What to do when you've been in a crash

Dilbert75

So my wife was knocked off her bike this morning, hit by a car whose driver decided to overtake her on the right as she was going around a roundabout to exit at the 12 o'clock position (driver was heading for the same exit).

Thankfully, apart from a few cuts, bruises and shock, she's ok. Helmet broke on impact, jersey was ripped but bike appears ok apart from a few scrapes. Two Council workers witnessed it and called the Gardai, who were out to take notes & measure up. And thankfully our 13 y.o. son was a few lengths ahead of her and wasn't hit.

At this point we seem to be talking of the order of E100 to replace helmet & jersey. There doesn't seem to be a need for medical expenses. I've got the driver's insurance details but not had a chance to contact him yet. So is it the done thing to deal directly with the driver or inform his insurance company?

CramCycle

Dilbert75 wrote: »

So my wife was knocked off her bike this morning, hit by a car whose driver decided to overtake her on the right as she was going around a roundabout to exit at the 12 o'clock position (driver was heading for the same exit).

Thankfully, apart from a few cuts, bruises and shock, she's ok. Helmet broke on impact, jersey was ripped but bike appears ok apart from a few scrapes. Two Council workers witnessed it and called the Gardai, who were out to take notes & measure up. And thankfully our 13 y.o. son was a few lengths ahead of her and wasn't hit.

At this point we seem to be talking of the order of E100 to replace helmet & jersey. There doesn't seem to be a need for medical expenses. I've got the driver's insurance details but not had a chance to contact him yet. So is it the done thing to deal directly with the driver or inform his insurance company?

Contact the driver, tell him what it is happening, if he is happy, job done, if he is not helpful then contact his insurer.

If her helmet broke, I think you would be foolish not to pop down to swiftcare or somewhere like that and get a once over, it's a small price to pay for the reassurance she is not ignoring anything. Tell the driver you plan to do this, and is he OK covering the costs, if he is not, call his insurer, give all the details, give the Gardai who arrived at the scenes name and inform the insurer that there are two witnesses who have also passed their details onto the Gardai.

Its probably, and hopefully, just wasting a few hours of her day, it shouldn't cost too much in the long run.

rollingscone

If you do end up going the insurance route most insurers will happily reimburse you the GP/Swiftcare bill too.

Much better to pay for preventative actions than untreated ailments.

RacoonQueen

Crap Dilbert, sorry to hear that.

The insurance company shouldn't have any problem paying up. I assume the driver admitted liability?

Glad to hear she's ok!

conkennedy

Hi Dilbert75, sorry to hear about MrsDilbert75, speedy recovery.

Something similar happened to me a little over a year ago - car pulled out and stopped on a roundabout leaving me nowhere to go but into the side of the car. The helmet took the impact but I was knocked out. No broken bones or damage to the bike. But I'm missing about 40 minutes of memory from straight after the impact. A man in his 80's helped me home! I was on the bike for 1minute 52 seconds!

I would suggest going to your GP at the very least. My back & Coccyx pain kicked in 4 days after the bang - I honestly thought I was fine! The GP said it was something about swelling around the impact area going down that allowed the pain. The bang left me with a concussion with 12 weeks of the worst bloody headaches you could imagine.

It's good the incident was reported to the Guards and have witnesses. I'd contact the insurance company rather than you dealing with it.

On another issue, and again personal experience. Once I was able to get back on the bike, I made damn sure I did. A knock like that can take your confidence, same with your little fella. He'll be scared of either him or his mammy on the road.

Steroo

How's mrsD now?

Dilbert75

Not too bad thanks S - at least she just completed Waterford Viking marathon in 3:34! Ribs are still hurting but painkillers are taking the edge off. Hip bruising is still bad enough too.

She went out on the bike during the week and the nerves nearly exhausted her, even though she was physically well able for it. So she's gone from not being confident to being properly scared. That could end up being the lasting legacy.

Civilian_Target

That sucks, I'm sorry to hear it.

This has happened to me twice in the 11 years I've been riding.

What others said: first, make sure it's reported to the Gardai, and that the report indicates the driver is at fault.

Then go to the GP and get a checkup, make sure her health is OK.
Get a new helmet, clothing and bike repairs and write to, or email the driver, explaining the cost, including the GP checkup. Ask if they would like to pay for it themselves or report it to their insurance for reimbursement. In both cases, the driver mailed me a check without further hastle.

Plasid

Glad to hear all okay, those bruises get worse a few days after...

Get the bike properly checked out asap. Make sure safe and all damage cost covered.

I had a similar bump on a roundabout a couple of years back, lbs suggested I would be entitled to claim for a replacement frame but i thought couldn't do that to the guy, he'd admitted fault, contrite etc., sort the agreed damaged wheel and get on with life... Couple of months later discovered crack in front forks and cue expense to me, if thankfully spotted before failure. Driver had emigrated.

oakley2097

You can claim from the injuries board for up to two years. If its only a small knock maybe ok to sort it in person but for all cyclist its safer if everyone claims, then insurance companies will have an accurate level of costs and push for safer road behavior from motor drivers

The manual for my bike (cube carbon) stated not to cycle the bike after a crash and gave no remedy or inspection procedure

OP I hope your other half gets back to enjoying cycling

diomed

My experience (motorbike) is that the driver admits responsibility to you, but then on mature reflection decides they were not at fault. I would contact the Gardai, and a solicitor, and give the driver's contact info and insurance details to the solicitor.

Dilbert75

Thanks everyone for the replies. The update is that a friend of mine knows the driver and his family and advised us to avoid him and go direct through insurance. We did that and the insurance company called last week to confirm liability and ask that we let them know when we're ready to hear their offer of settlement. Once we're sure there are no more medical expenses, which will be after this week, we'll be back to them. No word back from the Gardai yet though about taking a statement. Hopefully that doesn't reflect the fact that two of the driver's children are Guards.

Bloggsie

Dilbert75 wrote: »

So my wife was knocked off her bike this morning, hit by a car whose driver decided to overtake her on the right as she was going around a roundabout to exit at the 12 o'clock position (driver was heading for the same exit).

Thankfully, apart from a few cuts, bruises and shock, she's ok. Helmet broke on impact, jersey was ripped but bike appears ok apart from a few scrapes. Two Council workers witnessed it and called the Gardai, who were out to take notes & measure up. And thankfully our 13 y.o. son was a few lengths ahead of her and wasn't hit.

At this point we seem to be talking of the order of E100 to replace helmet & jersey. There doesn't seem to be a need for medical expenses. I've got the driver's insurance details but not had a chance to contact him yet. So is it the done thing to deal directly with the driver or inform his insurance company?

so glad that your other half is phyiscally okay, hopefully the head will heal up to & the experience wont scare her off the bike for good. you have follwed the golden rule by contacting the guards, let the insurance company handle the rest.

schemingbohemia

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the replies. The update is that a friend of mine knows the driver and his family and advised us to avoid him and go direct through insurance. We did that and the insurance company called last week to confirm liability and ask that we let them know when we're ready to hear their offer of settlement. Once we're sure there are no more medical expenses, which will be after this week, we'll be back to them. No word back from the Gardai yet though about taking a statement. Hopefully that doesn't reflect the fact that two of the driver's children are Guards.

Not a doctor but I would wait a little longer to assess whether there are any more medical consequences, as pointed out above some of these injuries can take time to reveal their long term impact.