Just been backed over by a bus

[wizzzard]

My son and i were following a bus down some country lanes this afternoon both on separate bikes. The bus slows to a stop to let another bus past on the narrow lanes and then decides to reverse.

We were about ten ft behind it and had followed it about a mile from the last junction with no turn offs on the way so i cant understand how he didnt know we were there.

It quickly became obvious that he hadnt seen us and he backed into our bikes at enough speed it took the handle bar out of my hand and away from the horn.

After us both being pushed for about fifteen ft back he finally heard our frantic banging and i had got my hand to the horn, but by this time we were on our side pretty much under the back wheels.

He didnt seemed very concerned about us more about any damage to the bikes but after keeping my temper brilliantly with only a minor bit of cursing i got his details and he went on his way.

The damage is relatively small a smashed windscreen and indicator on the zxr with some scrapes to the fairing and can and the sr suffered some scrapes and scratches with the left hand peg and stand being bent. Now on the way home after we got them started the zxr's engine is making a hell of a lot of rattling and the sr doesnt sound to clever either.

Does anyone have any experience with claiming from bus companys ie length of claim time and what exactly they replace. The woman was very helpful when i phoned but obviously couldnt give me any information out so soon till they examined the cctv footage.
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And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?
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[rotax81]

that happened to a mate with an artic. he jumped of off and legged it while the trailor crushed his cbr1000

just report the incident to your insurance company and take it from there
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ZX636C6F road. ZX636C1H track. ZX7R redundant. ZX0.5R minimoto as ornament.
Audi A4 Avant 1.9TDi and VW Transporter 2.5TDi 888 Special (no mot and tax lol)

[Mr Hammers]

You did well to keep your temper. I'm not an advocate of kicking off mirrors if someone does me wrong, but in that situation i'd have found it hard not to punch his face into an unrecognisable mess...especially with me boy on board.

Did you grab any pics of the bike on its side under the bus? Not for my delectation, but to help when you claim against the bus company.

And glad you're ok! You were very lucky! Or unlucky....depending how you look at it
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A Guide To Powerbands

[wizzzard]

Thanks guys i do consider us to be very lucky indeed considering what could have happened.

Im hoping that they will just sort things out without having to get my insurance company involved at the moment. Fingers crossed they will just offer to replace what are two pretty old bikes anyway.
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And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?
Zeitgeist / Addendum / Moving forward

[Knacker]

Did the bus have passengers because iv heard before that a bus is not allowed to reverse with people on it (Word of mouth so dont quote me on it)
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Current: Gsxr 600 Srad - GS125 - DT125
Previous: K1 GSXR 1000

[wizzzard]

Didnt manage to get any pictures under the bus because he pulled forward and it didnt occur to me to get any pictures at all till id got them both stood back up again. I couldnt bear to watch them leaking their presious fluids all over the road
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And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?
Zeitgeist / Addendum / Moving forward

[wizzzard]

There were passengers on the back seat im pretty sure it was them who told him to stop while we were punching the hell out of the back.
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And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?
Zeitgeist / Addendum / Moving forward

[Speedy3]

Matt

Found this on yahoo answers

This may surprise you, yes it is illegal to reverse a bus in service with passengers, unless under the control of a Police Officer. You will find where buses reverse on to stand they are not allowed to carry passengers on to that stand. I believe you will find this in the RTA dated 1930, I have been out of the industry for some years but I believe that's the correct act.
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Current bike: 2005 Triumph Speed Triple 1050 :: Previous Bikes: 2001 Kawasaki ZZR-600 E9 (Sold) 1996 Yamaha Diversion 600s (Sold),1997 Honda CB250 Nighthawk (Sold), 1988 Honda VFR 400 NC24 (Written Off), 1987 Honda CB350 S-G (Sold), Yamaha DT125 (Sold), Honda X8R-S 50cc (Stolen)

[wizzzard]

Thanks Marlboro-Matt it seems you may be correct on that one.
something to do with the road traffic act that says they can only reverse under police supervision if they have passengers on the road.
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And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?
Zeitgeist / Addendum / Moving forward

[wizzzard]

Thanks perry appreciate the find there
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And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?
Zeitgeist / Addendum / Moving forward

[Nick__C]

some one needs to take a look at the transpeak then=p
it goes into and reverses out of a bus station/pick up point twice.
Unless that's allowed?
All the best with getting the bikes sorted(Y)
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'02 GS 500.

