attacked by cyclist, broken arm

AndrewJ said:

The main reason I'm posting this is as a warning to others. If I had
in any way anticipated this, I don't think I would have a broken arm.
Please cross-post anywhere appropriate.

Tuesday morning I was riding the bike lane in St Kilda Rd Melbourne.

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Broken arm.

He came back and gave me his details, which I guess is a positive.

Police report made? If not, do it

Witnesses? I know it's hard

This berk deserves the full force of the law thrown at him. It is an asault
action, not to mention driving dangerously, reckless driving, etc.

And there is no TAC cover applying to this (no motor vehicle involved), so
get legal advice to possibly sue him for your damages.

He is a criminal, who has caused you severe damage. Don't let him do it to
others!!!

--
Cheers
Peter

~~~ ~ _@
~~ ~ _- \,
~~ (*)/ (*)

AndrewJ said:

The main reason I'm posting this is as a warning to others. If I had
in any way anticipated this, I don't think I would have a broken arm.
Please cross-post anywhere appropriate.

Tuesday morning I was riding the bike lane in St Kilda Rd Melbourne.
It was 8.45 or so. Peak hour. I was just north of the junction, going
slowly as I hadn't ridden the lane for quite a while.

Behind me comes a shout: "no freewheeling here". A mountain bike rider
went past me on my right. As he went past he grabbed my handlebar to
destabilise my bike. I went down. Broken arm.

He came back and gave me his details, which I guess is a positive.

But be aware and watch for attacks of this type. In 20 years of riding
in Melbourne, this is my first injury from the actions of another
vehicle. A bicycle.

I'm afraid that after this, I won't be riding to work, just for
touring.

A positive for justice - a big negative for him - throw a big heavy book at him. We absolutely do not want prix like that on the road (or anywhere else for that matter).

Hope you have a speedy recovery.

Ritch

ritcho said:

A positive for justice - a big negative for him - throw a big heavy book at him. We absolutely do not want prix like that on the road (or anywhere else for that matter).

Hope you have a speedy recovery.

Ritch

I agree, I wouldnt blame the fact he was riding a bike or that you were, or where you where or when.. the guy is a jerk, and if he was driving would probably have run you into the gutter... he made a stupid error in wisdom and judgment, and it wasn't because he or you were both riding, it was because he didn't consider others and was a selfish p...k .

OK he saw the error of his ways and you two are working through your damages. thats a plus... but when you can ride again, do it, and ride knowing its the right thing to do!

We don't expect to hear this sort of thing, or that it even happened to a fellow rider by a another rider... but even though it has I haven't lost faith in the purity if the bicycle and what it means for us....best wishes for a speedy recovery and a decent outcome from the guy's pocket and mind for you!

AndrewJ said:

But be aware and watch for attacks of this type. In 20 years of riding
in Melbourne, this is my first injury from the actions of another
vehicle. A bicycle.

I'm afraid that after this, I won't be riding to work, just for
touring.

That's utterly disgusting. Are you taking further action? This fool needs to be legally dealt with. What's his story, some bizarre prank on another rider for [censored] and giggles?

Sincerely hope you make a full recovery and get back to enjoying riding.

Resound said:

I honestly have no idea what that phrase even refers to.

Not pedalling, or pedalling backwards. Generally causes problems under race
conditions (because you're not on the power) or under MTB conditions where you
might need some juice but are too busy girling backwards.

Either way, let's put thing into perspective: It's not a crime by any
stretch of the imagination. Heck I would hedge a bet it isn't even a vague
problem by any stretch of the imagination.

Quoted message said:

Are we talking militant xenophobic fixie riders here or what?

I know a few fixie riders, and non of them are like that.

Appears this twit has anger management issues - dealing with issues that
really weren't issues to start with.

Book should be thrown at him. At least sue for out of pocket expenses.

This is a broken arm for [censored] sake, not a band-aide fixable booboo.
--
Linux Registered User # 302622
<http://counter.li.org>

"John Tserkezis" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Resound said:

I honestly have no idea what that phrase even refers to.

Not pedalling, or pedalling backwards. Generally causes problems under
race conditions (because you're not on the power) or under MTB conditions
where you might need some juice but are too busy girling backwards.

Either way, let's put thing into perspective: It's not a crime by any
stretch of the imagination. Heck I would hedge a bet it isn't even a
