Knocked off my bike

impr0v

Cycling into college about three hours ago, through Terenure, moving at a good pace, when somebody opens their door on me, point blank, outside the cinema just the Harolds Cross side of Kenilworth crossroads. I have a split second image of it opening, and next thing i'm in pain and eating tarmac. I literally had no time to respond because of the speed I was going and his perfect timing. The door frame caught me in the chest and perhaps on the finger as the top of one of them is numb, and I hit my head off the road surface. I wasn't wearing a helmet (i know) and have a large bump and graze to the right side of my forehead. My chest is sore all across it and I have a mark at the point of impact and a scrape leading from it. There are a few other hot spots, on my hip and knee, and there seems to be something pulled in my arm.

I fell out onto the road, which was a bus lane and looked up to say 'you f****** idiot' to the guy in the car, then sprawled for a bit to get my bearings. A friendly cycle courier came over and offered to call an ambulance before helping me off the road. I was in a mild shock and didn't really know what to do. A woman then appeared who said I nearly fell in front of her car and she nearly got sick with the fright. I didn't feel like anything had been broken, so i declined the ambulance. The car driver was apologising over and over, and said he'll pay to fix my bike, which was in a bad way. He offered to bring me home, which I accepted after a while, but when we couldn't fit the bike in his boot, I said I'd make my own way home, as I really wanted to get rid of him. I rang my brother and while waiting for him to collect me I just burst into tears, and was still in tears when he arrived. was a strange experience.

I guess the moral of the story is, if you didn't know it already, watch out for car drivers, both stationary and moving.

Here's my bike, post accident:

The wheel didn't just buckle, it actually broke, as did the forks:

as you can see from the crack.

here's the unfortunate head and chest



I got the guys phone number and said I'd phone him after i got a quote for the damage to the bike. It'll be interesting to see how keen he is when he gets the bill for a new wheel and fork, probably about 300 quid. I took his reg number and was kicking myself for not getting the name of the woman who stopped, but I really wasn't thinking straight. The courier guy should be easy to find though, as he worked for cyclone and had a distinctive haircut.

qz

Wow, sorry to hear it. Hope you get reimbursed in the end. Let us know.

roadmanmad

You were haunted.

The exact same happened my cousin in Dublin in 1990. Cycling along, door opened, knocked over, truck drove over both legs. Months in Traction and followed by months in Dun laoighaire Rehab. He can walk now but thats about it.

You know now what you should have done. You got off lightly.

johnnyrotten

I see in the pic that the bike has no light. Did it?

impr0v

It had a flashing light front and back, they were taken off in the photo as I generally strip anything removable off it when leaving it in the car park. I was also wearing a hi-vis jacket.

KTRIC

Did you inform the Gardai ? As the driver offered to pay for the repair of your bike then he is admitting liabilty. If I was you I'd speak to a solicitor asap and sue for damages.

Civilian_Target

And no helmet. Not so smooth.

Although to be honest, this is why I stay away from parked cars. They deliver the worst kind of accidents - it all happens very quickly and usually lands you head first in the middle of the road....

Anyway, good luck with the recovery, its not too bad if repairing the bike is the expensive part!

johnnyrotten

impr0v wrote:

It had a flashing light front and back, they were taken off in the photo as I generally strip anything removable off it when leaving it in the car park. I was also wearing a hi-vis jacket.

Not taking away from the fact that the idiot should have been more careful, but thise flashing LED lights are F**K all use . Theres no replacement for a proper white Light. It makes you properly visable.
Take care and speedy recovery

fenris

Get yourself some Arnica tablets - great for swelling and bruising, there is also arnica gel but rubbiing in stuff would probably be sore!
A little bit of Teatree oil in the bath and have a soak makes the world a better place or at least it will tomorrow!

There was a particular kind of madness out there tonight, not even the usual dublin taxi style agressiveness just normal people doing lots of stupid things on the road, I saw more stupid things today than in the last month, it was just a crap road day, with not even a full moon to explain it!

