Cyclist hit by taxi on roundabout
One sunny, dry afternoon in January, Jane finished work at Edinburgh Airport, packed her bag and got on her bicycle to begin her regular commute back home.
She followed the same route that she always took to get to and from work. Part of that route involves cycling in a southerly direction on Eastfield Road, just south of Edinburgh Airport. She cycled under the flyover for the A8 / Glasgow Road and was negotiating the second roundabout.
As she approached the slip road for traffic exiting the west bound Glasgow Road carriageway to her left, she noticed a taxi making its way down the slip road and towards the roundabout.
By this point, Jane was already established on the roundabout, but the taxi failed to give way and instead continued onto the roundabout, colliding with Jane’s near side knocking her off and falling heavily onto her right-hand side.
The driver got out of the taxi and immediately apologised. Details were exchanged and Jane then made her way home.
Over the course of the next few days, Jane received text messages from the taxi driver as well as the driver’s family. In the messages, the driver admitted that she had been at fault and offered to pay for the bicycle repairs. The taxi driver was very concerned about losing her job and pleaded with Jane not to inform her insurers.
Knowing that it was not her fault and faced with a few hundred pounds worth of damage to her bicycle, Jane phoned Cycle Law Scotland for advice.
We took the time to understand exactly what had happened to Jane.
It was clear that the injuries she had sustained along with the damage to her bicycle were relatively minor in nature. However, this was the second time Jane has been knocked off her bike on this roundabout.
Due to the damage sustained to her bicycle and her injuries, Jane decided that she wanted to take proper action and proceed with a claim against the taxi driver’s insurance company. We took on Jane’s claim and intimated it directly to the insurers of the taxi driver.
Astonishingly, the insurers denied liability on the basis that Jane had been cycling on a segregated cycle path and had simply cycled out into the driver’s path as she was on her approach to the roundabout.
We used the text messages, damage to the bike and the injuries sustained as evidence to support Jane’s version of events.
We also referred the insurers to the Highway Code changes and, in particular, the hierarchy of road users introduced in January 2022.
We were about to raise a Court action against the taxi drivers’ insurers when the insurers did a complete U-turn and liability was admitted in full. They proceeded to make a very reasonable offer to settle the claim and we had no problem in advising Jane to accept.
Here is what Jane had to say about her experience using Cycle Law Scotland:
“I commute regularly to work and at the end of January I was knocked off my bike by a car at a roundabout junction. Luckily, I only sustained minor injuries, but my bike was also damaged, requiring several hundreds of pounds worth of repairs.
Cycle Law Scotland were recommended to me. From the initial phone call, I found them to be really helpful. They obviously have a good understanding of cyclists and the unique vulnerabilities of cyclists on the road. Judith Wilson at CLS then took on my claim. Throughout the process of about 3 months, she remained in regular contact ensuring I was updated quickly of any developments. She clearly explained everything, providing accurate information and timelines. I found CLS extremely easy to deal with and, as well as being extremely professional, Judith was understanding and patient whenever I had questions. At the end of only 3 months, they were able to successfully obtain a compensation payment from the vehicle’s insurance company. I would not hesitate to recommend Cycle Law Scotland in the future.”