Absent Minded With Worry: Possible Collision With A Cyclist - Please Read?

RonanS94

For the past few days I have been absent minded with worry (feeling physically sick), concerning a possible collision with a cyclist some time ago: Note I'm considered a worrier in general considering certain aspects of life, possibly a little OCD at times.

One dark evening a few months ago I was driving home from work, the majority of the route has a cycle lane with street lights, however on one section of the road the cycle lane transfers to the foothpath beside the road which most cyclists use no street lights on that section. I think a cyclist may have been on the road instead of using the footpath cycle lane and not sure if I gave enough space while passing and may have clipped/hit the cyclist, it was a dark & wet night so visibility was poor..
I actually have a dashcam but didn't check the footage on time and therefore it was automatically overwritten..

While this was a few months ago, it is only the last few days the anxiety/ worry about it has commenced (I'm having trouble sleeping the last few nights, with a sunken worried feeling in my stomach with continuous absent minded worry throughout the day. (Maybe it is as I have been off work over Christmas my mind has had a chance to reflect).. I didn't notice any damage to the side of my car, have checked for media reports of a hit and run in the area at the time with no results.

To make matters worse at the next set of traffic lights after where I think the accident may have occurred an ambulance passed with sirens on and lights on heading in that direction (However I'm assuming it is unlikely an ambulance would respond and be on scene that quickly or was passing on route to an incident elsewhere I'm hoping.)

Are all hit & run accidents widely reported via media?

How to I put my mind at ease? - The worry is driving me insane..

Should I report a possible incident to the authorities? To possibly receive clarity of no incident occurring?

Please advise

magicbastarder

if you think you may have clipped a cyclist and are that stressed about it, there's only one solution i can think of - ask at a garda station about it, and be prepared to deal with the possibility that you may have.
otherwise you will never find out.
however, i suspect that this is one of those situations that if you did actually clip a cyclist, you probably would know rather than being simply unsure about it. unless you had loud music on in the car.

and there's no way an ambulance would have been called that quickly, let alone have neared the potential incident site that quickly.

RunRoryRun

Walk into your Garda station and tell them everything.

lurker2000

You need to get your rational mind into gear here. The ambulance would not have been going to the scene, this is just your mind now catastrophising the event. If the cyclist had been injured or worse, it would have def made the papers after. You may well have knocked the poor person off their bike giving them a bruise or two and not stopping was not your finest moment, but its clear it didn't end in serious injury or death. I don't think going to the guards this late after it happened will look good but you do need to find something tangible to do to give your guilty conscience a break as your mind could spiral down about this. Talk it out with a close friend/family to get some proper perspective. Maybe you could make a donation to charity to alleviate your conscience but if you still feel the need to atone, go to the guards and fess up. I'm sure if this happens again, you will act differently. Good luck.

RonanS94

I'm assuming if I did hit/clip a cyclist there would be at least some minor cosmetic damage to my car, scratched paintwork, cracked headlight etc?

RunRoryRun

RonanS94 wrote: »

I'm assuming if I did hit/clip a cyclist there would be at least some minor cosmetic damage to my car, scratched paintwork, cracked headlight etc?

Your inaction is appalling. Get off your phone and visit a Garda station. Try not to clip anyone on the way, but if you do, stop the car.

bobbysands81

To me this is not a Garda issue, you know you didn’t hit anyone. This is a mental health issue.

It sounds like you’re having obsessive thoughts that are becoming debilitating. Obsessive thoughts can be a form of OCD.

Do you have a Counsellor or mental health expert that helps you at all?

You might consider a visit to your GP to have this conversation with her/him.

Squatman

Take a chill OP, if you hit a cyclist anywhere on the front of the car, the cyclist and bike would either have gone over the car, or under the car and would have had plenty of damage. if you grazed off him/her with the side of the car, you might or might not have damaged the mirror, but would have only pushed the cyclist to the side - (unless you were doing >70kmph). in either case, you would have definitely heard roaring after you hit them, or in the case of some cyclists -- way before you hit them

Squatman

RunRoryRun wrote: »

Your inaction is appalling. Get off your phone and visit a Garda station. Try not to clip anyone on the way, but if you do, stop the car.

go to bed rory --- PS, very ironic user name

CramCycle

Squatman wrote: »

Take a chill OP, if you hit a cyclist anywhere on the front of the car, the cyclist and bike would either have gone over the car, or under the car and would have had plenty of damage. if you grazed off him/her with the side of the car, you might or might not have damaged the mirror, but would have only pushed the cyclist to the side - (unless you were doing >70kmph). in either case, you would have definitely heard roaring after you hit them, or in the case of some cyclists -- way before you hit them

Unless they hit their head on the way down but this aside, this thread will go nowhere good. OP, go to the Gardai and possibly a therapist for the anxiety. Hand in your license until the latter gives you the thumbs u because it does not sound like you should be driving at the minute. /closed