Hit and Run in Melbourne

This morning at approx 0640h I was riding towards the city on Johnston St in
light rain and as I turned left onto Nicholson St (in Abbotsford) I noticed
a girl in bike gear on the corner who looked pretty upset. As I pulled up
to see if she was OK I noticed that her bike was pretty well trashed (see
pictures via links - poor quality as I used my mobile). The first one shows
her bent top tube, the second shows the RH crank arm (Durace) bent across
the chain stay, and the last one is from front on with the seat tube upright
so you can see the angle the front triangle was bent at.

http://img257.imageshack.us/my.php?i...mage002em4.jpg

http://img257.imageshack.us/my.php?i...mage003qe5.jpg

http://img293.imageshack.us/my.php?i...mage004ne6.jpg

She was fairly young (I'd guess early 20s) and she said that she thought she
was OK and her hubby was on his way to pick her up. Apparently she was
heading towards the city on Johnston St and a car going the other way
decided to turn right into Nicholson just as she was crossing the
intersection (about 5 min or so before I got there). Although they both had
a green light, the driver didn't have a green arrow and he failed to give
way to her. The car ploughed into the RHS of her bike (hence the bent
cranks) and she said she ended up half on the bonnet before being thrown
clear. The car went about 15m or so down the road, stopped for a second or
two and then sped off at a great rate of knots down Nicholson St. She was
understandably pretty shook up and only managed to get a couple of letters
of the numberplate and she thought it was a maroon commodore or falcon. She
said that she was a bit sore but was pretty certain that nothing was broken
(from looking at the bike I think she was very lucky to walk away without
any broken bones).

I stayed with her while she waited for her hubby as I was concerned that she
might go into full on shock. I tried to keep her talking to make sure she
was still holding it together and she managed to right up until her husband
arrived and then she pretty well collapsed emotionally and physically into
his arms. While I was talking to her I noted that she had an LED flasher on
the handlebars (it was still turned on) and a bracket for another light that
had smashed off (this was sitting next to her helmet). I also found the
remains of her rear LED flasher on the road. I did what I could to convince
her to call the police but I am not sure that she did so. Looking back now,
I probably should have called them myself while I was at the accident site.
I ended up quickly jotting down a draft email when I got to work and then I
called the Collingwood Police Station and reported what I had seen. The guy
was actually pretty sympathetic and said he would try to locate the
investigating officer and then get him/her to call me back (assuming that
the girl reported it).

I hope that the girl (I really should have asked her what her name was) is
OK and that she reports the incident to the police and that they catch the
prick who was driving. I guess there are many possibilities as to why the
guy drove off and my first thought was that maybe he had been drinking and
didn't want to hang around for the police to arrive with a breathalyser
(only a theory!!!). I made sure that in my draft email I noted that her LED
flasher was still flashing and that a second light had been smashed off and
she was also wearing a jacket with reflective panels - just in case they
catch the guy and he claims that she was riding with no lights!!!!

If you do see a maroon commodore or falcon in Melbourne with scratches on
the front left corner that look like they might have been made by a bike
then get the rego and let me know and I will pass it onto the police.

Stay safe out there.

