Knocked down by reversing car

Chemical Byrne · 15-05-2015 2:02pm #1

I was going past a row of cars parked perpendicular to the cycle path in passafe west last evening. A woman in a Passat reversed out without seeing me and I struck the car a glancing blow along the back of the boot and ended up on the ground using my right arm to break the fall. I was going probably 15-20kph and was wearing my hi vis and helmet luckily.

I photographed her reg but it seemed all ok at the time so I picked myself up and carried on. She was very apologetic and was shaken up. There is no obvious damage to the bike.

I landed on my arm and now this morning the inside of my elbow and down the inside of my forearm is killing me with stiffness. I can't straighten my arm without it causing pain.

I'm thinking of getting a doctor to assess it. Should I report it to the gaurds?
I'm in a bit of pain and its affecting me so think I will look into speaking to a solicitor.
I've never done anything like this before so I'm a bit clueless. What should I be doing here?

yellow hen · 15-05-2015 2:05pm

I've been that woman so I'll try be objective here. Report it to the guards and go see your doctor. There's no need to looking at a legal route just yet. The soreness could be just bruising etc.

Alanstrainor · 15-05-2015 2:07pm

yellow hen wrote: »

I've been that woman so I'll try be objective here. Report it to the guards and go see your doctor. There's no need to looking at a legal route just yet. The soreness could be just bruising etc.

+1 your immediate concern should be making sure you're okay, and calling the gardai is a good call in case you do proceed further with this.

Bloggsie · 15-05-2015 2:18pm

Sorry to hear you had a bump, hope you are okay, from reading other threads of this kind, the general rule of thumb is that you always report an incident with the Guards, regardles of the damage to you or the bike.
best of luck.

Mycroft H · 15-05-2015 3:10pm

Go to your GP, make sure you're all okay. Go to the Gardai. No need to go down the legal route yet, but have all the necessaries sorted first.

Flood · 15-05-2015 3:17pm

Both parties in the wrong. Cycling too fast and car reversing blind. They need to change the way cars park there and that is to reverse into parking slots.

smacl · 15-05-2015 3:18pm

As others have said, get the elbow checked out first. I did something similar a few years ago, kept going after the accident, and only found out some hours later I was walking around with a broken elbow and needed surgery. Don't assume it will sort itself out as it may not.

Mycroft H · 15-05-2015 3:24pm

Flood wrote: »

Both parties in the wrong. Cycling too fast and car reversing blind. They need to change the way cars park there and that is to reverse into parking slots.

15-20km/h is fast?

Get out of here.....

Alanstrainor · 15-05-2015 3:27pm

Flood wrote: »

Both parties in the wrong. Cycling too fast and car reversing blind. They need to change the way cars park there and that is to reverse into parking slots.

Yes, am man with a flag should walk in front of the cyclist to prevent such incidents...

Flood · 15-05-2015 3:28pm

Mycroft H wrote: »

15-20km/h is fast?

Get out of here.....

Yes in this specific case, I never said its fast as a general rule.

Darkglasses · 15-05-2015 3:29pm

Flood wrote: »

Both parties in the wrong. Cycling too fast and car reversing blind. They need to change the way cars park there and that is to reverse into parking slots.

Apportioning blame to events nobody here was present at is not the point of this thread, let's keep it to advice regarding dealing with GP/Gardai/Solicitors.

Cookie_Dough · 15-05-2015 3:38pm

Chemical Byrne wrote: »

I was going past a row of cars parked perpendicular to the cycle path in passafe west last evening. A woman in a Passat reversed out without seeing me and I struck the car a glancing blow along the back of the boot and ended up on the ground using my right arm to break the fall. I was going probably 15-20kph and was wearing my hi vis and helmet luckily.

I photographed her reg but it seemed all ok at the time so I picked myself up and carried on. She was very apologetic and was shaken up. There is no obvious damage to the bike.

I landed on my arm and now this morning the inside of my elbow and down the inside of my forearm is killing me with stiffness. I can't straighten my arm without it causing pain.

I'm thinking of getting a doctor to assess it. Should I report it to the gaurds?
I'm in a bit of pain and its affecting me so think I will look into speaking to a solicitor.
I've never done anything like this before so I'm a bit clueless. What should I be doing here?

I would get checked out by a doctor and contact the Gardaí to notify them and to get the lady's insurance details (unsure from your post if she gave them or her own contact number)

She would have been obliged to advise her insurance company of the incident anyway but you should also notify them in the event that you may need to make any claim for medical expenses or doctors bills.

