Using the (very) quiet country lanes this morning on my way to work. A woman pulls out of a farm lane without looking in the same direction as me without looking. See’s me in her rear view and stops dead. Pow. I landed on the rear window. Little bit winded little bit dazzed.

I didn’t think to get a photo but we exchanged numbers, she was very apologetic.

I feel a bit odd, sore rib. Bike needs checked but scuffed levers are evident.

How strong are Arkose forks? Strava looks like I hit the back of the car around 12/13mph. Initially 19mph but looks like I scrubbed off 6mph.

Shit.

Ouch. Let’s hope she doesn’t think about it for a bit and then just say you rode into the back of her.

I would be erring on the side of replacing forks if there is any suspicion they have taken a clout like that.

Who on earth (and yes this is obviously a rhetorical question) sees something unexpected in their rear view mirror and thinks, “ooh, reckon I’ll do an emergency stop”?

🤔

How strong are Arkose forks?

I rolled myself and my Arkose over a over a bonnet – forks were totalled, obviously as there was a massive crack and they were no longer straight…

If you take yours to a shop they will tell you to replace them as, as far as I recall, there’s no way to reliably test if carbon is damaged.

JamesO (of this parish) will hopefully be able to sort you out with a crash replacement set at cost price should you need them.

Who on earth

I hate to say this.. but, woman. Like the one who started crossing the cycle lane in front of an oncoming me. And instead of keeping going so I could miss/steer round the back of her Mini, stopped right in front of me to say “sorry” as I smacked into her door 😆

If those forks are carbon, don’t use em!

Oof, hope you get better soon. Never nice being involved in a crash.

I’d be replacing the forks anyway, making her pay. I’d be worried about them having a problem and each ride I’d be thinking they were going to cave in. I’d also want new levers, bike should be back to how it was before the accident. The odd scratch I’d not be overly fussed about as these things happen, but anything major should be repaired or replaced.

I presume it will be clear cut that she caused the crash? If I wasn’t injured I wouldn’t bother with going through her insurance if she would pay up for the forks.

Ouch. Let’s hope she doesn’t think about it for a bit and then just say you rode into the back of her.

Totally this – people’s attitudes to this sort of thing are now so warped that I would say there’s a 50/50 chance of her lying through her teeth after a bit of time to mull it over.

You should report to the police. Partly because she’ll almost certainly claim you rode into the back of her car, and partly so that statistics are accurate.

She has legal obligation to report to police if you’ve been injured.

Did she stop while pulling out of the junction not giving you time to stop?

If she had exited and was moving along the road before she stopped then it could be tricky claiming it’s her fault.

I’ve had this type of accident before…  Pulls out, then sees you in the rear view mirror and stops.  It was a man in my case.  Luckily there were witnesses, who couldn’t believe what had happened and gave they guy a hard time .  Unluckily the frame was bent, but that wasn’t immediately obvious, and I’d managed to slow down quite a bit too…

Hope you and the bike are fine!

you rode in to the back of someone that you saw well in advance? it’s your fault, regardless of what she did.

Who on earth (and yes this is obviously a rhetorical question) sees something unexpected in their rear view mirror and thinks, “ooh, reckon I’ll do an emergency stop”?

who sees a car, well in advance, knows they aren’t looking, but cracks on regardless at full pelt? 😆

I think the op needs to review his hazard awareness!

Seosamh – Seems a bit harsh. Sounds like the op was cycling along the road and a car suddenly came out of a side road leaving not enough time to avoid it – especially given the driver then decided to stand on the brakes!

I suspect the op was trying to beat their stava time, and thought oh, there’s a car I can draft, I think I’ll ignore their irratic driving, must beat this time. Opps wallop. Never left enough stopping distance, nor anticipated further crazy driving! 😆

The op never “got knocked off”, they “rode into the back of a car”. 😆

Seosamhh77-troll.

She’s been on the phone, quite upset and very apologetic. She said this will make her more vigilant in future. Said it was entirely her fault.

I feel a lot better now, I was definitely in shock earlier. No cuts out scrapes, she said I’ll probably feel stiff tomorrow. She a nurse so probably one of the better people to run in to!

I didn’t see her well in advance, pulled out from drive/lane, stopped. Just like that. If I was 2 seconds earlier she would of hit me pulling out.

She wants me to have the bike checked and let her know what needs replacing. A quick look over shows nothing except scuffs to the levers. But the forks are concerning.

Stay safe folk, it can happen at any time.

 to run in to

The prosecution rests their case! 😆

Yeah I would have to say if you run into the back of someone it’s your fault whether you’re in a car or a bike. Speaking as someone who’s ridden at 25mph into the back of a car that stopped in the road and speaking to the police after getting out of hospital, and then having the car’s insurers come after me for caving in the back of their car. Were you trying to punish them for pulling out by riding very close behind in the audi driver style?

Prosecution presents further evidence!

plus lets look at the evidence. 19mph is 30kph.

So lets say it takes a car 3 secs to pull out and straighten up from the time they are meant to look(a conservative estimate and the OP saw that they didn’t look, by their own admission.)

30000m/60/60*3 = 25.5m reaction space, even at 2secs, that’s still 17m.

that’s plenty of stopping distance! My original conclusion stands, hazard perception is needing improved (Or better brakes are required!) 😆

One of the unintended consequences of the forum update is that the standard of trolling has plummeted

Or bias in favour of silly cyclists has gone up.

I’m not trolling. Genuinely believe it’s the OPs fault, and if they takes money off the poor woman, they are taking liberties.

I presume it will be clear cut that she caused the crash?