Just make sure that you get back on the bike and don't give them a second crack at you.

P.S. Just saw a classic while driving down the N11, coming up to amber traffic lights so I stop, a car in the right hand lane right containg a couple of young chaps, floor it and go through on a nice freash red light. The traffic corp car behind them turns on their flashey blue lights - and the rest is history and at least one other person that doesn't know what mirrors are for gets and education - karma???

roadmanmad

I just do not get it.

How many of us are drivers.

Do you look every time as you open the door that there is no one coming. 99% of the people I see, do not.

Doors can open up to 3.5 feet from a car. You have to stay away. Do not take them to court. You will be creamed. All they have to say is that they looked and did not see you. They win. Because you were in control of where the position of where the bike was, you will have the hughest level of responsibility.

You seriously need to think about what happened and who was responsible.

Let it go and count you lucky stars.

cregser

I'm learning to drive and getting out more and more. I've cycled a fair bit and been a passenger in cars for thousands of miles but am only now appreciating the danger of Irish roads. I actually feel lucky now, when I arrive home safely. Whereas travelling in a car before was a mild inconvenience between wanting to be somewhere and getting there.

I remember a guy I used to get a lift off before. He always stuck to the speed limit because he knocked over a guy one time. I still thought he was a bit square and didn't really respect him for it (same as you probably would when you see a cyclist all kitted out). I think we're all to casual about the roads - whether your pedestrian, cyclist, driver whatever.

impr0v, I've never had such a life threatening experience as yourself (not that close anyway) so I can only wish you the best and hope it effects you for the better.

sobriquet

Hard luck man, that was a bad fall to take. I got doored not too long ago. I was filtering alongside stationry (sp?) traffic to the lights and still had a bit of momentum when all of a sudden the passenger door of the car at the front of the queue opens and spills me across the footpath. I saw it and reacted in enough time that the door only caught my arm and spun me to the ground, so I landed on my bike. Left me with a bruise that just about covered my right bicep. It's a sh*t experience, happens so quick. Nothing so bad as yours though.

Since then I've gotten in the habit of keeping at least two feet from the cars when passing them and keeping an eye on anyone inside to see if a door is likely to open (lights on inside, people on driver side front and back etc), as well as keeping an eye on traffic in my lane, an eye on oncoming traffic, an eye on pedestrians... I've been neglecting using my lid too. It's about time it went back on.

Best of luck with getting things settled, and I hope your recovery is speedy.

RasTa

Nah that rubbish two posts up. My uncle did the exact same thing to a cyclist that happened to you and was sued. Take it to court if you feel you have any long term damages and cant work etc... you will win. I urge you not to if its only a few scrapes

daymobrew

roadmanmad wrote:

Do not take them to court. You will be creamed. All they have to say is that they looked and did not see you. They win. Because you were in control of where the position of where the bike was, you will have the hughest level of responsibility.

You seriously need to think about what happened and who was responsible.

This is the complete opposite of what a Garda in Cabra station told me when I reported a accident I witnessed where the motorist "didn't see" a cyclist and T-boned him (cyclist on primary road, motorist approaching from side road on his left).
The Garda told me that, even when a cyclist is at fault, the courts generally rule in their favour. I guess it is because the cyclist is more vunerable.

impr0v - get your LaPierre cruiser fixed or replaced. Ask a solicitor for advice - they will know whether the courts will be nice to you or not.
BTW, did your clipless pedals release? I've always wondered whether my SPDs would be a negative thing in the case of an accident.

Mucco

Definitely report it to the Gardai, and might want to take a careful look at the frame to make sure it's not damaged, you must have hit at some speed to break the forks, so the frame could be bent.

M

Trampas

I had an accident like this about 5 years ago.

Car was a few cars back from the lights. I was passing on the inside and passenger front door opened. Bang i got the door in the chest and whack my knee of the ground.

Ambulance came and gave me the look over and was asking do i want to go to hospital but i said no. You do be in shock and you don't be thinking correct.

Went straight down to the garda station to report it shortly after the ambulance left.

