What to do when in a collision

[Jellybird3]

Hi all:

I would love to get your thoughts on what to do when in minor accident with another cyclist. I had a small collision with some guy yesterday afternoon on the Golden Gate Bridge. He was travelling in the opposite direction, stopped paying attention for a few seconds and strayed right into my path. Surprisingly, it wasn't a tourist on a rental bike and, luckily, it was minor since I was able to apply the brakes before hitting him. He was totally fine and I left the scene with a bruised knee and no damage to the bike that I could find.

It did get me thinking though as to what someone should do if one person is clearly at fault and the incident does cause bike damage. Like many of you, I've invested a lot in my bike and would have been really bummed if yesterday's incident had caused damage, especially to a hard-to-replace frame. So what would you guys do in that case?

[rnhood]

Learn to ride more defensively. It's what you do in group riding too.

[djg21]

Hi all:

I would love to get your thoughts on what to do when in minor accident with another cyclist. I had a small collision with some guy yesterday afternoon on the Golden Gate Bridge. He was travelling in the opposite direction, stopped paying attention for a few seconds and strayed right into my path. Surprisingly, it wasn't a tourist on a rental bike and, luckily, it was minor since I was able to apply the brakes before hitting him. He was totally fine and I left the scene with a bruised knee and no damage to the bike that I could find.

It did get me thinking though as to what someone should do if one person is clearly at fault and the incident does cause bike damage. Like many of you, I've invested a lot in my bike and would have been really bummed if yesterday's incident had caused damage, especially to a hard-to-replace frame. So what would you guys do in that case?

Call the Police so an accident report can be created, and obtain contact info from any witnesses.

[zoose]

Hope that the other person is not a terrible human being and will pay for damages that they caused. I'm not sure you could really do anything against the person if they just left, especially not without video proof or witnesses. I have been in group rides when someone is obviously at fault and destroys their own bike and one of the others on the ride and they offered to replace anything that needed replacing after the incident. They knew each other however so it was just expected.

This does bring up an interesting scenario of someone on a couple hundred dollar bike causing a crash with someone on a 10k+ bike and what would happen in that situation.

[azrider]

Learn to ride more defensively. It's what you do in group riding too.

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sorry, but sh*t happens. If a cop were called to the scene I have a very hard time believing he'd issue any tickets. IMO

[cloudguy]

I would contact police, just to get a report. Then try to cover damages through your homeowner's insurance. I replaced a wrecked bike in this way, but in that case the accident involved a car. Cop said I was at fault, but homeowner's (Safeco) still covered the bike.

[Jellybird3]

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sorry, but sh*t happens. If a cop were called to the scene I have a very hard time believing he'd issue any tickets. IMO

Yeah, I get that and already ride defensively, especially so on the GG Bridge. There are instances that are unavoidable still, and this was one of them.

I agree about an officer likely not caring about something like a minor bike crash when there are other, more important things demanding his attention. He might even laugh to himself at the thought of a $10k bike.

[djg21]

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sorry, but sh*t happens. If a cop were called to the scene I have a very hard time believing he'd issue any tickets. IMO

Tickets are not the issue. You want a Police Officer to prepare a report and take statements of the persons involved. The last thing you want is for the person who caused the accident to be contrite at the scene, and then go home, decide it not in his/her best interest to admit responsibility, and then lie about what happened. I've seen this happen in car accidents when Police were not called.

If there is significant property damage or injury, the police should prepare a report.

[azrider]

Tickets are not the issue. You want a Police Officer to prepare a report and take statements of the persons involved. The last thing you want is for the person who caused the accident to be contrite at the scene, and then go home, decide it not in his/her best interest to admit responsibility, and then lie about what happened. I've seen this happen in car accidents when Police were not called.

If there is significant property damage or injury, the police should prepare a report.

To me ticket = fault, and is also likely to be the only thing that will hold up when it comes to getting reimbursed for damage. If I were on my high zoot bike and some "bicyclist" who's on a huffy hits me the different scenarios that I can drum up in my head get out of control........quickly.

So again, "in my opinion", I think it best to dust yourself off and chalk it up to a "sonofa B__" moment and try your best to avoid it again in future.

