Cyclist who hit my wife's car this morning - own up..

[MarkG]

Give me your address .
I'll come around for a chat tonite.

I'll put it on a facebook event that I will title "Come over and beat me up" with his address.

What's your point?

[coffeeandwine]

Id be keen to hear how you go with the strava thing.

Any DNA on the bumper?

Did your wife notice what colour kit he was wearing?

Was it at traffic light were there may be a camera?

Just some suggestions.

Give the dude a couple of weeks for himself and the bike to get fixed then you and the wifey do a stake out on the same route at the same time as the rear end to your car and see if you can spot him.

+1 was about to suggest the same thing. People tend to be creatures of habit-including bike commuters (same route, same time roughly).

A really poor thing to do.

[kunalraiker]

Why do you think?
Cos he's a coward.
My wife is still upset and the car has two noticeable dents.

Get it fixed, things like these happen all the time.
Move On!

[grantw]

Would be interesting to see a photo of the damage to the car.

[Marty Moose]

Sorry to hear you wife is upset Mark I can see your riled up and rightly so, but don't seed the clowns on here just ignore they will move on. Hope you catch him.

MM

[Mulger bill]

Good luck with finding Mr Sid Krome Mark, there's been some good advice for finding him.

You never had a "chat" with him, you were having a beer/coffee/grappa with me at that (whatever) time

Shaun

[ZepinAtor]

I feel your pain MarkG.

I had just parked my car (very large van) at the UQ campus & was inserting coins into the parking meter when I heard an almighty thump. (Dec 2012)

A Uni student on a mountain bike (clunker) rode straight into the back of my "parked" van. He did very well as the road is about 4 lanes wide & I was the only car parked on the entire street & it was 6am.

So I go to the rear of my vehicle where I find this guy lying on the ground tangled in his bike, back pack under him & a little blood on his shoulder & elbow. A passing cyclist & myself help the guy to his feet as he is rather dazed (shocked) by the sudden impact & interruption to his morning dream or on bike studying techniques.

We checked him over to make sure there weren't any bones protruding where they shouldn't be then checked over his rather sad looking commuting machine. He was quite apologetic in his dazed state & appeared to be a genuinely nice calm person. So we look at the rear of my van & yes he's managed to smash the rear light which is about 1m long & put two small dents into the rear door nearby. I took his details & off he went, shirt torn & blood all over the place.

Now my dilemma ? Do I bother pursuing this moneyless uni student who un-intentionally came to a sudden stop curtesy of my van or just go the insurance option ?

I choose both options..........ie:- I had him pay for the rear light ($175) & explained to him that the two little dents would result in a total re-spray of the entire rear door (black metallic Mercedes special colour) & would be upwards of $1200. He was very grateful & transferred the money overnight, which is a good result as I didn't honestly expect to see 1c from this guy & would have felt guilty for the rest of my life extracting $1500 from a poor student. My van has some other minor damage from an un-identified flying object which flicked off my tyre & crunched the bottom of the passenger door + the usual door assisted dents you would expect on a 5 year old car.I will just include his damage to the list when I next visit the panel beater if you know what I mean

[Pushy]

Why do you think?
Cos he's a coward.
My wife is still upset and the car has two noticeable dents.

Plastic bumper? Warm it gently with a hair dryer or very carefully with a heat gun and push it out. Might work, hard to say without seeing. Sad to say, some AH ride bikes too.

[YouAgainstMe]

Now my dilemma ? Do I bother pursuing this moneyless uni student who un-intentionally came to a sudden stop curtesy of my van or just go the insurance option ?

I choose both options..........ie:- I had him pay for the rear light ($175) & explained to him that the two little dents would result in a total re-spray of the entire rear door (black metallic Mercedes special colour) & would be upwards of $1200. He was very grateful & transferred the money overnight, which is a good result as I didn't honestly expect to see 1c from this guy & would have felt guilty for the rest of my life extracting $1500 from a poor student. My van has some other minor damage from an un-identified flying object which flicked off my tyre & crunched the bottom of the passenger door + the usual door assisted dents you would expect on a 5 year old car.I will just include his damage to the list when I next visit the panel beater if you know what I mean

You're a good guy ZepinAtor. Alot of people would have gone straight for the jugular and tried to get as much as they could no matter what. Good karma coming your way one day sir

[Crittski]

It sucks that your wifes car got damaged with no clear source of compensation or apology from he who was to blame, but if thats the worst thing that happened to your day, then perhaps it wasnt the worst thing that could have happened to you both on that day, you will get over this insult, how is your choice...

[Roinik]

Get it fixed, things like these happen all the time.
Move On!

