Cyclist driven at deliberately in Edinburgh

In April 2017, Pierpaolo was cycling to work on York Place, Edinburgh when he was overtaken by a vehicle which failed to leave sufficient room and clipped his bicycle but fortunately didn't knock him off. 

Just after the incident further along the road, the lights ahead turned to red and so the car had to stop and wait. Pierpaolo decided to cycle alongside in order to speak with the driver and let her know that she had hit him. As he was about to speak with the driver, the lights changed to green. The car then reversed before driving directly and deliberately at Pierpaolo making contact with his right foot and bicycle.

Pierpaolo contacted Cycle Law Scotland to pursue a claim for damages for his injury, damage to his bicycle and cycling kit.

We intimated a claim to the third party insurers and were astonished when they returned alleging that no contact had been made between their insured driver and PiPierpaolor. They denied liability. We therefore, proceeded to raise a court action.

We gathered evidence from the police officers who had attended the scene and had also viewed CCTV footage of the incident captured from a Lothian Bus that had been passing. The CCTV footage showed Pierpaolo being struck by the vehicle as it drove at him knocking him from his bicycle. We were also able to obtain the details of an independent witness who had been on board the Lothian bus as it passed the locus. The witness had taken pictures on her phone of the incident occurring.

Armed with all this information, we were able to return to the defenders, request they admit liability and settle the case. They swiftly did so and Pierpaolo received a satisfactory award of damages.

This case highlights that even when liability is denied, we are often able to obtain key supportive evidence. In this case, evidence from the police officers who attended at the scene proved crucial. The police officers were able to provide details of an independent witness who captured the incident occurring and provided photographs.

Pierpaolo was pleased with the outcome and was happy that he had received an award of damages for an incident that occurred through no fault of his own.