First Crash... opinions please
 

Had my first accident this morning and my insurers are saying it will probably be 50/50 and just wanted to get your opinions.

I was filtering past stationary traffic, somebody flashed a guy out from a side road and he pulled out straight in front of me. I'm always looking for people pulling out but he came out from behind a van on the other side of the road. I had nowhere to go except straight into his front nearside wing and over his bonnet. I have pictures of skid marks to show I was on the correct side of the road and a witness who saw the bloke being flashed out and he heard the "flasher" shout stop when he saw me. I'm fine, slightly stiff back but nothing serious, my bike is looking pretty sorry for itself tho. I was under the impression filtering was legal aslong as you remain on your side of the road, and you should never pull out when you are flashed without checking it is safe first.

Your thoughts


Cheers

Paul

Re: First Crash... opinions please
 

Correct. However I'm sorry to say that probably isn't going to help you. Expect to take some of the blame. :(

could try the things mentioned on thor's thread: http://forums.sv650.org/viewtopic.php?t=44538 as it seems similar enough that you shouldn't accept liability...

Ask for an update on this
http://forums.sv650.org/viewtopic.php?t=43701

Sorry to hear about your off mate.

Yes the other driver should of made sure it was safe to pull out before doing so, and flashing someone out is not the same signal as it was intended to be in the highway code.

Also, it could be argued that you were filtering, and if you had to skid to stop, were filtering far too fast considering there was a junction that was obscured by a van.

50/50 is a good outcome IMO, but by all means, read the above thread, and Lyn's document on filtering. Fight it all the way, it only costs you time now, and could save £££s on a repair job.

Thanks guys, when I say skid marks, I just mean a couple of foot from locking the front wheel, I was only doing about 20mph I thought this was an acceptable speed. How fast should you filter?

How long is a piece of string?

Legal advice: You should always be able to stop safely, and under control, in the amount of road you can see to be unobstructed ahead of you.

Saying that, on my commute today I almost ran over a sheep because yes, I was hooning on a back road :oops: and came around a corner to see a landrover parked with hazards on my side of the road. I was getting ready to move out around the landrover, slowing a little, and then saw the sheep. All anchors on, and even though I know you're not supposed to, I'm too used to driving a cage & was using engine breaking (changing down the gears) WHILST holding both brakes. There's now a black/brown snake pattern on the road from me locking BOTH wheels up (and the SVS has ABS doesn't it?)

Needless to say I'm going to be far more cautious around landrovers with hazard lights in future.

Nobody rides perfectly, but a bare faced lie will be spotted by the insurance folks. If I were you, I'd just make out that you emphasised you locking up the front wheel due to overbraking in a scary situation (since this actually takes you longer to stop than a perfect e-stop).

Sorry to hear about your off. Hope the schock is receding.

I was told on my DAS course of a similar situation. The bloke that flashed is in the wrong & it should be his insurance that pays up!! Bizarrely.

The SV doesn't have ABS, btw ;)

On the one hand, nothing wrong with filtering. On the other, what you did was basically overtaking past a junction, which I think is possibly going to cause you problems? I'm no sort of lawyer, mind.

I could of sworn I read somewhere back before I got the bike that it did. Not a big deal though, since I didn't buy the bike for ABS. :)

Sorry to hear about your incident, I had exactly the same thing happen to me in Central London many years ago. I have since adapted my approach and treat filtering near junctions in the same way as overtaking near junctions - i.e. I don't do it - ever.

In the court case, some contributory negligence was placed at my feet, but the insurer did pay out in full, including uninsured losses.

The faired bandit comes with ABS, where you considering that?

That I was at the time, could be that clouding my memory. Cheers :thumbsup:

Hope your ok, getting over the shock and that the bikes back up and running soon.
I've had a couple of off's at junctions too and have taken a much more cautious attitude towards them.

I also treat motoway sliproads on the motorway in the same way and stop filtering as I pass them because people tend to start shifting lanes quickly without looking or indicating around them.

Sorry to hear that.

I partially agree with Xan 173. Junctions don't stop me filtering, but they slow me waaaay down. It's always best to assume that ther IS someone pulling out from behind the van/post box/horse and cart that is blocking your view.

I've always thought the flashing thing is a bit odd - it's still in the highway code, I think, yet almost everybody in the country uses it the wrong way. You'd of thought they'd change it. If someone flashes you here, it means 'get out of my way'.

Just spoke to guy who has done the inspection on my bike and the parts bill alone was just over £2500. I can't belive its that bad, bottom yokes and forks twisted so looks like it will be written off.

Thanks for all the posts

Paul

my accident sounds like a carbon copy of yours.

mine went 50 / 50

Paul

Hi, here's some more info on this:

http://www.whitedalton.co.uk/overtaking.php

White Dalton are handling my case (passenger knocked me off with her car door - she was in the 3rd lane of A2)

If you have legal expenses on you policy it may be worth checking out. Many firms offer no win no fee deals. The legimate ones don't take a 'cut' of anything awarded to you, their fees are paid by the 'other side' if you win. They wont take the case on if they don't think you will win.

Did you get any witnesses?

Good luck

The insurance compnay will cite the 1966 Powell vs Moody case against you, where the judge ruled that the motorcyclist was at fault, in circumstances very similar to yours - don't hold out much hope!

Minor derail - I've just been reading the profiles on the White Dalton site...very good... :lol: makes I giggle...

Yep, It's always good to have an SV riding barrister on your side ;-)