So, today is my birthday and I suppose in the future I can celebrate it twice!
Went down Hackney Road earlier today when a car turned right in front of me without indicating. No time to brake, nowhere to swerve. The best thing I could do was aim for the “skinniest” part of the car, where the bonnet meets the windscreen. Within miliseconds, blammo! Bike went into the car and I got launched into the air, somersaulted over the car, landed on my back and skidded down the road for a bit. Yes, in a T-shirt.
Ambulance took me to hospital and I was very lucky to escape with a few grazes, a bruised back and a sprained wrist.
My bike’s wrecked, forks bent back at an insane angle and leaking coolant all over the road.
But – I’m infinitely glad that I escaped this off without serious injury… Could have been very ugly indeed.
So now I have no bike and hence no transport and no job, but I get to live another day… yaaay, happy F**king birthday.
Oh … and does anyone know if I can claim a hire bike / replacement bike of the insurance of the woman that turned in front of me?
sorry to hear about your off. If ya need help on this pm me for probono assistance. You should be able to get something sorted do you have the other parties insurance details if so ring them. They may sort it all out with out you shellng out any of your hard earned.
Damn, bad luck itsthemechanic! Must be even harder to swallow when it’s your work bike. Can’t believe you were wearing a t-shirt though, I thought you pro’s would know better Glad you came out okay. Good luck with the claim.
Yeah, this sucks. After the joy of having survived this with relatively minor injuries today reality is beginning to sink in. My motorcycle is trashed which means I have no transport. Even worse, I cannot work. This means my girlfriend are not far away from getting chucked into the street and going for broke.
I don’t have money for a new bike so unless the insurance company of the lady sorts me out with a rental bike first and some money for a replacement bike later, our forecast is very, very grim. My girlfriend doesn’t make enough money to pay our rent by herself so we’ll both be ****ed.
The irony is that I just spent tons of money to get this bike from the heap that it was (just ask Charly about the suspension and forks leaking oil all over the place) into a really good workbike… new clutch, new rubber, new shock, new fork seals, oil change, air filter, tail light… and now all I have to show for it is a pile of rubble I can’t ride.
Re Hire Bike, if you are clearly in the right and the other party clearly at fault [ask a specialist bike claims solicitor and get your witnesses sorted out] then you can/will sue for bike damage, clothing damage, personal injury. If the crash has deprived you of your transport then you are entitled to hire a bike - of similar spec - at reasonable cost. This is then addded to the 3rd party’s bill. The best bit is that this really focuses thier attention - letting a £5k bill drift for a year or two is fine for them - they earn money from the interest, so, they dont want to pay you, however if it goes up £400pw that focuses the old attention and you get paid out in weeks not years. Funny that…
When I had an off in the 80’s I needed a bike to go on holiday with while mine was being repaired (after my broken leg mended) and that was agreed with her insurers who paid up, no argument. Usual problem with insurance claims from 3rd parties though, I had to pay for it and claim it back.
Really sorry to hear about yours and great timing too. Hope things sort themselves out.
I know it’s a bit late in the circumstances, but Happy Birthday anyway.
Glad you came out okay. Good luck with the claim.
