Got home from work to find my brother's new bike wrecked

**Ricardo S** · 29th June 2011, 20:11

the forks twisted and the end of the seat ripped - the bike tipped over! what a bad feeling to see it.

Ran to the apartment and gladly saw him sitting on the computer, he is ok, apart from some chest pain from the bike landing on top of him.

he was coming back from work, on Great south road going towards Green lane , on the bus lane at 40km/h a lovely lady coming from the opposite direction crossed his path while turning into a side street. "i didn't see you as there was a van stopped on the traffic lane" she said. he tried to avoid the crash and hit the rear wheel of the cage.

luckily he didn't get as hurt as it looked like and there were some good people around that ran to help and offer to be witness if needed. (thanks guys at the Barfoot&Thompsom, i much appreciate the support given to my brother)

the lady was shaky by the situation but not hurt and the damage to the car is minimal. she called her husband and he helped my brother in to transport the bike to the garage - it seems that he did question the fact that he was riding on the bus lane but will leave it to the insurance co.

thing now is, we didn't have a chance to close a contract with the insurance company for the bikes, i called the police and they told me that he can report it tomorrow but i'm not entirely sure on how to proceed. he was using the bike to commute to work, so he will need a replacement as quick as possible. i got a day off work tomorrow to run around with him and try to get those things sorted. what should we do?

**Latte** · 29th June 2011, 20:18

In a Bus lane (vs a Bus Only Lane)
Doing 40kmh (assuming 50 kph limit)

He should be fine regarding fault. If you haven't got insurance you'll be battling. But stick to your guns etc. Go disputes tribunal if you have to. Get quotes to repair and present to other party, deal with them etc.

Gee this thread seems familiar

Also seems to be a lot of people getting knocked around lately, early sunset, wet roads, windows fogged etc, take care of yourselves people.

**Oblivion** · 29th June 2011, 20:42

Originally Posted by hiss

In a Bus lane (vs a Bus Only Lane)
Doing 40kmh (assuming 50 kph limit)

He should be fine regarding fault. If you haven't got insurance you'll be battling. But stick to your guns etc. Go disputes tribunal if you have to. Get quotes to repair and present to other party, deal with them etc.

Gee this thread seems familiar

Also seems to be a lot of people getting knocked around lately, early sunset, wet roads, windows fogged etc, take care of yourselves people.

At risk of backfire, most of these crashes, according to their accounts were caused by failure to look by the other party. The classic SMIDSY.

But hope hes okay. Theres nothing worse than being knocked off and not being able to get back up again. Stay strong.

**DangerMice** · 29th June 2011, 21:56

Yep, as a daily bus lane user, you've gotta be farkin careful in them, especially around stationary traffic, or gaps in traffic. Glad to hear you bro is mostly ok, and as already been said, I think legally he'll be ok as long as it wasn't a bus only lane (go check the signs). The chick was effectively crossing 2 lanes and should've checked both of them.

**discotex** · 29th June 2011, 23:37

Get a police report and written statements from witnesses ASAP. Until her insurance company sees proof she is in the wrong they will hold out.

Find out who the insurance company is and ask them for their third party claim form or something to that effect. You don't need to be insured to claim against her insurance.

**Scouse** · 30th June 2011, 00:46

First mistake you did not get the Police to attend the crash scene so now it becomes a "he said she said" thing. Always always say you are injured this ensures that the police attend. Sore chest counts as a chest injury. this way the police write up a crash scene report that is real hard for the op's insurance to dispute as to cause if they need to be taken to a tribunal. Insurance companys tend to try it on when you dont have your own cover.

**Ricardo S** · 30th June 2011, 08:59

Originally Posted by Scouse

First mistake you did not get the Police to attend the crash scene so now it becomes a "he said she said" thing. Always always say you are injured this ensures that the police attend. Sore chest counts as a chest injury. this way the police write up a crash scene report that is real hard for the op's insurance to dispute as to cause if they need to be taken to a tribunal. Insurance companys tend to try it on when you dont have your own cover.

I hear that and surely will put that on the list that i hope never use. tks for the tip.

**Ricardo S** · 30th June 2011, 09:01

Originally Posted by discotex

Get a police report and written statements from witnesses ASAP. Until her insurance company sees proof she is in the wrong they will hold out.

Find out who the insurance company is and ask them for their third party claim form or something to that effect. You don't need to be insured to claim against her insurance.

will try to get it all sorted now! cheers for the tip Discotex

**Ricardo S** · 30th June 2011, 09:05

I'm wondering if i'll really need to run around to get some quotes or if the following pics will give them an $ understanding

From vtr accident

**C.Linnell** · 30th June 2011, 09:31

A VTR! That's the saddest thing I've ever seen :-(

My girlfriend recently went over her handlebars in a very similar accident on Great South Road. Bike was a write off, with way less damage than your brother's.

You should let the other person's insurance company handle it, and most definitely the police need to be as involved as possible. The other person might be up on charges actually (though that'll be hard now since he didn't call them after it happened).

**Beren** · 30th June 2011, 09:51

Glad your brothers OK! Got a bit of a shock this morning with sunstrike blinding the traffic on Fanshawe - another vote for watching out for yourselves. Had an SUV wandering accross lanes after deciding that using windscreen wash to deal with sunstrike was the thing to do... Insurance is great but it won't unsquish you!

Really sad looking at that poor VTR

**imac** · 30th June 2011, 12:42

Originally Posted by Beren

... Insurance is great but it won't unsquish you!

Good line that!

**DanielSumi** · 30th June 2011, 13:20

Hello, the brother here <<.

Might not be the best way to introduce myself, but hell, i've been stalking KB forums for so long now that i almost feel at home. Lots of practical advices for noobs like me

Well firstly, thank you very much for the support, you guys are awesome!

To the matter at hand, the lady mentioned something really funny (not) at the scene:
"I usually stop and check twice before going... I didn't think a vehicle would come travelling in the bus lane so I started to go as soon as a gap opened, I didn't see you at all as there was a Van on the traffic lane!"

Yep, it was a bus lane and yep, I was of expecting something stupid to happen like it does now and then. But not at that degree. I should have know better. If you can't see it, it doesn't exist right

?
Too bad

, she blasted her way through instead of moving in,

had no more then a split second to react

. Thanks god (and KB advices) I was just under 40kp/h, bike got really fucked

but I didn't, very. Moderate back and chest pain.

Took some more pictures, the street and my baby

**DanielSumi** · 30th June 2011, 13:38

**Parlane** · 30th June 2011, 14:09

That is undeniably a legal lane to use your bike in. So +1 for that! You really shouldn't have many problems with insurance here. You know you have done everything right. Do you have your own insurance who can fight this for you, even if it's just third party etc ?