[CampyorBust]

Tickets are not the issue. You want a Police Officer to prepare a report and take statements of the persons involved. The last thing you want is for the person who caused the accident to be contrite at the scene, and then go home, decide it not in his/her best interest to admit responsibility, and then lie about what happened. I've seen this happen in car accidents when Police were not called.

If there is significant property damage or injury, the police should prepare a report.

+1 and definitely ride more defensively. Never had a problem with other cyclists, but drivers yes. The police are basically useless unless there is physical damage. Oh and riding with a camera is a great idea.

[djg21]

To me ticket = fault, and is also likely to be the only thing that will hold up when it comes to getting reimbursed for damage. If I were on my high zoot bike and some "bicyclist" who's on a huffy hits me the different scenarios that I can drum up in my head get out of control........quickly.

So again, "in my opinion", I think it best to dust yourself off and chalk it up to a "sonofa B__" moment and try your best to avoid it again in future.

That's great, but ···· happens.

Just to be clear, what I'm suggesting is that the victim of a crash caused by another build a record. It is best to get the other party's statements (hopefully admissions) memorialized at the scene and immediately. You very well may be SOL if the other person is uninsured and has few assets, in which you do chalk it up to bad luck and move on. But, you won't know that initially, and you should take steps to ensure that you can be compensated for your property loss and any physical injury if possible.

[Joachim]

To me ticket = fault, and is also likely to be the only thing that will hold up when it comes to getting reimbursed for damage. If I were on my high zoot bike and some "bicyclist" who's on a huffy hits me the different scenarios that I can drum up in my head get out of control........quickly.

So again, "in my opinion", I think it best to dust yourself off and chalk it up to a "sonofa B__" moment and try your best to avoid it again in future.

Its a common misconception that ticket = fault. The first thing a bike accident lawyer would tell you is that police officers do not always know the law to the letter and often make mistakes in assigning fault. Of course in the OP's case it may be completely different, but ticket does not always = fault.

[Peter P.]

I'd contact Bob Mionske at bicyclelaw.com (http://www.bicyclelaw.com/p.cfm/about-bicycle-law/about-bob-mionske) as he'd be the ideal person to provide an answer.

If two cyclists collide head-on as you did, I doubt police would be legally justified to cite one party or the other. First, you were not on a roadway and second, most police will not view cyclists as being held to the same standards and laws as motor vehicles. It's unfortunate but likely true.

But what you COULD do is call the police to at least write a report which would be helpful in filing an insurance claim or the suggestions that follow.

You'd probably have to collect damages from the other cyclist through small claims court or a civil suit. But another problem is most cyclists to view themselves as not being subject to motor vehicle laws. You'd be hard pressed to get the other party to stick around until the police arrive unless perhaps you were seriously injured.

What most cyclists don't know is that when participating in group rides, if another cyclist causes an accident there is a general legal assumption that you assume a measure of risk for attending group rides and the potential for such collisions. Unless there are extenuating circumstances, you'd most likely be out of luck collecting for damages even if you went to court. A good exception was mentioned above where the two cyclists knew each other and there was a friendly gesture or respect in accepting responsibility for an accident and offering to pay for damages.

[Bob Ross]

Beat him senseless and then toss his corpse off the bridge

...oops, sorry, I forgot, this isn't Bodybuilding.com. Disregard.

[oldpotatoe]

Hi all:

I would love to get your thoughts on what to do when in minor accident with another cyclist. I had a small collision with some guy yesterday afternoon on the Golden Gate Bridge. He was travelling in the opposite direction, stopped paying attention for a few seconds and strayed right into my path. Surprisingly, it wasn't a tourist on a rental bike and, luckily, it was minor since I was able to apply the brakes before hitting him. He was totally fine and I left the scene with a bruised knee and no damage to the bike that I could find.

It did get me thinking though as to what someone should do if one person is clearly at fault and the incident does cause bike damage. Like many of you, I've invested a lot in my bike and would have been really bummed if yesterday's incident had caused damage, especially to a hard-to-replace frame. So what would you guys do in that case?

Talk to him, hopefully an agreement as to who was at fault, get his name, phone number, arrange for the one at fault to pay a reasonable amount to repair anything.........if it degrades into an argument, call the cops.





then when you call, you find the name and phone number is bogus.

[Jellybird3]

Just wanted to send a big thank you for all the thoughtful responses here. Let's hope no one ever has to take anyone's advice.