Ended up going to a solictor due to advice from people, 10 physio sessions on my knee as i had done tissue damage to my knee.

kincsem

roadmanmad wrote:

Do not take them to court. You will be creamed. All they have to say is that they looked and did not see you. They win. Because you were in control of where the position of where the bike was, you will have the hughest level of responsibility.

When I had a motorbike years ago I was taken out by a driver who was stopped in a line of cars turning right. He pulled left into my lane as I was passing. He admitted responsibility to me in hospital but then in a court case fudged it.

Try to
(1) get something for your bike
(2) try to get something for your injuries
in that order.

But you will be lucky to collect.

Hope you recover and have no permanent health problems from it.

Johnny Jukebox

Speedy recovery and commiserations.

Looking at the damage, I'd ask for a new bike, or at least a new frame, fork, wheel, headset and rebuild. I'd have little confidence that the frame has not been affected by the crash.

If medical opinion takes the view that you have long term after affects, get lawyered up and go after them. Because thats what they will do, even though the motorist is completely in the wrong here.

i71jskz5xu42pb

First off, tough luck on the fall. But ...

impr0v wrote:

I literally had no time to respond because of the speed I was going and his perfect timing.
<snip>
I fell out onto the road, which was a bus lane and looked up to say 'you f****** idiot' to the guy in the car

Please tell me you accept some responsibility for this? When you're doing the driving test (for a car) they tell you that you should leave room for somebody to do just what the motorist did i.e. suddenly open a door. Presumably cyclists should do the same.

The way people are going on here you'd think it was completely the motorist's fault. I'm not coming at this from a position - consider myself both a motorist and a cyclist (despite having my bike nicked last year)

impr0v wrote:

I guess the moral of the story is, if you didn't know it already, watch out for car drivers, both stationary and moving.

Agreed

K-TRIC wrote:

If I was you I'd speak to a solicitor asap and sue for damages.

Nice to see Ireland's compo culture is alive and well. The driver offered to pay for the bike. Assuming he comes good on this what more damages are there - emotional trauma? What's wrong with dusting yourself off and getting on with your life - thousands of people do it every year without the assistance of a solicitor.

John_C

PaschalNee wrote:

When you're doing the driving test (for a car) they tell you that you should leave room for somebody to do just what the motorist did i.e. suddenly open a door. Presumably cyclists should do the same.

The driving tester doesn't tell you anything, he just tests you. Apart from that you're 50% correct. A cyclist chould be aware that a car door could open and someone opening a car door should be aware that they're opening it into traffic.

The mitigating factor in favour of the cyclist is that it is next to impossible to keep 4 or 5 feet clearance between you and a parked car without slowing down the motorised traffic and causing danger to yourself. So the rules of the road say one thing, common sense says the opposite.

impr0v

I got myself examined by a doctor after posting here, no serious damage. Am currently very sore and there is a significant percentage of my body that is yellow, have also had headaches for the past two days.

I bought the bike back to the guys in the cycle superstore who originally sold it to me and have done any work/servicing on it since. The front wheel was broken, the back wheel buckled, the fork broken and the bracket that drops the derailleur down from the frame bent completely in under the frame. They suspect there's a stress fracture in the head tube due to the force of the impact and therefore aren't willing to fix it up without replacing the frame, as they would then be liable should the frame give way at a later date. The bike is consequently a write off, as to replace all the parts, including the frame, will cost as much as a similar new bike, roughly 680 euro.

I reported the incident to the gardaí in Terenure on the following day, who said to see how I get on with getting the driver to repair the bike and if I'm not successful, they'll follow it up.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the guys phone has been off since he gave me his number.

I'm going to call Cyclone couriers tomorrow and try and locate the guy that stopped to help, as I'm pretty sure he witnessed it, and if there's no response on the guys phone, I'm going to go back to the guards.

