Car crash, Dublin Road, Celbridge 20/03/2013

emiszcz

I'm looking for a witness that can identify motorcycle that fled the scene.
I was driving my grey Renault Megane 01 from Celbridge through Dublin Road(R403) towards N4 on the evening of Wednesday 20th of March 2013. Incident happened around 18:30. A reckless motorcyclist going in the opposite direction started overtaking moving traffic. He entered my lane and I tried to brake to avoid collision. When there was no room to pass I swerved to the left, hit the curb and ended in the green. Wheel and suspension is damaged. Please help.

DoBhrionn

emiszcz wrote: »

I'm looking for a witness that can identify motorcycle that fled the scene.
I was driving my grey Renault Megane 01 from Celbridge through Dublin Road(R403) towards N4 on the evening of Wednesday 20th of March 2013. Incident happened around 18:30. A reckless motorcyclist going in the opposite direction started overtaking moving traffic. He entered my lane and I tried to brake to avoid collision. When there was no room to pass I swerved to the left, hit the curb and ended in the green. Wheel and suspension is damaged. Please help.

I was on that road around that time, but didn't hear any sounds of a collision.
The only bike I remember was a black Ducati.

emiszcz

It happened in front of "Golf Driving Range & Football Park" right here:
http://goo.gl/maps/KZ4lh
All I saw was his headlight. There was 1 witness who says that it was most likely small/medium motorcycle, perhaps white helmet and yellow safety vest

alias no.9

From recent experience of taking evasive action (emergency stop) to prevent a collision with an idiot who stopped dead in the right hand lane of the two inbound lanes of the N4 at the M50 junction because they left it to late to join the lane for the M50 southbound, if there was no contact between you and the motorcycle, the gardai and the insurance companies don't want to know. I got rear ended for my troubles, cops came out, I gave them the details of the idiot in front of me, offered to make a full statement and be a witness in court, etc... but because there was no contact between me and the idiot, they just didn't care.

BostonB

Unless you've video its going to be impossible to prove anything worthwhile in these situations.

MugMugs

alias no.9 wrote: »

From recent experience of taking evasive action (emergency stop) to prevent a collision with an idiot who stopped dead in the right hand lane of the two inbound lanes of the N4 at the M50 junction because they left it to late to join the lane for the M50 southbound, if there was no contact between you and the motorcycle, the gardai and the insurance companies don't want to know. I got rear ended for my troubles, cops came out, I gave them the details of the idiot in front of me, offered to make a full statement and be a witness in court, etc... but because there was no contact between me and the idiot, they just didn't care.

Unfortunately, this is reality.

Your trace is fruitless.

BostonB

There so much poor driving these days, a dash cam front and rear is something I'd consider.

padd b1975

Maybe post this on motorbike forum too?

BostonB

padd b1975 wrote: »

Maybe post this on motorbike forum too?

Curious why you think that would be useful.

alias no.9

BostonB wrote: »

Curious why you think that would be useful.

[Speculation] Mere motorists may not be adept as noticing detail beyond 'it was a motorbike' whereas a seasoned biker may be able to give you a lot more detail even without a full reg. [/Speculation]

Unfortunately, I doubt there'll be much satisfaction to be had even with an identification.

mickdw

The repair should be cheap as second hand parts for a 01 megane should be easily found. It should certainly work out cheaper than trying to chase this up. Its not worth the headaches.

emiszcz

@alias no.9
Stopping on motorway is forbidden, but sometimes necessary(e.g. in emergency situation) so you have to be vigilant and have enough room to stop(I know- easy to say)

In my case- the biker was overtaking in a place where it is prohibited- this is an offence.
He fled the scene of a crash(could not have known at that time that there was no injuries)- this is a crime.
There were at least 5-6 cars that he was overtaking, and at least 2 managed to hit the horn while he was overtaking.
I believe a witness that knows the plate numbers or any details that would identify the bike would suffice.

