yesterday evening i was attacked by a car….

it was nice and sunny yesterday evening here in munich and the GF wanted an ice cream. so we hopped on our bikes and pootled off down the road.
we hadn’t ridden more than 200 yards when a lady comes up very close to the GF rear wheel. i turn around and give her “the glare” as if to say back off a little – there was a junction coming up and then 20 yards further on a set of traffic lights where the side road joins the main road.
as we entered the small road the woman revved it and buzzed past me leaving about 4″ between me and her wing mirror. so i accelerated and got in front of her in the middle of the main junction, where i skidded to a stop, thinkng that i’d tell her that her last action just wasn’t on. she stopped, too. and then she gunned it and rear ended me.

as you can imagine i was pretty shocked. my first reaction was to throw my bike onto/through her windscreen, but surprisingly i remained calm(ish). there were four or five pedestrians who saw the whole thing and instantly came over and gave the GF their details.

the driver (we’ll call her Petra, as that is her name) said that i had provoked her by riding too far from the curb and too slowly, which is why she cut past me. i countered that there is a reason that i don’t ride 5″ from the curb and was going slowly as we were approaching a junction. she then said that she ran into me as i had stopped in front of her. i explained, very calmly, that i had stopped in front of her to tell her that her last action was incredibly stupid, explaining that had she hit my bar i would most likely have lost control and hit the deck, perhaps ending up in hospital as she sped away.

luckily i saw her accerlerate and was able to get half way off the bike before she made contact. i’ve got some bruising on my hand and a grazed knee.
the rear wheel on my Alpine is fubared. totally tachoed.

i told her that she could either pay for a new wheel or that i would call the police and make sure that she lands in front of a judge.

i got 500€ out of her, saying that i now need a new rear wheel and rear mech. i made her drive me to the bank to draw the money out.

i have her details, but didn’t give her my name or address. when she asked for my name i said “jay”, which it is… sort of.

but i’m now wondering if i should go to the doctors and the police and really screw her over. my only concern is having taken 500€ from her there and then. i don’t really want to sit for hours with plod giving statements and i’m not sure what their interpretation of events would be given that i stopped in front of her (had i not she would have disappeared into the distance, never to be seen again).

the thing that really pisses me off is that the GF and i are going away with the bikes next week to Zell am See and i now need a new rear wheel.

i told her that she could either pay for a new wheel or that i would call the police and make sure that she lands in front of a judge.

i got 500€ out of her,

you really want blackmail to come out in front of the fuzz?

Call it a win and let it go.

Cash? Are you insane? I would have called the cops instantly? WTF were you thinking?!?!

That’ll teach you to colour match your rims and seat qr….

Seriously though glad you’re basically ok. Whilst I totally agree she was in the wrong, it probably didnt help you stopping in front of her, although I’d probably do the same, or just remove her wing mirror (im good at that 😳 )

Did you get your ice cream though?

i don’t much like the old bill here in Bavaria. bunch of gits, in my experience.

my initial thought was “brilliant! i need a new wheel”.

i’ve got her address so some retribution may be in hand a few weeks/months down the line for her lump of metal.

i’ve left a few mirrors dangling in the past, which whilst fun, is also pretty stupid.

yes, tom, we got our ice creams…. 🙂

i’ve even got gold screws for the chain rings….

Well she’s been “fined” so I’d leave it at that, hopefully has learned that it’s not good to buzz cyclists or indeed run into them.

you got 500 euros, came off ok, is it really worth taking it further? Id just move on.

is the frame not bent as well?

some retribution may be in hand

nope, she’s paid up for your wheel presumably with a few euros on top for your trouble, fair enough, retribution would be bad for your karma, mmmkay?

no, i checked the frame. i took the GF’s rear wheel and everything was in line.

yeah, stupid with the retribution idea, but i still feel she got away lightly.

Either/or. You can’t tell her to give you 500 or you’ll tell the rozzers and then do both. That’s just crappy.

Buy a new wheel and enjoy the holiday.

Cash is king! Glad you’re both OK.

i’d tell the rozzers if the doc says that there are injuries which are going to mean that i can not work (i’m self employed; no work, no money) as it would be the only way to cover my inconvenience.

but i still feel she got away lightly

first time I got knocked off, well she clipped then I hit the deck, I agreed to driver paying me £20 for my shredded gloves. Next day with aching muscles, some quality bruising and big grazes I felt she’d got off lightly too. Not about exacting revenge tho is it? it’s making sure you are covered for your losses and they learn from their mistakes and don’t do it again (hopefully)

don’t know what the law is in germany but any decent uk lawyer would argue that 500eur is your full & final payment.

Once you’ve taken money off her, the matter is deemed to be settled. Regardless of if you later find the frame is knackered, you’ve got no comeback.

She damaged the bike, she paid you compensation agreed between you.

The end – certainly in UK law, you can’t then go bleating back that you need a new frame or you suffered injury as you’ve accepted compensation.

I’d treat the 500 euros as a ‘full and final settlement’ and next time give time for things to calm down a bit before reaching an agreement/blackmailing a driver.

but i still feel she got away lightly.

::slaps forehead::

Well, who’s bloody silly fault is that? YOURS. That’s who.