If this happens all the time to you then I pity your eyesight and wallet. There is no excuse for your arrogance. The only time that this has happened to most of us here is when we've been cut off or a car has pulled out in front of us. If it was you, there are many here that wish you a painful recovery. If it was you then it's riders like you that give the rest of us a bad name.

[ZepinAtor]

Good karma coming your way one day sir

Thanks ! That's the way I see it & is a complete 360 from my past actions. I've being going through a stage in my life where I'm consciously forcing myself to see the lighter side of ALL situations no matter how dire they seem. This has & will continue to cost me time & money, but the peacefulness far out ways the cost.

So far so good for about the past 3 years. Life has been good since.

When I look at the dent on the rear of my car I just have a little chuckle & think about my little Canadian uni student & how he amazingly didn't break any bones.

[eldavo]

Using the voice of Yoda:
"Ghandi MarkG is not"
But maybe on Sunday with the cool change forecast the red mist may clear... or it could be thunderstorms =D

Slightly off topic, a friend bumped someone's tow bar at <5kph, minor damage to his bumper in shape of tow ball, other guy inspected confirmed nothing carried on.
Friend gets a call to report the accident because other driver has made personal injury claims to state 3rd party insurance.
It seems to take all types to turn this planet.

[kunalraiker]

Get it fixed, things like these happen all the time.
Move On!

If this happens all the time to you then I pity your eyesight and wallet. There is no excuse for your arrogance. The only time that this has happened to most of us here is when we've been cut off or a car has pulled out in front of us. If it was you, there are many here that wish you a painful recovery. If it was you then it's riders like you that give the rest of us a bad name.

You sir, have taken my post out of context, what you deny to understand is my agitation against the OP openly threatening us in a public forum.
I get it that he's agitated, so am I with someone at work, does not mean I'am going to advertise making his/her live miserable.
So much bitterness, why oh why!
I do not wish you any bad.

Now where is the good karma going

[il padrone]

I better not find out it was anyone on here.

Regardless of fault, the tone of the implied threats I am reading here are just a tad disturbing.

I've personally seen this sort of thing (well not the hit and run, but collisions) from both sides:

1. Car comes out from behind a stop sign to cut through stationary traffic. I am driving in the right turn slip lane - car crunches into left side of my car. He is a 19 yo student, uninsured. Later after I get quotes, I get a call from his dad wanting to get a mate to do the job . I am insured, I just let the insurance company deal with it.

2. Night-time, reversing in a car park. Just crunched another car (very lightly). Bonked in their front bumper corner with my tow-bar. I leave a note with my contact details. The other driver goes straight to the lawyer - letter of demand (just before Christmas) "contact this office before 5 Jan accepting liability". I ring, they are closed until the 10th Jan, and I am on a holiday cycling in Tasmania for 2 1/2 weeks. When In get back I find they have commenced proceedings in the courts. I hand it over to my insurance company but they have cost us an extra $500 for being bloody-minded.

BTW, your car bumper will probably cost $1600+ to replace, so just get it dealt with through your insurance (you are insured, right>??)


Oh yeah there was the one I "ran off" from.

3. Lady in a car does a right-hook across me (she did not look at all) and I was riding down a long hill at ~50kmh. Skidded and luckily went side-on into her rear passenger door. I received no damage beyond a grazed elbow and later hematoma on my knee. Bike was OK. She was traumatised because her 1 yo son was in a child seat in the rear passenger seat. She realised I could have been in a car..... truck.... she had not seen me. Before I left I noticed her rear C-pillar where my shoulder hit - it had a nice dent in it. Tricky things to straighten out I'd think. But I said nothing, she can explain it to hubby. Clearly her fault collision.

My suggestion - just get it fixed, under your insurance if you have it. If you/your wife have been 'good' drivers you should get one collision excess-free.

[barefoot]

Years ago, commuting home, mind in another place, I suddenly found myself sitting on the boot of a stationary car. On Princes Bridge in Melbourne, right in front of about half a million peak-hour train commuters.

I would have been happy for the ground to open up and swallow me right there. Since that wasn't an option, I climbed down, dusted myself off, mumbled an apology to the stunned driver, and disappeared as quick as I could.

Until this thread, I'd never even considered the possibility that I had damaged the car. I wasn't going fast - I just vagued out. Rattled, surprised, massively embarassed. I just didn't want to be there any longer than absolutely necessary.