Gags

good on you for helping out - always great if people have an accident to
have someone there to see them right - till help, whatever arrives.
Car drivers aren't getting it.
Jock
"Gags" wrote in message
...
| This morning at approx 0640h I was riding towards the city on Johnston St
in
| light rain and as I turned left onto Nicholson St (in Abbotsford) I
noticed
| a girl in bike gear on the corner who looked pretty upset. As I pulled up
| to see if she was OK I noticed that her bike was pretty well trashed (see
| pictures via links - poor quality as I used my mobile). The first one
shows
| her bent top tube, the second shows the RH crank arm (Durace) bent across
| the chain stay, and the last one is from front on with the seat tube
upright
| so you can see the angle the front triangle was bent at.
|
| http://img257.imageshack.us/my.php?i...mage002em4.jpg
|
| http://img257.imageshack.us/my.php?i...mage003qe5.jpg
|
| http://img293.imageshack.us/my.php?i...mage004ne6.jpg
|
| She was fairly young (I'd guess early 20s) and she said that she thought
she
| was OK and her hubby was on his way to pick her up. Apparently she was
| heading towards the city on Johnston St and a car going the other way
| decided to turn right into Nicholson just as she was crossing the
| intersection (about 5 min or so before I got there). Although they both
had
| a green light, the driver didn't have a green arrow and he failed to give
| way to her. The car ploughed into the RHS of her bike (hence the bent
| cranks) and she said she ended up half on the bonnet before being thrown
| clear. The car went about 15m or so down the road, stopped for a second
or
| two and then sped off at a great rate of knots down Nicholson St. She was
| understandably pretty shook up and only managed to get a couple of letters
| of the numberplate and she thought it was a maroon commodore or falcon.
She
| said that she was a bit sore but was pretty certain that nothing was
broken
| (from looking at the bike I think she was very lucky to walk away without
| any broken bones).
|
| I stayed with her while she waited for her hubby as I was concerned that
she
| might go into full on shock. I tried to keep her talking to make sure she
| was still holding it together and she managed to right up until her
husband
| arrived and then she pretty well collapsed emotionally and physically into
| his arms. While I was talking to her I noted that she had an LED flasher
on
| the handlebars (it was still turned on) and a bracket for another light
that
| had smashed off (this was sitting next to her helmet). I also found the
| remains of her rear LED flasher on the road. I did what I could to
convince
| her to call the police but I am not sure that she did so. Looking back
now,
| I probably should have called them myself while I was at the accident
site.
| I ended up quickly jotting down a draft email when I got to work and then
I
| called the Collingwood Police Station and reported what I had seen. The
guy
| was actually pretty sympathetic and said he would try to locate the
| investigating officer and then get him/her to call me back (assuming that
| the girl reported it).
|
| I hope that the girl (I really should have asked her what her name was) is
| OK and that she reports the incident to the police and that they catch the
| prick who was driving. I guess there are many possibilities as to why the
| guy drove off and my first thought was that maybe he had been drinking and
| didn't want to hang around for the police to arrive with a breathalyser
| (only a theory!!!). I made sure that in my draft email I noted that her
LED
| flasher was still flashing and that a second light had been smashed off
and
| she was also wearing a jacket with reflective panels - just in case they
| catch the guy and he claims that she was riding with no lights!!!!
|
| If you do see a maroon commodore or falcon in Melbourne with scratches on
| the front left corner that look like they might have been made by a bike
| then get the rego and let me know and I will pass it onto the police.
|
| Stay safe out there.
|
| Gags
|
|
|

On Mon, 13 Aug 2007 21:47:48 +1000, "Gags"
wrote:

This morning at approx 0640h I was riding towards the city on Johnston St in
light rain and as I turned left onto Nicholson St (in Abbotsford) I noticed
a girl in bike gear on the corner who looked pretty upset. As I pulled up
to see if she was OK I noticed that her bike was pretty well trashed (see
pictures via links - poor quality as I used my mobile). The first one shows
her bent top tube, the second shows the RH crank arm (Durace) bent across
the chain stay, and the last one is from front on with the seat tube upright
so you can see the angle the front triangle was bent at.

Well done on doing the right thing and foryour constructive post. I
have copied this over to http://bicycles.net.au/ in case someone has
anything on the car.

Take care
Andrew
-----
Churchlands, Western Australia
Giant CRX 1; Giant Boulder SE
http://aushiker.com http://backpackgeartest.org http://geocaching.com.au

Gags Wrote:
This morning at approx 0640h I was riding towards the city on Johnston
St in
light rain and as I turned left onto Nicholson St (in Abbotsford) I
noticed
a girl in bike gear on the corner who looked pretty upset. As I pulled
up
to see if she was OK I noticed that her bike was pretty well trashed
(see
pictures via links - poor quality as I used my mobile).

Gags if you would like, it's possible to post something to the YarraBUG
website or email group to ask for further witnesses. email:
enquiriesATyarrabug.org

Fiona put this together for MASSBUG, it wouldn't be too difficult to
carry a few copies with a repair kit or similar.

MASSBUG: Bike Tips: Reporting traffic incidents to police:
http://tinyurl.com/f65xf

Thankyou for helping out.


--
cfsmtb

Gags Wrote:
This morning at approx 0640h I was riding towards the city on Johnston
St in
light rain and as I turned left onto Nicholson St (in Abbotsford) I
noticed
a girl in bike gear on the corner who looked pretty upset.

