Bloomin Uninsured Pedestrians

[bluninja]

Why don't all pedestrians have compulsory 3rd party insurance???

On Friday I set off from the 3rd lane at some traffic lights AFTER they were completely green.....2 numpty pedestrians decided to sprint across all 3 lanes from my left straight into my path and then stayed there as I braked and hit one of them. He jumped up and hit the cowling, head butted the top of my helmet and rolled over the right side of me and into my arm.

The important (to me) good news: the uninsured foreign student has no significant injuries and was discharged from hospital with pain relief tablets......but after I persuaded him and his friend they couldn't just walk away from the accident scene and had to wait for ambulance and police he did get put onto a board from a standing position and ferried to hospital....which looked uncomfortable and embarrassing :cool:

I stupidly refused the ambulance trip and rode home with a twisted, dropped cowl, no offside mirror. I attended a walk in centre as I was in a fair bit of pain...and ended up on a board and checked out for spinal injuries, before being released with pain relief only (2nd bit of important good news).

The bad news: the impact broke a rear molar and that's not covered on my insurance, nor is my £200 excess...and I will lose 2 years ncb..so another £100 over the next few years as it's unlikely the pedestrian will have the means to pay for my losses....plus the damage to the bike and my loss of transport to work..

I checked the bike yesterday...wing mirror snapped, lugs that hold the headlight array are snapped, the plastic housing on the headlights is all split, the metal tube from the headstock holding it all is twisted slightly down and to the right, The left frame spar has a vertical groove where the plastics dug into it, and the right side has a scratch from the same. Oh, there's also a scuff mark and rubber on my pillion grabrail that looks like his shoe (which came off) kicked against that. Hopes that I might repair it back to original condition for under £200 and avoid the claim are gone. :compcrash:

So why is it that pedestrians and cyclists can be on the roads causing carnage and not have to be insured??? Maybe pedestrians should have to take a 'crossing the road' test.

Sorry for the rant....but I'm just a might peed off now the physical pain is easing and I'm looking to sort out all the crap from someone elses mistake.

[the_lone_wolf]

Sorry for the rant....but I'm just a might peed off now the physical pain is easing and I'm looking to sort out all the crap from someone elses mistake.

surely the amount of damage isn't beyond a civil claim for compensation? just because he's not got retard insurance doesn't mean he couldn't cause an accident...

[muffles]

Got his details? Start a small claims case. However being foreign there's a chance he may ignore it/p*ss off back home. All too easy to do when you know it won't affect you.

One hope is that he's paying a lot to be at a good UK uni (often are - foreign students pay through the nose) and would rather be able to complete his course, so he may entertain the idea of paying your due compensation...

[bluninja]

I should be speaking to solicitors on Monday (legal cover on insurance) and we'll see what they say.....but I'm happy to be a pee'd off pessimist in this as there's then only an upside.

[markmoto]

i agree you should be able to sue people who cause accidents like this.

[SoulKiss]

You can - as said its the small claims court route.

Unfortunatly there is no "Walking Without Due Care and Attention".

Am surprised the fact that the Peds had right-of-way (and they do) that the policeman didnt point out that you have a duty of care to all pedestrians and by not seeing them you obviously were not paying attention.

At least thats pretty much what I got hassled with after a cop pulled me over for sounding my horn as some idiot that did exactly the same to me as the idiot did to you - except I didnt hit them - they sprinted across the road on the far sid of the crossing.

The cop even had the gall to ask me if I had run the red light (he had been standing on a traffic island separating the lanes beyond the junction and hadn't seen events). Idiot even ran a PNC check on me.

[zsv650]

pedestrian's have right of way ****ty but that's the way it goes like soulkiss say's however with that fact in mind i'd think carefully about taking it further as it might backfire.

[bluninja]

Am surprised the fact that the Peds had right-of-way (and they do) that the policeman didnt point out that you have a duty of care to all pedestrians and by not seeing them you obviously were not paying attention.

At least thats pretty much what I got hassled with after a cop pulled me over for sounding my horn as some idiot that did exactly the same to me as the idiot did to you - except I didnt hit them - they sprinted across the road on the far sid of the crossing.



I guess I was lucky that I had an independant witness (ex police) that saw the incident.