I'm not sure I want to get into the quasi-legal conversation that has developed above. I will say this: I was in a bus-slash-cycle lane, illuminated and wearing hi-vis clothing, doing under the speed limit during heavy traffic. Any further out into the bus lane and I would have effectively being obstructing it, perhaps compromising my safety more than the position I was in. The guy getting out of his car breached the duty of care he has towards other road users by not checking his mirror before opening his door. He said that he checked, then went back to turn off his radio, then opened the door without checking. This means that he was cognisant of the risk that he presented in opening his door, and was effectively reckless in doing so after turning off his radio. The place where he was parked was on a slight bend and it was obvious that he could not see sufficient distance upon checking his mirror to ensure that it was safe to open his door at any time except immediately after checking.

Furthermore, he said to me, in the presence of the bicycle courier, 'it was completely my fault', which seems to me to be a pretty unambiguous statement of his side of the story, and also offered to pay for my bike, another admission of liability. In other words, I'd be confident of my case if it went to court.

In respect of the 'compo culture' references, I've no intent to claim for illnesses I don't have or emotional stress, which I may in fact have a case for, I do however fully intend to get my bike replaced, since the damage caused to it by his actions has rendered it unsafe for further use.

impr0v

daymobrew wrote:

impr0v - get your LaPierre cruiser fixed or replaced. Ask a solicitor for advice - they will know whether the courts will be nice to you or not.
BTW, did your clipless pedals release? I've always wondered whether my SPDs would be a negative thing in the case of an accident.

It's not actually the cruiser, though it does look like one. It's the '04 equipe bike, the budget replica of the FDjeux team bike that they bring out every year. I put straight across bars on it when I went back to college to use it as a commuter rather than a road bike. The pedals are actually just the standard ones that come on it with the clips removed.

HusseinSarhan

Sorry to hear it. I almost got knocked off too by some girl in Rathmines the other day. Just cycling along at a reasonably fast pace (its a road bike so you can't help go at a decent speed) whilst in the cylce path with a helmet and lights on when this girl just pulls in full speed in her car. She was travelling in the direction coming towards me and just cut right accross. I had just enough time to swerve drastically out of the way and could have left quite a dent in her car. I didn't bother to stop and give out. What a goon though.

Rathmines seems full of them though. I was cycling along in the same way another time recently and this fella with a cardboard box just steps out right in front of me in the cycle path. What the hell? There are so many cyclists, it could have been pretty painful for all involved.

You could havebeen a lot worse off but seriously, you are a fool for not wearing a helmet. Anyone who is commuting should have a helmet.

dalk

Sorry for the spill, pretty serious...

Suppose its a good time to remind all the cyclists, in my experience, car door hits are the most common accident. And they are nearly impossible to avoid when they happen.

I've been knocked twice by car doors. "Luckily", each time i didnt hit the door head on but was clipped on the left side of the handle bar. Each time i was spun and landed on my back, no cars to run me over, and with only some bruising to to show for it. One of the incidents the guy basically hopped out of the car and started verbally attacking me whilst i was sprawled on the road, dazed and confused. All my fault, basically why had "run" into his door? etc... Gave as good back. He then stormed into a shop he had stopped for in the first place. I then let the air free from his tyres and went on my way... :rolleyes:

Funsterdelux

I know how it feels, that would be one of my worst fears (door opening like that)however any of my accidents only involved myself and the road, last time was a mouth full of tarmac and a broken tooth.

markpb

roadmanmad wrote:

Do you look every time as you open the door that there is no one coming. 99% of the people I see, do not.

Doors can open up to 3.5 feet from a car. You have to stay away. Do not take them to court. You will be creamed. All they have to say is that they looked and did not see you. They win. Because you were in control of where the position of where the bike was, you will have the hughest level of responsibility.

You seriously need to think about what happened and who was responsible.

I know from your other posts that you cycle regularly so I assume then that you've seen the miles of cycle lane right beside parking spots. I assume you've seen the way a cyclist is treated by other road users when they cycle in the middle of the lane and obstruct traffic to avoid being beside said parked cars. There are many places, particularly in the city centre where there just isn't space to cycle away from parked cars.

