Did you see the accident opposite CPT this morning? (18 January)

[Mamma Mia]

My son was hit by a car on his bike this morning at the junction of Crystal Palace Road and Whately Road at approximately 6.50. Car pulled out of Whately Road as my son was riding across the junction. Car stopped momentarily and then drove off into Underhill Road. My son managed to swerve to avoid direct impact and car fortunately narrowly missed his leg. Car was a bright red VW. Didn?t get registration plate but fairly old model as headlight plastic casing found in road dated 1996. There were several people around at the time: four cars, P13 bus and a woman standing at bus stop. Please PM me if you were a witness to this accident.

[computedshorty]

Wait there tomorrow at the same time, the driver might use it daily.

[KidKruger]

in fact wait at the upland junction and roundabout and other routes which could be alternatives and look for car with missing headlight casing. Driver wouldn't be going same way next day if they know they hit someone. perhaps driver hasn't had chance to get new casing fitted and can be spotted.

[kford]

And look for an N or P-reg car

[Jah Lush]

So your son wasn't actually hit by this car and he is also unhurt? Perhaps when the driver "stopped momentarily" he looked around to see if your son was alright before driving off?

What do you hope to achieve by this?

[primadonut]

Sorry to hear that, Mamma Mia. I hope your son is okay.

This thread is very useful for information relating to cycling accidents: http://www.lfgss.com/thread4213.html. May be useful in the future.

[Horsebox]

Jah Lush Wrote:

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> So your son wasn't actually hit by this car and he

> is also unhurt? Perhaps when the driver "stopped

> momentarily" he looked around to see if your son

> was alright before driving off?

>

> What do you hope to achieve by this?

This.

If there was no actual collision and no casualties then the police won't be interested as there's no crime as such to investigate.

[mynamehere]

I will look out for this car and post the registration if I see it. It is very clear what happened and very fortunate that there was no injury. Cars kill pedestrians and cyclists. A driving mistake kills. It is much rarer for a cyclist to hurt pedestrians so please no posts about how horribly people cycle and how rude they are. Any one who is rude is out of order. But cars drivers are allowed to think they own 1/4 of urban space. A near miss does not exonerate not looking.

[Mamma Mia]

@Jah Lush/Horsebox. To clarify, my son's 'bike' was hit by a car that failed to stop at the junction. My son was riding the bike at the time of the collision but was thankfully unhurt. There was damage to the car and my son's bike.

Thanks primadonut and to others for helpful comments.

[Narnia]

What brought about that rant then?

[Administrator]

mynamehere Wrote:

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> I will look out for this car and post the

> registration if I see it.

Please do not post the car's registration on here.

[Horsebox]

@ mynamehere: No, it wasn't at all clear what happened, based on the OP:

My son managed to swerve to avoid direct impact and car fortunately narrowly missed his leg.

This makes it sound to me and, presumably, to Jah Lush that there was no collision.

Edited once for clarity.

[Dorothy]

If the bike was hit - first line of the op states that a collision took place - then the driver should have stopped more than momentarily. The driver should have stopped and got out of the car and checked that the rider of the bike was ok. If that had happened then I doubt the op would have even bothered to start this thread. I imagine, in an ideal world, the op would like the police to go and have a word with the driver of the car, not least to make him or her think again about driving away from an accident. Its not an unreasonable stance to take. Do you think its okay to stay in your car at the scene of an accident and then just drive off? I think that it pretty reckless and irresponsible behaviour and it would be good if the driver could be cautioned about it. I doubt very much the op is hoping the driver will be arrested and sent to court. Perhaps the op has no idea what could come of reporting the driver to the police, but she is willing to give it a try.

[ianr]

>My son managed to swerve to avoid direct impact and car fortunately narrowly missed his leg ... headlight plastic casing found in road dated 1996.

In other words, he managed to avoid riding straight into its side, but still had glancing contact with the front of the car that occasioned the damage to the headlight. That seems the most obvious reading to me. I also take it that MM's son was on CPRd and had right of way.

[Pugwash]

My husband got hit whilst riding his bike some years ago whilst on the S. Circlular coming up from Clapham.