As for paying attention....well if I hadn't damage and injuries would have been far worse. ...the peds were not at the side of the road as I approached the lights on red...I can only guess that they were walking along and then decided to make a mad dash which put them in front of my bike inside my minimum braking distance.

[SoulKiss]

pedestrian's have right of way ****ty but that's the way it goes like soulkiss say's however with that fact in mind i'd think carefully about taking it further as it might backfire.

I think the Police would have said something about it at the time, also with the fact that the small claims court is a civil rather than criminal thing it should'nt backfire.

I was just making a point that as a pedestrian you can do the most stupid things and legally not be at fault.

[zsv650]

i wasnt saying don't bud just i would get some real good legal advice to make sure they couldnt counter sue or some **** like that.

[bluninja]

Fair enough.....regardless of what choices I make (based on proper legal advice where they have the full details) the ped could try to claim against me regardless....that was the reason that the witness called the ambulance despite no obvious serious injury....it means that they are independantly assessed at the scene and makes it more difficult to make up injuries and damage at a later date.

I was also happy to be breathalysed at the scene. My 0 reading means I'm covered against made up claims of me being intoxicated....though it isn't nice blowing down the tube as drivers are going slowing past and giving you that 'you're a bad boy' knowing look.

[Biker Biggles]

I wouldnt try and persue it.In fact I think you will be lucky if the numpty ped doesnt sue you.There is a presumtion of liability against the motor vehicle(because they have insurance)and its not difficult to make a case that you pulled away from a standing start without checking everything was clear bla bla bla.

[vannus]

Is Jaywalking not still illegal in this country. If it is surely pedestrian should be prosecuted.

[hob]

By default the pedestrian has priority.

Little is right, not might is right, in the UK.

If you hit them in an automobile it is your fault, sad but true.

[oliciv]

Most pedestrians already have third party insurance as part of their home insurance.

[bluninja]

Most pedestrians already have third party insurance as part of their home insurance.

Interesting point, but if they are a foreign student in halls of residence it's unlikely they'll have this.

Hob, you are only at fault if you could have anticipated or avoided the collision.

A few posters have suggested I shouldn't pursue recovery of my losses 'in case they sue me back'. Regardless of how I choose to proceed the pedestrian can choose to claim against me and hiding behind the parapet, or taking the incident on the chin would have no bearing on their choices.

I accept that taking legal action may cause them to seek legal advice....but if my case is virtually watertight, (or else my insurance backed legal cover are unlikely to bother) things should be fine.

If I work from a premise that I've lost my excess and 2 years no claims, then what is the downside for me if the ped tries to claim compo from me?

[yorkie_chris]

Why excess? You will also be hard pressed to put an amount on the loss of NCD.

Better IMO to claim for the damage to the bike.

Pedestrians make a good case for having a bike with sharp things on it.

[Luckypants]

By default the pedestrian has priority.

Little is right, not might is right, in the UK.

If you hit them in an automobile it is your fault, sad but true.

Can you show where this is written in law or highway Code? :confused: AFAIK a pedestrian only has priority if they are in the roadway BEFORE you are. If they run out in front of you, tough titties on them - sue their ass.

[454697819]

Motor Insurance Bureau could help possibly?

[pete m]

I had more or less exact same thing happen to me during my first month a big biking - same as you, a drama student walked out into the road after his cap blew off...my front wheel went between his legs and we both bounced ..:cool: he got saying "its all my fault " and walked away incredibly...my lovely new Bandit was fecked...:( soon as i tried to get money from him, he went to a solicitor who told him he could sue me and we'd have been at it for years..and course he was broke....so even if you won, you'd prob get £5 a month payout....

small claims - all well and good except you have to pay a fee - i think it was £90 to file a claim . or it may have been more....with no guarentee of winning....

im afarid in the end i just had to eat the £400 repair bill , my bike was never the same and i had the same dim view of pedestrians - and worse, cyclists - who have no insurance.....

sorry bro - i know how mad you feel and i wish you atb, but the best advice is to leave it...IMHO

[dyzio]

Just curious... I had a small adventure the other day...
Dual carriageway, fully packed, stop&go traffic, me filtering @15mph between 2 lines of traffic, 6pm (dark). And this wasn't on a pedestrian crossing.

Just as I was about to filter pass a transit van, a ped walked out from in front of the wan. Was looking the other direction(!!!) hasn't stopped for a second to look at the oncoming traffic, and was on a mobile.
I slam the anchors and stop in time, rev the tits of my engine (think it was the no baffle day) to let him know and the w@nker doesn't even notice I'm there and walks on.