A nearby resident told me that there are 2 bikes usually travelling this route at this time of the day.
Anyway, I saved this guy's life or at least spared him serious injuries. Now I have to pay for it.

padd b1975

BostonB wrote: »

Curious why you think that would be useful.

The motorcyclist may be a poster.
He may have what he thinks is valid reason for not stopping, family emergency etc

alias no.9

emiszcz wrote: »

@alias no.9
Stopping on motorway is forbidden, but sometimes necessary(e.g. in emergency situation) so you have to be vigilant and have enough room to stop(I know- easy to say)

In my case- the biker was overtaking in a place where it is prohibited- this is an offence.
He fled the scene of a crash(could not have known at that time that there was no injuries)- this is a crime.
There were at least 5-6 cars that he was overtaking, and at least 2 managed to hit the horn while he was overtaking.
I believe a witness that knows the plate numbers or any details that would identify the bike would suffice.

A nearby resident told me that there are 2 bikes usually travelling this route at this time of the day.
Anyway, I saved this guy's life or at least spared him serious injuries. Now I have to pay for it.

I'm with you 100%, the prick should be done for dangerous driving at the very least but insurance companies won't touch it unless there has been contact.

My incident happened on the N4 so not a motorway but it happened in free moving traffic and following the idiot coming to a complete stop in front of me for no reason other than they left it too late to go the way they wanted, surely dangerous driving and certainly not an emergency or evasive maneuver which may justify stopping in such a situation, they crossed hatched markings [undisputed RTA Violation] at a crawl into a lane of free moving traffic, creating another serious hazard and surely another incident of dangerous driving.

They must have at least heard the impact of our car being rear ended and certainly heard the blast of the horn that I gave them so I've no doubt that they completed their ridiculous maneuver after knowing that they had precipitated an accident and didn't even check to see if there was any injuries. I had 2 small children in the car with me and a heavily pregnant wife. The lady driving behind me who rear ended me after I had stopped also had a child in the car with her. I don't know how much her car cost to put right but the bill for ours was nearly €5k all in.

Despite me explaining all of this to the traffic corps, providing them with the make, model and registration of the idiots car, offering to be a witness to their dangerous driving, to the best of my knowledge the Gardai have done SFA about it, they have not even taken a full statement from me as to the actions of the idiot.

I also provided this information to the insurers of the lady who hit us but they didn't in any way dispute covering our costs though I don't know if they pursued the idiot, perhaps if the idiot was insured with the same company there may have been a higher likelihood that they at least split the claim, no additional cost to them but wipes out 2 No Claims Bonuses.

emiszcz

I went to the Gards to make a statement. They were not really interested in following up the story, didn't want witness details. Insurance company the same so far. I just suggested to the gards to make a checkpoint on a random day around that time and make bikers aware that I spared the life of one of them.
I'm claiming from my policy, I don't think average garage would be able to fix it good enough to pass NCT next year and I need a replacement car for the time being. I notified Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland. According to the information on their website- if they believe me - they will work with my insurer and there is a chance that I won't lose my no claims bonus.

Now the question is- would I do the same thing again?
I would turn just enough and aim to make side contact with the bike. I wouldn't deliberately go into a ditch or swerve if there were any trees/wall around.

I'll just add that I was travelling with my 4 year old daughter, and she was very upset and shaken.

rocky

Watching the youtube Russian crashes, I'm always amazed by the reaction of drivers to turn into oncoming traffic or crash into a pole/ditch when faced with a hazard in their lane. Many times the 'hazard' even comes out unscathed, and the avoider ends up upside down...

antodeco

I think its a natural thing to do. Swerve and avoid whats in front of you as your brain processes it. Its too busy processing the avoidance as oppose to the outcome of swerving away. Ive had a few near misses where Ive swerved out of the way, but not enough to hit something else, but more so to lessen the impact of what the hazard was going to be.