Motorcycle Accident

I don’t know if it’s just me but I’m currently out of work due to my contract ending which it’s the type of job where when are there for 2 years they have to let you go for 6 months which is annoying but what I’m saying is I’m 22 years old and I live with my grandparents and I certainly don’t just have £550 laying around? Accidents happen of course which is why insurance is there I just wanted everyone’s opinion which I appreciate and admire but of course I feel I can admit the fault was just on me; she is partly to blame for hesitating as there was nothing coming the other way or coming out of the road she intended to turn down. As well as she didn’t give enough time to let the person know behind her she was actually turning. I feel we are both to blame if anything but I guess the insurance will decide those facts.
 
She's in no way to blame, you were too close to be able to stop when the vehicle in front of you did, end of story. There are plenty of idiot motorcyclists sitting on the bumpers of cars they've got no chance of stopping as quickly as, you're just one of them.

Man up, take responsibility for your actions and pay to fix her car. If you can't afford it then use your insurance, if that stuffs you because you're young, tough **** really.
 
the bodywork state of her car maybe an indication of whether she might want to avoid going via insurance .. it was 10 years old after all.
Presumably she was not jawing with a passenger, that is one of the more distinctive/annoying characteristics when a driver is not attentive.
 
I did the same last year when the guy in front braked sharply to give way to a car waiting to turn out of a side street :confused:. I also felt hard done by at the time but soon came to the realisation it was my fault for not leaving enough room for random acts and feel I drive much safer since.

My car was a write off so I had to go through insurance which wasn't as painful as I imagined. Had to pay £90 to top-up the remainder of my policy and the next renewal didn't go up any.
 
Yeah, I get what OP is saying - sometimes people signal and manoeuvre at the last minute but as others have said you have to take it on the chin as not leaving enough room.

Imagine the £500 quote is from a BMW dealer. Love people who think they can dictate where the ‘injured’ party can get a repair done, “just go to this crappy backstreet garage”, yeah right. Don’t like it, go via insurance. (Not aimed at the OP.)
 
QUGAELITE said:
Technically I wasn’t actually behind her, I was rather to her right side slightly just on the left of the central line. There was more than a car lengths between me and her and she’s kind of came across my path to make the right turn if that makes any more sense? Such as her right mirror is directly in line with the centre of my bike so when she’s gone to make that turn I was then in her blind spot when she slowed suddenly from 30 to 5mph and indicated last second. I understand people may seem and feel I was in the wrong. I have only been insured with my insurance company for 9 months and my motorcycle for the year to insure is only £400 and I have 0 years no claims but have 4 years riding experience due to change bikes and cancelling insurances which stated in losing my no claims etc. So I believe the cost in what my insurance may increase by won’t amount to more than what she’s asking? I’m uncertain of what the increase would be but than again I’ve only ever been in an accident once where I didn’t claim where I was travelling at 40mph on a 40mph road and a van side-swiped me but my bike was hardly damaged strangely yet a 5mph impact wrote it off this time around!
Click to expand...

1 car length at 40mph... yes... you were 100% in the wrong - that is not a safe distance and now you have just found out why that is not a safe distance.

Minimum safe distance... MINIMUM... is 2 seconds... ideally you want to be a little over that.

At 30mph, that is 13.5mph... or 3-4 car lengths.

You can try to fight it, but you will lose.

The money she's quoted is probably from a BMW dealer who will charge a minimum of 1 hour to replace the bumper... which is probably £150+VAT (£180)... plus the bumper which could easily be £300... so £500 sounds about right.

Having a 100% fault claim against your name will stay on your record for 3-5 years, depending on the insurer.

Over that time, you will pay more than £500 in increased premiums.

The cheapest option for you is to pay for her repair... if you can find the cash.
 
The quicker you accept you were fully in the wrong and adjust your riding style the better next time it might not just be a bit of broken bodywork, this is coming from a fellow biker.
 
tom_e said:
The quicker you accept you were fully in the wrong and adjust your riding style the better next time it might not just be a bit of broken bodywork, this is coming from a fellow biker.
Click to expand...

Totally agree, that could have been so much worse and the OP's apparent refusal to accept fault here suggests the next one won't be far away.

Also living with your grandparents and not being able to afford it doesn't make any difference to whats happened.
 
Unless you've it on footage and it shows that she did something dangerous you'll be the one at fault.
 