Ignoring all this, you've already said that you and a lot of other drivers fail to look in the mirrors when they open the door. How then can you possibly suggest that the OP was at fault? If it was taken to court, the driver has a duty of care to check before opening the door and the cyclists is legally obliged to cycle in the cycle lane. There's no way they'd be "creamed" as you put it by adhering to the rules of the road.

If you're going to make excuses for drivers, at least be consistent - they can't have it every way.

TempestSabre

Having been in a n accident where the other party admitted liability then retracted, I was told that anything said at the scene of a incident is usually not taken as liability. You have to prove it with witness'es and evidence. If no cop witness'es it then they can't help you either. They shouldn't comment on it either. Of course this is just what I was told, legally it could be BS, you'd have to ask a solicitor to know for sure.

Personally when cycling I'm always very wary of a parked car with someone in it. Of course noone opens a car door deliberately, its just a lapse of concentration.

johncl

impr0v wrote:

I reported the incident to the gardaí in Terenure on the following day, who said to see how I get on with getting the driver to repair the bike and if I'm not successful, they'll follow it up.

hiya,

the guards basically told you to try and go sort it yourself. you need to go straight back into them and make a full statement, as detailed as possible, as unless they took a statement from you when you went in to them it means nothing.

once you've made that statement, it's up to the guards to track down the other guy and take a statement from him.

if he admits fault - you're sorted. contact his insurance company, they'll send you a claim form you fill in and send back with the quote you got from cycle superstore. and you'll be grand.

if he doesn't admit fault i guess you'll need to contact a solicitor - and you'll need that guy from cyclone to act as a witness. i've never had to take this legal route so someone else should give you advice here.

(it seems like it's the drivers' fault pretty obviously though. i don't know specifically - i think it's more important that the gardai are on your side - be nice to them when making the statement and hope you get a good one - if they're on your side when they contact the other guy he'll have a much harder time denying responsibility - good for you)

as far as i can see the gardai were fobbing you off by telling you to go and try and sort it yourself - saving themselves work. even if you contact yer man now and he promises to pay you the full whack, you still HAVE to go to the gardai, make a full statement, and get them to log it in the same way they log ANY road traffic accident. this is the only way you will have ANY recourse to follow it up.

hope this helps.

markpb

johncl wrote:

as far as i can see the gardai were fobbing you off by telling you to go and try and sort it yourself - saving themselves work.

Not really. It's a he-said, she-said case where the guardai can't really do anything. At the end of the day, if it goes to court there's no evidence (except to some extent the witness) either way.

impr0v

Thanks for the advice Johncl.

As an update to this I've located and talked to the courier from Cyclone in the past day and he's happy to talk to the gardai. He didn't actually see the accident, he heard the bang and looked around in time to see me hit the ground. However, he did hear a number of the guys statements that I've recounted above, which I think will be sufficient should it go to court, specifically the one re the radio. Am going back to gardai today to make a detailed statement and to ask them to pursue it since the phone which the motorist gave me the number to has not been switched on since the event.

In fairness to the gardai, I told them that the only reason I was reporting it was in case I got nowhere with the motorist, whom I hadn't rang at that stage. I did so once I found out how much it would cost to repair the bike, as I figured that, even if I could contact him, he would be expecting a significantly smaller sum.

The courier said he was suspicious of how the guy acted afterwards and considered taking the reg number himself. I'm kicking myself that I didn't take the details from the woman that stopped her car after seeing what happened, but I really wasn't thinking coherently at the time.

t5pwr

Keep us posted anyway, it would be very interesting to see how you get on.

Myself and a friend were hit once by a guy coming out of a T junction and just didn't look. Cleared the two of us off the bikes.

We got the bikes fixed up, just buckled wheels on each and gave him the bill and he paid up. Some motorists just except the responsibility when they are wrong and some don't. This guy even rang his own insurance company and told them what happened just in case we sued. He even paid our travel costs for the few days that the bikes were being fixed.

I hope you get what you need without much hassle...