[PeterNSR]

Sorry to hear mate, hope you and your son are ok
I would av jumped on the bus and gave the driver a few hammerblows to the head
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Current: Honda NSR 125

My bike

[iooi]

[prawny1]

Don't let this go, make sure you are on the case everyday and keep records of all the calls to them the police and your insurers, you are dealing with a large company and unless you are constantly on their case, you will be put to the bottom of the pile, and it will just drag on and on.

Get your insurers involved/ informed, your insurers wil be able to come out and inspect the bikes etc and they will (if you have legal cover) help fight your case, they are far more experienced that us and will be a lot harder for the bus firm to ignore.

Did you get the bus reg and driver number etc?

[prawny1]

[Ariel Badger]

Why do people not just call for an ambulance? Ambulance called and the plod must attend and do a report.
This makes life 100% better when the offending driver changes their story.
You may not actually realise you are injured so best get checked out ( I am the worst in the world for never doing any of the above, the adrenalin just kicks in and you forget all common sense).
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Bikers make great organ donors, get 115 on your licence today.

[wizzzard]

Thanks for the replies everyone i have spent so much time on this forum reading what to do in an accident and like Ariel said it all went straight out the window with that big dose of adrenalin.

Hopefully the bus rear facing camera will have caught all they need and they will just offer to sort the bikes out.

Big thanks to prawny for stressing the damage a running bike on its side can do and i will definitely be pushing for a rebuild now.
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And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?
Zeitgeist / Addendum / Moving forward

[Pete.]

My first rule of accidents:

Leave the bike where it is and take a photo. Tell the other driver not to move until you have done so. A photo speaks a thousand words as they say and there's no arguments either.

After that, deal with the normal stuff.
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a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[Polo]

Did you get the name of any witnesses?

Just playing devils advocate but what if the driver decides you rode into the back of him?
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My mum smells your fingers

[Davie_G71]

Sorry to hear this.

Do the rear view cameras on buses and trucks actually record footage? I thought the were there just for observational purposes?

D
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Suzuki GSXR600 SRAD, 1997 & Kawasaki Z1000, 2003.

[wizzzard]

From what the woman at the incident desk said they record and can download the footage.

I have just phoned them again and they say they are having system problems and will call me back in an hour.

I did a bit of recearch last night and found a couple of occasions where the minutes of a meeting quoted an arriva bus company area manager saying it was illegal to reverse a bus in service so im hoping they dont even argue the blame.
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And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?
Zeitgeist / Addendum / Moving forward

[Davie_G71]

'System Problems' eh.

Was this a mainstream bus company, or some independant?
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Suzuki GSXR600 SRAD, 1997 & Kawasaki Z1000, 2003.

[wizzzard]

It was arriva yorkshire which is huge so im sure they will do everything they can ( this opinion may change in the next hour or so though )
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And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?
Zeitgeist / Addendum / Moving forward

[Knacker]

Woo i might have been right about something for a change
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Current: Gsxr 600 Srad - GS125 - DT125
Previous: K1 GSXR 1000

[Bofh5]

The option instead of your insurance is a solicitor who will take your case on a no win no fee arrangement.

Thats what i did thanks to a BCF member and the solicitor is taking care of everything. I already recieved a damage payment and now am just waiting for the injury claim.

As the solicitors charge eye bleeding amounts it helps to hurry along the offending party as they will want to save money.
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(L)users...Disk space is to good for them.

Bikes: Honda 50 / CB125-TDC / 93 CBR600 F2 (Stolen & Trashed) / 2001 SP-1 (Sold) / 95 CBR600 F3