My Bicycle damaged a car in an RTA- where does the liability lie?

Platinum Pete

Platinum Pete

Platinum Pete

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So I'm cycling along in a bus/ cycle lane and someone in a car overtakes me and then pulls in front of me and stops!! I was going at a fair lick so looked over my shoulder quickly to dodge around, saw there was a car coming decided against said evasive manoeuvre applied the brakes hard and then smacked into the back of the car (now parked in the bus/cycle lane but no double yellows) and over the handlebars I fly.

I'm fine (well a little battered) but I've damaged the back of the car!! Gonna be £110 to fix and they want me to foot the bill. I don’t think its all my fault because of the situation. They have already mentioned getting solicitors involved when I said that i didnt accept liability though.

I have checked the highway code and it appears that they definitely contravened at least 2 guidelines:

-Don’t stop or park where you would obstruct cyclists use of cycle facilities except when forced to do so by stationary traffic.

-Do not overtake if you would have to enter a lane reserved for busses trams or cycles during its hours of operation. (bit dubious)

-Stay behind if you are following a cyclist approaching a roundabout or junction you intend to turn left at. (again a bit dubious but the same principles apply).

Does anyone have any experience or knowledge of the law which may help me prove that I am/ am not liable?

Cheers for the help

Pete
 
Common sense would suggest its was their own stupid fault. Can't comment on the law though, what with it being an ass. I'd be surprised if they had a leg to stand on though. You certainly can't overtake a car and stop in front of it and expect to get a free new car.

Sounds like dangerous/careless driving to me, might have a hard time proving it but it would put the willies up 'em!
 
Could you just show them the highway code and explain that they are clearly in the wrong. Doubt they would want to go through the trouble of solicitors over it; probably just said that to try and get you to pay up.
 
Probably get a better response in Motors? Or just a slating for being a cyclist? :p

Might be worth having a chat with a solicitor yourself, sounds like you've already got some ammunition already!
 
I thought if you cannot decide whos fault it is you call the police at the road side and they decide.
 
If your bicycle is damaged, inform them you will be contacting their insurance for recompense. You did get their insurance details? You should have said you'd be more then happy, ecstatic in fact, to talk to their solicitor. And they probably would have left it at that.

Technically, in the event of an accident where a vehicle has hit the rear end of another vehicle, it is always the fault of the vehicle behind until due cause has been determined. However, where it is determined that you ostensibly rear-ended the car due to their driving with undue care and attention, and/or dangerous driving, they will be legally at fault.

What exactly happened afterwards? I'd have gone utterly ballistic at any car that did that, and would have phoned my lawyer and insurance company straight away, after having demanded their details. If they had refused to give them I would have photographed their licence plate and requested witnesses to stay whilst the police arrived.
 
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I thought about motors but its a bit of a special case- plus i think there would be more people telling me im a mobile chicane etc etc.

The bike is ok- a little bent out of shape but nothing i cant fix in a few mins. (its a cheap bike anyway)

I dont want things to get out of hand and to be honest they seemed nice enough so I dont want to aggravate the matter more than I need to.

Then again i dont want to foot the bill either.

the thing is- I think if i had slammed the brakes on hard as soon as they pulled in in front of me i might have avoided the accident (just), so i feel that i am partly to blame.

I have an annoyingly strong conscious
 
Yeah, I don't see how it can be your fault when they overtook you and pulled in front of you in the bicycle lane (which they shouldn't be in anyway) and then slammed on their brakes. If anything, you should consider taking them to court to recover damage costs to your bike.
 
Platinum Pete said:
I thought about motors but its a bit of a special case- plus i think there would be more people telling me im a mobile chicane etc etc.

The bike is ok- a little bent out of shape but nothing i cant fix in a few mins. (its a cheap bike anyway)

I dont want things to get out of hand and to be honest they seemed nice enough so I dont want to aggravate the matter more than I need to.

Then again i dont want to foot the bill either.

the thing is- I think if i had slammed the brakes on hard as soon as they pulled in in front of me i might have avoided the accident (just), so i feel that i am partly to blame.

I have an annoyingly strong conscious
Click to expand...


Stick to your guns. Your principles are worth far more than the cost of the damage to the car.

You could consider a police report for dangerous driving? Not sure if that's a good idea, from a legal point of view, but it would put the ball "in your court" and show the driver that you're serious.

Cycle lanes are there for a reason.
 
Just kick the drivers door in & ride off swearing like a maniac so that nobody stops you, JD.
 
Do you have home contents insurance?

If you do, you may have public liability insurance included.

I had a simular accident and my home insurance covered the costs (legal and otherwise).
 
What happened imediately afterwards:

I picked myself up offthe floor and was shaking and a little in shock.

we exchanged details and I explained to them what had happened and then after telling them that i was not badly hurt we went on our way. the rest of the info came from a phone call that i recieved later in the day.

I have no witnesses.
 
Were the police involved? If the driver didn't report the RTC to the police within 24 hours, he/she isn't meeting their obligations under the Road Traffic Act.

Not only does it look like they are driving without due care and attention, but you should talk to their insurance company about any damages for your bike etc.

Burnsy
 
Admiral Huddy said:
Do you have home contents insurance?

If you do, you may have public liability insurance included.

I had a simular accident and my home insurance covered the costs (legal and otherwise).
Click to expand...

Good to keep in mind, but I don't think this is necessary. From what has been said, the liability doesn't stand with the OP.

Burnsy
 
From what has been said in this thread, I do not think you are liable. If they call again, I would just tell them that you have looked up the highway code and that you will be happy to talk to their solicitors as it was clearly not your fault, and you will be speaking to their insurance company regarding the damage to your bike.

This sort of incident reminds me of the time a car driver tried to squash me between his car and a parked bus. I am guessing he regretted it afterwards because the handle bars scraped against each vehicle and he was left with a nice white line down the side of his new black car. He had an angry look on his face, but did not stop, so I just carried onto school because I was late.
 
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