…They’re good things. If it weren’t for my Kris Holm wrist guards I’d now have a broken wrist. And it weren’t for my helmet my head would now be spread across someones windscreen.
Riding back from watching Songs of Praise being recorded (a lot less fun than you might think) on my Coker I got hit by a car. I was turning right out of a pub car park and got hit by a car coming round a blind corner from my right.
After being hit I could hear the driver of the car freaking out a bit so picked myself up quickly so they could see I wasn’t badly damaged. Looking at the car I could see why she was freaking out. Her windscreen was shattered with a big hole where the pointy back of my helmet had hit the windscreen on the passenger side. She had her baby in a baby seat on the passenger side so and was obviously worried about her baby.
I ended up with grazed elbows and bruised/sprained fingers and wrist on my left. It could have been much much worse.
Oooh, that sucks. 'cept it really doesn’t, because everyone was okay, so it’s actually kind of spiffy. The baby was okay, right? Prolly, because otherwise you would’ve said something more about it… Glad to hear you’re okay though! (:
The baby was fine, it wasn’t even crying…Oh and amazingly so was the coker. Good thing considering I’d borrowed it off Pete whilst mine’s in a state of broken.
Edit: Does anyone know if Bell replace helmets after a crash. I remember someone saying Giro do and I’ve looked on Bells’ website but can’t find any info.
I just got a new Bell Helmet so I have the paperwork handy.
Bell will replace crash damaged helmets, but you need to mail them the following: a) damaged helmet, b)copy of dated cash register receipt, c) letter describing you accident, d) a check for $35 for Fusion in-mold or $20 for non-fusion helmets. Mails this to:
Bell Sports, Inc. Consumer Service, 1924 Country Road, 3000 North, Rantoul, IL 61866-9512 (These instructions are for the US, Canadian customers need to call 1-514-332-1320.)
I don’t know, but I’ll bet that if you don’t have the receipt they will replace the helmet anyway. I mean, what kind of safety company would let you go without a helmet because you lost the receipt? You could call them: 1-800-456-BELL (USA).
My belief is that if I ever need my helmet while riding the Coker it’s going to be because of a collision with a car or a bicycle. I keep my fingers crossed that it never happens to me. If it does happen I’ll have my helmet on.
I’m not really sure who’s fault it was. It was a blind corner and neither of us saw each other. It’s a narrow twisty road whicj people go too fast along. I think it was just unfortunate timing.
The car driver. In the UK cyclists are never liable for accidents (or at least thats what i’ve heard, please correct me if i’m wrong). Its always the cars fault if there is a car/bike incident (I think). Even If its not, its plain in this case the front of the car hit the side of Kit.
Glad to hear you’re ok, and you and the coker aren’t badly damaged.
very glad to hear u’re in one piece and allright
a quick trip to a medico just to make sure can’t hurt
well, can’t hurt as much as getting hit by car
i’ve been sitting with Jayne_ZA’s coker and i’ve been itching to take it out for a nice long road-ride
i did promise myself that i wouldn’t do this without a helmet but since the middle of the month arrived at the end of the money, i haven’t been able to get one yet
yesterday we went out to a public park in JHB (Emmarentia Dam) and i had a nice long ride on the paths thru the park
i kinda told myself that it would be ok cause it just would be
since the ride went well yesterday, i had a look out the window when i got up this morning and was quite tempted to take it out
then i thought about the amount of times i’ve shot my mouth off about the helmet issue on these here fora and realised that if i get my unhelmeted head bashed in and end up with brain damage, u lot would never let me forget it and i’ll probaly end up choking on my feeding tube in sheer embarrasment
so i didn’t
and now i see this thread
Mr Boogiejuice, u’re a real pal
there aren’t too many people i know who would get hit by a car to teach a friend a lesson
i am in your debt
please add a beer to the when-we-meet-tab
one of my habits that the GF just couldn’t get a grip on, was my habit of keeping the original box, with the polystyrene shapes for secure packing, just in case u ever have to move with that item
it packs back into it’s original box so much easier than it does into anything else…
and it’s a good place to keep all the original paperwork, cash receipts and and and
I went down to A+E afterwards to see if my wrist was broken or not and to get my cuts cleaned and dressed. My unsullied record of doing silly things and not breaking bones stays sully free…Happy badger I am
No worries. Glad to be of service.
I think I may have actually kept the box…Unusual for me, Organisation is not my forte
On Mon, 16 May, Loosemoose <> wrote:
>
> The car driver. In the UK cyclists are never liable for accidents (or at
> least thats what i’ve heard, please correct me if i’m wrong).
You’re wrong.
> Its always the cars fault if there is a car/bike incident (I think).
Well thanks for being so concise. On being told I was wrong however, I decided to google for it.
This Site seems to contain information on what to do regarding vehicle accidents, including general things similar to a normal car accident like sketch the scene & take details. It also contains information about what to do if you are dismounted by a pothole or other physical defect in the road surface. I wonder if most coker UPDs count under this ruling? I suppose if you can prove you are capable of controlling it under normal conditions & the road surface caused you to dismount it might still count?
Maybe not at the moment, this is what confused me however: I had assumed this was already the case, but it seems it may have been repealed before coming into force: Euro Cycle Laws Fury
Same Story, BBC News: Blame it on the driver
hmm, interesting stuff. I’m not quite sure what steps I’m meant to take next. I’ve got phone numbers of the woman who hit me and a couple of witnesses, one of which was an ex-copper. I’m going to ring the lady tomorrow.
A funny thing though…I was talking to a kid I know who I taught to uni and put together a uni for today. It turns out that the lady who hit me is his form tutors wife…'tis a small world.
With traffic accidents, at least in the U.S., the tendency seems to be to start from both parties sharing 100% of the “fault.” 100% each? It seems that way, by the way your rates tend to go up.
Let’s say 50/50 as a default. Since you both seemed to not see each other, you both made a mistake. It’s a blind corner, but that doesn’t work as an excuse. Something much worse could have happened. Knowing it’s a blind corner should set your minds aware of the possibilities.
To really know a fault situation one must know a lot more detail of the physical scene, locations on the roadway, and exact timing of the accident. Or, in this case, assume it’s about 50/50 so I don’t know if there is much to be gained by anyone for pressing it.