I give up sometimes, I really do.

I’d be a moody bitch if I was named after a dog too.

agree Poddy… heat of the moment and all that.

You took the money and that is deemed as a out of court settlement as far i am aware. 500 euros sounds like a good bit of money for a new rim and wheel rebuild to me.

i’ve got her address so some retribution may be in hand a few weeks/months down the line for her lump of metal.

Don’t be daft.
She knows what you and your partner look like and the area where you live.
She might just decide to take retribution of her own.

Surely she assaulted you? Forget more money, agree with the others that you have that bit settled but if you feel strongly enough you could still report her for the criminal action*.

*if indeed the facts of the case were to prove that…

enough witnesses saw her accelerate into me.

the GF said, quite calmly, to the woman that everyone saw her deliberately accelerate her car after having come to a stop.

i think she was bricking it a bit afterwards when thinking about what could have happened had my head hit the deck and the position she would be in….

Don’t doubt you alpin. Just didn’t want the hand wringers on here accusing me of being judge and jury!

Sounds like an appointment with the beak would do her anger management issues no harm at all. I would however, say that from a personal point of view, I would be concerned she may be ‘advised’ to claim that you had extorted money from her at the scene…

I’d leave it and spend the spare cash on beer tokens for your holiday…

What they say; you’ve got the money, it’s done. Also, without wishing to sound odd, given you’d worked out she was a liability, was braking hard in front of her REALLY that smart? Glad you’re okay but perhaps next time think a bit more?

Well, you get new replacement gear, so you’re happy in the short term.

However, and this is just a scifi like prediction, because you didn’t involve the police for, “assault,” if she is still insisting in her head that she’s in the right, regarding you as an anatagonistic git, then the next cyclist or the one after, or one sometime in the future that “gets in her way”, she’s going to run down, kill and drive off hoping she doesn’t get caught.

i think that at the end of it she saw it from a cyclists perspective. i told her why i don’t ride in the gutter or inches away from parked cars (even getting her to walk past the car the same distance she’d expect a cyclist to pass a parked car whilst i was sat in the drivers seat, opening the door on her as she went past), why she shouldn’t pass within inches of a cyclist and why she should give cyclists more room considering they are on two wheels, are vunerable and not surrounded by a box full of air bags.

she has no come back on me. as i said, i didn’t give her my name or address. all she knows is that people call me “jay” and that i’m not german. probably quite hard to trace in acity of 1.5 million.

and all this comes three days after a guy on tour ended up hospital (think he is still there, will find out later) after he went over the bars. unconscious on the road and when they put him in the ambulance. had severe concussion when i visited him in hospital….

you should of gone official and got the police involved.

But you didnt she gave you £500 so no you need to leave it.

I’d watch this one if I was you, if she reports this the right way you pulled in front of her car, caused her to hit you then you forced her to go to the cash machine and give her money.

Better make sure you keep the details of those witnesses in case she reports it in a very different way than you tell the story…

Probably won’t happen this way but may well be worth reporting it to get it on record saying you don’t want to take it any further just in case she gets there first.

Did you give her a reciept?

No? Well call the rozzers and ask for another 500 in compensation 😉

I wonder how much she would pay if she ran over a child ? Might be worth finding out, next time you need a new kitchen or something.

she could well report me, but as i said she has no contact details: no name; no address. all witnesses gave me, not her, their names.

she could report it, but there are enough people who saw the whole incident and were quite shocked at her actions.

ha! nice one hels…. live in a rented flat so the kitchen isn’t my concern…

i did aask her if she would have driven in the same manner if it was an old guy or young child in front of her.

i’m just glad i didn’t hit her in the face….

i’d tell the rozzers if the doc says that there are injuries which are going to mean that i can not work (i’m self employed; no work, no money) as it would be the only way to cover my inconvenience.

Time off for a bruised hand and a grazed knee, awww diddums.

Serioulsy you’ve got 500 euros, I’d leave it at that. Handy that she happened to be carrying a large wad of cash though.

You both behaved like idiots, you came off worse, but you got a wad of cash. I’d leave it at that.

I’d have called the police instead though. Maybe learn to be less aggresive on the bike too.

alpin, that’s amazing. but i’d leave it there. if that’s really how it went down she probably won’t do it again. nice, i’d not have the nerve to march someone to a cash machine like that.

500 euros is alot of money for someone to cough up on the spot.

Imagine she feels cornered now and comes out with ‘earlier down the road you had threatened, sworn and slapped the car’. She felt shaken and scarred. Then the altrication and she was desperately trying to get away. Then the witnesses came across and sided with you but they hadn’t seen earlier events. Eventually you demanded and extorted money out of her.

Personally I’d **** leave it.

Any Policeman would have been listening without the 500euro-bit. With that bit you’ve muddied the waters abit IMO.

Take your £500 euros and accept that.

If you had called the police instead at the time it would be different but effectively you settled your claim for £500

I’d also avoid riding your distinctive bike down the same road(s).

WHY? WHY? Cry the warrior-keyboardists. Not everyone is a law-abiding normally-hinged citizen in charge of a 1ton vehicle. She may give a sob-story to a partner or family member who then thinks shes been ‘wronged’..