He was stationary at the lights when a car travelling in the same direction changed lanes quickly and knocked into his bike throwing him on the ground. Apart from cut legs and hands was ok but bike mangled. Driver gave name, address and phone number and agreed to pay for damage. Cost around ?300 - unfotunately the details given were false. Contacted our local beat bobby for advice as collision was not reported at the time to police.Police did a check on the property and woman there denied any knowledge of the man. Insurance company reluctantly paid up but the premium doubled the following year. Was advised that incident should have been reported to police even though noone was hurt.

[binary_star]

Bit early for me, I'm usually there for about 8 but I will keep a lookout for the car (and coming home too). What a nasty piece of work hitting your son and not stopping. Just out of interest, are you looking for financial compensation for the damage to the bike?

[Mamma Mia]

Dorothy Wrote:

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> If the bike was hit - first line of the op states

> that a collision took place - then the driver

> should have stopped more than momentarily. The

> driver should have stopped and got out of the car

> and checked that the rider of the bike was ok. If

> that had happened then I doubt the op would have

> even bothered to start this thread. I imagine, in

> an ideal world, the op would like the police to go

> and have a word with the driver of the car, not

> least to make him or her think again about

> driving away from an accident. Its not an

> unreasonable stance to take. Do you think its okay

> to stay in your car at the scene of an accident

> and then just drive off? I think that it pretty

> reckless and irresponsible behaviour and it would

> be good if the driver could be cautioned about it.

> I doubt very much the op is hoping the driver will

> be arrested and sent to court. Perhaps the op has

> no idea what could come of reporting the driver to

> the police, but she is willing to give it a try.

This pretty much sums up what I feel. If you jump a junction, plough into a cyclist and then just drive off you shouldn't be surprised if the police knock on your door to have a quiet word.

[Mamma Mia]

ianr Wrote:

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> >My son managed to swerve to avoid direct impact

> and car fortunately narrowly missed his leg ...

> headlight plastic casing found in road dated

> 1996.

>

> In other words, he managed to avoid riding

> straight into its side, but still had glancing

> contact with the front of the car that occasioned

> the damage to the headlight. That seems the most

> obvious reading to me. I also take it that MM's

> son was on CPRd and had right of way.

He was riding down CPRd and the car jumped the junction from Whately Road and would have hit him side on had he not swerved away from the car towards the middle of the road. The car hit the frame of his bike a couple of inches from his ankle. The car's headlight was smashed and the casing broken off

[ianr]

>The car hit the frame of his bike a couple of inches from his ankle.

Worse than I thought. I'm glad he's ok.

The question's going to be asked: did he have a good front light? I see that sunrise today was 07:57, and the collision was at 06:50.

[Mamma Mia]

ianr Wrote:

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> >The car hit the frame of his bike a couple of

> inches from his ankle.

>

> Worse than I thought. I'm glad he's ok.

>

> The question's going to be asked: did he have a

> good front light? I see that sunrise today was

> 07:57, and the collision was at 06:50.

He has a flashing white light. Bike was bought new from Edwards in November so presumably has the correct light fitted. I'm no expert on bikes, I'm afraid.

[Pearson]

Firstly Mamma Mia, I'm glad your son is apparently ok!

That at least is the main thing.

I have held back on posting as your OP wasn't overly clear.

It does however appear that he was clearly hit and very lucky it was not more serious.

As a cyclist who uses CP road everyday, i am very surprised this sort of accident doesn't happen more often.

It is ironically by far the worst part of my daily commute. I always ride in the middle of the road at junctions to give both myself and drivers more time to see each other and react.

I'm afraid i can't help on identifying the vehicle as i don't pass until later in the morning.

But I'm pretty sure you won't have trouble spotting them as previous posters have already stated.

They are highly likely to use this route daily (although maybe not tomorrow!!) but for sure they will reappear.

Please also refer to the link given to the LFGSS earlier. It is a very useful resource.

I wish your son all the best and hope you manage to catch the culprit! Please keep us updated.

P/

[Amelie]

Is there a camera at that junction? If yes you should ask the police to check the film.

[Mick Mac]

Amelie Wrote:

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> Is there a camera at that junction? If yes you

> should ask the police to check the film.

Are you for real Amelie? I know you have been in a few movies, but there are not cameras everywhere, certainly not outside the CPT.

[Mamma Mia]

@Pearson. Thanks for the tips re cycling on CP Rd . Will pass onto my son

[nunhead_man]

This link may also help .............

www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=391