opening car door

estuary english

Hello, (first post by the way) I was riding the Brisbane to Gold Coast last weekend. A very enjoyable 100 k ride. Well, at least I enjoyed the first 98 ks.
A gentleman opened his car door 2 ks from the end. Cue me sailing over the front of the bike. Surprisingly I was only bruised and cut, bashed the wheels and bike back into some sort of shape and limped home the last 2 ks.
We exchanged details and but although I did receive a call from him 2 days later now I have the quotes for the repair of my bike I can not contact him.
Any of you good people got some advice for me ?

artemidorus

It sounds like you need to go to the police, at the very least to get his contact details. Do you have any witnesses?

__________________
"All that we see and seem is but a dream, within a dream..."

roshea

Hopefully you have the car rego details! If so, it should all be fine. I would suggest that you contact the police ASAP and report the incident.

There's a lot of stuff that you can / should do at this stage; rather than re-hash it, you should check this thread last year, which was really useful for me when I got hit:
http://www.cyclingforums.com/t352085.html

estuary english

After trying to contact the Guy for the last two days, with no luck.

I took poster's advice and went to the police this afternoon. There advice was there was not much I could do. Maybe send him a letter to see if he responds or get a solicitor involved.

I have his car registration details. A friend says they may be able to find out who his insurer is. And now i'm getting angry.

I ask the police what else i could have done and they said the driver was only obliged to give an address and a contact ph.no. Turns out they don't have to be his.

sogood

Police's explanation is pretty pathetic. I would have thought the procedure would be the same as any other motor vehicle accident where you'd be entitled to obtain his/her drivers license detail, and self-reporting of the accident to police.

At this point, you'll just have to either go through your own insurance company (eg. One that comes with Bicycle QLD membership) or lawyer.

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Morphed Bianchi Camaleonte IV 2006, Ridley Damocles 2006, Garmin, Mac

artemidorus

If you have a witness who is prepared to make a statement, then I would find out whichever the government body is that is responsible for passing on your letter of claim to him. Perhaps the motor registration authority. It is conceivable that you may need a magistrate's ruling to be provided with his details. I would get a solicitor on to the job, if I didn't get a fair response from him, or couldn't contact him. If you don't have a witness, there may be little point in proceeding.

__________________
"All that we see and seem is but a dream, within a dream..."

sogood

Another reason to have a camera phone with you. Always photograph the accident scene. Alternatively, just lie on the ground and call the police.

__________________
Morphed Bianchi Camaleonte IV 2006, Ridley Damocles 2006, Garmin, Mac

nerdag

That's really unfortunate, and the response from the police is very poor, as others have said.

Apart from contacting a solicitor (which may or may not be cost effective for you), the other suggestion I have is to try reporting it again to another police station, this time insisting that it was a traffic incident and should be reported as such. You have his rego, and claimed contact details, and now he cannot be reached - making a statutory declaration that these are the events which occured could be sufficient.

Not that it is helpful to you, but FWIW police are not always unhelpful to cyclists. The last time I was hit about six weeks ago, the police were very helpful, however, have been unable to track down the offending driver, since the vehicle had stolen plates (i.e. a truck driving plates registered to a Barina). Most other times I've made reports about homocidal drivers, they've been unhelpful, however.

n

mjs4300

If you have all his contact details it is time to send a letter of demand. The guy needs to take responsability. He is probably concerned about loosing his insurance rating. Get tough, I had an experience in April where the son of the cars owner hit me failing to stop at a signed intersection. Took 12 weeks but I hounded him till he paid up. You are very fortunate in QLD you have the small claims tribunal. You can put him through that and have the court order you be paid. He is clearly at fault. A strongly worded letter should help. If they still exist, the Caxton Legal Service is free, and will help you write your letter.

Cheers and good luck

Wattsy Rules

OK, here's how you escalate this so that the police must get involved.

Your back has slowly gotten stiffer and stiffer as the days have gone on since the accident. You NEED to go to a hopsital emergency ward with lower back spasms and unable to move properly. The injury IS AS A DIRECT RESULT OF THE COLLISION.

They will assist you medically and then have to start an accident report which is then reported to the police.

Problem solved.

nerdag

I wouldn't be making false claims such as this, because if it does have to go any further in a legal sense, you only end up discrediting yourself, and risking any chance of compensation.

Doctors deal with compo claims like this all the time, and if your story doesn't fit the physical exam or investigation findings, you could be in a lot of trouble. To hold up your story, you'll basically need to find a sympathetic GP who is happy to make a false statement to support your claim.

n

Wattsy Rules

Then do nothing, but shut up about it and move on!!

11ring

NEVER NEVER EVER ride to the left of the lane, people will open their car doors on you, cars will run you off the road, you will get glass in your tyres. TAKE THE LANE, ride to the right hand side of the left lane, this is the safest place to be.

As others have suggested, take action against the driver ASAP.

artemidorus

If you have a witness, you can get him without resorting to this.

__________________
"All that we see and seem is but a dream, within a dream..."