vague problem by any stretch of the imagination.

Quoted message said:

Are we talking militant xenophobic fixie riders here or what?

I know a few fixie riders, and non of them are like that.

Appears this twit has anger management issues - dealing with issues that
really weren't issues to start with.

Book should be thrown at him. At least sue for out of pocket expenses.

This is a broken arm for [censored] sake, not a band-aide fixable booboo.
--

Ok, that was my first impression but the prat's reaction made so little
sense (and still does) that I wanted to get some kind of context. I
certainly wasn't impugning fixie riders as a group...I'm one of them from
time to time! The phrase "full force of the law" seems appropriate here.

AndrewJ said:

Behind me comes a shout: "no freewheeling here". A mountain bike rider
went past me on my right. As he went past he grabbed my handlebar to
destabilise my bike. I went down. Broken arm.

He came back and gave me his details, which I guess is a positive.

But be aware and watch for attacks of this type. In 20 years of riding
in Melbourne, this is my first injury from the actions of another
vehicle. A bicycle.

I'm afraid that after this, I won't be riding to work, just for
touring.

Commiserations, I hope you recover quickly.
And I hope you get back on your bike, and reconsider the
bit about not riding to work again. I truly believe this was
a very very rare incident. It's a good sign that the guy stopped
and gave you his details; maybe there is hope for his soul.

--
beerwolf

I'd be straight down the Police station and making a report.

At the very least he should be getting a fine of some sort :-/

Hope you heal soon.

G-S

AndrewJ said:

Behind me comes a shout: "no freewheeling here". A mountain bike rider
went past me on my right. As he went past he grabbed my handlebar to
destabilise my bike. I went down. Broken arm.

He came back and gave me his details, which I guess is a positive.

Sounds like he was showing off and in a moment of idiocy did something
he immediately regretted. If he was a genuine bogan I doubt he'd have
stopped, let alone given you his real name and all.

If it were me I'd call him and have a little chat about medical and
other costs and offer him the opportunity to pay civil compensation to
right the wrong, as an alternative to turning it into a criminal
matter with the police.

I must admit though that my feelings on this matter are somewhat
clouded by an episode in 1995 when I was beaten to a pulp by some
creep in a "road rage" incident. He didn't share his details, but I
did get his registration number.

When it got to court he just claimed that I started it. Lacking
conclusive proof to the contrary, and given the "beyond reasonable
doubt" standard of evidence which is so much tougher than "balance of
probabilities" where the court would have called him out on his
[censored], he was found not guilty.

My fear is that if you do take the court route he'll have every
incentive to deny responsibility and then you'll get nothing when it
emerges that nobody caught the incident on tape and can thus prove it
wasn't accidental. If you just ask for civil compensation (not tens
of thousands, but enough to pay for bike repairs and compensate you
for time off work, emotional hurt etc, he would most likely settle
immediately and feel eternally grateful that no criminal conviction
will blot his name for ever.

Of course if when talking to him it turns out he really is a complete
jerk who isn't the least bit sorry about anything other than giving
you his details, I say go right to the police and hope that the judge
sees things your way.

All this said, I'm not a lawyer (as such) and therefore have no idea
what the implications of the above would be compared to regular civil
proceedings, or any idea what a fair settlement sum would be. For all
I know in a civil case you might be able to recover vast sums...

I do hope you aren't permanently (mentally) scarred by it though. I
was nervous for a long time after that fwit attacked me, and enraged
for an even longer time when he walked. Most people manage to go
their whole lives without having a violent encounter of the sort
though, and realistically it is unlikely something like that would
ever happen to you again.

Travis

Travis said:

AndrewJ said:

Behind me comes a shout: "no freewheeling here". A mountain bike rider
went past me on my right. As he went past he grabbed my handlebar to
destabilise my bike. I went down. Broken arm.

Quoted message said:

He came back and gave me his details, which I guess is a positive.

Sounds like he was showing off and in a moment of idiocy did something
he immediately regretted. If he was a genuine bogan I doubt he'd have
stopped, let alone given you his real name and all.

If it were me I'd call him and have a little chat about medical and
other costs and offer him the opportunity to pay civil compensation to