Yes I did manage to avoid him but what wonders me, if I would have hit him and it ended up in court (or something), most probably I would have been at fault for and taking due care whilst filtering, right?

[SoulKiss]

Just curious... I had a small adventure the other day...
Dual carriageway, fully packed, stop&go traffic, me filtering @15mph between 2 lines of traffic, 6pm (dark). And this wasn't on a pedestrian crossing.

Just as I was about to filter pass a transit van, a ped walked out from in front of the wan. Was looking the other direction(!!!) hasn't stopped for a second to look at the oncoming traffic, and was on a mobile.
I slam the anchors and stop in time, rev the tits of my engine (think it was the no baffle day) to let him know and the w@nker doesn't even notice I'm there and walks on.

Yes I did manage to avoid him but what wonders me, if I would have hit him and it ended up in court (or something), most probably I would have been at fault for and taking due care whilst filtering, right?

Daily occurance for me - both going to work and coming home.

[hob]

Can you show where this is written in law or highway Code? :confused: AFAIK a pedestrian only has priority if they are in the roadway BEFORE you are. If they run out in front of you, tough titties on them - sue their ass.

~ 170 ish of the HWC, you are indeed correct it is only if they are in front of you that they have priority, i.e already crossing, but unless they hit the side of your bike/car then they were in front of you if you hit them head on :)

[stuballs]

I hit a pedestrian a few years ago. She ran out into the road and I ploughed into her on my 1200 bandit at 30mph. She didn't even look to see if anything was coming. I guess because it was a bus lane (but before 7am so ok). I broker my leg and my cheekbone in 3 places and the bike was totalled. She nearly died from her head injuries. I was so angry but didn't pursue her becasue I expected a likely counterclaim for her injuries (she never did sue me) if I did.

To add insult to injury the fuzz prosecuted me for careless driving. I pleaded not guilty and after a year the case went before the magistrates who kicked it out for no case to answer. Total waste of taxpayers money. Luckily my insurers paid for my defence as criminal conviction would have had implications for a civil case. However in the meantime I couldn't get insuance at any price with that hanging over my head so had to sell the bandit (which I'd repaired) and my beloved R6. Gutted.

You can sue the ped if you want. Negligence. But as they don't have insurance how would you enforce a judgement even if you succeeded? Foreign student not likely to have a couple of grand in the bank. And you would probably invite a counterclaim. This would impact your furture insurance. I would put it down to experience and move on.

I believe Motor insurers bureau would only help if there's a criminal conviction. As there is no criminal negligence in the UK that's a dead end.

[muffles]

I hit a pedestrian a few years ago. She ran out into the road and I ploughed into her on my 1200 bandit at 30mph. She didn't even look to see if anything was coming. I guess because it was a bus lane (but before 7am so ok). I broker my leg and my cheekbone in 3 places and the bike was totalled. She nearly died from her head injuries. I was so angry but didn't pursue her becasue I expected a likely counterclaim for her injuries (she never did sue me) if I did.

To add insult to injury the fuzz prosecuted me for careless driving. I pleaded not guilty and after a year the case went before the magistrates who kicked it out for no case to answer. Total waste of taxpayers money. Luckily my insurers paid for my defence as criminal conviction would have had implications for a civil case. However in the meantime I couldn't get insuance at any price with that hanging over my head so had to sell the bandit (which I'd repaired) and my beloved R6. Gutted.

You can sue the ped if you want. Negligence. But as they don't have insurance how would you enforce a judgement even if you succeeded? Foreign student not likely to have a couple of grand in the bank. And you would probably invite a counterclaim. This would impact your furture insurance. I would put it down to experience and move on.

I believe Motor insurers bureau would only help if there's a criminal conviction. As there is no criminal negligence in the UK that's a dead end.

I'm not saying it makes it easy to do but many foreign students have a lot of money (or wealthy families). Talking non-EU, when I was at uni they used to have to pay figures of £8000-10000 a year tuition plus board, food, etc. They didn't often do it on their own, personal money I tell ya ;)

[the_lone_wolf]

sounds to me like the moral of the tale is...

"if you're going to mow down a ped make sure you're going fast enough that they don't get up and sue you"

:rolleyes: