Having lived in St Neots within the past few years (I used to live just off Church Street), the only comment I have to make is that I didn't recall the bend into the accident as being as severe as your map makes it, so I took a look:
tinyurl.com/dmg65
I suspect the motorcyclist will claim decent sight lines on your behalf and an attempt by him to overtake as an emergency manoeuvre when you pulled out on him unexpectedly (as highlighted in the tale above).
Take up the Police offer of a statement; it's crucial in the absence of other witnesses and could decide the whole thing for you.
V
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I think your action must, as with any road accident, depend on your financial circumstances and on what type of insurance you have. I personally would always put it in the hands of my insurance company and let them sort it ~ it's why I have insurance and it's what I am pay them to do.
I'm not saying that this is definitely what you ought to do, but it is another course of action for you to consider.
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L\'escargot.
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Thanks for all your advice.
If he was going 60 mph, or even 40 - it would explain the damage to my car. Unfortunately for him the road is a 30mph one. I think it is pretty clear cut - especially now after all your comments, and also those who were at the scene and saw where the debris landed (on the otherside of the road). He crossed the chevrons to try and overtake me, didnt pay attention to my indication and crashed into the rear of me. I have an automatic car, so I cant do any fancy and dangerous turns.
Chavs on bikes are dangerous!! I will sue for everything!
Thanks again : )
Kat x
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You haven't said what sort of bike it is KittyKat? If it was a large high powered bike then it could easily do that amount of damage at 30mph and below. A 200kg bike doing 30mph has allot of ineritia behind it. If it was a scooter or a moped then it would have to be going faster to do the same amount of damage. As for debris etc, I have seen bikes slide for a considrible distance when only going very slowly, The length of any skid marks may be a better indication of speed. I am sorry but this does not sound like an open and shut case and I think you will have a lot to prove you did not pull out on him because you failed to look properley (regardless of if the car is auto or manual any one can do dangerous turns). Good luck.
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Further to what I said earlier, I concur what No FM2R said. "Take the policeman's offer of a letter. And IF IT's FAVOURABLE, send it to your insurer. Don't waste your time arguing with the biker or trying to convince anybody other than your insurance company that you were right. And if the police are on your side that's a pretty good start."
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L\'escargot.
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I am a mother of two and my kids could have been killed in that accident as glass travelled inside my car for some distance. The bike was a small one - not very big. I dont know a lot about bikes to be honest, I cant stand them!
Also I did look properly. He was trying to overtake me on chevrons and crashed into my rear end. Police and insurance people think it is a open and shut case from all the evidence. What is more worrying is that even in hindsight this guy obviously doesn't know his highway code!
Thanks for the luck message : ) and all the advice
Kat x
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I dont know a lot about bikes to be honest, I cant stand them!
That kind of attitude from car driver is just one of the many road hazards that motorcyclists have to contend with.
Although it sounds like this guy was a two wheeled law breaking hooligan there is another possible angle:
From the diagram the Corsa had just turned left so presumably would have been indicating left, perhaps when the biker saw it it was still indicating left and was travelling slowly so he understandably would have indicated and gone to overtake it, perhaps when he was committed to the overtake the Corsa signalled and manouvered at the same time thus crossing the path of the bike. Perhaps the because the Corsa had been indicating left the actions of the driver in moving the indicator stalk simply cancelled the left indication as oppsosed to causing the right indicators to flash.
This is far from an open and shut case. I am starting to feel sorry for the biker, Chav or otherwise.
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I should have said, whether the car was indicating or not is a matter of the driver word against the motorcyclist.
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I moved the indicated from left to right in one movement. It ticks - and was still ticking. I know the right indicator was on because I manually had to turn it off as I entered the Sandfields Road (the road has a curve to it which means the indicator stays on and could be an obstruction to drivers who know what they are doing on the road).
Sorry if you think my attitude is bad. But as I said, my kids could have been in that car! Thats where my priorities lie. I had just dropped them off at school. I always look to make sure the road I am traveling in is clear, so I get annoyed when other people dont! No amount of emergency stops would have stopped this bike smashing into the rear of my car...
Kat x
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>>I moved the indicated from left to right in one movement.
My guess is that you unwisely pulled out in front of a bike without seeing it. You then started to turn right in front of that bike, still without seeing it. He was trying to avoid you and eventually hit you.
I would also guess he was speeding, which is what will probably sort it out in your favour.
I would save your energy for convincing the insruacne companies and the police.
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That is not what happened. When I pulled out of Cambridge Gardens the road in both directions was completely clear.
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KittyKat, I have no doubt that in your own mind the road was completly clear and you had all the time in the world to complete a safe and legal turn. However, had that been the case then the motorbike would not have hit you, They do not appear out of thin air, He may well have been speeding, but that does not mean you are not partly to blame - did you use your off side mirror before signalling right? Did you check it again before starting your turn? Did you look over your shoulder to check your blind spot before starting the right hand turn? These are all questions that might well be asked if it goes to court.
We are all human and we can all miss things on the road, I had a car hide in a blind spot on the truck yesterday on a roundabout and it was only luck that we did not hit, Now she was not there when I got on to the roundabout, but appeared from "Nowhere" half way round, if we had off collided (apart from her car coming off far worse) there is very little evidence to say I was correct and that she was not there, all it is is my word against hers. I think your case will be the same, as for the Police, Unless they are going to prosecute the rider for an offence I would not hold out much hope of any assistance.
All this is probably not what you want to hear, but if the rider sticks to his guns and claims you were at fault you could have a hard time proving otherwise.
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That sums it up well but to say that there is no evidence that the biker was speeding, assuming the speed limit is 30 if it was a moped he would struggle to do 30 anyway and a bigger bike would have done more damage if it hit at much more than 30.
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I would save your energy for convincing the insruacne companies and the police.
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again, ditto.
however, despite this advice having been given a number of times above, it seems kitty wants ignore your wise comments; and fight her corner with the backroomers to convince them that she was in the right.
her attitude towards bikers will not help her at all, and in my eyes this type of response would merit the judgement that "we have an an attitude problem here".
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>>I would save your energy for convincing the insurance companies and the police.again, ditto. however, despite this advice having been given a number of times above, it seems kitty wants ignore your wise comments; and fight her corner with the backroomers to convince them that she was in the right. her attitude towards bikers will not help her at all, and in my eyes this type of response would merit the judgement that "we have an an attitude problem here".
Again ditto.
Do not try and judge the outcome.
An example.
A few years ago I was a witness to an accident.
I gently rolled to a halt at the white line in the middle lane of three at traffic lights, at a major cross road, as they turned red.
Then a large bike rolled to a halt on my right in a right turn only lane.
The lights changed and the bike accelerated and moved left into my lane. I had not moved at this point in anticipation of his probable lane change.
The biker rode into the rear quarter of a 15 cwt van that jumped the lights.
I spent hours re witness statements and a morning AT the court. At lunchtime I was informed by some bottom rung legal kid that I was not required as my evidence did not support their case.
I still consider the biker was significantly in the wrong but I will never know the outcome of the case.
I am now very reluctant to be a witness after this experience.
I consider that I was THE prime witness and was expecting to be in the court.
So kitty I suggest you should take care how you follow all this up.
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If the rider was going at speed I'd imagine some rather painful injury resulted. However, no comment has been made about this aspect. No doubt the police will be impartial re the cause and the sharing of any blame. Until they pronounce, I'd regard this as undecided, with some doubt in my mind as to the cause being entirely the riders.
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Well, none of us were there so we can't really comment on what happened with any degree of certainty.
Just wanted to say that I'm pleased no one was seriously injured and please let us know how this turns out Kat, it's always nice to hear how things end up in the end.
And incidentally, if it was one of those little moped things then I'm inclined to believe that a lot of the blame may lie with him, and yes, that is a sweeping generalisation, and yes, many of them are ridden carefully, but I don't care, I'm going to make it anyway.
Blue
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<< I will sue for everything!
Don't do anything purely out of spite. If it's not likely to be financial advantageous to you then don't do it. Being spiteful or seeking revenge might make you feel better in the short term but there's no point if it's going to cost you even more money in the long term. It's all about damage (no pun intended) limitation.
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L\'escargot.
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