I would wait to see your prognosis before consulting solicitors though.

Hopefully your injury is nothing serious, best of luck.

Fian · 15-05-2015 5:21pm

I broke my elbow by stretching out my arm to break a fall, when I went over the bonnet of a car that pulled out in front of me. Will permanently not be able to straighten it now, impact crushed the top of the bone in the joint.

Hopefully not the case with you, but well worth heading to doctor or maybe casualty.

Adrenaline is funny, i was tempted to just continue cycling home and I only agreed to go to get an x-ray to placate my wife who was insisting on it. Glad she did in retrospect. I am sure i would have figured it out when the adrenaline wore off I guess.

Chemical Byrne · 15-05-2015 5:28pm

Suppose I were to lodge a claim against this lady's insurance, would I be entitled to claim for my legal costs in addition to whatever else was in the claim?

RainyDay · 15-05-2015 5:30pm

Chemical Byrne wrote: »

Suppose I were to lodge a claim against this lady's insurance, would I be entitled to claim for my legal costs in addition to whatever else was in the claim?

Generally no, unless there was good reason to involve a legal advisor. Check out http://www.injuriesboard.ie/eng/ for details of how to make your own claim for injuries. If you involve a solicitor, you will probably end up paying his fees out of your claim.

salamanca22 · 15-05-2015 5:32pm

Chemical Byrne wrote: »

Suppose I were to lodge a claim against this lady's insurance, would I be entitled to claim for my legal costs in addition to whatever else was in the claim?

No,

Since the PIAB have come about you can not claim for any legal costs prior to the PIAB assesment, after that, you may be awarded costs in court if you decide to go that route. This is because you can do all the steps without the aid of a solicitor now. In my opinion though it is ludicrous as most people will still need proper legal advice.

You can claim for all other damages.

Traumadoc · 15-05-2015 9:16pm

salamanca22 wrote: »

No,

Since the PIAB have come about you can not claim for any legal costs prior to the PIAB assesment, after that, you may be awarded costs in court if you decide to go that route. This is because you can do all the steps without the aid of a solicitor now. In my opinion though it is ludicrous as most people will still need proper legal advice.

You can claim for all other damages.

You can go down the PIAB route but there is a lot of upfront costs, e.g. a medical report will cost you about 3-400 euro.
I would advise gettion a solicitor to advise you.

If you cannot move your elbow , you need an X-ray.

terrydel · 15-05-2015 9:18pm

Chemical Byrne wrote: »

I was going past a row of cars parked perpendicular to the cycle path in passafe west last evening. A woman in a Passat reversed out without seeing me and I struck the car a glancing blow along the back of the boot and ended up on the ground using my right arm to break the fall. I was going probably 15-20kph and was wearing my hi vis and helmet luckily.

I photographed her reg but it seemed all ok at the time so I picked myself up and carried on. She was very apologetic and was shaken up. There is no obvious damage to the bike.

I landed on my arm and now this morning the inside of my elbow and down the inside of my forearm is killing me with stiffness. I can't straighten my arm without it causing pain.

I'm thinking of getting a doctor to assess it. Should I report it to the gaurds?
I'm in a bit of pain and its affecting me so think I will look into speaking to a solicitor.
I've never done anything like this before so I'm a bit clueless. What should I be doing here?

Non displacement fracture of the elbow possibly. Had it myself, didn't think it was broke til the next day, pain kicked in then, same as yourself. Get it seen to and sorted, that's the important thing.

ted1 · 15-05-2015 9:28pm

Chemical Byrne wrote: »

Suppose I were to lodge a claim against this lady's insurance, would I be entitled to claim for my legal costs in addition to whatever else was in the claim?

You have established no reason to claim yet. Claim is a compensatory item, what needs to be compensated.

Have a read of this
http://www.injuriesboard.ie/eng/How-to-make-a-claim/Estimate-your-claim/

hawkwind23 · 15-05-2015 9:40pm

this is one of these replies that wont go down well but hey ho

I thought all you cyclists were "real" men/women?
first wee scrape and your off crying to "sue" someone , sounds like a simple accident , you werent hurt too bad and your wan in the car is probably still in shock over it.
Can you not just move on like? When i was wee i hit loads of cars , i was about 10 , i didnt go crying to my parents saying to sue someone for money.
You ride a bicycle on a big scary bad road , accidents will happen , be thankful you werent hurt and be more alert in that situation next time.

