Well I was heading onto Austin Avenue from my companies warehouse to finish off the day at the store. As I turned onto Austin a black SUV came flying out of a small side road and turned out in front of me doing about 25-30kmh without looking. Luckily I was able to slow down to let him race ahead of me. As I was following behind him he stopped quickly taking up the whole road in front of me. I quickly applied my brakes and stopped about a bike length behind him. I blew my horn and looked at him through his rear window and saw his eyes in his rear view mirror. As I was blowing my horn he started signalling to the left and at the same time he started reversing rather quickly. Unfortunately I was behind him and his trailer hitch impacted the front of my Condor and crushed the lower part of the front plastics cracking it in 4 differnt places before he realized he should check his rear view mirror. When he did he then saw me waving and he decided to stop reversing. He got out of the truck and blamed me for running into him, then when a lady said I was stopped behind him and he backed into me he then changed the story to it being my fault for following too close. When I meantioned that he did not check his rear view mirror he said he should not have to because I should have been at least one car length behind him. I meantioned how he flew out of the side road onto Austin without signalling right in front of me and then sped down Austin a few yards then braked abruptle and backed up without looking properly and that is why the accident occured. He then asked his neighbor to back him up when I said I was going to call the police. His neighbor said it is my word against the driver and him and that he will say I rear ended the driver even though I did not. Anyways I decided it was not worth the hassle so I went to our stores warehouse and repaired the damage in a couple of hours and then rode home. It was mainly disassembling the front plastics, then gluing the cracks together painting the cracks with touch up paint and reassembing everything. But luckily I was not hurt. Hopefully the SUV driver learned to be more careful and more aware of his surroundings. Probably not though but I can hope. Hopefully his poor driving skills will not hurt or kill somebody some day.

Ken Finch

Glad yer OK Ken. Handy to have a shop at your disposal.
Makes me think about spending $100 and video recording on trips:
http://www.ceto.ch/sh...

Lock

Crikey man! Glad to hear you are okay. Next time don't buckle down. He's the one with insurance that would be liable to pay. Always report accidents.

Glad that you're ok Ken. Somewhat sounds like the driver did all that on purpose. I highly second Locks idea. Maybe that guy has some kind of grudge against ebikes.

-Vic

Glad you're okay, Ken. There's a lot of stupid drivers out there. Don't let 'em get the best of you.

Even if it's his word against yours, it's always good to have a record of what happened on police file. Especially if the offending driver re-offends. Or if you suffer any physical damage that shows up later on. Not much you can do about it without a report. At the very least, be sure to get the driver's license so you can file a report on your own or pursue a civil suit if it later warrants it.

He got out of the truck and blamed me for running into him, then when a lady said I was stopped behind him and he backed into me he then changed the story to it being my fault for following too close.

Next time, ask the lady to be your witness when the cops show up, or if you have to face the driver in court. Get her full name and phone number if you can. I know it's hard to think this way when you're in shock or awe that you're in this position in the first place. Hindsight is always 20/20.

Well since the damage was very minor which I found out after removing the front plastics. I was able to do a full repair without having to replace any parts. I decided to not pursue this matter because the driver said I will have to take him to court and he will only pay if ordered by the judge. I have just got through a very expensive legal battle (nothing to do with E-Bikes, personal ex wife issues) and I just got finished paying the legal bills off. I do not want to incure more lawyer fees already. I am trying to financially recover now. So I was able to fix my Condor using my skills and a bit of glue and touch up paint and time. No cost to me except some of my time. But I will be staying away from that street from now on knowing a careless driver lives there.

Ken Finch