right the wrong, as an alternative to turning it into a criminal
matter with the police.

I must admit though that my feelings on this matter are somewhat
clouded by an episode in 1995 when I was beaten to a pulp by some
creep in a "road rage" incident. He didn't share his details, but I
did get his registration number.

When it got to court he just claimed that I started it. Lacking
conclusive proof to the contrary, and given the "beyond reasonable
doubt" standard of evidence which is so much tougher than "balance of
probabilities" where the court would have called him out on his
[censored], he was found not guilty.

My fear is that if you do take the court route he'll have every
incentive to deny responsibility and then you'll get nothing when it
emerges that nobody caught the incident on tape and can thus prove it
wasn't accidental. If you just ask for civil compensation (not tens
of thousands, but enough to pay for bike repairs and compensate you
for time off work, emotional hurt etc, he would most likely settle
immediately and feel eternally grateful that no criminal conviction
will blot his name for ever.

Of course if when talking to him it turns out he really is a complete
jerk who isn't the least bit sorry about anything other than giving
you his details, I say go right to the police and hope that the judge
sees things your way.

All this said, I'm not a lawyer (as such) and therefore have no idea
what the implications of the above would be compared to regular civil
proceedings, or any idea what a fair settlement sum would be. For all
I know in a civil case you might be able to recover vast sums...

I do hope you aren't permanently (mentally) scarred by it though. I
was nervous for a long time after that fwit attacked me, and enraged
for an even longer time when he walked. Most people manage to go
their whole lives without having a violent encounter of the sort
though, and realistically it is unlikely something like that would
ever happen to you again.

Travis

Thanks for all of the kind messages. It really helps. The aspect I
have trouble
with is that a cyclist would do such a thing to another cyclist.

Yes, I did do a police report. But there is nothing against the law
here.
Moving the bars might or might not lead me to go down. Even with
witnesses, if I was on the jury I'd want to see a video from several
angles. Even then it's probably not clear.

No, I'm not mentally scarred by it, but it sure is a low point. I'll
definitely
keep riding. But not sure I can do St Kilda Rd again in a hurry.

I'm pretty sure that if I had thought that he might grab at something
then I would have dodged left. So if a cyclist comes at you, dodge!

At the base of things here I have to believe that he can improve,
and will find a way not to do such a thing again. Of course he's
convinced that I'm going to sue him for lots of money, but I'm not
going to do that. BV insurance will cover everything, and I have lots
of accumulated sick leave.

Thanks again, see you riding.

AndrewJ said:

Thanks for all of the kind messages. It really helps. The aspect I
have trouble
with is that a cyclist would do such a thing to another cyclist.

I'm sorry about your arm Andrew. Unfortunately cyclists are not some
superior breed or subset of [censored] sapiens. Some cyclists are [censored], same
as drivers and pedestrians, even some pensioners. OTOH, most people are just
like you and me.

Cheers get well soon.
Theo

Comisserations on your broken limb.

AndrewJ said:

I'm afraid that after this, I won't be riding to work, just for
touring.

How's that going to change anything? You didn't get a broken arm because you were riding to work, you got a broken arm because another person assaulted you.

Changing mode of transport is not going to solve that, same happens to pedestrians, PT users and motorists. You had a bad experience but it's not because you rode to work.

AndrewJ said:

The main reason I'm posting this is as a warning to others. If I had
in any way anticipated this, I don't think I would have a broken arm.
Please cross-post anywhere appropriate.

Tuesday morning I was riding the bike lane in St Kilda Rd Melbourne.
It was 8.45 or so. Peak hour. I was just north of the junction, going
slowly as I hadn't ridden the lane for quite a while.

Behind me comes a shout: "no freewheeling here". A mountain bike rider
went past me on my right. As he went past he grabbed my handlebar to
destabilise my bike. I went down. Broken arm.

He came back and gave me his details, which I guess is a positive.

But be aware and watch for attacks of this type. In 20 years of riding
in Melbourne, this is my first injury from the actions of another
vehicle. A bicycle.

I'm afraid that after this, I won't be riding to work, just for
touring.

Sorry to hear that, but why would you stop riding because of one freak
incident? Please don't go telling other people this is a reason not to
ride. As you point out, 20 years - and I've never heard of anything