Inquitus · 15-05-2015 9:49pm

hawkwind23 wrote: »

this is one of these replies that wont go down well but hey ho

Ofc it won't go down well as its asinine!

yellow hen · 15-05-2015 9:57pm

Chemical Byrne wrote: »

Suppose I were to lodge a claim against this lady's insurance, would I be entitled to claim for my legal costs in addition to whatever else was in the claim?

You sound like you've already decided that you want to seek legal advice yet you still haven't established the extent (if any) of your injuries. I don't wish to assume things about you but I think it's disappointing that your default thoughts vear towards compensation. Accidents happen and claiming unnecessarily is stressful to all parties as well as one of the reasons why premiums jump each year.

hawkwind23 · 15-05-2015 9:58pm

Inquitus wrote: »

Ofc it won't go down well as its asinine!

Well my argument is that its "asinine" to go blindly into a motorist at a snails pace then go looking for some cash because you got a wee scrape on your elbow.

Its a public forum and post and as such I am entitled to have an opinion

Darkglasses · 15-05-2015 10:02pm

hawkwind23 wrote: »

Well my argument is that its "asinine" to go blindly into a motorist at a snails pace then go looking for some cash because you got a wee scrape on your elbow.

Its a public forum and post and as such I am entitled to have an opinion

No further comments on an event that you did not witness. In every situation in which these things are pursued by guards/solicitors, we are instructed to delete them as they may prejudice investigation.

Any further posts like this will be deleted.

hawkwind23 · 15-05-2015 10:06pm

Darkglasses wrote: »

No further comments on an event that you did not witness. In every situation in which these things are pursued by guards/solicitors, we are instructed to delete them as they may prejudice investigation.

Any further posts like this will be deleted.

Fair enough , stepping out of thread.

Must be frustrating for all involved to start an investigation and legal advice and all the hullabaloo that entails
Sad reflection on modern Ireland IMO

Iwannahurl · 15-05-2015 10:10pm

Chemical Byrne wrote: »

I was going past a row of cars parked perpendicular to the cycle path in passafe west last evening.

I was going probably 15-20kph and was wearing my hi vis and helmet luckily.

Is it just me, or is it an utterly daft idea to route a cycle path past a place where cars may be reversing onto it? If that's the actual setup, then I would be writing a serious letter of complaint to the local authority, because it sounds like an accident waiting to happen. Unless I'm misunderstanding the situation.

EDIT: was it here, by any chance?

If you don't mind my asking, OP, why do you feel it was "lucky" that you were wearing hi-vis, since it clearly didn't protect you from being struck by the reversing car?

Tigger · 15-05-2015 10:11pm

If the op was after a claim they'd have called the cops and got insurance details
They are just worried about their medical costs
I didn't claim for injuries from a motorbike accident when there was no doubt of the cause and I walk with a limp 20 years later coz I thought that making sure I didn't die and glueing my leg back together in a and e is only a basic medical check
I should have got checked out properly mri etc
My advice ;

Get a full medical work up
Call the guards and tell them what happened / give statement
Claim for what is hopefully only the cost of your medical and medicine
But if there is an injury that you may have issues with you will need legal advice

tampopo · 16-05-2015 1:40am

You may have to insist on giving a statement to the Guards. Similar thing happened to me and they were hardly interested. The woman who ran me over promised the sun moon and stars. Gullible me believed her and lost out.

Although I think I am as well off, given her connections. But still...

Chemical Byrne · 20-05-2015 10:28am

I've been to the doctor and I'm told that it is a soft tissue injury. I was given a prescription for Difene. It is pretty much freeing out now the last few days although still a bit stiff especially in the mornings or after lying on the couch.
I think I'll keep picking up the difene prescription anyway even though I probably won't use it.

Perhaps I should ask the doctor to write a medical assessment report?
I've already met the gaurd for passage and she took a statement so it's on record and I gave the reg.

I don't know the insurance details though.

I'd be very slow to contact insurance company without at least having the advice of a solicitor first.

RainyDay · 20-05-2015 10:52am

Chemical Byrne wrote: »

Perhaps I should ask the doctor to write a medical assessment report?

Be prepared for a large fee for the doc, of a few hundred euros. They may even tell you that the will only deal with a request from a solicitor.

Chemical Byrne · 20-05-2015 10:56am

RainyDay wrote: »

Be prepared for a large fee for the doc, of a few hundred euros. They may even tell you that the will only deal with a request from a solicitor.

Well thats a give, I'd expect any sort of report from a professional to be have a fee into the hundreds.

What I don't get though is why they would only do a report at the request of a solicitor. Why is this? I thought they would be happy to oblige a client's request for a report since they will be getting their fee for it.

Knocked down by reversing car

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