition to my parecetemol and ibuprofen cocktail. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910&page=2#post-208351 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 16:11:58 +0000 wingpig 208351@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><blockquote><em>"...and neither wheel was turning..."</em></blockquote></p> <p>My frame was deemed dead (independently by two shops) after a less hospitalisable impact (where quite clearly remember the impact and exactly what I shouted at the driver as I sprang to my feet). Get his insurance details now, before the inspection and quote-for-replacement charges mount up. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910&page=2#post-208350 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 16:06:32 +0000 crowriver 208350@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Sounds like a fair concussion you suffered there!</p> <p>I know you don't want/need the hassle, but you should probably ring the police to get an incident number, and see if there will be any charges brought at all.</p> <p>You'll find the incident number useful when dealing with insurers. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910&page=2#post-208348 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 16:02:02 +0000 chdot 208348@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>All sounds a bit more than a 'minor incident/inconvenience'. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910&page=2#post-208344 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 15:46:05 +0000 gdm 208344@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I must have got up quickly afterwards as I next remember standing on the pavement, so while I can understand the logic of staying put till help arrives I'm not sure my frame of mind at the time would have helped and I've no real idea what actually happened. With hindsight I perhaps could have let the driver take me all the way to hospital but I was just worried given the pain and spasms going along my spine. Again, not really all 'there' in the immediate aftermath. </p> <p>On the bicycle issue, a local resident kindly took the bike which the driver had to remind me of as I'd obviously forgotten. I just remember someone taking it and seeing it with it's buckled wheel etc. When my wife and I went to collect it, I realised it had been locked up by my own padlock, which is crazy as it means I'd needed to have given the resident my keys and him returned them to me and I don't remember that at all!</p> <p>I don't know where my helmet is either!</p> <p>I didn't even know for sure where it was going to be so fortunately it was just locked outside where I could find it. I had to leave it to my wife to (wo)manhandle it into the boot and neither wheel was turning so she had to carry it all the way. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910&page=2#post-208342 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 15:21:24 +0000 WickyWocky 208342@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>When my husband was ambulanced away the police took his bike into safe keeping. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910&page=2#post-208335 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 14:48:02 +0000 twinspark 208335@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@unhurt</p> <p>"I have wondered what happens to your bike if you're ambulanced away?"...</p> <p>When a cyclist collapsed in our street and was ambulanced away I offered to put their bike in our bike shed. The WPC said thank you and she would just take my details so the bike could be repatriated at a later time. She then came to say it was OK as a van was coming to take the bike to the Police Station. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910&page=2#post-208325 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 14:30:56 +0000 Arellcat 208325@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>What 'rights' do employers have about compensation for staff who are off (esp for longer periods)?</em></p> <p>I'm not sure (and I am not an HR expert) that employers have any rights in that respect unless the employer was required to recruit temporarily in order to manage the absence. When a member of staff becomes unavailable owing to medical leave, that loss of resource has to be accommodated in the same manner whether that leave was the result of planned or unplanned events.</p> <p>But if the leave was the result of injury from an incident at work then the employer is liable to the individual, but a third party might be liable to the employer. For example, you might employ a chauffeur and provide a car, and if they were injured because someone else drove into them then you have a duty to your chauffeur to manage their time off work to recover, but insurance companies would have to battle it out so that you could repair or replace the car and perhaps also be able to pay for the hiring of another chauffeur for the duration of the recovery. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910&page=2#post-208323 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 14:20:40 +0000 I were right about that saddle 208323@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>In the motorcycling community it is common practice not to get up until an ambulance arrives any time you're knocked off, regardless of how you feel. Forces all concerned to respect the formal processes when there might be a tendancy to do otherwise, given the othering of those on two wheels powered or otherwise.</p> <p>Oh, and for the bike you could ask Jalnar at the Bike Station to do a bells and whistles service and inspection. £80 and he <em>will</em> spot anything out of order if you tell him it's been crashed. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910&page=2#post-208321 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 14:17:16 +0000 Darkerside 208321@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Depends if you have a spinal injury :) If not it's a wildly unpleasant way to spend several hours.</p> <p>I only point it out because if you've slid off the bike and can be confident you haven't put any energy through your spine, staying on the ground waiting for the ambulance you don't really need might not be the best move. </p> <p>Definitely not saying that applies in this case! </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910&page=2#post-208320 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 14:15:17 +0000 unhurt 208320@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I have wondered what happens to your bike if you're ambulanced away? When I was hit on St Johns Road I ended up getting a ride to my friend's nearby place in the paramedic vehicle for on-site patching up - my friend wheeled my rather bent bike along the road for me. If she hadn't, would the police have left it on the roadside, or would they take it away for future retrieval? I was genuinely worried about this at the time... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910&page=2#post-208318 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 14:11:12 +0000 neddie 208318@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>you're likely to be strapped to a spinal board</em></p> <p>Presumably there is a good reason for that... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910&page=2#post-208313 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 14:01:45 +0000 chdot 208313@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Just thinking aloud (not this case specific) -</p> <p>What 'rights' do employers have about compensation for staff who are off (esp for longer periods)? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910&page=2#post-208312 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 13:58:36 +0000 Darkerside 208312@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Echo all the above commiserations. Also echo the "definitely have a chat to the driver's insurers" suggestions. At the very least I'd be wanting a repair shop to give the whole frame a once-over - several tonnes of moving metal carries an awful lot of energy! </p> <p>It's not worth the risk of having your front fork fold under you the next time you hit a bump at speed. </p> <p>PS: note if you do wait for an ambulance, you're likely to be strapped to a spinal board (not a pleasant experience in itself), and your bike isn't coming with you... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910#post-208308 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 13:54:56 +0000 559 208308@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@gdm, not good , hope you are feeling better.</p> <p>Would echo @Laidback comments re “urban freeway” it is too easy to drive from Meadowbank Terrace on to Dukes Walk without any deaccelerating or manoeuvring. That is not said as an excuse, drivers must and should take responsibility for their own actions. </p> <p>If it was the other way around they would be without hesitation claiming via their insurance for every damage and inconvenience. </p> <p>Don’t be reasonable, be practical.<br /> • Your <strike>bike</strike> transport may be a write off<br /> • You have sustained injuries<br /> • Had to take time off work<br /> • Inconvenienced your home life<br /> • Potentially go to physio </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910#post-208307 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 13:39:10 +0000 neddie 208307@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Sorry to hear about your crash, gdm. Hope you recover quickly.</p> <p>No use to you now, but for the benefit of others:</p> <p>I've heard the best thing to do after a crash is to stay on the ground* and wait for the ambulance to arrive, no matter how lightly injured you are. That way the authorities are forced to take things seriously.</p> <p>*After dragging yourself away from any immediate danger.<br /> **I realise it may be hard to stop yourself from getting up, with the adrenaline pumping, potential embarrassment etc. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910#post-208304 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 13:10:25 +0000 gdm 208304@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Cheers, @wingpig. Hopefully he won't end up being difficult like your own experience but that's a good resource to know about for finding his insurance details if need be.</p> <p>As friends have being saying, while it's good that he was contrite afterwards, I do need to keep asking myself if he would be having the same doubts about pursuing me if the fault in a crash had been my own. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910#post-208303 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 12:50:05 +0000 wingpig 208303@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@gdm After my careless driver from December 2014 refused to settle privately (after stating he would do so (with the police as witnesses) at the scene) then refused to provide his own insurance details (he had admitted his name, phone number and email) I extracted them from askMID.com for £4; the perpetrator's insurer then did most of the legwork (with some nagging and course-correction) towards restoring to me an equivalent bicycle. I had been preparing to contact my own insurer but was pleasantly surprised to be able to directly contact his without bothering mine - they were also very solicitous regarding injuries, giving many opportunities to report them and saying that at no point would this affect my right to get lawyery at a later date.<br /> Bicycle Legal weren't available as I had only minor skin-scrapes and hadn't insisted on being ambulanced away (which seemed to be the trigger the police would have required to do anything), but they would probably be more interested in you. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910#post-208295 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 11:30:24 +0000 gdm 208295@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@crowriver - cheers, that's a good suggestion and does sound a little more measured than going straight for the lawyers. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910#post-208293 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 11:23:48 +0000 crowriver 208293@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@gdm, that sounds horrific and scary. I hope you recover fully and swiftly.</p> <p>I sense a reticence to pursue the matter as the driver was apparently quite decent about it all afterwards. One way to distance yourself from feeling as though you're attacking anyone personally is to deal with it all through your insurance. It might be that your home insurance has personal accident cover: if so I recommend making a claim. This will then set off a chain of events where your insurer will contact the driver's insurers, or possibly even instruct a lawyer on your behalf. You may not need to be involved to any great extent.</p> <p>Easy to say in hindsight, but it can be important to take down a driver's insurance details if involved in a collision, as they should all have third party cover which is designed to pay out compensation if they hit anyone. Usually this is other cars, but in your case you have injuries and maybe a damaged bike. I'm just suggesting the insurance route as it can take some of the aggro out of all this but potentially pay out compensation. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910#post-208290 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 11:19:54 +0000 gdm 208290@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Cheers all for your kind words and helpful comments.</p> <p>I'm walking about like the Tin Man today. Obviously, it's only been 24 hours, so hopefully it'll improve quickly. I think at the moment I'm just worried in case something doesn't go away and I don't want to end up ruing not having acted sooner.</p> <p>@Nelly - that's both good to know and frustrating as it clearly shows he was absolutely not paying attention and does make you wonder why shouldn't he be charged? As @amir says, we can't rely on the police to enforce these things (or to encourage us to pursue them) so what is the REAL incentive for drivers to really learn from events? I've mentioned that the driver seemed genuinely sorry so I wouldn't want to pursue anything unless I had justification on injury grounds, but who knows when I'll be able to tell what any long-term impact there's been.</p> <p>Anyhoo - thinking positively and calculating other routes to work already! The one that's likely safest is about twice the distance but worth it if it means no more of this sort of thing. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910#post-208277 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 10:35:39 +0000 UtrechtCyclist 208277@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>That sounds horrible, hope you're not aching too much this morning.</p> <p>There is a middle road between getting a lawyer and doing nothing. When I was knocked off my bike a few years ago I got their car insurance to arrange physio for me directly. At the end of many sessions of physio they made me an offer of compensation which I thought was fair compensation for the hours that I'd spent in physio. Formally they were managing my claim (against themselves) and were obliged to do various things such as inform me when I was approaching the time limit for suing them had I wanted to. At any point I could have got a lawyer to take over, so I just kept going without a lawyer for as long as I thought they were being reasonable which took me all the way to the conclusion of things.</p> <p>Of course this isn't a sensible approach if you think you might have serious and long lasting issues. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910#post-208275 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 09:59:46 +0000 amir 208275@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@gdm hope you recover quickly</p> <p>Like @iwrats Mum, you'd hope that sensible people, if they made such a mistake when driving would thoroughly question themselves and take themselves off the road.</p> <p>There's evidence that some don't and the law needs to protect us from them. It would help if there were more police enforcing driving standards, supported by the courts. The accident rate in this country is nothing to be proud of. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910#post-208274 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 09:47:30 +0000 I were right about that saddle 208274@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@gdm</p> <p>That sounds both horrible and terrifying. I am very glad that you walked away from this and heartened by the driver's willingness to accept their responsibility for you getting hurt.</p> <p>On the legal thing, my mum just got done for driving without due care and attention. Pulled out at a T-junction and got thwacked by another car. No-one hurt, no witnesses other than her and the other driver.</p> <p>(She got her eyes checked afterwards and was horrified to discover she had a cataract - she has decided not to drive again until it is treated and possibly then never again depending on her vision and confidence.) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910#post-208268 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 07:31:45 +0000 Nelly 208268@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@gdm - hope you dont feel too bad today, sometimes a day or two after the bruises feel worse.</p> <p>As a daily cyclist and sometime driver, I feel reasonably well qualified to comment in this case - especially as I go through the park fairly often to pick up my son from parents.</p> <p>When driving, the sightlines looking to the right up Queens Park Avenue are entirely fine - i.e. you can slow down, get a good look and proceed across the roundabout no problem at all.</p> <p>I understand your reticence at wishing to pursue something - you are clearly being a decent person.</p> <p>However as I have said above, he has either not looked at all, not slowed enough or not paid attention - any of these is frankly not good enough.</p> <p>I concur with @wishicouldgofaster and would pursue both the police and a lawyer about this incident.</p> <p>Get well soon. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910#post-208266 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 01:01:19 +0000 gdm 208266@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@wishicouldgofaster - that's a very interesting point. It says so much about my thinking that I'd be anxious about pursuing that because of the potential implications for the driver and the confrontation involved... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910#post-208265 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 00:53:55 +0000 gdm 208265@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@chdot - that is what I was confused about also, but then I <em>have</em> had a concussion, which is probably why I'd been foolish enough to assume the law might be logical! </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15910#post-208264 Wed, 13 Jan 2016 00:52:10 +0000 wishicouldgofaster 208264@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>When I was knocked down due to a driver not looking. I was initially told the driver would be charged with dangerous driving. Surprise surprise though, months later they decided not to bother until I complained. Once they decided to send a report to the pf they told me he could be charged with careless driving using both our statements.</p> <p>I would strongly advise getting in touch with a lawyer because injuries that seem like nothing just now may need physio to sort out. It took months for my injuries to heal and even 9 months on I am still bothered with twinges from my shoulders and elbows. </p>