It's possible the guy in question is an A-grade tosser who saw the damage he'd caused and ran away to avoid taking responsibility. I think it's more likely he simply couldn't believe what a ridiculous mistake he'd just made, and skulked away to find a hole to crawl into.

tim

[queequeg]

I have done something similar. I was behind a small hatchback waiting at an intersection for traffic to clear. we were stationary but light was green. the driver of the hatch started to move off as the traffic cleared, so I clipped in and was starting to follow. I usually try to get up to speed quickly to avoid cars behind me getting ticked off. Anyway, I got in about 3 turns of the big ring when the driver of the hatch abruptly changed their mind and stomped on the brakes. As I was in "take off" mode, my hands weren't on the hoods. I grabbed them as quick as I could but I couldn't stop in time and rear ended her. my back wheel lifted about 30cm off the ground. she obviously felt it because she got out of the car and came to look. She then apologised for stopping so abruptly. no damage to my bike, but my front tyre took off some paint from her car.

[MarkG]

Why do you think?
Cos he's a coward.
My wife is still upset and the car has two noticeable dents.

Plastic bumper? Warm it gently with a hair dryer or very carefully with a heat gun and push it out. Might work, hard to say without seeing. Sad to say, some AH ride bikes too.

One is plastic in the bumper and one is in the metal on the actual boot.

Insurance and money is the issue (we have both) its the sheer fact that if the opposite happened, say my wife hit a cyclist, surveyed the damage and drove off, we would be up in arms.

[MarkG]

Good luck with finding Mr Sid Krome Mark, there's been some good advice for finding him.

You never had a "chat" with him, you were having a beer/coffee/grappa with me at that (whatever) time

Shaun

My brother from another mother

Mate, my uncle's grappa is like paint thinner..pass!

[MarkG]

I better not find out it was anyone on here.

Regardless of fault, the tone of the implied threats I am reading here are just a tad disturbing.

I've personally seen this sort of thing (well not the hit and run, but collisions) from both sides:

1. Car comes out from behind a stop sign to cut through stationary traffic. I am driving in the right turn slip lane - car crunches into left side of my car. He is a 19 yo student, uninsured. Later after I get quotes, I get a call from his dad wanting to get a mate to do the job . I am insured, I just let the insurance company deal with it.

2. Night-time, reversing in a car park. Just crunched another car (very lightly). Bonked in their front bumper corner with my tow-bar. I leave a note with my contact details. The other driver goes straight to the lawyer - letter of demand (just before Christmas) "contact this office before 5 Jan accepting liability". I ring, they are closed until the 10th Jan, and I am on a holiday cycling in Tasmania for 2 1/2 weeks. When In get back I find they have commenced proceedings in the courts. I hand it over to my insurance company but they have cost us an extra $500 for being bloody-minded.

BTW, your car bumper will probably cost $1600+ to replace, so just get it dealt with through your insurance (you are insured, right>??)


Oh yeah there was the one I "ran off" from.

3. Lady in a car does a right-hook across me (she did not look at all) and I was riding down a long hill at ~50kmh. Skidded and luckily went side-on into her rear passenger door. I received no damage beyond a grazed elbow and later hematoma on my knee. Bike was OK. She was traumatised because her 1 yo son was in a child seat in the rear passenger seat. She realised I could have been in a car..... truck.... she had not seen me. Before I left I noticed her rear C-pillar where my shoulder hit - it had a nice dent in it. Tricky things to straighten out I'd think. But I said nothing, she can explain it to hubby. Clearly her fault collision.

My suggestion - just get it fixed, under your insurance if you have it. If you/your wife have been 'good' drivers you should get one collision excess-free.

Who is makin threats..?
Don't preach to me mate, a word to the wise..

[MarkG]

Get it fixed, things like these happen all the time.
Move On!

If this happens all the time to you then I pity your eyesight and wallet. There is no excuse for your arrogance. The only time that this has happened to most of us here is when we've been cut off or a car has pulled out in front of us. If it was you, there are many here that wish you a painful recovery. If it was you then it's riders like you that give the rest of us a bad name.

You sir, have taken my post out of context, what you deny to understand is my agitation against the OP openly threatening us in a public forum.
I get it that he's agitated, so am I with someone at work, does not mean I'am going to advertise making his/her live miserable.
So much bitterness, why oh why!
I do not wish you any bad.

Now where is the good karma going

People like you my friend are the reason people like me get agitated and why the world is in the state its in.

[MarkG]

[Apple]

I better not find out it was anyone on here.

Why not?

sorry that was funny.
Look I think the guy was in shock and embarrassed. He wouldn’t even think that he caused damage, he was hurting and everyone watching. All he knows is that he went down.

[MarkG]

Yeah that's a real valid excuse. Ill use that one next time.

[Apple]

Yeah that's a real valid excuse. Ill use that one next time.

you are just angry, but tomorrow you will think about it again.