Cycling accident.

spoke2cun

Can anyone give me some help regarding the following.

A cyclist caused a number of other cyclists to fall during the recent Sligo to letterkenny cycle. I was one of the fallers who summersaulted over my handlebars after hitting the bike that came down in front of me. The left side of my head/neck and left shoulder bore the brunt of the impact. The rest managed to get up and finish their cycle. However I was left lying there unable to move until an ambulance arrived and brought me to hospital. X rays revealed no broken bones, thank God, but a level 2 a c sub-location of the shoulder joint. Now almost 2 weeks later I still have to wear a sling, take painkillers 4 times daily and keep ice on it as long and as often as possible. The damage to my bike was minimal. A shredded front tyre and tube, a damaged helmet, a torn and destroyed jersey and a lost bottle.

I took out insurance for the event. I presume we pay insurance for some reason. I would be grateful for any advice or similar stories. Thanks in advance.

BarneyJ

The first port of call is to look at your insurance policy to see what your cover is. Then contact your insurance company. I'm guessing you would be covered for personal injury but it will all be in the policy.

spoke2cun

Thanks for that. Will check it out.

wingnut

spoke2cun wrote: »

and a lost bottle.

Sorry to hear you lost your bottle.

spoke2cun

Wing 'nut'.

thesimpsons

head over to the cycling forum in Sports and post there

Corkbah

spoke2cun wrote: »

Can anyone give me some help regarding the following.

A cyclist caused a number of other cyclists to fall during the recent Sligo to letterkenny cycle. I was one of the fallers who summersaulted over my handlebars after hitting the bike that came down in front of me. The left side of my head/neck and left shoulder bore the brunt of the impact. The rest managed to get up and finish their cycle. However I was left lying there unable to move until an ambulance arrived and brought me to hospital. X rays revealed no broken bones, thank God, but a level 2 a c sub-location of the shoulder joint. Now almost 2 weeks later I still have to wear a sling, take painkillers 4 times daily and keep ice on it as long and as often as possible. The damage to my bike was minimal. A shredded front tyre and tube, a damaged helmet, a torn and destroyed jersey and a lost bottle.

I took out insurance for the event. I presume we pay insurance for some reason. I would be grateful for any advice or similar stories. Thanks in advance.

so you want to sue someone because of an accident - which you believe was caused by one cyclist only.

it would be a difficult one to prove as you could have been cycling too close to the other bikes and therefore deemed wreckless and liable for some if not most of your own injuries.

you may have to prove that you were a safe distance and the other person was categorically at fault ...which is not an easy task.

essentially you may have been at fault for your injuries and may not be able to receive any compo (which I guess is your aim), has it been reported to PIAB ? have you talked to a solicitor ? Have you checked the insurance policy or informed the insurance people that there was an accident ? (if not, why not - for all the questions.)

Ps. I'm not having a go at you but ... what ever happened to "accidents happen" or "Sh1t happens" ... my advice is take it as lesson learned - dont cycle in the middle of a bunch ...get in front and stay in front ... contact your insurance company, contact a solicitor - and seek advice but you could end out with legal costs if you fail to win a case, normally the race organisers and/or a named individual are sued - if you have the name of the cyclist who caused the injuries.

spoke2cun

I didn't say I was going to sue anyone or that I am looking for 'compo' as you suggest corkbah. I would just like to know what I'm covered for when I pay insurance. If I get a satisfactory explanation regarding the payment/cover of insurance I'll have no problem. If I'm not happy, I will speak to a solicitor.

BognarRegis

spoke2cun wrote: »

I didn't say I was going to sue anyone or that I am looking for 'compo' as you suggest corkbah. I would just like to know what I'm covered for when I pay insurance. If I get a satisfactory explanation regarding the payment/cover of insurance I'll have no problem. If I'm not happy, I will speak to a solicitor.

Usually it's public liability, so if you cause an accident and get sued by the other party, you're covered. Did you enter online? The T&Cs were probably there.

schemingbohemia

spoke2cun wrote: »

I didn't say I was going to sue anyone or that I am looking for 'compo' as you suggest corkbah. I would just like to know what I'm covered for when I pay insurance. If I get a satisfactory explanation regarding the payment/cover of insurance I'll have no problem. If I'm not happy, I will speak to a solicitor.

So why did you post in the legal discussion section instead of the insurance or cycling thread?

endacl

spoke2cun wrote: »

I didn't say I was going to sue anyone or that I am looking for 'compo' as you suggest corkbah. I would just like to know what I'm covered for when I pay insurance. If I get a satisfactory explanation regarding the payment/cover of insurance I'll have no problem. If I'm not happy, I will speak to a solicitor.

Was it a Cycling Ireland event? If so, you could look into their cover?

http://www.cyclingireland.ie/Key-Documents/Insurance.aspx

Condatis

Why on earth do you not just check your policy?

spoke2cun

''I would be grateful for any advice or similar stories. Thanks in advance'' I was only wondering if anyone here had a similar experience and how they went about things regarding their insurance etc. I have seen and read the policy. Thanks to you who have replied with helpful posts. I will let you know how things worked out if you're interested. As for the rest of you, I'm sorry for wasting so much of your time.

endacl

spoke2cun wrote: »

''I would be grateful for any advice or similar stories. Thanks in advance'' I was only wondering if anyone here had a similar experience and how they went about things regarding their insurance etc. I have seen and read the policy. Thanks to you who have replied with helpful posts. I will let you know how things worked out if you're interested. As for the rest of you, I'm sorry for wasting so much of your time.

Similar experience? Absolutely. I've come off in bunch crashes several times. Fixed the bike, waited for the road rash to heal, got stuck in again.

Seriously, if you participate in group cycling events the odd group spill will inevitably be part of it. Maybe due to somebody else's inexperience or error, but all the same, I think (for my part) that a reasonable risk is assumed.