QUGAELITE said:
she is partly to blame for hesitating as there was nothing coming the other way or coming out of the road she intended to turn down. As well as she didn’t give enough time to let the person know behind her she was actually turning. I feel we are both to blame if anything but I guess the insurance will decide those facts.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but you are living in some kind of fantasy world if you think you aren't at fault here. You are to blame. Full stop, end of story. If you can't see that you are fully in the wrong, then I would suggest you take some driving lessons again and redo your test. The driver in front of you could do anything, could stop for any reason, as the driver behind you have to make sure you leave enough space to stop safely no matter what happens.
 
Thanks for all of the comments and your input guys. I’m still trying to get hold of the woman to find out a resolution but haven’t heard back from her yet!

We all make mistakes and I believe it’s not always down to the skills and abilities of one person as we all make mistakes.

When I stated I lived with my grandparents and my age that was only out of speculation to say “I haven’t got a life savings behind me just yet”.

This is only a learning curve for me and more than anything this post wasn’t entirely to state who was in the wrong and who wasn’t it was simply to say what should I do next? I simple couldn’t dream of affording to pay £500+ out for the damages done to the ladies car as like I said I’m out of work currently.

But thank you again for your comments and I’ll see where it goes from here either via insurance or payment which I highly doubt I can come up with!
 
Go through your insurance, even if your premium goes up £100 a year, you'll get your bike fixed and won't have anything to worry about. 100% would not give her £550.

Just to mirror other comments. 1 car length is not enough, and you saying you were to her right, you should be in the middle of the lane, (dominating) so no one tries to squeeze in beside you. (This is what I was told while learning).

Adjust driving style, everyone nowadays drives way too close to cars in front, just hang back and match pace a good distance away, you'll still get where your going in same amount of time.
 
Last edited:
Yes your friend bought a bumper for that amount but is that covering the cost of removing the old bumper, replacing the new one and covering alternate transport costs while her car is fixed? Just go through insurance if you don't want to pay.
 
QUGAELITE said:
I do not ever recall her checking her mirrors or following the procedures of making the turn safely as I know you are supposed to Mirror, Signal, Mirror, Manouvere and I didn’t see her check her mirror once but not just while she was taking the turn she hesitated, brakes and slowed even though there was no traffic oncoming causing me hit her.
Click to expand...

Firstly - glad that you are 'ok' - though bruised, battered, and broken - you are still with us :)

Secondly, the above quote means nothing - I have been driving since 2001, riding since 2007, and have never once looked for whether someone is following MSM or MSPSL - frankly, it would be near impossible, and dangerous for you to focus on such things as whether they checked their mirrors - we have to assume that she did.

As already said though, it's your fault, 100% Either you were too close, or not paying attention; the fact that her actions caused an emergency situation to develop in front of you - one which you were unable to deal with, are a testament to that I think.

Personally, I would go through your insurance company, as [depending on level of cover] both your bike and her car will be taken care of - leaving you to cough up your excess only. It's all legal and above board then, and takes away any issues with her getting a bumper fix and pocketing the difference, or worse, to be unhappy with repairs and keep coming back to you!

Just have to take it on the chin, report it to your insurers, and sit back and heal up.
 
Definitely go through your insurance, body work costs can go up significantly - the cost of the part, painting/matching/blending the new part, fitting and removal of it, add that to the repair of your own motorbike and you could be looking at well over £2000.
 
Philz0r said:
you should be in the middle of the lane, (dominating) so no one tries to squeeze in beside you. (This is what I was told while learning)
Click to expand...

Unless schools teach differently, the 'Dominant' position is worked out thus - divide your lane into two, and then ride in the middle of the right-hand part. It puts you not in the middle of the lane, where someone could still try squeezing past, but more towards the crown of the road, without actually being too close to the crown - you can still swing out that way on a left turn.
 
Scort said:
Unless schools teach differently, the 'Dominant' position is worked out thus - divide your lane into two, and then ride in the middle of the right-hand part. It puts you not in the middle of the lane, where someone could still try squeezing past, but more towards the crown of the road, without actually being too close to the crown - you can still swing out that way on a left turn.
Click to expand...

I was taught to ride in the path of where a car's right wheels would be when riding in the dominant position. I guess that's easier to explain and understand than to ride on the 3/4 line.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom