A car ran into me last week and buckled my front wheel. Fortunately my only injury was a sprained thumb in contact with the handlebars at the time of the blow. I did not come off the bike as I was already stationary with a foot on the ground by the time of impact. We exchanged details so at least it was not a 'hit and run'. However driving into a stationary bicycle who has right of way over you in the middle of the road smacks to me of careless driving and I wished to report it to the police.
'No', I could not report it to the Metropolitan Police Roadsafe site, they do not deal in collisions. 'No' I could not file the multi-page Collision Report Form on-line or send it in. 'Yes', I had to deliver it to a police station and hand it in (an effective way to deter reporting).
So, for the second time in a year, I found myself waiting for 20 minutes at Charing Cross Police Station behind a queue of people reporting the theft of their mobile 'phones so that I could hand over a form.
Will any action be taken? I doubt it but I will keep you posted.
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It's so frustrating - I have a stack of the relevant forms, and the address of the place which actually processes them in my area.
ReplyDeleteMight be worth going in and asking how the forms are handled, and whether you can have a stack of them...
I think everyone comes up against this sooner or later, its not cycling-specific. A neighbour of mine had his tyres on his car slashed a month or so back, the Police actually refused to help, despite the admission of another neighbour (which then made the insurance situation pointless).
ReplyDeleteThat driver needed an aptitude test as well as an eye test. Far too keen to pull out.
I had a similar experience with the Holborn police station. It took me 30 minutes to submit an accident report, plus the time off from work to visit the station and queue. Penalty for the driver of the van who knocked me off my bike - and said "I saw you but thought you were going left" - no further action on the part of the police.
ReplyDeleteAnd they wonder why cyclists regard them as a risibly unhelpful-verging-on-hostile force.
ReplyDelete