Had a collision with a cyclist this evening. Thankfully, the cyclist was unhurt but his pedal was bent and my bumper holed and number plate cracked.
It was on a busy six exit roundabout in a non residential area. The road on which I was approaching splits into two lanes about 5 or 6 car lengths from the junction with the roundabout. The road was backed up some way - the lh lane was full and the rh lane empty. I needed the third exit so as the road became two lanes I moved from the queue into the rh lane. With no cars in front of me I was naturally looking to the right, watching traffic already on the roundabout. Unknown to me the car at the head of the lh lane queue of traffic had signalled to a cyclist on the nearside pavement to cross in front of her.
This was all in half light, we all had headlights on but he was not brightly dressed. He appeared from behind the queue of cars and in front of me before I knew what was happening. I don't believe I was driving aggressively but clearly I was going too fast for the conditions as I didn't stop in time. There was no skid involved. Post collision, reactions from myself and the cyclist were fairly muted - I asked if he was OK, he said he was fine - no accusations or admissions from either party. The driver who signalled the cyclist was amazed I didn't see him cross (it was twilight and he was behind her car - should I have?). She was in no position to say the whole road was safe to cross, anyway.
As a cyclist who does a good 40-50 miles a week I often feel aggrieved at drivers who just don't see cyclists. In this situation, though, I can't help thinking I am not entirely in the wrong. This is a congested but not fast flowing junction at a roundabout that has no pedestrian crossings, traffic lights or cycle lanes nearby. I can understand why he didn't want to tackle the roundabout alongside other cars but he must take some responsibility for his own safety crossing against the flow, surely?
The question is, what now? I gave my name and number to one witness. I have the cyclist and the other driver's name and number. I was not asked for, nor did I offer my insurance details. I don't believe I will pursue him for damage to my car - it doesn't feel right. Big car, little cyclist. But should I report this to my insurers? It feels like it ought to be material fact but will it alter my premium if no claim from him is forthcoming? And by not informing them, am I in any way accepting responsibility should a claim later emerge?
Thanks to those who persevered this far. Opinions gratefully received.
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If neither of you is going to communicate further I'd leave it at that.
I would be as surprised as you to suddenly see a cyclist passing my path, and would feel that maybe I should have been paying more attention to the left. Then again if I was the cyclist I'd be feeling rather stupid now for crossing a road without double-checking that both lanes were still empty.
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Mike Farrow
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First of all the fact that the "victim" was a cyclist is almost a red herring. Much more about the dangers of giving, and accepting, an invitation to cross streaming traffic.
If I were in your shoes I'd have a word with my insurers just in case, but I'd raise hell if they used it to justify an increased premium before a claim was made or paid.
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"If I were in your shoes I'd have a word with my insurers just in case"
I agree
H
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Let it go, accidents happen and there but for the grace of god go I etc etc. You are both OK and the car will get fixed. Thankfully no body got hurt...Remember 12 people die on or roads every day!!
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If he asks you for insurance details, you'll have to comply. Technically an RTA (or RTC as they now call it) as "An accident occures (the Road Traffic Act is still cheerfully politically incorrect) whereby a motor vehicles collides with another vehicle (note lack of prefix "motor")blah di blah. No need to report it to the Police providing details have been exchanged (including insurance). Mark RBLS may feel you need to report it to your insurance - I would be tempted in case compensation sets in later. May be worth checking with your local authority in case there is CCTV coverage. Subject Access under Data Protection Act.
Not legal advice of course.
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No need to report it to the Police providing details have been exchanged (including insurance).
Oh God. Insurance wasn't exchanged. Should I be down the station now?
>>May be worth checking with your local authority in case there is CCTV coverage.
I'd have to check if there are cameras but I suspect it was too dark even if there was.
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Don't admit With no cars in front of me I was naturally looking to the right, to the plod though.
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Try contacting he cyclist first an offering your insurance..perhaps.
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Try contacting he cyclist first an offering your insurance..perhaps.
Would such an act, after the event, not be seen as an admission of guilt?
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You need to contact and report the incident to your insurance company. There is a fairly good chance someone took your number and will be knoccking on your door. It sounds like the other driver would not be a good witness for you, the reverse in fact - Statement "I am suprised you didnt see....."
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Sounds to me like you're pretty much in the right-sure you didn't see the cyclist but hell, what did he do? The cycling equivalent of Jaywalking-if he were using a road as another motorist using the lanes and filtering then that'd be different but as he was the one crossing the road from the pavement it's his responsibility to make sure the way is clear-particulary given that the cyclist should have taken into account the conditions at the time (going by what you mentioned); dusk conditions and he wasn't in high visibility gear, the location was the junction of a major and busy road with the junction type being a roundabout without crossings or lights-that is about one of the most dangerous places to attempt cross a road as a cyclist/pedestrian. If there is a queue in one lane with stationary traffic and other lanes going in different directions that are more freely flowing then any competent road user should know they could encounter faster moving traffic in the free lane.