It will be an argument between her insurer and your insurer.

I was knocked off on a cycle path by someone who just drove over the path. As a British Cycling member, it was all handled through their solicitor, who obviously make a lot of money off the process, but it’s not something I would have liked to handle on my own. My claim reflected bike damage and a broken hand.

I had lots of information to back up my claim (e.g. photographic evidence it was a cycle path, etc) so the other party didn’t really have a leg to stand on, and eventually admitted full liability.

The only thing I regret in hindsight was not formally reporting it to the police immediately. I spoke to them a few days later, and they were clearly not interested, so I didn’t pursue it.

Seosamhh77-troll.

Someone posting something with “lol”z, clearly making a joke? Some of you need to look up what a troll is… it was a joke, yeah??

Pulling out in front of someone travelling at pace might or might not leave them enough distance to stop/avoid, but slamming on when the rider is already braking as hard as possible will only compound the problem.

Only the OP and the driver know who is blame, and it sounds like they are hopefully sorting it out among themselves.

You might like to rethink that post Dez

Or I’m just laughing cause I know what the reaction will be! 😆

So lets say it takes a car 3 secs to pull out and straighten up

No way.  That can be done in a second easily.  Three seconds is ages.

Never thought it would happen to me- knocked off this morning.

Not a criticism and not jumping on the you’re to blame but …. the part before the hyphen….??

This is the part I think leads to accidents… it could and probably is that your not to blame but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t have perhaps anticipated and avoided it…

Yeah I would have to say if you run into the back of someone it’s your fault whether you’re in a car or a bike. Speaking as someone who’s ridden at 25mph into the back of a car that stopped in the road and speaking to the police after getting out of hospital, and then having the car’s insurers come after me for caving in the back of their car. Were you trying to punish them for pulling out by riding very close behind in the audi driver style?

It’s not black and white… years ago a friends brother tried that defense …

The thing was he had his GF in the car and her ex BF was following them (probably with menaces if you believed him) .. either way as he said off-record he was pissed off with the whole thing and deliberately slammed on his brakes… He didn’t say that officially but the witnesses did describe what happened…  and his defines was “it’s their fault as they were behind”….

He did get “done”and as I remember a ban (it’s years ago) … but I remember my mate used to need loads of lifts after…

So lets say it takes a car 3 secs to pull out and straighten up from the time they are meant to look(a conservative estimate and the OP saw that they didn’t look, by their own admission.)

30000m/60/60*3 = 25.5m reaction space, even at 2secs, that’s still 17m.

that’s plenty of stopping distance! My original conclusion stands, hazard perception is needing improved (Or better brakes are required!)

I’m not arguing with the figures but what this illustrates is bikes, especially with skinny road tyres don’t stop very quickly … combined with the fact that what the unprotected body is hitting is likely much bigger, heavier and harder it’s a strong case IMHO for paying EXTRA case.

Their are enough dicks driving to make this a good investment of time and effort.

My commiserations. 5 weeks since mine and I’m not in a particular rush to get out on my bike, even now the ribs have essentially healed. 🙁

who sees a car, well in advance, knows they aren’t looking, but cracks on regardless at full pelt? I think the op needs to review his hazard awareness!

The 🤔 in my reply was partly an “I wonder if we’re hearing the full story here” sort of a hmm.

Anyway, this sort of incident is massively context-dependent. It’s quite feasible that the OP was being somewhat careless; equally it’s possible they were being quite cautious. Impossible to tell.

Sounds like the driver (who, unlike all of us replying, was there and knows what happened) is making life easy, though. Which is good. But be aware that there are plenty of tales of drivers and insurers who change their tune once they find out that some bicycles don’t cost £80 from Asda.

Remember kids, if someone has a different opinion to your own, THEY MUST BE A TROLL!

Unfortunately, you have to be able to stop in the distance you can see, so if you couldn’t/didn’t stop in time, the best you’d get is 50/50 arguing hesitation or that she has accepted blame, but the likely result would be that the fault lies with the moving party that ran into the stationary party.

She a nurse so probably one of the better people to run in to!

Was she fit?

Unfortunately, you have to be able to stop in the distance you can see, so if you couldn’t/didn’t stop in time, the best you’d get is 50/50

Next time you’re in the car and emerging from a side road into or across a main road, do so into the path of an oncoming vehicle and see if the best the other driver gets is 50/50 on the basis that they should have been able to stop. They have priority and you need to give way, otherwise everyone would have to slow to a crawl past all side roads.

Equally, try pulling across from the middle lane of a motorway into the inside lane right in front of someone and then slamming on the brakes. If there’s any evidence, you won’t get a penny (especially as it’s a well known scam).

Both of the above are analogous in significant part to the incident the OP describes and in both cases the person pulling into the path of another vehicle would be wholly at fault in terms of civil liability and potentially prosecutable for a criminal offence.

In both of the cases you describe the person pulling into the path is the active party.  In the OPs case, they’re not, they’re stationary and the OP anticipated that they would move, they didn’t and he hit them.

No way.  That can be done in a second easily.  Three seconds is ages

can be…takes this dude from 3.27(starting from stopped) to 3.33 till straight.

Trolling be high in this thread which is disappointing.

To those that have offered advice rather than concoct rubbish thank you.

I should of known better than come on here and vent/seek advice.

So in an analogous situation, say you’re descending a nice long hill at 30mph when a car passes and pulls back in 10m ahead of you. Do you always slow down so you could stop in 10m in case the car suddenly does an emergency stop?

You should make space to stop.

But if they car overtook you then stopped in your “stopping distance” you’re screwed. A bit like what happened to me this morning.