A bike owner has received greater than £4,000 in damages after taking authorized motion in opposition to a automobile driver who struck him from behind.
Harry Grey, a 28-year-old energetic journey campaigner, was rear-ended by a driver whereas biking in Bolton in December 2022. He had no digital camera footage or CCTV proof of the incident, however selected to pursue the motive force, described as a person in his late sixties, who Grey felt “confirmed no regret”.
Chatting with Biking Weekly, Grey recalled the incident as being “loopy”.
“I set off from the visitors lights and bought forward of the automobile behind me,” he mentioned. “The highway narrowed right into a pinch level, and as I went into the pinch, the man behind me clearly didn’t see me and simply drove into the again of me.
“When he bought out of the automobile – I used to be injured – he was mainly simply having a go at me and saying it was my fault. I used to be in agony, however I used to be irritated at the truth that he’d accomplished that, and never been sorry for what he’d accomplished.”
Grey suffered a bruised tailbone and, on account of his accidents, missed two weeks off work. “It additionally impacted my psychological capability, as a result of I had a whole lot of anxiousness round biking for ages after that,” he mentioned. “I simply felt like I used to be all the time going to get hit off my bike once more.”
Decided to make the motive force take possession of the crash, Grey instructed solicitors and started authorized proceedings. The method, he mentioned, concerned “a whole lot of emails”, however “it was straightforward sufficient”. He didn’t need to attend the civil court docket date, the place it was agreed the motive force would pay £4,252.96 in damages.
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“I simply felt like he deserved his comeuppance as a result of he [initially] simply didn’t settle for he was at fault in any respect,” Grey mentioned. “It was the behaviour of the motive force that was regarding to me.
“Perhaps that form of perspective is what I used to be attempting to battle in opposition to.”
STATEMENTAfter two years of authorized proceedings, the motive force who ran me over has been discovered responsible for damages of £4,170.04. https://t.co/ZAwk1of23uDecember 10, 2024
Grey was initially involved {that a} lack of video proof would hinder his case, however ultimately discovered the motive force’s insurance coverage firm provided little dispute. This, he believed, was because of the nature of the incident.
“In case you get hit from behind in a automobile or on a motorcycle, it’s form of apparent who’s at fault,” he mentioned. “It is form of a given, is not it?”
The 28-year-old shared information of his victory on X earlier this week, writing that he would have been blissful to keep away from authorized motion: “All he needed to do was make an apology, oh effectively.”
Grey now recommends different cyclists who’ve had comparable crashes comply with in his footsteps. “Don’t be fearful of taking this course of additional,” he mentioned. “There are no-win-no-fee specialists within the sector. There’s no danger actually – you go speak to them and in the event that they assume you’ve bought a case, they’ll proceed.”
As for the compensation he’ll obtain, a 25% minimize will go to the solicitors, whereas Grey is hoping to place the remaining in direction of “the journey of a lifetime” in his subsequent biking journey.
“In my head I’ve been taking a look at journeys,” he mentioned. “I did the Pyrenees final 12 months, so I in all probability wish to do the Alps or one thing subsequent time, and watch a little bit of the Tour de France.”