like it. That would be like saying you are never driving a car again
because of one road rage incident (but hang on, they happen often
enough, and you probably still drive?).

Donga

Donga said:

AndrewJ said:

The main reason I'm posting this is as a warning to others. If I had
in any way anticipated this, I don't think I would have a broken arm.
Please cross-post anywhere appropriate.

Quoted message said:

Tuesday morning I was riding the bike lane in St Kilda Rd Melbourne.
It was 8.45 or so. Peak hour. I was just north of the junction, going
slowly as I hadn't ridden the lane for quite a while.

Quoted message said:

Behind me comes a shout: "no freewheeling here". A mountain bike rider
went past me on my right. As he went past he grabbed my handlebar to
destabilise my bike. I went down. Broken arm.

Quoted message said:

He came back and gave me his details, which I guess is a positive.

Quoted message said:

But be aware and watch for attacks of this type. In 20 years of riding
in Melbourne, this is my first injury from the actions of another
vehicle. A bicycle.

Quoted message said:

I'm afraid that after this, I won't be riding to work, just for
touring.

Sorry to hear that, but why would you stop riding because of one freak
incident? Please don't go telling other people this is a reason not to
ride. As you point out, 20 years - and I've never heard of anything
like it. That would be like saying you are never driving a car again
because of one road rage incident (but hang on, they happen often
enough, and you probably still drive?).

Donga

OK. In 20 years of riding to work (sometimes every day) I've never
been hit
by another vehicle. You are absolutely correct in logic. But sitting
in ED with
the thoughts of the accident, its hard to be logical.

I should mention the number of people I knew that are dead through
inactivity,
drinking & smoking. Much more dangerous than riding to work.

One factor here I'm afraid is age related. My perception-reaction
times at 55
years of age are not what they were at 25. It's hard to admit, but may
be
worth a thought.

AndrewJ said:

One factor here I'm afraid is age related. My perception-reaction times at 55 years of age are not what they were at 25. It's hard to admit, but may be worth a thought.

I believe the available data does put your age group in a higher risk profile but it is still much more beneficial for you to ride than to not ride.

St Kilda Road is the pits. I ride it because I'm bone idle and blieve I'm cautious enough to get away with it. What's your starting point and final destination? There may be a safer (hazard wise) route which may increase the journey by a fraction but be more pleasant.

AndrewJ said:

One factor here I'm afraid is age related. My perception-reaction
times at 55
years of age are not what they were at 25. It's hard to admit, but may
be worth a thought.

On the plus side, your risk assessment profile is lower.

Theo

On Jan 10, 12:04 pm, EuanB <EuanB.32y...@no-

mx.forums.cyclingforums.com said:

AndrewJ said:

One factor here I'm afraid is age related. My perception-reaction times
at 55 years of age are not what they were at 25. It's hard to admit, but
may be worth a thought.

I believe the available data does put your age group in a higher risk
profile but it is still much more beneficial for you to ride than to not
ride.

St Kilda Road is the pits. I ride it because I'm bone idle and blieve
I'm cautious enough to get away with it. What's your starting point and
final destination? There may be a safer (hazard wise) route which may
increase the journey by a fraction but be more pleasant.

--
EuanB

Mordialloc to/from city.

AndrewJ said:

On Jan 10, 12:04 pm, EuanB <EuanB.32y...@no-

mx.forums.cyclingforums.com said:

AndrewJ said:

One factor here I'm afraid is age related. My perception-reaction times
at 55 years of age are not what they were at 25. It's hard to admit, but
may be worth a thought.

I believe the available data does put your age group in a higher risk
profile but it is still much more beneficial for you to ride than to not
ride.

St Kilda Road is the pits. I ride it because I'm bone idle and blieve
I'm cautious enough to get away with it. What's your starting point and
final destination? There may be a safer (hazard wise) route which may
increase the journey by a fraction but be more pleasant.

--
EuanB

Mordialloc to/from city.

You could turn left at Alma Road and cut through Albert Park. I normally head down Clarendon Street from there but many prefer Moray Street. Depending where you are in the city at worst it'll cost you five minutes.

AndrewJ said:

OK. In 20 years of riding to work (sometimes every day) I've never
been hit
by another vehicle. You are absolutely correct in logic. But sitting
in ED with
the thoughts of the accident, its hard to be logical.

Yes, I don't doubt it - a horrible incident to have to work through. I
hope you quickly rediscover the fun bits of riding.

Donga