Sure, you could argue that as you couldn't stop in time you were going too fast, but if an object enters your path inside your minimum reaction time and braking distance for that speed then there's nothing you can do. You could say that you should have been on the lookout for him, but if you drove at 2mph in any situation where someone could enter the road in front of you you'd be at that speed all the time-in the situation you describe I don't believe you could reasonably expect to see a cyclist emerge as and when he did.
He crossed your path at a time when you had right of way and also could not reasonably expect to see a cyclist emerge (no crossing, lights etc) and he wasn't wearing the recommended safety gear. If you want to start breaking down the blame then can we give 20% to the motorist who motioned the guy across the road?
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Don't admit With no cars in front of me I was naturally looking to the right, to the plod though.
I catch your drift but if you were approaching a roundabout junction in the rh lane with no cars ahead of you and anticipating the gap in traffic crossing you from your right, which way would you be mostly looking? Right and front?
At this point I have to bow down to the Highway Code which says of roundabouts "In all cases watch out for ... pedestrians who may be crossing the approach and exit roads". By looking right I would have naturally covered pedestrians crossing from the right but, in this case, it was out of town and unlit. I wouldn't anticipate any pedestrians at all.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing but at least I have learned something from this.
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Hi Trevor, nasty situation for all of you, but thank goodness nobody hurt.
I'm not going to comment on liability or legalities, but as someone who used to cycle 15-20k miles a year, I'm a little surprised that the cyclist ended up in the situation where the accident could happen. (Maybe I shouldn't be surprised, but most cyclists seem to develop a fairly good survival instinct.)
Anyway, faced with that situation I would probably have ridden around the roundabout and held in the middle of a lane to avoid being accidentaly scruunched at an exit ... but if I had decided to cross as that cyclist did, I would have done so one lane at a time. In other words, make eye contact with the driver in the lane I was about to cross, get most of the way across that lane, and not cross the next lane until I had eye contact with the driver occupying that lane.
Dunno if that's any use: just my observation of how a defensive cyclist would be best-advised to cross that sort of road.
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The fact that no one was hurt is the main thing. Was the cyclist riding or pushing the bike? If he was pushing it he was a pedestrian. If he was riding it, he was riding across the road, not along it. As far as I know, there is no official signal that a driver can give to "officially" give someone else priority. The woman in the car obviously, as NW said, unofficially gave the cyclist priority to cross her lane. That does not absolve the cyclist from his responsibility both to himself and other road users and give him carte blanch to cross the road, not just one lane. Road use is everyone's responsibility, not just drivers.
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Just to clarify, are you saying that the cyclist was crossing the road as a pedestrian would?
Cyclists behaving as if they were pedestrians is one of my pet peeves, almost as bad as riding without lights. If the cyclist was literally crossing the road, as opposed to merely changing lanes, I'd say he was almost entirely to blame. It's analagous to a pedestrian running out into the road only worse, because a cyclist is supposed to go with the flow of the traffic. I know some roundabouts have cycle lanes that encourage cyclists to cross the path of traffic but they are still marked with give way lines.
As a timid cyclist (more so as I get older) I'd probably wheel my bike round a very busy roundabout. I notice that the Highway Code now endorses this as a safe course of action. I don't see anything wrong with becoming a pedestrian when walking with a bicycle. Even if following the rules of the road to the letter, I've learned that there's a significant number of drivers who believe that cyclists never have right of way. This is especially true at roundabouts.
A final thought, does the cycling proficiency test still exist and if so, does anyone still take it?
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"A final thought, does the cycling proficiency test still exist and if so, does anyone still take it?"
To judge from the regular appearance of dozens of fluorescent kids from the nearby school at the bottom of my road, I would guess so.
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Cycling proficiency test still exists in my County. Year 6 students do it nefore they move up to the "Big School"
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Just to clarify, are you saying that the cyclist was crossing the road as a pedestrian would?
He was cycling across the road. I hit him square on, his pedal pushed into my bumper and the pedal bent back in to the frame.
It sounds like the other driver would not be a good witness for you, the reverse in fact - Statement "I am suprised you didnt see....."
I took this as a defensive reaction as she must have known what she did, whilst well meaning, initiated the incident.
I have resolved to tell my insurers but have been thwarted as their call centre is down until tomorrow.
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