Good on you.... the way you described it, it sounded exactly like what
happened to me. And she may not have said anything, but if she was
anything like me, I was so glad when someone ran over to me and kept me
talking and made me relax after the incident. When I look back on it
sometimes that person made a huge difference, you feel kind of happy
people do care enough to come over and make sure you are alright,
unlike that ******* that hit her and then gutlessly drove off.
scumbag.


--
MikeyOz

Gags wrote:
http://img257.imageshack.us/my.php?i...mage002em4.jpg

http://img257.imageshack.us/my.php?i...mage003qe5.jpg

http://img293.imageshack.us/my.php?i...mage004ne6.jpg

She walked away from that without serious physical injury? Faark,
that's lucky!

Well done for helping out, too. I should have remembered that I had a
camera in my phone at that accident that I attended a couple of months
ago. :-/


BTH

"Gags" wrote in message
...
This morning at approx 0640h I was riding towards the city on Johnston St
in light rain and as I turned left onto Nicholson St (in Abbotsford) I
noticed a girl in bike gear on the corner who looked pretty upset. As I
pulled up to see if she was OK I noticed that her bike was pretty well
trashed (see pictures via links - poor quality as I used my mobile).

It would be a real pity if she gave up commuting by bike because of the
accident. On a more positive note, my wife got knocked off her bike in
Heidelberg Rd Fairfield one night a few months ago by a woman driver who
just "didn't see the bike". No serious damage done but this woman was
extremely apologetic and stayed with my wife for 20 mins or so in the rain
until I arrived. She subsequently forked out $130 to replace some of my
wife's clothing damaged in the accident. The woman was feeling so guilty
that I think my wife would have preferred she went after 5 minutes!

Hello, Claude!
You wrote on Mon, 13 Aug 2007 23:42:23 GMT:


C "Gags" wrote in message
C ...
?? This morning at approx 0640h I was riding towards the city on Johnston
?? St in light rain and as I turned left onto Nicholson St (in
?? Abbotsford) I noticed a girl in bike gear on the corner who looked
?? pretty upset. As I pulled up to see if she was OK I noticed that her
?? bike was pretty well trashed (see pictures via links - poor quality as
?? I used my mobile).

C It would be a real pity if she gave up commuting by bike because of the
C accident. On a more positive note, my wife got knocked off her bike in
C Heidelberg Rd Fairfield one night a few months ago by a woman driver who
C just "didn't see the bike". No serious damage done but this woman was
C extremely apologetic and stayed with my wife for 20 mins or so in the
C rain until I arrived. She subsequently forked out $130 to replace some
C of my wife's clothing damaged in the accident. The woman was feeling so
C guilty that I think my wife would have preferred she went after 5
C minutes!

She did the right thing by staying and assisting.

Shame no one had the rego this shoudl not go unpunished

hope she is ok




On Aug 14, 4:50 pm, "ChrisRiley" wrote:
Hello, Claude!
You wrote on Mon, 13 Aug 2007 23:42:23 GMT:

C "Gags" wrote in message
...
?? This morning at approx 0640h I was riding towards the city on Johnston
?? St in light rain and as I turned left onto Nicholson St (in
?? Abbotsford) I noticed a girl in bike gear on the corner who looked
?? pretty upset. As I pulled up to see if she was OK I noticed that her



?? bike was pretty well trashed (see pictures via links - poor quality as
?? I used my mobile).

C It would be a real pity if she gave up commuting by bike because of the
C accident. On a more positive note, my wife got knocked off her bike in
C Heidelberg Rd Fairfield one night a few months ago by a woman driver who
C just "didn't see the bike". No serious damage done but this woman was
C extremely apologetic and stayed with my wife for 20 mins or so in the
C rain until I arrived. She subsequently forked out $130 to replace some
C of my wife's clothing damaged in the accident. The woman was feeling so
C guilty that I think my wife would have preferred she went after 5
C minutes!

She did the right thing by staying and assisting.

This was a girl from work, I'll let you know how she is, or get her to
post something

She was obviously away today, as you could understand. From what I
know her ankle was swollen, and might be a bit of ligament damage.


--
essendon93